I've fallen off the cliff!

[John Walker]

Half way through the month. 

 

Zero cleared balance.

Zooms on a sharp downward slope.

Zero Sales.

CTR almost dropped of the bottom of the graph.

My pet ant has died.

 

I know we get fluctuations but I haven't had a downward trend like this for a very long time.  ☹️

 

I expect you guys are going to make me feel really bad by telling me what a wonderful month you are having

 

John

[John Mitchell]

Mid-winter doldrums probably. I have fewer sales than I normally have by this time of the month. Not a stellar month for zooms either, but there's still plenty of time for a post Valentine's Day turnaround. Sorry to hear about your ant.

[Bryan]

Sorry to hear that John W, it's swings and roundabouts but getting tougher all the while.

 

This month is about average for me to date re sales. Zooms fell away to next to nothing over the Xmas period,  but have recovered.

 

It's possible that, with a motley, insufficiently edited, collection such as mine, the baseline is now at around the 10,000 mark for regular sales, while when I kicked off it was probably around 3000 ?  There are some super performers out there, with tightly edited ports of masterpieces, or who are reliant on specialist access and/or knowledge and who do much better, but for ordinary mortals it's not easy.

 

Commiserations re the ant. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by Bryan

[Matt Ashmore]

11 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

Sorry to hear about your ant.

 

Am I the only person who suddenly thought of the pink panther cartoons as a result of reading this?

(dead-ant ...., dead-ant....., dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant). <-- theme tune!!

 

 

I've only made 2 sales too so far this month but my CTR is sitting pretty at 0.97 for the month so far.

Last month wasn't great in either respect though!

Edited February 13, 2020 by Matt Ashmore

[andremichel]

My CTR was solid at 0.8 throughout Jan then plummeted to 0.4 as Feb started and has stayed there. Only 3 sales so far compared to 39 (majority small value) in Jan. 

[NYCat]

Well I've had three sales but my net pay is $3.80 total. I think it is some kind of personal worst for me. Hoping for a three figure sale in the future. 😁

 

Paulette

[Betty LaRue]

10 minutes ago, NYCat said:

Well I've had three sales but my net pay is $3.80 total. I think it is some kind of personal worst for me. Hoping for a three figure sale in the future. 😁

 

Paulette

I’ve only had one sale,  it my cut is about what yours is, Paulette.  It is a distributor sale. Zooms are very low.

[Thyrsis]

1 hour ago, John Walker said:

Half way through the month. 

 

Zero cleared balance.

Zooms on a sharp downward slope.

Zero Sales.

CTR almost dropped of the bottom of the graph.

My pet ant has died.

 

I know we get fluctuations but I haven't had a downward trend like this for a very long time.  ☹️

 

I expect you guys are going to make me feel really bad by telling me what a wonderful month you are having

 

John

Not just us then!

We have a tiny cleared balance (why does it take Alamy six months + to get someone to pay?)

Zooms have gone from 3 last month to 5 at the moment, whoopee!

And our last sale made us just over $1 net.

A pet ant! You were lucky!!

[Lori Rider]

Zero sales this year for me. Zooms have been between 5 and 7 all year. CTR isn't too bad and I do have a cleared balance at the moment, but if no new sales come in that will be gone next month. Sigh.

[MizBrown]

I had seven zooms, no sales over the week.  Six were from a series at a residence for deaf Nicaraguan kids who use Nicaraguan Sign Language.  I think I'm close to unique with those and had special access to get the photographs, but would like to reshoot with better light.  So far, no sales of that series.  Last sale was Jan. 20th, only sale in January.  Still using a cane, so getting out and about with camera gear is a bit nervous making. 

[Marb]

Yep it's abysmal. Hardly worth uploading anything anymore. Any sales that come are microstock prices. I'm just waiting for the next % cut to be announced.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Marb

[John Walker]

It's a noticeable and sudden downturn.  I've had good monthly sales and zooms with payment every month for a few years now.  

 

With 6000+ images I'm surprised at the change.  However, there's still the second half of the month to go so watch this space.

 

Thank you all for the commiserations over the passing of my pet ant - he's been a good friend.  Gone to the big anthill in the sky now

Edited February 14, 2020 by John Walker

[riccarbi]

3 hours ago, John Walker said:

Half way through the month. 

 

Zero cleared balance.

Zooms on a sharp downward slope.

Zero Sales.

CTR almost dropped of the bottom of the graph.

My pet ant has died.

 

I know we get fluctuations but I haven't had a downward trend like this for a very long time.  ☹️

 

I expect you guys are going to make me feel really bad by telling me what a wonderful month you are having

 

John

Sorry to say that my numbers are exactly like yours. Zero cleared balance. Zero sales. And a CTR much lower than average. While I am not worried about CTR (February has always been a bad month for zooms), zero sales scare me a bit more, since I know they are related to the last months of 2019, which is usually a rather decent period. Yet, I know that a couple sales I made in January has not been reported yet; so, I'm still confident I'll get better numbers by the end of the month, and I hope it will be the same for you.

Edited February 13, 2020 by riccarbi

[BobD]

Sales are pretty poor with 3 in January and just 1 so far this month. well down on the same period last year.

Zooms are pretty good with 26 in jan and 10 so far in feb.

 

[Ed Rooney]

4 hours ago, John Walker said:

Half way through the month. 

 

Zero cleared balance.

Zooms on a sharp downward slope.

Zero Sales.

CTR almost dropped of the bottom of the graph.

My pet ant has died.

 

I know we get fluctuations but I haven't had a downward trend like this for a very long time.  ☹️

 

I expect you guys are going to make me feel really bad by telling me what a wonderful month you are having

 

John

 

That sounds like my January. This month is much better. And, John, you have the better half of the month to go. 

 

Would it be indelicate of me to ask what happen your ant? That's ant not aunt, right? If you stepped on him, I don't want to hear about it. 

[Mr Standfast]

Hello John, it might be as simple as your usual picture buyers having had a really good Christmas and New year holiday and there was nothing in the pipeline to filter through in early February.  I always think rolling averages over 3 to 6 months give a better picture than snap shots.

 

Good luck.

 

[Betty LaRue]

19 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

That sounds like my January. This month is much better. And, John, you have the better half of the month to go. 

 

Would it be indelicate of me to ask what happen your ant? That's ant not aunt, right? If you stepped on him, I don't want to hear about it. 

When John put sugar in his coffee, he spilled a small pile on the countertop. The pet ant found it and ate too much. It was bad for its diabetes, and it kicked the bucket...er...sugar pile. Poor 🐜 

[MarkK]

You definitely aren't alone.

I cannot recall a time I didn't have at least a couple sales in the pipeline waiting to be cleared. I am now going on my second month with nothing in the pipeline.  Over 50 zooms since October with none of them resulting in a sale.  No sales since early December.  This isn't normal at all for me and quite worrisome.  This is after having zero sales in November, then a week of showing sales in early December (after posting on this board saying I had no sales for the month of November), and no sales since.  My CTR has been steadily decreasing from above a 1.0 last January to a consistent CTR around .6 give or take some.  Coincidentally the sales that appeared in early December all cleared on time....that was the first time everything cleared at once....could it have something to do with the acquisition by PA? As for zooms, I have had 50 since October and not one turning into a sale......that is not normal for me at all thus adding to my questioning about what is happening.

Edited February 13, 2020 by MarkK
zooms

[John Richmond]

Sales seem fairly normal with 4 for $115 gross (all direct) to date.  I always do better in the second half of the month so not worried at the moment.  Zooms and CTR both down a little - only 25 and 0,83 for the month so far when I'd normally average 40-50 zooms and CTR above 1.00 - but as one from earlier in the month has suddenly appeared today I wonder if there has been some under reporting in measures.

 

 

[Reimar]

Yep - bad month.  Only $15 so far.  Luckily my MS stuff has pulled in 10x that much so far this month.  Makes you wonder.

[John Walker]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

That sounds like my January. This month is much better. And, John, you have the better half of the month to go. 

 

Would it be indelicate of me to ask what happen your ant? That's ant not aunt, right? If you stepped on him, I don't want to hear about it. 

 

My pet ant just died of old age Edo.  He lived a good life.  I had him since he was a mere egg.  I made him a tiny kennel but he preferred to sleep on my pillow.  I took him to ant training classes and we used to do long walks together.  I noticed that he was starting to tire after the first 8 miles so I had to pick him up and carry him.  He passed away peacefully in his sleep.  

[Sultanpepa]

42 minutes ago, John Walker said:

 

My pet ant just died of old age Edo.  He lived a good life.  I had him since he was a mere egg.  I made him a tiny kennel but he preferred to sleep on my pillow.  I took him to ant training classes and we used to do long walks together.  I noticed that he was starting to tire after the first 8 miles so I had to pick him up and carry him.  He passed away peacefully in his sleep.  

You may jest but my son keeps ants as pets. Fascinating creatures really.

[Colin Woods]

2 minutes ago, Sultanpepa said:

Fascinating creatures really.

I like ants too, though I don't keep them as pets. But I can tell you a funny ant story, just as an antidote to the February gloom. One morning in my house in Torquay I noticed that I had developed an overnight ant problem. I had a double line of them marching in from the back somewhere, along the skirting board, in front of my fireplace, along my bookcases and then out under the front door. I phoned a few people and they said that I had to put poison down. As I said I quite like ants, they are smart and clean, they aren't like flies that walk about on poo and rubbish. So I decided to try something humane before resorting to poisoning them. And this is all absolutely true, so follow me closely here. I cut out a circle of white card about the size of a penny and coloured it red with a white bar across the middle, which is the road sign meaning No Entry. I stuck it on a matchstick and then put the matchstick on a little base made of blue tack. I then put the No Entry sign next to the little hole where they were coming in. And, next morning, to my great surprise - no ants. Not one. How cool is that? Its a completely true story and its something nicer to think about than Alamy being sold off, or the fact that its going sown to -27C tonight (here in QC). To this day I have a mental image of my ants backing out of the hole, saying "Sod it, its a No Entry" and finding another way around.

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, Colin Woods said:

I like ants too, though I don't keep them as pets. But I can tell you a funny ant story, just as an antidote to the February gloom. One morning in my house in Torquay I noticed that I had developed an overnight ant problem. I had a double line of them marching in from the back somewhere, along the skirting board, in front of my fireplace, along my bookcases and then out under the front door. I phoned a few people and they said that I had to put poison down. As I said I quite like ants, they are smart and clean, they aren't like flies that walk about on poo and rubbish. So I decided to try something humane before resorting to poisoning them. And this is all absolutely true, so follow me closely here. I cut out a circle of white card about the size of a penny and coloured it red with a white bar across the middle, which is the road sign meaning No Entry. I stuck it on a matchstick and then put the matchstick on a little base made of blue tack. I then put the No Entry sign next to the little hole where they were coming in. And, next morning, to my great surprise - no ants. Not one. How cool is that? Its a completely true story and its something nicer to think about than Alamy being sold off, or the fact that its going sown to -27C tonight (here in QC). To this day I have a mental image of my ants backing out of the hole, saying "Sod it, its a No Entry" and finding another way around.

Best story I’ve heard yet.

 

I have an African Gray parrot. I cook Echo mixed vegetables, and cut up fruit for her. She eats well but enjoys tossing bits out of her cage and onto the tiled floor. Rather like a toddler does.  If I want a life, I can’t stand by with a broom, dustpan or mop all day. I clean twice a day.

Never had ants in Oklahoma City. Since moving to Kansas, during the warmer months, the ants find their way into her dedicated room (yes, she has her own room) to the bits of corn or grapes on the floor. They ignore the green beans for the sweet stuff.

They also climb the legs of her large cage and swarm her food bowl. I’ve found one or two that have had watery deaths in her water dish.
Sorry, but this means war. Spring is coming and I have to be ready.  🧨🐜

Betty

[Bryan]

Not had ants in the house, but they occasionally build mini ant hills between the bricks in the garden path. However, on one occasion last summer we had some large black slugs appear in the kitchen overnight, on the tiled floor and on a worktop. Think I would prefer ants.......  Indeed I could hire a bunch of them to keep the slugs at bay.