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Hello colleagues,

 

I am very impressed about many photograpgers here how many sales they reach per month. It takes a lot of time and energy to reach that. Alamy seems to be a good income source for many photographers. It shows also that the level of images despite the larger tolerance of Alamy are higher here than on Microstock and makes me believe you will keep on be succesfull because of the different market. I take the example from my images that as good as not sold here.

 

I had a test phase with Alamy with my kind of "Casual" images. I uploaded 5.000 images in the last 3 months. This kind of images i also have on microstock that gives me good revenue. I see the sales passing every day. Smaller revenue per images but the amount of sales compensate it. With this kind of images i dont have any success on Alamy (my keywording in not better at Microstock).

 

So conclusion from my side:

I have as good as no sales with the same kind of images that i have on microstock. On microstock with half portfolio size far more sales from 1 agency. Not counting the others. On the other hand other photographers make here great income. So i think that the good earning photographers dont need to be afraid of Microstock since it has a totaly different group of clients.

 

Perhaps my problem is that i have to casual images that fits better in the Microstock world. Also i guess that UK and US has more potential.

 

Anyway i like Alamy anyway very much and hope still to see some more sales pop up. Also i like to read the topics in this forum. 

 

Mirco

 

 

 

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Mirco do you have exactly the same images on Alamy as you do on Microstock? If i was a picture buyer, searched and found an image of yours i liked on Alamy.

There is a chance i would also search Microstock and get it cheaper.

 

Regards

Craig

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Mirco do you have exactly the same images on Alamy as you do on Microstock? If i was a picture buyer, searched and found an image of yours i liked on Alamy.

There is a chance i would also search Microstock and get it cheaper.

 

Regards

Craig

 

Not exactly Craig...a smaller percentage yes. It is difficult in these days for me to decide to go fully to macro stock. I am trying to see if i can switch but in the meantime the revenues from microstock are coming in what foreces me to keep it running. This is i guess the issue. I feel like hypocriet. On one way i dont find it that great that Microstock sells for so lower fees comparing to Alamy but on the other hand i keep submitting to them since they have lots of juice for me :). This is the business and we all choose what works. I can understand the situation that some macrostock photographers are angry at microstockers but on the other side i have also understanding. It is like loosing everything for something that maybe will work.

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I try to separate the two issues of ( a ) those who submit images to micros, and ( B ). those who submit the exact same images to both Alamy and micros.

 

For a), well, each to his/her own.

 

. . . but for ( B ). . . . why?

 

dd

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I have an idea why you're not making sales but that should also be why I don't make sales - but I do, so it must be wrong. I also shoot lots of trivial minor stuff in passing, and it sells. Location of the images, and the terms used in captions and keywords? Maybe hiring a US/UK English keyword and caption translator would help your sales on micros and Alamy. My pictures are of often similar things but in the US, France, Italy, Spain, UK etc.

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Mirco... you say you have uploaded 5,000 images in the last three months. On work-rate alone you deserve a round of applause. After three months, most contributors might have uploaded a tenth of that amount.

 

However, sales take time to report. There are other delays between reporting and paying, then between paying and Alamy's pay-out to contributors. So the likelihood is that you are making sales; they just haven't been reported yet.

 

On another tack, you could be more selective about the pix you upload, and take more time and care in keywording...

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Mirco, your images look very saleable to me.  I think you just need to be patient but don't upload the SAME images to microstock otherwise why would a buyer buy them from here.

 

Pearl

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I also think it's your keywords (and the lack of) as well as your images.  I almost feel like you just want to load as many images as possible without putting much thought into them.  For example:  

DH56DF - green plant growing in a sunlight.  

What is the name of this green plant?  Common name and scientific name.  

 

DH0N92 - many collars for sale at a market.  

These are not collars.  What market?  etc.

 

DH56BP - Sidewalk passing the Raben office at the companies area in Gadki, Poland

This one I wouldn't even consider taking but that's subjective.  

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I try to separate the two issues of ( a ) those who submit images to micros, and ( B ). those who submit the exact same images to both Alamy and micros.

 

For a), well, each to his/her own.

 

. . . but for ( B ). . . . why?

 

dd

A few possible reasons..

 

Probably(??) a different customer base but, even if a buyer (who has no way of knowing the image is available elsewhere) decides to find a cheaper version on the micros, it is still a sale you wouldn’t otherwise have

It's down to where you think images will produce the greatest return, i.e. which is the main market and which is the "nice little bonus if it happens" market,

Amateur / dilettante / hobbyist point of view -   certain satisfaction in having virtually everything you put on sale actually selling

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I'm a newbie (here, but long time snapper) with a much smaller set than Mirco Vacca so far and struggle to get my head round the fact that 'boring and mundane' seems to sell so much better, so I am still looking at my own pictures and thinking about light and composition (or imagined popularity) than just getting straight, high quality shots and submitting them. Am I on the wrong track here?
Are straight from camera (un cropped for composition) shots of everyday things, events etc the real sellers?

 

Sorry Micro i'm not trying to hijack your thread.

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I'm a newbie (here, but long time snapper) with a much smaller set than Mirco Vacca so far and struggle to get my head round the fact that 'boring and mundane' seems to sell so much better, so I am still looking at my own pictures and thinking about light and composition (or imagined popularity) than just getting straight, high quality shots and submitting them. Am I on the wrong track here?

Are straight from camera (un cropped for composition) shots of everyday things, events etc the real sellers?

 

Sorry Micro i'm not trying to hijack your thread.

 

Hello Mickfly,

 

Dont worry..... i made this topic for sharing my experience. If you want to add something for your images it is very ok :). By the way i am not trying to discourage anybody because it is a fact that Alamy is very good income source for many so keep on going.

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I think you're really obsessed with uploading as much as possible in as little time as possible. Result: sloppy and hasty work. It looks as if you NEED to get a certain amount of shots every day and when you reached your daily quota, you race home, quickly add a few keywords, upload ......... and done. Am I right? -_-

I bet you spend 0 (zero) time to do some research. I'm also a non-English contributor and I'm very well aware I do not master this language 100%. Therefore, I spend A LOT of time on Wikipedia and other sites to find the correct words, synonyms, technical jargon, Latin names for fauna and flora, local and English names for locations (like Rødsand / Roedsand / Rodsand or Ieper / Ypres) etc. I try to use every single character in "Caption" and "Essential keywords" and more often than not, the 300 characters in "Main keywords" won't even suffice (walk, walking, walker, walkers, hike, hiking, hiker, hikers, backpack, backpacks, rucksack, rucksacks, people, leisure, recreation, autumn, colours, fall, colors, season, seasons, deciduous, forest, broadleaf, wood, broad-leaved, woodland, beech, trees, .... see it fills up the characters pretty quickly ;) ). It's not rare for me to post-process and keyword less than 30 images on a whole day just because the "research" was so very demanding.

Why do I invest all that time? Because you never know how the client will search for a specific image. Some contributors strongly believe in just a few strict keywords. For me, that's like fishing with just one line in the water. Hell, I want 100 fishing lines all around the pond. Guess who will catch more fish?

I know, I know, too much keywords could damage your ranking and blablabla .... :rolleyes: I can only state that I sell on a daily basis doing it my way and I manage to make a living from stock. It is bloody hard work ... but I love it ^_^

 

Like I already said in a previous topic, don't run around like a headless chicken snapping wildly at whatever crosses your path. Sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee and THINK first. Think about projects which might interest a customer and fully invest your time into those. Cover a whole region like for example the Châteaux of the Loire Valley (OK, it's already done to death, I know, but I'm not giving away MY projects ^_^ ) and while you're at it, cover typical architectural details in different building styles (neoclassical, rococo, baroque, etc.) as well. Wait for the right moment: good weather, perfect season like summer with green foliage or October/November with autumn colours (castles are surrounded by gardens and parks, remember).

Be a "man with a plan" ;).

And when you get home, spend time post-processing your images. Make them brighter, add some saturation, lighten up the shadows, ..... in other words surpass the competition by adding QUALITY.

 

Cheers,

Philippe

Philippe,

 

You must like me a lot to give me so much information :). Thanks a lot for that. Very appreciated. Your words let me think and thats another reason why i like Alamy so much. This Forum full of people that wants to help you.

 

Thanks for your very interesting answer.

 

Mirco

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I try to separate the two issues of ( a ) those who submit images to micros, and ( B ). those who submit the exact same images to both Alamy and micros.

 

For a), well, each to his/her own.

 

. . . but for ( B ). . . . why?

 

dd

A few possible reasons..

 

Probably(??) a different customer base but, even if a buyer (who has no way of knowing the image is available elsewhere) decides to find a cheaper version on the micros, it is still a sale you wouldn’t otherwise have

It's down to where you think images will produce the greatest return, i.e. which is the main market and which is the "nice little bonus if it happens" market,

Amateur / dilettante / hobbyist point of view -   certain satisfaction in having virtually everything you put on sale actually selling

 

I still don't understand . . . but following your line of thinking . . . my best sale in October was $190.84 . . . now, if I had decided that I wanted that pic also seen in a different customer base and made it available on one (or more) of the micros, what most (very) likely would have happened to my $190.84 sale? Remember, doing image searches on Google images or via ImageExchange plug-in or Tineye is not purely the domain of photographers looking for pirated copies of their work . . .

 

I still don't understand why this would be a "good" idea.

 

dd

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If someone has strong unique editorial images it would be daft to spread them around because they can demand high prices.  If, on the other hand, you have say 2000 general purpose stock images you could be losing hundreds of definite low value sales against a probability of a few high value sales.  If you do both, you could possibly lose some of the higher value sales.  I do think the "competing against yourself" argument is over stated.  With tens of millions of stock images available there is almost always a lower cost alternative.  If a buyer sees an image of mine here that he feels is too expensive and he buys the same image from the micros I get that much at least.  Otherwise, he could easily just buy something similar that was supplied by someone else.

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Hi Mirco

 

If you have uploaded 4,800 in three months this averages 2,400 images on sale for this period. This is early days for the gestation time for editorial images to reach sales status. You do not say how long you have Microstock but I would hazard that it is longer. There are many useful tips given by other contributors so I would just reiterate that having good, precise and relevant keywording takes time but brings its own rewards.

 

I must say that I am impressed by your 224 posts in three months. This may well be a record.

 

dov

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I showed 147 Alamy image sales to my local camera club, in sequence. I think they must have been wondering what on earth these pictures were ever taken for - this was not 'photography' by their definition. More like being a stamp collector trying to fill a book with every different colour and value. I could only explain to them that every image had a message or made a point, even the couple of shots which just showed 'Fasten Seat Belt' (who on earth would take that picture?).

 

But I didn't have anything like the path outside some offices, because I can't tell you what the story is. I do have pictures showing paths with disabled access signs, paths with walking figures marked on them, paths made of special surfaces for running, and if I could find one I would photograph the new luminous path material. The point is that all these tell a story or make a point - they can act like a headline or label, or punctuation in a story, or break up boring text.

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I think they must have been wondering what on earth these pictures were ever taken for - this was not 'photography' by their definition.

 

I was shooting the other day in one of Lakeland's more 'picturesque' villages (ie crammed full of tourist tat), but I wasn't doing the pretty shots. As I was shooting some ill-considered trifle, another photographer approached and said "Well, looks like I missed something" with heavy sarcasm. I was able to tell him that if I ever licensed the pic, I'd earn enough money to buy half of bitter and some crisps. That told him...

 

Oh... :(

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Mirco, it has taken me six years to upload fewer images than you have in three months. Don't stop now, you could very well be the next Jeff Greenberg!

 

(sorry, Jeff, just kidding).

 

P.S. If I were you, I think that I would take a well-deserved rest from shooting during the next couple of months and work on your captions and keywords, making them more detailed and specific as others have suggested. That might greatly improve your chances of making more sales. Quantity isn't everything IMO. Dobre szczęście.

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Thanks you all again for honoust sensefull replies.

 

I am looking at my images and it is true they could need some improvements to say it softly.....this i can change.

 

But i still think that the main reason is that there is a lacks of need of Polish subjects comparing to UK or US. 2 reasons:

 

1. When i put on the search field : Polish food market or Polish people or Poznan old square for example my images appear on the first page. So potential clients could see them

2. When i check on alamy measures on All Alamy for Polish search terms then i dont see many results in one year.

 

I heard some people saying it and also i start to believe it could be true that the real sales comes in after having a large collection of UK/US images. Otherwise you need images from many countries in Europe where i dont have the time for since i have a full time job. So maybe in my case i should see Alamy as a occasional income source next to the (sorry :() microstock agencies where i have a regular significant income from. I sell there for example also editorial Polish images and they are regulary downloaded even that i have there much less images then on Alamy. It split them for testing wich platform works better.

 

This is my speculation.... i could be wrong but i doubt it.

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Mirco,  perhaps the ideal solution would be for you to

  • hang back on uploading so much to Alamy for a bit and...
  • concentrate on following (specifically) the keywording advice offered here for your current portfolio on Alamy, then...
  • give it a few months and see what happens regarding sales here

That way, you can be happy that you have given it your best shot here, rather than either expending all your energy uploading a ton of images which don't sell or just giving up here completely.  In the meantime, you will still have your income from MS sources.  If the (re-)keywording brings positive results (i.e. sales), then you will know that it will be worth your time and energy to continue down this route.

 

Just a suggestion!  Hope it all works out for you and that the sales soon start flooding in. :)

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Mirco,  perhaps the ideal solution would be for you to

  • hang back on uploading so much to Alamy for a bit and...
  • concentrate on following (specifically) the keywording advice offered here for your current portfolio on Alamy, then...
  • give it a few months and see what happens regarding sales here

That way, you can be happy that you have given it your best shot here, rather than either expending all your energy uploading a ton of images which don't sell or just giving up here completely.  In the meantime, you will still have your income from MS sources.  If the (re-)keywording brings positive results (i.e. sales), then you will know that it will be worth your time and energy to continue down this route.

 

Just a suggestion!  Hope it all works out for you and that the sales soon start flooding in. :)

Losdemas,

 

For sure i will not give up on Alamy. I was acctualy planning your suggestion. I will not upload now sit back and do some keyword work. I think i should give it much more months before deciding anything. Thanks for you input.

 

Mirco

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Yes this is true.... the examples of  your images look really inviting. I like them a lot and was directly curious to know more about this place. So i get the message.

 

It is just that i also like to shoot some events like a recently Tasting Food event in Poznan. This is very difficult to sell here i guess. I have some of that images on Dreamstime for example and it sells. Off course for peanuts like 2 dollars in average for editorial. But if i would have 10.000 images of that kind online i could make some significan revenue. But Dreamstime has like 6,5 million costumers so it is very big change that there are many Polish clients. This is only one example. If i would had this event in the UK for sure i had much more chance to sell it on Alamy. At least when i look at the Alamy Measures.

 

Another thing is also that on Agencies like Dreamstime with allready 300 images you can see in less time what sells and what not to look at the sales and views of your images since everything there is real time. I can imagine Alamy needs much more time for that so thats why i will sit back work on my keywords and wait what time says.

 

Mirco

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