31 zooms, only 3 sales...what am I doing wrong?

[Kamira]

3 hours ago, Marianne said:

@Kamira

 

The link between zooms, CTR and sales is not always as clear-cut as you'd think. For example, my CTR was well above average for a good stretch of time stretch during which I had my worst sales record ever in over a decade here. Eventually it dropped to an abysmal level for a few months so I was surprised when, last month, when my CTR was still abysmal, my sales shot up significantly, with only one image similar to one that sold having been zoomed out of all my sales. I've had months where quite a few of my images are the only ones zoomed out of 100 or more images in a search, yet months later, none of them have been licensed (and this is for images not available elsewhere) and other months like November where zooms and CTR are below average and sales are strong. I'd note that half of last month's sales were of places well covered by Alamy so placement presumably was good despite my low CTR. And a couple were available elsewhere - though ironically it would cost more for certain uses at a particular micro than here. 

 

Did you have 31 zooms this month (in which case I'm surprised you had so few sales) or 31 in the past 6 months? The later would  be extremely low.

 

How many views are you getting? This also gives you a sense of whether your keywords are working. Is it consistent month to month, are views growing steadily as your portfolio grows? During the timeframe when my CTR was above average but sales were bad, I noticed a drop in my average views for some months while recently views are nearly back to a more normal level. This certainly affects sales. 

 

Hi Marianne

 

Thanks so much for your help.

 

I've had 35 sales.since I started uploading in June and 6870 views. My CTR right now is 0.51.

 

I started in June so I didn't had 3K images all this time.

 

Since I made the original post I've had three more sales but at really low prices considering the small number of sales. I mean...at other agencies the average income.per sale is lower than here but the number of sales compensates that by a wide margin.

 

Again...thanks for your interest and tour really informative answer.

[Marianne]

5 hours ago, Kamira said:

Hi Marianne

 

Thanks so much for your help.

 

I've had 35 sales.since I started uploading in June and 6870 views. My CTR right now is 0.51.

 

I started in June so I didn't had 3K images all this time.

 

Since I made the original post I've had three more sales but at really low prices considering the small number of sales. I mean...at other agencies the average income.per sale is lower than here but the number of sales compensates that by a wide margin.

 

Again...thanks for your interest and tour really informative answer.

 

You're welcome. Glad it was helpful. Give it some more time and good luck. 

[Niels Quist]

On 20/11/2020 at 16:55, Kamira said:

I'd really appreciate your advice

 

- and it doesn't help to sell the same images on microstock. It takes half a second to find images in cheaper version.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Niels Quist

[meanderingemu]

On 09/12/2020 at 07:11, Pawel Piotr said:

. Just continue to upload like me and be patient. Best, P

 

 

I will have to disagree on that.  If someone is unhappy with the results from Alamy, just uploading more without trying to understand the reasons behind said results and make adjustments will only lead to more of the same- this sound like doubling down on a bad market bet....  There are dozens of thread around with pertinent information on focus, ideas and optimising the approach- yes it takes time and effort, no one said it would be easy 

[CMH Images]

Kamira,

These things take time. I have over 30,000 images for sale and average about 150 sales a year for about $6,000-$8,000 a year in additional income. That's an average of about $40-$60 per sale. Some are only selling for about $8 but others are still going for over $150 with a rare $500+ sale. My images cover thousands of different subject matters from over 150 countries. That being said, the pricing keeps getting lower and lower. Magazine and text books sales that used to go for $125-$250 are now going for $30 with widely extended licensing. It's very disheartening to see Alamy continue discounted their pricing. Certainly the photographers costs are not going down nor is the time it takes to process, color correct, spot clean and properly keyword our work and upload. I sell mostly wildlife and travel images and have never understood why the cover on a travel brochure is NOT considered "advertising" (which demands a higher price).

I know that 3,000 images sounds like a lot of images but if you consider that at any given time to sell an image the following has to happen: The buyer has to first be shopping on Alamy instead of many other sites. You have keyworded the exact words that he is using to search for what they want. Your images comes up high enough on the search that the buyer actually SEES your image before he finds something else and clicks out. And, even if they "click or zoom" your images perhaps the buyer needs a vertical and you only have a horizontal. He needs it from a very certain region or town. Maybe he wants a female subject instead of a male subject. Perhaps he really loves your shot but he wants more copy space or a different dominant color to go with his layout. Maybe they LOVE your shot and think it's perfect but the layout person or editor cuts the shot from the project. There are so many variables that the odds of picking your (or my!) image is really outrageous. I have very talented photographers who have 5,000 images on Alamy and have NEVER made a sale. So, you are doing much better than them! 

I KNOW it's a lot of work for not a lot of money these days. If these images would just be sitting on your computer doing nothing, well then even three sales are better than nothing! Give it some more time. If you are offering quality images that are well processed and keyworded you odds are better than most.

Hang in there,

Cindy

[Kamira]

6 hours ago, CMH Images said:

Kamira,

These things take time. I have over 30,000 images for sale and average about 150 sales a year for about $6,000-$8,000 a year in additional income. That's an average of about $40-$60 per sale. Some are only selling for about $8 but others are still going for over $150 with a rare $500+ sale. My images cover thousands of different subject matters from over 150 countries. That being said, the pricing keeps getting lower and lower. Magazine and text books sales that used to go for $125-$250 are now going for $30 with widely extended licensing. It's very disheartening to see Alamy continue discounted their pricing. Certainly the photographers costs are not going down nor is the time it takes to process, color correct, spot clean and properly keyword our work and upload. I sell mostly wildlife and travel images and have never understood why the cover on a travel brochure is NOT considered "advertising" (which demands a higher price).

I know that 3,000 images sounds like a lot of images but if you consider that at any given time to sell an image the following has to happen: The buyer has to first be shopping on Alamy instead of many other sites. You have keyworded the exact words that he is using to search for what they want. Your images comes up high enough on the search that the buyer actually SEES your image before he finds something else and clicks out. And, even if they "click or zoom" your images perhaps the buyer needs a vertical and you only have a horizontal. He needs it from a very certain region or town. Maybe he wants a female subject instead of a male subject. Perhaps he really loves your shot but he wants more copy space or a different dominant color to go with his layout. Maybe they LOVE your shot and think it's perfect but the layout person or editor cuts the shot from the project. There are so many variables that the odds of picking your (or my!) image is really outrageous. I have very talented photographers who have 5,000 images on Alamy and have NEVER made a sale. So, you are doing much better than them! 

I KNOW it's a lot of work for not a lot of money these days. If these images would just be sitting on your computer doing nothing, well then even three sales are better than nothing! Give it some more time. If you are offering quality images that are well processed and keyworded you odds are better than most.

Hang in there,

Cindy

Thanks Cindy. I really appreciate your answer.

 

 

[Pawel Piotr]

On 10/12/2020 at 13:12, meanderingemu said:

 

 

I will have to disagree on that.  If someone is unhappy with the results from Alamy, just uploading more without trying to understand the reasons behind said results and make adjustments will only lead to more of the same- this sound like doubling down on a bad market bet....  There are dozens of thread around with pertinent information on focus, ideas and optimising the approach- yes it takes time and effort, no one said it would be easy 

You may disagree, I just advised to be patient as this is what I was told to be be other members here. And they were right. Patience pays. 3 sales now within a month. 

[Chuck Nacke]

15 hours ago, Pawel Piotr said:

You may disagree, I just advised to be patient as this is what I was told to be be other members here. And they were right. Patience pays. 3 sales now within a month. 

Pawel,

 

Just wanted to say that I really like your images and the way they appear on Alamy.  Keeping in mind that I do not often care for scenic images.

 

Chuck

[Pawel Piotr]

On 30/01/2021 at 14:39, Chuck Nacke said:

Pawel,

 

Just wanted to say that I really like your images and the way they appear on Alamy.  Keeping in mind that I do not often care for scenic images.

 

Chuck

Thanks a lot Chuck