M.Chapman Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 8 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said: The problem remains the same; in online search, a handful of collections will dominate and if you're not in them, your images are very unlikely to be considered, no matter how you've keyworded them. With "smart" keywording and reasonable Alamy rank, it's possible to appear on page 1 or 2 even, in "common" searches, especially if the customer uses 2 words in their search. Yes, it's harder than it used to be, but it's still possible. 9 hours ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said: START THINKING MULTI WORD SEARCHES, MATES +1 Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKuzmin Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 5 hours ago, M.Chapman said: it's harder than it used to be The key word for me. Which supports Brian's suggestions. Put this together with customer searches limited to 1 page, reduced prices, =<40% share, and voila. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKuzmin Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) 16 hours ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said: No one may ever specifically seek "rare steak serving hand" or "Mexico City + X + Y +Z" This. I have several such fancy multi-word strings but they never were called by customers. Instead, the same images were zoomed in searches by 1-2-3 words which are present in my keyword lists as singulars. Edited March 31, 2023 by IKuzmin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 1 hour ago, IKuzmin said: This. I have several such fancy multi-word strings but they never were called by customers. Instead, the same images were zoomed in searches by 1-2-3 words which are present in my keyword lists as singulars. I was stated by Alamy some time ago the search engine would also pick out images using one/singular word out of a phrase or string of words. But it makes sense to add single words to the keyword list as well. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shergar Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Some advice from 2014! Do you have any advice for a new starter in the stock market? You are probably too late would be my advice. In terms of getting a reasonable return on your effort in a reasonable amount of time it’s much harder now than it was even 5 years ago. The rates per sale per image are low and the number of images are high so unless you have a very tightly edited, on message and focused set of images then anyone new entrant to the stock market is going to be frustrated. It’s still possible to make money but you need to have either a considerably large portfolio of images or a very well thought-out strategy for making hot, on-message stock images. What do you think the future of stock looks like? The market is getting bigger as more opportunities for picture use arrive. For instance The Mail Online are a veracious user of stock images online. When they do a web story they will be typically using 80 or 90 pictures online. So there are opportunities for newsy stock there. More and more people are blogging and tweeting and they are using images there. It’s how you monetise that usage is the problem. Certainly video stock is going to more popular. If I knew the answer I probably wouldn’t be telling you anyway as it’s such a competitive market you need to protect any slight advantage you have. http://www.creativesgo.com/keith_morris_guest_article.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) 20 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said: ...you have no real way of knowing what the intention of those searches was. Were they looking to promote beef consumption? Sell restaurant equipment? Convey a general sense of deliciousness? El Señor Conquistador Yarvain, your chosen thought process alien to me. Never do I think about reading buyers' minds, its only about whether photo I'm about to take is salable or not & can I improve composition to make more salable... 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 Greater supply aka greater volume = more net $$ if (a) one is already licensing images regularly (if one is not, one must, IMO, "back up" & reconsider subjects one is pursuing) (b) one adds volume that varies from one's existing volume (e.g., adding new Mexico City images of subject that one has never taken) Overall if one licenses, say 1 in 10 images that one has submitted over the years, there is NO REASON one could not maintain the same ratio for ADDED supply... PS. why Mexico City? just checked, (10) PAlamy Mexico licenses this month, (1) from most recent trip -- over extended period trips still pay for themselves plus some profit -- keeping in mind PAlamy now my #2 net$$ agency... Edited March 31, 2023 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I must admit, I don't bother looking at customer searches. I just keep a good look out for published stock images and try to produce what I think are saleable images. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) 45 minutes ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said: plus some profit -- keeping in mind PAlamy now my #2 net$$ agency... Same for me. As far as I see Alamy market share ( their gross revenue ) is more less static and has been for close to two decades ( which must mean a real terms decline in revenue). At the same time the number of images on Alamy continues to outstrip demand. I went non-exclusive in 2012 for these reasons. As to what sells? All I know is that images can only sell if they are created, uploaded, and offered for sale. I can only see my sales so that is a tiny fraction and no basis to make Alamy-wide judgements. I do see that more obscure, specialist subjects do better than more generic others. Sadly, Alamy has not found value in its exclusive collection ( approx 7% of images at the time of commission reduction). The conclusion is to me obvious if one genuinely wants more stock sales - have images in more markets. Edited March 31, 2023 by geogphotos 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKuzmin Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 1 hour ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said: Overall if one licenses, say 1 in 10 images that one has submitted over the years, there is NO REASON one could not maintain the same ratio for ADDED supply False of course. Consider dilution effect. Individual and cumulative. Unless you are such great master that your images are always on the 1st search page, and customers cannot resist buying them in favor of other. Even if this is your case, it's not about everyone here, me included. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, geogphotos said: ...Alamy market share ( their gross revenue ) is more less static and has been for close to two decades... oh Ian, The Great Jabmeister... (yes, I've been jabbed by The Great Jabster)Betty!!? He's gonna jab me again for this !! 😫 😫 😫 😫 To be clear, I am grateful to Alamy for decades of net$$ & some lofty placements, like National Geographic, New York Times, etc. But we are lucky about that other source of net$$, too. Very lucky. Edited March 31, 2023 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 1 hour ago, IKuzmin said: False of course. you, sir, are neglectful -- you do not include my previous point to that:"(b) one adds volume that varies from one's existing volume Overall if one licenses, say 1 in 10 images that one has submitted over the years, there is NO REASON one could not maintain the same ratio for ADDED supply..." read the red, ALL the red, if you don't get it first time, read twice, thrice, or whatever it takes... I can't help any further, for I am flummoxed & jabbed... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 5 minutes ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said: oh Ian, The Great Jabbermeister... Okay. I'll shut up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) 8 minutes ago, geogphotos said: Okay. I'll shut up. oh Ian, never! See correction. Thou art (or were) a Jabmeister... Betty! I'm getting in trouble here, help!! Edited March 31, 2023 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I knew you would liven up the forum, Jeff. Thanks. Don't leave us, Ian. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 14 minutes ago, NYCat said: I knew you would liven up the forum, Jeff. Thanks. Don't leave us, Ian. Paulette No worries about that Paulette👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 I decided years ago that my (relative) success at Alamy was due to these factors: - I'm a native English speaker, good at spelling, good vocabulary = captions and keywords that do well in searches - I'm lucky enough to live and work in locations/situations that relatively few other Alamy contributors do/can = little competition in niche areas It was a very funny day when I realised the quality of my photos (above a certain technical limit) wasn't really a factor. The combination of these two factors has meant I sell enough to maintain a high ranking in search returrns, which of course reinforces itself over time. I do feel sorry for newcomers who as I understand it are assigned an average ranking and thus must struggle to even get viewed, let alone licensed. One tip that might help others who are in that situation: whenever I'm visiting a new (or even old) place for other purposes, I do an All of Alamy search and sort the results by views so that I can see any recent customer searches that returned less than 100 views. Often these are simply new buildings or venues or whatever. Then I'll make a couple of pictures as I'm passing by, and upload them. Very often they'll sell within the next few months. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 13 hours ago, geogphotos said: Okay. I'll shut up. I won't. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 17 hours ago, NYCat said: I knew you would liven up the forum, Jeff. Thanks. Don't leave us, Ian. Paulette ah Paulette I fear I've done irreparable utter catastrophic damage !! Blackballed by Ian for life! Ne'er to advise me nor comment again... I'm loo water & Ian is flushing me away... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 5 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said: I won't. 'ats the spirit, mate. 👆 👆 👆 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 (edited) Jeff, I don't speak Pirate but if you'll forgive American English, I can assure you that being blackballed by Ian isn't all that punitive. Indeed, I'm still open to paying him a visit in Norfolk or Suffolk or Eastfolk or Westfolk or wherever he is. What I can't imagine is ever going to England again. Perhaps if "The Ploughman's Lunch and the Miser's Feast" is re-issued. I would also have to deal with that terrible gaffe at the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards - you may remember that they nominated me for best British food writer even though I'm not British and don't use British words or phrases in my online forum posts although I will sometimes use the word "rubbish" within the confines of my own home. I ran the post through a pirate translator just in case: Bein' blackballed by ian isn't all that there punitive. Indeed, I be still open to payin' 'im a visit in norfolk or suffolk or eastfolk or westfolk or wherever 'e be. What I can't imagine be e'er goin' to england again. Perhaps if "the ploughman's lunch an' the miser's feast" be re-issued. I would also 'ave to deal with that there terrible gaffe at the seven seas gourmand cookbook awards - ye may remember that there they nominated me fer best british grub writer even though I be not british an' don't use british words or phrases in me online forum posts. Edited April 1, 2023 by Brian Yarvin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 13 minutes ago, Brian Yarvin said: I ran the post through a pirate translator just in case: Thanks Brian, I've been lost for a week, now it all makes sense! 😆 17 minutes ago, Brian Yarvin said: What I can't imagine is ever going to England again 'tisn't at all that bad in ye olde England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Okay Steve, I'll head on over when the in-laws let me use their spare room. Or as Jeff might say "I'll cross the Atlantic when me in-laws be permitten' me t' stay in thar spare cabin." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Brian Yarvin said: Jeff, I don't speak Pirate but.... I always think that Jeff comes across like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins 😃 Lend an ear mateys Edited April 1, 2023 by geogphotos 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Ian, I think you're right, but Chimney Sweep translators aren't as easy to find as pirate. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Dick VanDyke! He's still going strong at 97. Such a shame for P.L. Travers that they made Mary Poppins so sugary. Those were my favorite children's books. Beautifully written and rather tart. Paulette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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