Paulstw Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have a strange way of working things in my head. I see Alamy like a huge shopping centre, a mall if you will. Each contributor is a shop in the mall. People come in searching for things. Some shops sell similar things, and shoppers will pop in and out of other peoples shops to 'view' certain things. I see views like that. I think they are a valuable tool to keep an eye on trends, and where your keywording is either spot on or miles off. Much like when a store puts the running shoe they want to sell in with the high heels to attract more buyers. However at the end of the day all it shows it that someone is browsing about, giving you the "I'm just looking" talk. Zooms, however, I imagine it's people coming into your store, and lifting a particular item, looking closely at it, and putting it back and walking out. You have no idea of their intention to buy until much later when they've gone around other shops to look. With this in mind, I do find zooms quite a frustrating part of the Alamy stats. Some of you will have views/zooms into 5 figures and this may not apply, but for the small folk like me fruiting about in the 1 a week it can be puzzling. This week alone, three separate images have been zoomed three times. One even the actual image code was searched for. This sounds promising, and does get your hopes up. Sometimes I wonder. Only if a buyer could provide feedback. We go into a store, and pick something up. We might not like it because of a particular thing that puts us off. We give instant feedback on it without even thinking. "I don't like that material" or "I don't like how the door opens on that washing machine"What if a buyer could provide feedback? (if they wanted) Wouldn't this be useful? I know as photographers, we're supposed to get it right so the buyer has no doubts, however, we're only human and we can't take perfect images every time. I t would be great if I buyer could say "I like this image a lot, however, it would be a winner for us if it was taken later on in the day, or some constructive feedback so that they don't feel it's just a get what you see service. It might indeed fuel the low burning fires in photographers to get back out there. I don't know, I'm just rambling now. Overall though, I am fairly happy with the way my own work is going. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 If you are getting around 10 zooms per week on a 1217 image collection then your CTR must be sky high and you are doing a damn site better than the majority on here. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have a strange way of working things in my head. I see Alamy like a huge shopping centre, a mall if you will. Each contributor is a shop in the mall. People come in searching for things. Some shops sell similar things, and shoppers will pop in and out of other peoples shops to 'view' certain things. I see views like that. I think they are a valuable tool to keep an eye on trends, and where your keywording is either spot on or miles off. Much like when a store puts the running shoe they want to sell in with the high heels to attract more buyers. However at the end of the day all it shows it that someone is browsing about, giving you the "I'm just looking" talk. Zooms, however, I imagine it's people coming into your store, and lifting a particular item, looking closely at it, and putting it back and walking out. You have no idea of their intention to buy until much later when they've gone around other shops to look. With this in mind, I do find zooms quite a frustrating part of the Alamy stats. Some of you will have views/zooms into 5 figures and this may not apply, but for the small folk like me fruiting about in the 10 a week it can be puzzling. This week alone, three separate images have been zoomed three times. One even the actual image code was searched for. This sounds promising, and does get your hopes up. Sometimes I wonder. Only if a buyer could provide feedback. We go into a store, and pick something up. We might not like it because of a particular thing that puts us off. We give instant feedback on it without even thinking. "I don't like that material" or "I don't like how the door opens on that washing machine" What if a buyer could provide feedback? (if they wanted) Wouldn't this be useful? I know as photographers, we're supposed to get it right so the buyer has no doubts, however, we're only human and we can't take perfect images every time. I t would be great if I buyer could say "I like this image a lot, however, it would be a winner for us if it was taken later on in the day, or some constructive feedback so that they don't feel it's just a get what you see service. It might indeed fuel the low burning fires in photographers to get back out there. I don't know, I'm just rambling now. Overall though, I am fairly happy with the way my own work is going. Paul If you are getting around 10 zooms per week on a 1217 image collection then your CTR must be sky high and you are doing a damn site better than the majority on here. Andy Sorry Andy, I meant one a week up till two weeks ago where it went up to 3 a week. Totally fail on the proof reading there. I do have a 0.54 CTR if that's useful info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have a strange way of working things in my head. I see Alamy like a huge shopping centre, a mall if you will. Each contributor is a shop in the mall. People come in searching for things. Some shops sell similar things, and shoppers will pop in and out of other peoples shops to 'view' certain things. I see views like that. I think they are a valuable tool to keep an eye on trends, and where your keywording is either spot on or miles off. Much like when a store puts the running shoe they want to sell in with the high heels to attract more buyers. However at the end of the day all it shows it that someone is browsing about, giving you the "I'm just looking" talk. Zooms, however, I imagine it's people coming into your store, and lifting a particular item, looking closely at it, and putting it back and walking out. You have no idea of their intention to buy until much later when they've gone around other shops to look. With this in mind, I do find zooms quite a frustrating part of the Alamy stats. Some of you will have views/zooms into 5 figures and this may not apply, but for the small folk like me fruiting about in the 10 a week it can be puzzling. This week alone, three separate images have been zoomed three times. One even the actual image code was searched for. This sounds promising, and does get your hopes up. Sometimes I wonder. Only if a buyer could provide feedback. We go into a store, and pick something up. We might not like it because of a particular thing that puts us off. We give instant feedback on it without even thinking. "I don't like that material" or "I don't like how the door opens on that washing machine" What if a buyer could provide feedback? (if they wanted) Wouldn't this be useful? I know as photographers, we're supposed to get it right so the buyer has no doubts, however, we're only human and we can't take perfect images every time. I t would be great if I buyer could say "I like this image a lot, however, it would be a winner for us if it was taken later on in the day, or some constructive feedback so that they don't feel it's just a get what you see service. It might indeed fuel the low burning fires in photographers to get back out there. I don't know, I'm just rambling now. Overall though, I am fairly happy with the way my own work is going. Paul If you are getting around 10 zooms per week on a 1217 image collection then your CTR must be sky high and you are doing a damn site better than the majority on here. Andy Sorry Andy, I meant one a week up till two weeks ago where it went up to 3 a week. Totally fail on the proof reading there. I do have a 0.54 CTR if that's useful info. Sounds a bit more like it. I find zoom/sales ratios to be randomly random. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Quiet old day up there is it Paul ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 David, you got me. in between VLAN troubleshooting and Kingfisher field work at lunch there's not a lot going on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Clemson Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Zooms on individual images can take weeks or months to turn into an actual sale, but a recent discussion on the forum suggests there is at least good chance of a sale in these circumstances. I had just such a one yesterday from an image which was zoomed on its reference way back last June. I doubt if a busy picture editor would ever want to provide feedback on each image they zoom. They probably assume we are professional enough to know what we are doing and to do it right; which itself opens a whole can of worms about the variable quality one might find in a partially curated collection of 41 million images... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dov makabaw Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Hi Paul Love your analogy that Alamy is like a mall. I guess Alamy would be the shop owners while we are the sales staff working on a no salary, commission only, basis. When potential buyers come in and browse it wakes us up and gives us hope that there is life out there and the potential of activity. When he/she picks up and inspects or asks about a product we are encouraged, hopeful and more optimistic that we may eat tonight. When he/she buys our joy knows no bounds until we see that they have got a discount card that comes out of our commission. I agree - views are great as they are a sign that something is going on. Zooms are even better as they give us hope for a sale. Sales are great until we see the price and compare that to the prices of a few years ago. Hey ho. The alternative is nothing or do something else! You pays your money, you makes your choices. dov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Getting zoomed is mostly a feel-good thing. With a portfolio of roughly 5000 my usual tally used to stand at 40 to 50 most current months. It seems to be down to about 15 lately which perhaps should worry me, but I'm not breaking into a sweat. When I look at what has sold over the past few months I see that no more than one in ten have been zoomed. When the mouse-over feature was introduced, it made the zooms far less relevant. But it may well effect your CRT a bit As David suggests, on a quiet/rainy day we ponder these things. Time out there with the camera is likely to be more productive. I should follow my own advice more! Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisken Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have too little activity to give anywhere near a definitive answer. From my own experience most of the sales I've had weren't zoomed at all. There's only one this month that was zoomed and then sold almost immediately. So, I don't rely on how many zooms to views there are on my port. I check the views against search terms used to fine tune keywords and prevent too many false returns on client searches. Krisken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManWay Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yes a good analogy - pity Alamy lets the feckin' shoplifters get away with it! In fact they seem to encourage shoplifting. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yes a good analogy - pity Alamy lets the feckin' shoplifters get away with it! In fact they seem to encourage shoplifting. Richard Ah, the beauty of a public forum . . . dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabbro Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yes a good analogy - pity Alamy lets the feckin' shoplifters get away with it! In fact they seem to encourage shoplifting. Richard Yeah, take this pair of shoes home, you don't have to pay right now, wear them for up to a year. If you don't like it, you don't have pay a dime. Feel free to exchange for any size you like, any time. By the way, if you sign this paper (UK Newspaper Scheme), it will only cost you $5.95. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Yates Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 If microstock was the pound shop, would ALAMY be Tesco? Regards Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin paterson Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 IF the Devil is reading this..would U please zoom more of mine !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 The level of creativity is strong in this thread Cheers guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Zooms may not be the work of the Devil, but this thread might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrioticAlien Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Zooms may not be the work of the Devil, but this thread might be. Could this be a conspiracy theory? hmm... This is going to be tough one to crack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Wait a minute . . . zoom lenses are made by the devil? Is this what Alamy says? Does this have anything to do with the sin bin? Yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylineboy Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 great way of describing it, i think alamy could use it to help explain how it works, i know as a newbie it took a few re-reads to get it myself. charge them for the quote / description though lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kuta Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Zooms may not be the work of the Devil, but this thread might be. At least it didn't turn out to be a zooms vs. primes thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 It was clear in my head how I wanted to lay out the thread but I got the idea pretty fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Zooms may not be the work of the Devil, but this thread might be. At least it didn't turn out to be a zooms vs. primes thread. Or Nikon Vs. Canon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 If microstock was the pound shop, would ALAMY be Tesco? Regards Craig Is there a Canadian translation for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 If microstock was the pound shop, would ALAMY be Tesco? Regards Craig Is there a Canadian translation for this? Suffice it to say it intimates Alamy are perhaps just "making puppies" when it comes to securing decent prices for our work . . . dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.