Antonis Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Hello to everyone I have joined Alamy on September 2013 and I have zero sales for all this period until now. I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong. It looks to me very strange not to have sales for 8 or 9 months. Could someone help me by giving me some advices?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Sales are generally slow to appear especially with a portfolio with a few images. It took a long time (about 18 months) for my first sale to appear. The more images in your portfolio the better your chances, assuming you are shooting what the customers are looking for, processing and keywording correctly. Keep producing good quality work and build your portfolio and the sales will come. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonis Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Thank you Allan. Yes this is what I'm doing. I upload as regularly as I can. I hope there will be better days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Endicott Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Hello to everyone I have joined Alamy on September 2013 and I have zero sales for all this period until now. I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong. It looks to me very strange not to have sales for 8 or 9 months. Could someone help me by giving me some advices?? Aside from the relatively small portfolio, I would really think more about the keywords you are using. A quick example - in this image I would question the use of the following keywords...consumerism, used, clouds, manufacturing, production, blue, dirt, cartons, sky, factory, business, technology, background, white, worker, indoors, truck, processing, process Here's why...you may see 'consumerism' but that term is generally associated with shopping or people spending money as opposed to a recycling facility. Sure the paper is 'used' but when and how would that be a relevent search term? Would a picture researcher looking for a recycling plant do a search for 'used paper'? How are 'clouds' relevant to this image? Is this what you expect to look for when you search for clouds? There isn't any 'manufacturing' going on here - it's a pile of recycled paper. What is being 'produced'? What would a picture researcher be looking for when they search for 'production'? What does the color 'blue' or 'white' have to do with the image? Where is the 'worker'? Where is the 'truck'? Why don't you have 'forklift' as a keyword? Is this really 'indoors'? What 'technology' is present in the image? I would really examine your keywords closely. In fact, an easier way to explain it is click on the keyword when you view your image and see what other images come up. Are they similar? Are they of the same concept? Keywording is something we all struggle with but it's EXTREMELY relevant with relation to helping image researchers find out images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I only looked at the first page of your photographs and while, in my opinion there are many well lit and composed images, there is little or no information. I.E. Who, What, Where, When and How? I would suggest that you look at an image and think first, Why would someone license this image? Then What does this image illustrate? and then how do I write captions and keywords that help the people who would license the image find it in the 40 million + other images available on Alamy. FYI Alamy is just one large source of many for most people that license images for reproduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arletta Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I have joined Alamy on September 2013 and I have zero sales for all this period until now. I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong. It looks to me very strange not to have sales for 8 or 9 months. Could someone help me by giving me some advices?? Guys told you what is wrong with keywords and titles/ description. I would say: - they are right! - you have really nice looking images, - you have 597 files, - you have to change it to 1597 files (with perfect keywords and informations), try find YOUR niche, - then you have to wait for results about 4 months to see regular sales. (wait doesn't mean sitting on your chair and watching the screen ) (I had regular sales with over 700 files but I do all kind photos from food in studio shot or authentic, with news, products, nature, birds, plants, landscapes, macro, ... everything! Maybe that's the way or maybe... ? You tell us after few next months of hard work ) Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 The model based work, which should be the best selling, is often too aimed at microstock. It might sell a little at Dreamstime but really is not ideal for non-micro. If you shoot the 'man in a field', 'man with binoculars' as a businessman or a scientist (different clothes), you bring a whole new set of keywords and clients into the mix. A man in a field is just that but by aiming at different clients, you increase the chance of sales. There's a Martin Barraud set (probably on Alamy) shot for OJO which illustrates this. You have some good studio images But also some that are really microstocky from same set Model lifestyle work has to be believable to sell in enough quantity at non-micro in order to recoup costs. Shoot less 'posed model' and more 'caught in the moment' and you will sell. The scooter/woman shots - too posed, don't feel natural but wouldn't take much to have top notch set. Single people in shots are common, if you can get MR groups (three or more) you have much greater sales potential. You can sell with small numbers, even on Alamy, provided you create shots which are in demand from customer base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Hi. I'd agree with what was said above about quantity of images and information. I would add that I started supplying another agent at the beginning of last year. My first sales came seven months after the first submission. Later sales have all come at least seven months after the relevant images were submitted. Admittedly, that agent reports sales only after the money has cleared, unlike Alamy, who report sooner, but it does show that there is a quite predictable wait before sales start coming in. Keep submitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I don't believe you need thousands of photos to have regular sales. I have had six sales so far this month, with about 900 uploaded. I had my first sale after one month and only 50 for sale. I think your models are perfect. The teenage girl is adorable in every shoot and even your thief is a lovable ham. I spot checked your keywords and they all had the phrases I was looking for before I checked your words. I think it just may be that your subject matter isn't what buyers are searching for? Could you try to turn your thief into a computer hacker? That would sell. Try to capture trendy topics and more variety of subject matter. Try photographing food, pets, Holidays, retirement, saving money, etc. Get someone with very old hands texting. That would sell. You have a very hip style, you just need to shoot more current topics IMHO (in my humble opinion). I'll send you a specific list via a private message. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I don't think there is much of a market for posed model-facing-camera-putting-on-expression studio shots - you might get micro sales. There is no editorial content, commercial users now want images that idealise the ordinary/everyday. Packaging? Doubtful. Corporate communications? Ditto. See if you can envisage a usage for this kind of imagery. If you want to make good sales with a small number of images then using released models is the right way to go. I was very struck with this image: a bit high key, the play on pastel reds and blue, a meaningful sky. Transpose this style for other uses and subjects employing models, and you will be in a much better position to attract high end sales. Models should not be staring at camera but doing something. Running, resting, having a picnic, etc - and then move on to imagined scenarios. This is the kind of imagery that Alamy is fond of putting on the home page, so that should tell you something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonis Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 thank you all for your response and advices. I'll go through and yes I'll check again the keywords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonis Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 I don't believe you need thousands of photos to have regular sales. I have had six sales so far this month, with about 900 uploaded. I had my first sale after one month and only 50 for sale. I think your models are perfect. The teenage girl is adorable in every shoot and even your thief is a lovable ham. I spot checked your keywords and they all had the phrases I was looking for before I checked your words. I think it just may be that your subject matter isn't what buyers are searching for? Could you try to turn your thief into a computer hacker? That would sell. Try to capture trendy topics and more variety of subject matter. Try photographing food, pets, Holidays, retirement, saving money, etc. Get someone with very old hands texting. That would sell. You have a very hip style, you just need to shoot more current topics IMHO (in my humble opinion). I'll send you a specific list via a private message. Good luck. thank you Lisa for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilotchap Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I too do not get many sales I have had 3 in total in about 5 years on Alamy I have 688 pictures and add a few every month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biel Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I sell some pics for 800, 900$ and are not "anything special", so all is luck. I have aprox. your numbers. If your photos are "normal" stock as everyone makes, and it seems, you need a lot and a good search ranking otherwise your pics are drops in a sea in a remote area. some of MBS are street "everyday" events in my medium city, a priori "absurd" events. note, the last 13 months whitout sales perhaps because I are out of distribui. newspappers... well I prefer a sale easy traceable for 240 or 900$ than a lot of 12$!!! good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dov makabaw Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Some great pics but a fair quantity of similars. Keywording issues as already mentioned. 4 females? Girls! It does take time to generate sales, especially on the editorial side. A bit more variety and more pics and a lot of patience will eventually bring results. Good luck. dov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christian58 Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Not enough images Antonis! neither have I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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