Jump to content

10 years on - how are you doing?


Recommended Posts

Mark,

 

my CTR is all over the place month to month.

 

This month it's 0.59 according to the dashboard's graph.

 

The numbers on my Dashboard are:

 

 

Period : 01 Aug 2013 to 28 Aug 2014

Total views for wim wiskerke: 102,088

Total zooms for wim wiskerke: 514

Total CTR for wim wiskerke: 0.50

Average CTR for wim wiskerke: 0.81

 

The numbers on my Pseudonym Summary however are:

 

Total Views for wim wiskerke  :  102,060

Total Zooms for wim wiskerke  :  514

Average CTR for wim wiskerke  :  1.01

Total CTR for wim wiskerke  :  0.50

 

(both just copy/paste for exactly the same period)

 

To put that small portfolio number into perspective: only 380 images have ever sold (760 x in total). So my collection is still 1300 or so too big, considering some have not been on line long enough to sell.

 

Wim

 

That's an excellent set of statistics. I've got a similar sized portfolio but over the same period my views are 14,000 with 71 Zooms, CTR 0.5%. Do you play the "BHZ" game? If so I assume you're doing pretty well? Although our CTRs are similar, I imagine your sales revenue/image gives you a much better ranking than me (Page 17). This helps generate views, zooms and sales. A virtuous circle. Not to mention that fact that your images and subjects are better than mine...

 

I think I need to reconsider my approach. I'll probably set up a new pseudo and transfer only my best images in there, with absolute minimum duplication, and see what happens.

 

Many thanks for your informative posts.

 

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Started in 2007 with a steady modest increase in revenue but for a dip in 2009. Steep rise in volume every year although levelling off during last couple of years. The way things are going I will need to increase the rate of growth of my portfolio just to maintain my revenue.

 

dov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's very interesting to see the graphs posted here - there is a remarkable similarity in incomes. I'd post mine but it is exactly the same shape as Wim's - the numbers down the left are different. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year when all the numbers are in. I'd like to think we are having an unfortunate downward blip at the moment - a rather lengthy one. Let's hope all the graphs start heading the right way again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's very interesting to see the graphs posted here - there is a remarkable similarity in incomes. I'd post mine but it is exactly the same shape as Wim's - the numbers down the left are different. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year when all the numbers are in. I'd like to think we are having an unfortunate downward blip at the moment - a rather lengthy one. Let's hope all the graphs start heading the right way again.

 

FWIW, my graphs are quite different in that both are heading upward this year after a slump in 2013. I think that we would have to hear from a lot more contributors before declaring an official blip. The forum is a relatively small sample. Then again, I could be an outlier. Wouldn't be the first time. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

It's very interesting to see the graphs posted here - there is a remarkable similarity in incomes. I'd post mine but it is exactly the same shape as Wim's - the numbers down the left are different. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year when all the numbers are in. I'd like to think we are having an unfortunate downward blip at the moment - a rather lengthy one. Let's hope all the graphs start heading the right way again.

 

FWIW, my graphs are quite different in that both are heading upward this year after a slump in 2013. I think that we would have to hear from a lot more contributors before declaring an official blip. The forum is a relatively small sample. Then again, I could be an outlier. Wouldn't be the first time. B)

 

 

Good to hear, John. As I mentioned, the year isn't over yet and the downturn at the right of the graph still has time to edge upwards. My main gripe is the number of images I've added without any visible results, but again, time will tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

It's very interesting to see the graphs posted here - there is a remarkable similarity in incomes. I'd post mine but it is exactly the same shape as Wim's - the numbers down the left are different. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year when all the numbers are in. I'd like to think we are having an unfortunate downward blip at the moment - a rather lengthy one. Let's hope all the graphs start heading the right way again.

 

FWIW, my graphs are quite different in that both are heading upward this year after a slump in 2013. I think that we would have to hear from a lot more contributors before declaring an official blip. The forum is a relatively small sample. Then again, I could be an outlier. Wouldn't be the first time. B)

 

 

Good to hear, John. As I mentioned, the year isn't over yet and the downturn at the right of the graph still has time to edge upwards. My main gripe is the number of images I've added without any visible results, but again, time will tell.

 

 

I know what you mean. Adding new images can sometimes feel like you're tossing them into a black hole. All my repeat sellers are older images, although every so often a recent one gets zoomed and/or leased. Wim probably has the right idea with his "lean and mean" collection. Perhaps it's possible to reach a critical mass point where adding more images starts to become counterproductive. It reminds me a bit of second-hand bookstore owners who just can't say "no thanks" to people who come in to sell their old books. They can eventually drown in their own inventory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

It's very interesting to see the graphs posted here - there is a remarkable similarity in incomes. I'd post mine but it is exactly the same shape as Wim's - the numbers down the left are different. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year when all the numbers are in. I'd like to think we are having an unfortunate downward blip at the moment - a rather lengthy one. Let's hope all the graphs start heading the right way again.

 

FWIW, my graphs are quite different in that both are heading upward this year after a slump in 2013. I think that we would have to hear from a lot more contributors before declaring an official blip. The forum is a relatively small sample. Then again, I could be an outlier. Wouldn't be the first time. B)

 

 

Good to hear, John. As I mentioned, the year isn't over yet and the downturn at the right of the graph still has time to edge upwards. My main gripe is the number of images I've added without any visible results, but again, time will tell.

 

 

I know what you mean. Adding new images can sometimes feel like you're tossing them into a black hole. All my repeat sellers are older images, although every so often a recent one gets zoomed and/or leased. Wim probably has the right idea with his "lean and mean" collection. Perhaps it's possible to reach a critical mass point where adding more images starts to become counterproductive. It reminds me a bit of second-hand bookstore owners who just can't say "no thanks" to people who come in to sell their old books. They can eventually drown in their own inventory.

 

Luckily "shelf space" and "index cards" are now cheap and easily available, so drowning is unlikely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phil, John,

 

Lean and mean is not the whole story, wait until you see JG's graphs.

Pay attention to his sig.

And there are more like JG out there with large collections making decent sales. KM comes to mind.

I'm quite sure I just barely make the top 500.

Look at the average Mike (Karlsson) gets per image: I wished I would get that.

- In 2009 my average was $124; in 2010 it was $68. Went up in 2010, then down again.

 

Otoh you are right: if I would dump my 4TB of RAW images on Alamy I would sink like a stone. And maybe sell like 10 images a year. Or even less, because I don't think there's any Alamonopoly left. At least not in my collection.

 

wim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phil, John,

 

Lean and mean is not the whole story, wait until you see JG's graphs.

Pay attention to his sig.

And there are more like JG out there with large collections making decent sales. KM comes to mind.

I'm quite sure I just barely make the top 500.

Look at the average Mike (Karlsson) gets per image: I wished I would get that.

- In 2009 my average was $124; in 2010 it was $68. Went up in 2010, then down again.

 

Otoh you are right: if I would dump my 4TB of RAW images on Alamy I would sink like a stone. And maybe sell like 10 images a year. Or even less, because I don't think there's any Alamonopoly left. At least not in my collection.

 

wim

 

Wim, you obviously take great care with your images, which I'm sure is as at least as important as having a huge collection. Personally, I'm not in a rush at this stage of my life. I'd rather enjoy what I'm doing than push myself to upload masses of images. If I can get a couple of hundred more up on Alamy by the end of the year, I'll be a happy snapper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was in Amsterdam, Wim and I had a very interesting chat about Alamy and sales.

 

Needless to say, my 4000 odd images has been split into various pseudos to weed out the good from the bad to the others.

 

Currently, I have 4 on Alamy:

 

Julian Elliott with 2414 images

OAS Images with 943 images (OAS being Odds and Sods)

Julian Elliott Photography with 533 images - this is now to be my better images here on Alamy

Julian Elliott News Photography with 295 images - any time that I cover news then it's going in here

 

Since weeding things, zooms have increased and a couple of sales have popped in. I haven't added anything "creative" in over a month or so but that's just down to travelling, visiting family, editing videos and waiting on some other things.

 

Hopefully, get the summer over and maybe things can get going again.

 

Overall, in what I term my third proper year doing stock I have doubled my income from the same period of January to July looking at 2013 to 2014.

 

Video is now going to play a good part in my output across the agencies. My only regret is that here at Alamy it is being made a pain in the backside to submit. In the 21st century, sending hard drives or DVDs is utterly ridiculous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the past 12 months 80% of revenue has been from images shot on film.  The previous 12 months: 63%.  Although total revenue has declined, earnings from old analogue material has remained stable, while the average fee has increased to $72 ($52 for digital).  Much of this material is over 10 years old and had earned its keep before it got anywhere near Alamy. 

 

Five to ten years ago I could place this material with other agencies and expect to earn much more.  Now it all goes to Alamy and a small specialist in documentary photography.

 

With the latest stats I conclude that Alamy is a good place for archive material, even when the scans are rubbish - but nearly all new material goes to other places.

 

Looking forward to foggy November when I will resume 'scanning' - the D800 has turned archiving into quite an enjoyable pastime with a decent rate of return for the time spent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been here exactly 10 years; sale numbers and gross income has always increased each year - passed $100,000 total gross income earlier this year. 

 

Be interested to see if numbers increase this year also. 

 

Kumar

 

ps. How do you paste the graphs into this forum please?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been here exactly 10 years; sale numbers and gross income has always increased each year - passed $100,000 total gross income earlier this year. 

 

Be interested to see if numbers increase this year also. 

 

Kumar

 

ps. How do you paste the graphs into this forum please?

 

Congratulations on the ton!

 

Find a place to put an image on line. Could be your own website or a place that's public.

 

I used Google, if you have a Google account, under the button with the squares there is an item called Photos.

It works a bit like Dropbox: drag and drop. Unfortunately the graph is not draggable (because it's not an image), so you have to make a screen shot first.

On a PC Ctrl-PrtScr puts a screen shot in your cache. With Ctrl-V open it in an editor. Save and from there drag it into the Google window.

 

I'm sure there are other ways.

There is a button My Media in this box as I type this.

When I click it, it says:

Your Media Library

Media you have uploaded to the community is available here for sharing.

Content you share will be visible by all members who can view this topic.

Select a media type to choose what to share.

 

And then I'm lost.

 

wim

 

edit: typo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Been here exactly 10 years; sale numbers and gross income has always increased each year - passed $100,000 total gross income earlier this year. 

 

Be interested to see if numbers increase this year also. 

 

Kumar

 

ps. How do you paste the graphs into this forum please?

 

Congratulations on the ton!

 

Find a place to put an image on line. Could be your own website or a place that's public.

 

I used Google, if you have a Google account, under the button with the squares there is an item called Photos.

It works a bit like Dropbox: drag and drop. Unfortunately the graph is not draggable (because it's not an image), so you have to make a screen shot first.

On a PC Ctrl-PrtScr puts a screen shot in your cache. With Ctrl-V open it in an editor. Save and from there drag it into the Google window.

 

I'm sure there are other ways.

There is a button My Media in this box as I type this.

When I click it, it says:

Your Media Library

Media you have uploaded to the community is available here for sharing.

Content you share will be visible by all members who can view this topic.

Select a media type to choose what to share.

 

And then I'm lost.

 

wim

 

edit: typo

 

 

The "Your Media" feature doesn't seem to work. I've never been able to upload anything. Has anyone else figured it out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been with Alamy for just 10 years.  Total images on site : 5780, Gross income $32800. Sales have been falling of late, a bit worrying. Perhaps this is because lately I  have spent a considerable time in the 'sin bin'.   The eyes aren't as sharp these days !

 

Cheers everybody,

 

Brian Lawrence

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ive been here ten happy years now! Here are my graphs

 

10k of my collection is old reportage of music festivals (which only seem to sell in the spring)

6k white background cutouts

15k travel

and the rest is a mixture of stuff

 

looking at your graphs it looks like i need to do a major edit of my photos!

 

<iframe src="https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=A593455311C59CD7&resid=A593455311C59CD7%214152&authkey=ALQ5xCKaAblU9Wk" width="320" height="120" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm glad this thread was started. As a new contributor, with the intention of slowly building a portfolio for three years, and then working harder at it, I've found the replies here inspiring.

 

Thanks to everyone for sharing their histories!

I could not agree more, quite inspiring.

 

Having just signed up it goes to show that there is no particular style or direction that you have to take, other than not being too deep in the everyone does it, generic category... I can see that I am probably never going to be a good stock photographer but then I'm not relying on Alamy for income. Maybe one day I'll make enough on here to buy a colour camera... or there may be a cart and horse situation that I'm ignoring?

 

Thank you to everyone.

 

I would buy that colour camera right now. My monochrome collection is about as big/small as yours and I had 1 zoom for the current year. No sale. The last monochrome sale was to illustrate something that had happened in the fifties.

Black and white does not look good on screen. Like people who are in their twenties now are born digital natives, most image buyers are by now colour natives.

Your black and whites may even be better than mine, there are certainly some similarities there, but I would at least experiment with offering the same image in both black and white and colour. I know which ones sell more in my case.

 

About the horse, I was jokingly to say leave it as well, but you know what, it would actually be a great idea to use a horse as transport and platform for photography in the city. (Not kidding you.)

 

wim

 

edit: link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

I'm glad this thread was started. As a new contributor, with the intention of slowly building a portfolio for three years, and then working harder at it, I've found the replies here inspiring.

 

Thanks to everyone for sharing their histories!

I could not agree more, quite inspiring.

 

Having just signed up it goes to show that there is no particular style or direction that you have to take, other than not being too deep in the everyone does it, generic category... I can see that I am probably never going to be a good stock photographer but then I'm not relying on Alamy for income. Maybe one day I'll make enough on here to buy a colour camera... or there may be a cart and horse situation that I'm ignoring?

 

Thank you to everyone.

 

I would buy that colour camera right now. My monochrome collection is about as big/small as yours and I had 1 zoom for the current year. No sale. The last monochrome sale was to illustrate something that had happened in the fifties.

Black and white does not look good on screen. Like people who are in their twenties now are born digital natives, most image buyers are by now colour natives.

Your black and whites may even be better than mine, there are certainly some similarities there, but I would at least experiment with offering the same image in both black and white and colour. I know which ones sell more in my case.

 

About the horse, I was jokingly to say leave it as well, but you know what, it would actually be a great idea to use a horse as transport and platform for photography in the city. (Not kidding you.)

 

wim

 

edit: link

 

 

I've only got about 60 black and white images on Alamy. No sales but have had a couple of zooms. They do better as prints on FAA.

 

BTW, what is a "colour camera"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been with Alamy for just 10 years.  Total images on site : 5780, Gross income $32800. Sales have been falling of late, a bit worrying. Perhaps this is because lately I  have spent a considerable time in the 'sin bin'.   The eyes aren't as sharp these days !

 

Cheers everybody,

 

Brian Lawrence

 

Brian,

 

I think my eyes maybe playing up....I cannot believe that your sales are only $33k...are you sure there's not another digit missing???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.