Alex Ramsay Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 On schedule to reach my target of 5000 pics from my back catalogue on sale by Christmas - it makes me wonder whether there is a tipping point of some kind, since my sales seem to have become very much more regular since passing the 4000 mark some months ago - as others have pointed out, this is largely a numbers game. Or maybe I will now sell nothing for months . . . Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Same here, although stuck for months because of inexplicable QC fails. My first year with sales every month and 4 or 5 in the pipeliine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Depends on the diversity of your collection, the more varied the subject matter the more chance of selling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Kiss of death - after 3,000 I now have regular monthly sales. Didn't before. Onwards ! Agree with diverse pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MircoV Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Also at the beginning you will not see much sales since most of them are downloaded and being reported after several months. So actually after that time you will see the sales coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpole Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Well done on building collections . It takes time and effect so time is money so you put the time in now getting the benefits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 "for someone putting all their eggs into the Alamy basket, researching the market, producing contemporary imagery expressing relevant concepts and emotions, the tipping point ought to be around 200." I'm sure that's so for the truly dedicated, Robert, but I rarely shoot specifically for stock Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 ,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 "for someone putting all their eggs into the Alamy basket, researching the market, producing contemporary imagery expressing relevant concepts and emotions, the tipping point ought to be around 200." I'm sure that's so for the truly dedicated, Robert, but I rarely shoot specifically for stock Alex With the exception of some conceptual still life with CGI elements, mainly for a particular RF collection, neither do I. Mainly I now work on personal projects which I am looking to monetize in a number of ways. However, the evidence suggests that things are nothing like as bleak as is often represented on threads like this for those who want to make a career out of licensing self-assigned work. Done properly it can be one of the most interesting and rewarding careers open to creative photographers and other visual artists. Or so says I. That is where I am curently heading with some reportage projects; some long-term, some short as a day or two - at least initially. It is the monetisation that is challenging me at the moment. I am trying work out who uses photo stoies these days; I can add words as I also write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I found that I started getting regular monthly sales when I hit 1000 images, but that was back in 2008-9 when the Alamy collection was a fraction of what it is now. My collection is closing in on 5000, and 2014 will be my best year ever for total number of sales, but I'm not expecting any further tipping points in this highly competitive market. If I can continue to keep the boat from tipping over, I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arletta Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I hit it when crossed 700 files, sales were regular and are just the same after over 2k files. Nothing better nothing worse, just the same as after breaking the line. Funny, ha? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kuta Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Might frequency of new submissions be part of the formula? My sales plummeted about 50% in number and 75% in $ when I submitted very little for a couple of years. (This was after the recession effect.) Have been submitting again for about a year and a half, and have been recovering nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnie5 Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 So size does matter and bigger is better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Might frequency of new submissions be part of the formula? My sales plummeted about 50% in number and 75% in $ when I submitted very little for a couple of years. (This was after the recession effect.) Have been submitting again for about a year and a half, and have been recovering nicely. I am hoping that is what I will see as I did much the same for 5 years or so up to last year. I saw a small burst in April, May, June and then it went quiet until this week. I have now had more sales than last year (Still only tiny though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kuta Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 My number of sales this year (so far, he said hopefully) is almost up to my high years. Gross $ are about 60% of my highest year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 That's it - 5000 on sale at the next update. I'm off, a happy Christmas to all! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultanpepa Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 This is my first year with a sale in every month. My aim is for 5000 images in a years time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reimar Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Yes, I had a tipping point. I fell over after 2012, when I had about 7000 images. Progressive yearly increase in sales every year before that - and downward spiral after that. I add 1000 images every year. Reasons escape me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 For me it was 1000 images but that was years ago and I think the number may be higher now and it also depends on your collection. I think diversity can be key! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 For me it was 1000 images but that was years ago and I think the number may be higher now and it also depends on your collection. I think diversity can be key! ... and dependable repeat sellers, in my case anyway. I have a quite a number of them that started leasing almost immediately and keep on selling (touch wood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 For me it was 1000 images but that was years ago and I think the number may be higher now and it also depends on your collection. I think diversity can be key! ... and dependable repeat sellers, in my case anyway. I have a quite a number of them that started leasing almost immediately and keep on selling (touch wood). I agree John. I have a few but one problem is that I proabably could not have predicted that they would be such repeat sellers, so it helps to have a diverse collection to cover as many bases as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 For me it was 1000 images but that was years ago and I think the number may be higher now and it also depends on your collection. I think diversity can be key! ... and dependable repeat sellers, in my case anyway. I have a quite a number of them that started leasing almost immediately and keep on selling (touch wood). I agree John. I have a few but one problem is that I proabably could not have predicted that they would be such repeat sellers, so it helps to have a diverse collection to cover as many bases as possible. For sure, diversity rules. Having so many repeat sellers is actually something of a double-edged sword (no complaints, though) because I know the party can't last forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I had a similar tipping point at the same time. I do have some theories as to the reasons, but this is probably not the best place to discuss them. If not here, where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I had a similar tipping point at the same time. I do have some theories as to the reasons, but this is probably not the best place to discuss them. If not here, where? There's a meeting down at the docks. Knock three times and ask for Big Jim... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.