Armstrong Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Ha ha, it makes me laugh as I have the same which is nothing, ha ha ha,it sounds so funny but it is not really funny when you are trying to make living on stock photos. It just makes me wonder how anybody is able to upload over 30 0000 images, how is that possible? Not that long ago I was wondering how anyone can submit 1000 files. Today I have almost 3k. If I'll ever do it x10? Doubt it. I lost all my power and motivation to work when I see that my sales (or rather income) didn't change that much since I had 700 files only. Ps. You have beautiful images! I was wondering what people think is the time lag between a significant increase in images online and resulting sales? (I realise there are many others factors affecting this though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I think sales all depends on what it is you are uploading. Landscapes and scenery are more likely seasonal in that a mag has already searched out this year's Autumn images and possibly Winter too. Other things, well you never know. If I did, I'd hope to know tonight's loto numbers too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Ha ha, it makes me laugh as I have the same which is nothing, ha ha ha,it sounds so funny but it is not really funny when you are trying to make living on stock photos. It just makes me wonder how anybody is able to upload over 30 0000 images, how is that possible? Not that long ago I was wondering how anyone can submit 1000 files. Today I have almost 3k. If I'll ever do it x10? Doubt it. I lost all my power and motivation to work when I see that my sales (or rather income) didn't change that much since I had 700 files only. Ps. You have beautiful images! Thank you Arleta for kind words, I like your images as well, I thought you had good sales. When I see the massive numbers of photos that some people have here it makes me stop breathing almost as I would like to be able to have that many and it is just impossible. I think that Alamy quality system is killing a lot of passion for uploading, they could at least shorten the time of sitting in the sin bin, a month of punishment is far too long, 3 days or a week would be enough. I could have a few thousands images now but got discouraged badly by the 'prison cell'. Also the keywording system is a nightmare, takes me ages to work on keywords. Is it even worth filling all the fields there? Three kinds of keywords, description, title, etc all of this takes so long, is it really needed? Can I also ask if there is anybody here selling exclusive images? Maybe, If we focused only on one website, instead of trying to sell wherever possible, we would have better results? The problem here is that before we upload thousands of images, spending full time hours working on editing, etc and before the images will start making any money, we need to eat and pay the bills which is impossible with royalties from Alamy that are non existent, so what's the solution? By the way, I am new on the forum and trying to figure things out, could you tell me please, what does that mean -reputation and the numbers there? I am going out to get some new photos with the old lens from an old Nikon camera, as there is some sunshine now in very cold Scotland and sitting at the computer constantly is not that funny, I used to love editing but now I would so much prefer to take photos instead of being glued to the computer screen. Anyway, Have a great weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Ha ha, it makes me laugh as I have the same which is nothing, ha ha ha,it sounds so funny but it is not really funny when you are trying to make living on stock photos. It just makes me wonder how anybody is able to upload over 30 0000 images, how is that possible? Not that long ago I was wondering how anyone can submit 1000 files. Today I have almost 3k. If I'll ever do it x10? Doubt it. I lost all my power and motivation to work when I see that my sales (or rather income) didn't change that much since I had 700 files only. Ps. You have beautiful images! Thank you Arleta for kind words, I like your images as well, I thought you had good sales. When I see the massive numbers of photos that some people have here it makes me stop breathing almost as I would like to be able to have that many and it is just impossible. I think that Alamy quality system is killing a lot of passion for uploading, they could at least shorten the time of sitting in the sin bin, a month of punishment is far too long, 3 days or a week would be enough. I could have a few thousands images now but got discouraged badly by the 'prison cell'. Also the keywording system is a nightmare, takes me ages to work on keywords. Is it even worth filling all the fields there? Three kinds of keywords, description, title, etc all of this takes so long, is it really needed? Can I also ask if there is anybody here selling exclusive images? Maybe, If we focused only on one website, instead of trying to sell wherever possible, we would have better results? The problem here is that before we upload thousands of images, spending full time hours working on editing, etc and before the images will start making any money, we need to eat and pay the bills which is impossible with royalties from Alamy that are non existent, so what's the solution? By the way, I am new on the forum and trying to figure things out, could you tell me please, what does that mean -reputation and the numbers there? I am going out to get some new photos with the old lens from an old Nikon camera, as there is some sunshine now in very cold Scotland and sitting at the computer constantly is not that funny, I used to love editing but now I would so much prefer to take photos instead of being glued to the computer screen. Anyway, Have a great weekend! Hi Margaret! In terms of keywording I always fill the ess key box, and usually have about an average of 150-200 characters in the main keyword box and none in the comprehensive box. I dont sell anywhere else Reputation is simply the number of green arrow key votes someone has had for posting something decent which other members then "reward" by clicking on the green arrow key MINUS the number of red arrow votes you have had (they are rare and a bit harsh!) Hope that helps! Kumar ps. to illustrate the point I have "given you a greenie!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Ha ha, it makes me laugh as I have the same which is nothing, ha ha ha,it sounds so funny but it is not really funny when you are trying to make living on stock photos. It just makes me wonder how anybody is able to upload over 30 0000 images, how is that possible? Not that long ago I was wondering how anyone can submit 1000 files. Today I have almost 3k. If I'll ever do it x10? Doubt it. I lost all my power and motivation to work when I see that my sales (or rather income) didn't change that much since I had 700 files only. Ps. You have beautiful images! Thank you Arleta for kind words, I like your images as well, I thought you had good sales. When I see the massive numbers of photos that some people have here it makes me stop breathing almost as I would like to be able to have that many and it is just impossible. I think that Alamy quality system is killing a lot of passion for uploading, they could at least shorten the time of sitting in the sin bin, a month of punishment is far too long, 3 days or a week would be enough. I could have a few thousands images now but got discouraged badly by the 'prison cell'. Also the keywording system is a nightmare, takes me ages to work on keywords. Is it even worth filling all the fields there? Three kinds of keywords, description, title, etc all of this takes so long, is it really needed? Can I also ask if there is anybody here selling exclusive images? Maybe, If we focused only on one website, instead of trying to sell wherever possible, we would have better results? The problem here is that before we upload thousands of images, spending full time hours working on editing, etc and before the images will start making any money, we need to eat and pay the bills which is impossible with royalties from Alamy that are non existent, so what's the solution? By the way, I am new on the forum and trying to figure things out, could you tell me please, what does that mean -reputation and the numbers there? I am going out to get some new photos with the old lens from an old Nikon camera, as there is some sunshine now in very cold Scotland and sitting at the computer constantly is not that funny, I used to love editing but now I would so much prefer to take photos instead of being glued to the computer screen. Anyway, Have a great weekend! Hi Margaret! In terms of keywording I always fill the ess key box, and usually have about an average of 150-200 characters in the main keyword box and none in the comprehensive box. I dont sell anywhere else Reputation is simply the number of green arrow key votes someone has had for posting something decent which other members then "reward" by clicking on the green arrow key MINUS the number of red arrow votes you have had (they are rare and a bit harsh!) Hope that helps! Kumar ps. to illustrate the point I have "given you a greenie!" Thank you Kumar so very much, I do appreciate your support and help :-) Can I ask a few more questions? How long does it take to have over 17 thousands images uploaded? 10 years ? Do you have any system, plan? Do you upload 500 a week regularly, or something like that? And if you sell only with Alamy, it means you are exclusive, so it means it's worth being exclusive, is that correct? I wish I had English sunny weather here, this summer in Scotland is awful. I'm going to York tomorrow hope to get some good photos but there are thousands of them on Alamy, so not sure if this is the best idea, but I love York like crazy :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Can I also ask if there is anybody here selling exclusive images? Maybe, If we focused only on one website, instead of trying to sell wherever possible, we would have better results? The problem here is that before we upload thousands of images, spending full time hours working on editing, etc and before the images will start making any money, we need to eat and pay the bills which is impossible with royalties from Alamy that are non existent, so what's the solution? Yes, no, maybe. If you only have one source of income from your work then from a business point of view you could be in a sticky situation should circumstances with that one source change. Think of the dairy farmers in the UK who supply one big supermarket and where now the tail is wagging the dog. Also one source may only serve certain markets. I covered an event last night. If I was only to send the images to one of my agencies I am pretty sure that I wouldn't get the returns necessary to cover the time expended. By putting the images to different agencies which cover different markets I am increasing my chances of getting a return. One also has to consider that price is only one consideration. There are buyers who will go around comparing prices of the same image at different agencies. Personally I think that is being penny wise, pound foolish... two hours looking to save a couple of quid is not a good trade off. But buyers buy where they do for a multitude of reasons. Personal contacts, a bunch of flowers at Christmas, a warm fuzzy feeling that the agency treats the photographers right etc etc etc. That's not to say there isn't a place for putting images with an agent exclusively. But from my point of view there should be a premium for doing so. The agents which I supply images on an exclusive basis have a return per image many times that of the non-exclusives, but I would only put certain kinds of images with them. So from my point of view, the answer is, yes, no, maybe. Ok, thank you, that's a great answer I do agree with you, we need many baskets with many eggs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murad RM Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I almost gave up, then had my first 2 sales on June after 2 years being on alamy, so not too bad for me One for $119 another for $15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Ha ha, it makes me laugh as I have the same which is nothing, ha ha ha,it sounds so funny but it is not really funny when you are trying to make living on stock photos. It just makes me wonder how anybody is able to upload over 30 0000 images, how is that possible? Not that long ago I was wondering how anyone can submit 1000 files. Today I have almost 3k. If I'll ever do it x10? Doubt it. I lost all my power and motivation to work when I see that my sales (or rather income) didn't change that much since I had 700 files only. Ps. You have beautiful images! Thank you Arleta for kind words, I like your images as well, I thought you had good sales. When I see the massive numbers of photos that some people have here it makes me stop breathing almost as I would like to be able to have that many and it is just impossible. I think that Alamy quality system is killing a lot of passion for uploading, they could at least shorten the time of sitting in the sin bin, a month of punishment is far too long, 3 days or a week would be enough. I could have a few thousands images now but got discouraged badly by the 'prison cell'. Also the keywording system is a nightmare, takes me ages to work on keywords. Is it even worth filling all the fields there? Three kinds of keywords, description, title, etc all of this takes so long, is it really needed? Can I also ask if there is anybody here selling exclusive images? Maybe, If we focused only on one website, instead of trying to sell wherever possible, we would have better results? The problem here is that before we upload thousands of images, spending full time hours working on editing, etc and before the images will start making any money, we need to eat and pay the bills which is impossible with royalties from Alamy that are non existent, so what's the solution? By the way, I am new on the forum and trying to figure things out, could you tell me please, what does that mean -reputation and the numbers there? I am going out to get some new photos with the old lens from an old Nikon camera, as there is some sunshine now in very cold Scotland and sitting at the computer constantly is not that funny, I used to love editing but now I would so much prefer to take photos instead of being glued to the computer screen. Anyway, Have a great weekend! Hi Margaret! In terms of keywording I always fill the ess key box, and usually have about an average of 150-200 characters in the main keyword box and none in the comprehensive box. I dont sell anywhere else Reputation is simply the number of green arrow key votes someone has had for posting something decent which other members then "reward" by clicking on the green arrow key MINUS the number of red arrow votes you have had (they are rare and a bit harsh!) Hope that helps! Kumar ps. to illustrate the point I have "given you a greenie!" Thank you Kumar so very much, I do appreciate your support and help :-) Can I ask a few more questions? How long does it take to have over 17 thousands images uploaded? 10 years ? Do you have any system, plan? Do you upload 500 a week regularly, or something like that? And if you sell only with Alamy, it means you are exclusive, so it means it's worth being exclusive, is that correct? I wish I had English sunny weather here, this summer in Scotland is awful. I'm going to York tomorrow hope to get some good photos but there are thousands of them on Alamy, so not sure if this is the best idea, but I love York like crazy :-) Hi Margaret - I have personal messaged you Kumar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I almost gave up, then had my first 2 sales on June after 2 years being on alamy, so not too bad for me One for $119 another for $15 You have a lot of similars so your effective port size is quite small. Variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murad RM Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I almost gave up, then had my first 2 sales on June after 2 years being on alamy, so not too bad for me One for $119 another for $15 You have a lot of similars so your effective port size is quite small. Variety. Thanks, yah will be uploading lot more verity soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentannenbaum Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I have 1000+ images here and sales have been in a constant tailspin for three years. It's no longer a viable place for me. Having said that, years ago it was clear this is was a source mostly for editorial, which my work is not. Still, the drop off is insane....at least for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addict Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Only $35 since the first of june. Very slow. I had $1700 from jan til june. Summer doldrums? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addict Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Dont shoot things tht already have good images on alamy unless you can do a lot better. Research before you go and do. It clutters up the collection and you wont sell. Spend that time on something different. Dont redo what has been done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Dont shoot things tht already have good images on alamy unless you can do a lot better. Research before you go and do. It clutters up the collection and you wont sell. Spend that time on something different. Dont redo what has been done. Hmmmm ........ I've heard better advice! What do I care there are 50,000 images of the same subject when mine pop up in the first three pages of search results? What's important is having a good ranking. Keeping ahead of the competition should be your main goal. How to do that? That, I've explained already numerous times (but I guess it's not what people like to hear though it's a strategy that works really well ) Just my two cents Cheers, Philippe +1 Also, one of the reasons many well known places have lots of images is because they are popular, and therefore many images are wanted of them. Often newer images may be sought out.... Kumar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Dont shoot things tht already have good images on alamy unless you can do a lot better. Research before you go and do. It clutters up the collection and you wont sell. Spend that time on something different. Dont redo what has been done. Hmmmm ........ I've heard better advice! What do I care there are 50,000 images of the same subject when mine pop up in the first three pages of search results? What's important is having a good ranking. Keeping ahead of the competition should be your main goal. How to do that? That, I've explained already numerous times (but I guess it's not what people like to hear though it's a strategy that works really well ) Just my two cents Cheers, Philippe +1 Also, one of the reasons many well known places have lots of images is because they are popular, and therefore many images are wanted of them. Often newer images may be sought out.... Kumar There is good advice in all three above, and that advice is not mutually exclusive. Yes, as Addict says, it's a good idea to see what's already covered and then cover a popular subject and strive to "do a lot better" Yes, as srterra says, t's a good idea to ALSO have "a good rank". Yes, as Doc says, it's a good idea to ALSO upload images of very popular subjects as "often newer images may be sought". As is so often shown here, no one person, no matter how experienced or how successful, is the font of all knowledge dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addict Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Thanks Dusty - i was feeling like a piece of crap before your comment , ,! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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