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My sales on Alamy this year have been nought short of abysmal.  So much so, that I am even considering joining the controversial UK Newspaper Scheme. :huh:
 
I can't help but feel that here at Alamy, sales are far too dependent upon rank - which is highly reliant upon sales.  Get into a negative spiral and you will never be found again.  The BHZ game sees me 'ranked' higher than ever before, yet my CTR is trash.  It seems that Alamy's random (?) 'tweaks' to their search algorithms mean that it is pointless making changes to keywords based upon search results, as that changes with time?
 
I am in agreement with Jill Morgan in her assessment that regular uploading contributes to rank (I've said as much myself before), but it seems to me that regular sales are by far the most important factor.  In any case the uploading issue is another downward spiral - the fewer sales you have with one agent, the less inclined you are to upload - and so it goes.

 

To that end - and considering that I am lousy at following up on unlicensed usage of images - should I join the NS?  Is it worth the hassle and the gripes of lousy sales returns in order to build up CTR.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that many who have had a good half year are in the NS?

 

Am I getting panicky (doubtless!)? :unsure: Am I overly concerned about current sales (should I just ride this wave for a few months)? Will NS prove to be a low return option without the uptick in CTR - and therefore further, higher value sales - that I presume?

 

More rant and desperation than owt else, but I would appreciate your valued opinions.

 

Ta...! :)

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I'm in the scheme and I think that it has helped my ranking, but of course you need to take the kind of images that the newspapers want to use!

 

It won't necessarily help your CTR, as it appears that the major customers don't have to zoom images like normal folk, they just take a close look through their magic Alamy specs and decide whether or not to buy. I am also pretty sure that sales are more important than zooms in determining rank.

 

It does hurt a tad when one of your favourite shots, that perhaps you struggled to obtain, sells for around $6, so bear that in mind when coming to a decision.

 

On balance it works for me.

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I'm in the scheme and I think that it has helped my ranking, but of course you need to take the kind of images that the newspapers want to use!

 

It won't necessarily help your CTR, as it appears that the major customers don't have to zoom images like normal folk, they just take a close look through their magic Alamy specs and decide whether or not to buy. I am also pretty sure that sales are more important than zooms in determining rank.

 

It does hurt a tad when one of your favourite shots, that perhaps you struggled to obtain, sells for around $6, so bear that in mind when coming to a decision.

 

On balance it works for me.

+1

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I'm in the scheme and I think that it has helped my ranking, but of course you need to take the kind of images that the newspapers want to use!

 

It won't necessarily help your CTR, as it appears that the major customers don't have to zoom images like normal folk, they just take a close look through their magic Alamy specs and decide whether or not to buy. I am also pretty sure that sales are more important than zooms in determining rank.

 

It does hurt a tad when one of your favourite shots, that perhaps you struggled to obtain, sells for around $6, so bear that in mind when coming to a decision.

 

On balance it works for me.

+1

 

+2. It takes a long time for the purchase to appear in my sales and I don't get much but hey, I've not done any additional work and it all adds up

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It does hurt a tad when one of your favourite shots, that perhaps you struggled to obtain, sells for around $6, so bear that in mind when coming to a decision.

 

- and it immediately turns up with or without article on numerous news blogs and blog-like traffic generating sites difficult or not worth to pursue. 

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At this early stage in my Alamy career I can't afford to turn down a sale by opting out of the newspaper scheme.  So far it's yielded me 12 sales (34% of my total sales to date) for a gross of $185 - all in the last 12 months.  Not wonderful, but it's probably helped improve my ranking.  I've experienced Niels' problem with rapid redistribution but only for a couple of the images.

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If you happen by a court in your travels, it's worth a couple of jpegs that need no attention to speak of- who knows where the next axe-murderer (alleged) will come from. The one I passed last week only has 2 on and mine are sufficiently different to throw in. Not sold yet I have to say but then I don't travel much in the UK.

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Thank you for all your comments and input - very helpful to get differing viewpoints.  I'll make a decision over the next week or so: results in the next couple of 'How was your...' threads ;)!

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I am a huge fan of the Live News Feed.

 

I think we are about equal, I have about 2,000 images in Stock/News Archives  (not counting another 500+ on Stockimo). January - June, 2015 shows 30 sales (again not including my Stockimo sales). How do you compare with that number? Of those 30, 15 were Stock and 15 were from News. I downloaded my sales and computed my average news sale was $109.11 with only one selling for $6. 

 

And for anyone in the UK complaining about how much work is involved, I would suggest taking sunrises/sunsets with a smartphone and upload to Live News Feed via Stockimo News as UK Weather. It is very easy to use. Takes only a couple of minutes from start to finish.

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I am a huge fan of the Live News Feed.

 

I think we are about equal, I have about 2,000 images in Stock/News Archives  (not counting another 500+ on Stockimo). January - June, 2015 shows 30 sales (again not including my Stockimo sales). How do you compare with that number? Of those 30, 15 were Stock and 15 were from News. I downloaded my sales and computed my average news sale was $109.11 with only one selling for $6. 

 

And for anyone in the UK complaining about how much work is involved, I would suggest taking sunrises/sunsets with a smartphone and upload to Live News Feed via Stockimo News as UK Weather. It is very easy to use. Takes only a couple of minutes from start to finish.

 

My sales here this year are close to nil, (amazingly, one dropped in today - the moaning must be doing some good ;)).

 

Live News is a totally different beast to the UK Newspaper scheme.  I have done some shoots for Live News: none have ever sold as news, though half a dozen have sold later on as general stock.  I'm guessing that your sales figures are better because they sold as Live News rather than editorial stock to go alongside a general story in a newspaper?

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Of my 15 news photo sales from January - June 2015 (not including Stockimo), only two were sold within 24 hours of uploading to the news and 13 were bought from the news archives for magazines, textbooks, etc.

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My sales on Alamy this year have been nought short of abysmal.  So much so, that I am even considering joining the controversial UK Newspaper Scheme. :huh:

 

I can't help but feel that here at Alamy, sales are far too dependent upon rank - which is highly reliant upon sales.  Get into a negative spiral and you will never be found again.  The BHZ game sees me 'ranked' higher than ever before, yet my CTR is trash.  It seems that Alamy's random (?) 'tweaks' to their search algorithms mean that it is pointless making changes to keywords based upon search results, as that changes with time?

 

I am in agreement with Jill Morgan in her assessment that regular uploading contributes to rank (I've said as much myself before), but it seems to me that regular sales are by far the most important factor.  In any case the uploading issue is another downward spiral - the fewer sales you have with one agent, the less inclined you are to upload - and so it goes.

 

To that end - and considering that I am lousy at following up on unlicensed usage of images - should I join the NS?  Is it worth the hassle and the gripes of lousy sales returns in order to build up CTR.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that many who have had a good half year are in the NS?

 

Am I getting panicky (doubtless!)? :unsure: Am I overly concerned about current sales (should I just ride this wave for a few months)? Will NS prove to be a low return option without the uptick in CTR - and therefore further, higher value sales - that I presume?

 

More rant and desperation than owt else, but I would appreciate your valued opinions.

 

Ta...! :)

Whats the "controversial newspaper scheme?"

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Whats the "controversial newspaper scheme?"

 

http://www.alamy.com/EditorialUse.aspx

 

"Controversial" because of the abuse that has been made of it in the past by certain unscrupulous buyers (very delayed/incorrect/missing reports) and the low rates which have often been paid.  James West implied in one of his videos that perhaps the options given to some buyers were not the best for either agency nor togs.  Apparently Alamy have now tightened up on late (or lack of) reporting.

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