What is wrong?

[Autumn Sky]

This is probably #1 newbie issue, so I apologize in advance.   I was hoping this great community could advise.

 

I've been on Alamy ~2 months.   No sales, and from Alamy Measures - no zooms and single (1) view for each photo.  

 

I have just over 120 images on sale now.   Large part are landscapes, for which I know Alamy is not the best market, but not all of them.  There is also geographic variety from all over the world.  My QA rating is 3 star;  had no problem with initial passing and I am very careful what I submit.  I also don't spam;  it would be easy to send 10+ images showing more or less the same thing, but what for? 

 

I don't think tagging is the problem;  I can find my own images entering most logical search strings.  (love the new Image Manager btw!)

 

For comparison, about the same time I joined Alamy I also joined Shutterstock.   I know these 2 sites are like apples and oranges, but I am getting regular daily downloads on Shutterstock.  

 

For instance, this photo sold  6 times (on Shutterstock):    http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-full-moon-over-lake-minnewanka-130807708.html

I also had on-demand downloads (on Shutterstock), i.e:    http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-shadows-and-light-129593449.html

 

I also have personal site:   http://autumnsky.zenfolio.com/   -- it is more for recording of my outdoor/travel pursuits, but large part is photography for which I am getting lots of interest/praise in local communities.

 

So my question is:  What am I doing wrong on Alamy?   Again, I realize I have (very) low amount of photos;  there are better photographers (some really amazing photos here!);  I probably don't shoot for what is big part of Alamy customer base,   most newbies in their 1st year have only couple of sales,  etc etc.  But I'd expect in 2 months at least more views.

 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

[Broken Pixel]

Hi!

Your portfolio is great. Your landscapes are unique. You are doing everything in a right way.

Alamy is a slow seller. It is NOT a microstock as SS.

Upload more images, more editorials.

They say here on the forum somewhere that if you have 1000 photos on Alamy, you will sell ones in a month (in broad, broad average), 5000 - ones a week, 10000 - once a day. It depends of many factors including your location, where you shoot.

British newspapers will buy some UK local images for the morning paper, rather than some far landscape or cityscape.

Do not stop, upload more and have patience. )

Your photos are great for books, articles and calendars. So, go on. )

[tarsierspectral]

This is probably #1 newbie issue, so I apologize in advance.   I was hoping this great community could advise.

 

I've been on Alamy ~2 months.   No sales, and from Alamy Measures - no zooms and single (1) view for each photo.  

 

I have just over 120 images on sale now.   Large part are landscapes, for which I know Alamy is not the best market, but not all of them.  There is also geographic variety from all over the world.  My QA rating is 3 star;  had no problem with initial passing and I am very careful what I submit.  I also don't spam;  it would be easy to send 10+ images showing more or less the same thing, but what for? 

 

I don't think tagging is the problem;  I can find my own images entering most logical search strings.  (love the new Image Manager btw!)

 

For comparison, about the same time I joined Alamy I also joined Shutterstock.   I know these 2 sites are like apples and oranges, but I am getting regular daily downloads on Shutterstock.  

 

For instance, this photo sold  6 times (on Shutterstock):    http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-full-moon-over-lake-minnewanka-130807708.html

I also had on-demand downloads (on Shutterstock), i.e:    http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-shadows-and-light-129593449.html

 

I also have personal site:   http://autumnsky.zenfolio.com/   -- it is more for recording of my outdoor/travel pursuits, but large part is photography for which I am getting lots of interest/praise in local communities.

 

So my question is:  What am I doing wrong on Alamy?   Again, I realize I have (very) low amount of photos;  there are better photographers (some really amazing photos here!);  I probably don't shoot for what is big part of Alamy customer base,   most newbies in their 1st year have only couple of sales,  etc etc.  But I'd expect in 2 months at least more views.

 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

1. Why would anyone buy your images on Alamy if they can get EXACTLY the same images from Shutterstock for 50 cents or whatever you are getting there.

2. Add 50 times more images (different from the ones you are selling at microsites) and you should see regular sales

[Autumn Sky]

 

 

1. Why would anyone buy your images on Alamy if they can get EXACTLY the same images from Shutterstock for 50 cents or whatever you are getting there.

 

 

That is of course great comment; thank you!  But I have considered it.    My Alamy and SS portfolios are not the same.  I.e.  anything that shows people/intellectual property is NOT on SS.  For instance:   http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-bibliotheca-alexandrina-130822720.html

 

So there must be something else?  Again, my concern is not the sale - but (almost) non-existing # of views.

[Broken Pixel]

Your port is still too small.

[tarsierspectral]

 

 

 

1. Why would anyone buy your images on Alamy if they can get EXACTLY the same images from Shutterstock for 50 cents or whatever you are getting there.

 

 

That is of course great comment; thank you!  But I have considered it.    My Alamy and SS portfolios are not the same.  I.e.  anything that shows people/intellectual property is NOT on SS.  For instance:   http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-bibliotheca-alexandrina-130822720.html

 

So there must be something else?

 

 

But didn't you just show us two of your images that are here on Alamy and sold multiple times on Shutterstock?  So you do have some images that are here and there. 

[NYCat]

I don't understand why your image of giraffes is captioned African Highrise. No one looking for giraffes is going to use that for a search. I would also put the location in the caption.

 

Paulette

[tarsierspectral]

And why is your image of Black rose (Aeonium Arboretum) called spitting fire??

[John Mitchell]

You need to make your captions more descriptive and accurate for starters. Not sure if you're aware of this, but the "Description" field is not searchable on Alamy. Moving some of your descriptions to the caption field would be a good idea. It appears that captions are now very important with the new search engine. Good luck.

 

UPDATE: Looks like a couple of others beat me to it.

[Autumn Sky]

Thank you;   what I'm getting so far is that captions need to be better.  This is exactly what I was hoping to get;  anything else?    (again, at this stage of the game, my primary concern is not actual sale but # of hits)

[Broken Pixel]

Captions + Keywords. Make all of your images green. ) Add location, category, power tags etc.

[Autumn Sky]

Captions + Keywords. Make all of your images green. ) Add location, category, power tags etc.

all my images are green;  all have location, category, power tags and most are optimized.

[Broken Pixel]

)

Then correct descriptions and upload more. Or bring your own buyers, but not every people have an established buyer's base.

Cannot see other ways. Maybe somebody tells more, but I doubt. )

[Vincent Lowe]

... at this stage of the game, my primary concern is not actual sale but # of hits

 

Not all 'hits' are recorded, only the ones viewed by certain buyers.  From the FAQs...

 

Q. What is Alamy Measures?

A. Alamy Measures is a feature we have that tracks the search habits of a core set of customers.

 

http://www.alamy.com/contributor/faqs/sales/?section=7

[NYCat]

Nice to know you are paying attention. Some new people ask their question and then disappear. A lot of your captions are pretty and clever and would work for a gallery exhibit but what you want on Alamy is to be found by someone who might want to use your image for a book, an article, a calendar, etc. So try to pack as much information as possible into the caption since, these days, it seems to be of primary importance. For wildlife you should be specific (what kind of giraffe) and include the scientific name. And keep having fun with it.

 

Paulette

[njene]

Your portfolio is a drop in this vast library, so your sales will be comensurate with size of library ( among many other factors, which you seem to know the importance of already)

 

But you will find that when you do get sales, they can be 100-1000 times the amount your making on that other site.

 

IMHO, that being the case, Alamy is well worth the time to submit to. Just need patience, and keep uploading and tagging images properly.

 

Very nice images BTW

[Autumn Sky]

Nice to know you are paying attention. Some new people ask their question and then disappear. A lot of your captions are pretty and clever and would work for a gallery exhibit but what you want on Alamy is to be found by someone who might want to use your image for a book, an article, a calendar, etc. So try to pack as much information as possible into the caption since, these days, it seems to be of primary importance. For wildlife you should be specific (what kind of giraffe) and include the scientific name. And keep having fun with it.

 

Paulette

 

 

Your portfolio is a drop in this vast library, so your sales will be comensurate with size of library ( among many other factors, which you seem to know the importance of already)

 

But you will find that when you do get sales, they can be 100-1000 times the amount your making on that other site.

 

IMHO, that being the case, Alamy is well worth the time to submit to. Just need patience, and keep uploading and tagging images properly.

 

Very nice images BTW

 

 

Thank you very much;  great feedback.   I am serious contributor who loves photography & even if I never sell anything on Alamy it was worth as I feel their QA process made me better already.

 

To sum up -- better captions, and (much more) larger number of photos.   # will take time as I try my photos to be unique.  I live in Canadian Rockies and could easily submit 15-20 images of the same lake (do you know how many lakes we have here?), but I feel it would water down the portfolio.

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1 more question:   I read somewhere "it is better to sell a photo 100 times for 50 cents, than 1 time for 50 bucks".   This is main reason I took SS and Alamy in parallel; try to make up my own mind.  As mentioned above by tarsierspectral, this has large pitfall if at least part of portfolio overlaps, as it does in my case.   Let's take this photo for example:

 

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-full-moon-over-lake-minnewanka-130807708.html

 

it is technically good image (on pixel level), and you decide for yourself in regard to composition/message;  I had 6 sales on SS.   What would your strategy be? 

 

a)  Consider it high-end sales asset, pull off SS, and wait/hope till it sells on Alamy

  Leave on both sites, with general idea customer base is not the same

[tarsierspectral]

Captions + Keywords. Make all of your images green. ) Add location, category, power tags etc.

 

Unnecessary to make them green.  Really.  Read the manual.

[tarsierspectral]

----------------------------------

1 more question:   I read somewhere "it is better to sell a photo 100 times for 50 cents, than 1 time for 50 bucks".   This is main reason I took SS and Alamy in parallel; try to make up my own mind.  As mentioned above by tarsierspectral, this has large pitfall if at least part of portfolio overlaps, as it does in my case.   Let's take this photo for example:

 

But wouldn't you want to sell a photo 100 times for 50 bucks?  

[Autumn Sky]

 

Captions + Keywords. Make all of your images green. ) Add location, category, power tags etc.

 

Unnecessary to make them green.  Really.  Read the manual.

 

This is interesting point;   green/optimized is based exclusively on # of tags -- which can actually lead to spam as you start "inventing" things that don't really describe the photo.  I am mixed on this one so far.

 

 

 

----------------------------------

1 more question:   I read somewhere "it is better to sell a photo 100 times for 50 cents, than 1 time for 50 bucks".   This is main reason I took SS and Alamy in parallel; try to make up my own mind.  As mentioned above by tarsierspectral, this has large pitfall if at least part of portfolio overlaps, as it does in my case.   Let's take this photo for example:

 

But wouldn't you want to sell a photo 100 times for 50 bucks?  

 

What do you think?

 

I guess the question could be asked:  Can the above image -- or even better, landscapes in general (if they are good) -- be sold on Alamy multiple times?

[Ed Rooney]

Sky, I won't repeat all the good advice you've been given, except that I too think your collection is good and interesting.

 

The problems are two: 123 images is not really a collection, and Alamy stock is a long game. You say you've been here two months? You're not being productive. You must upload new images regularly and consistently. Sorry, but nothing will happen quickly.

 

Good luck.

[John Mitchell]

I second what Edo said, you probably need at least 1000 images these days in order to "test the waters" on Alamy.

 

It seems that a common error people coming from Microstock make is to confuse "title" with "caption." One is pithy, while the other is descriptive. Alamy needs the latter.

[Chuck Nacke]

AS,

 

As many have said, Alamy is the long game. In my opinion you will not be involved

in Micro in ten years. I've been on Alamy for more than that and I still have less than

1,000 images up under my main Psydo and Yes Alamy is producing licenses on a

regular basis.

 

I do get discouraged with stock and then I see licenses and get exicited again.

 

Keep in mind that I've been "working" as a photographer longer than many Alamy

contributors have been alive, but I am a photographer, that is what I do. I've worked

with many of the great agents and agencies (most have come and gone), but Alamy

has been the best and most honest that I have ever seen.

 

My advice is to get away from Micro and put your best work on Alamy and with the

proper captions, keywords, etc. you do better in the long run.

 

The above is just my opinion.

 

Best,

 

Chuck (Yes, still the original one)

[Autumn Sky]

 

 

My advice is to get away from Micro and put your best work on Alamy and with the

proper captions, keywords, etc. you do better in the long run.

Thank you Chuck;   as I said I am new to the game & started in parallel with SS and Alamy to compare both ends of the market,  but I am forming an opinion similar to what you said.   I will probably keep images on both sides for near future;  if nothing else # of SS downloads help me identify images that have higher sales potential.

 

I will mention though that I saw reports of SS contributors with 11000 - 12000 images that generate steady 800 - 1000/month;   I don't know what type of photos though.

 

As large part of what I (like to) shoot are landscapes;  is Alamy not the best site for that type of photography?

[gvallee]

First of all, congratulations for having done your homework. You obviously did a lot of reading and research on what's going on at Alamy, it's not always the case for newbies.

 

Second, your portfolio is very good.

 

I can only confirm what others have said about captions. For example: HMDAW6 - Smells good. It's a no-no for stock. What a buyer would expect to see is the monkeys' common name, Latin name and location to start with, along with the behaviour description in this case.

 

Landscapes do sell, I have licensed many to guide books, textbooks, etc, but Alamy is primarily selling to the editorial market.

You might already have done so as you seem to have invested time in research, but have a look at the "have you found any Alamy images" to see what sells.

 

I know sales are not your main concern at the moment, but I will add to the 'upload a lot more images' advice (several thousands) and sales will come for sure.

 

I hope it helps.

 

Gen