Why I use pseudonyms

[Nick Jenkins]

There have been numerous posts on this topic and, having read them, I now use pseudonyms as follows:

Each of my shots gets categorised into:

FreespiritCoast
FreespiritCityscapes
FreespiritNature
FreespiritTownsVillages
etc etc

This enables me to very easily run through all my sold work, identifying strong/weak sales areas.

So far, FreespiritCoast has sold the best, and FreespiritLandscapes the worst. So, I will put greater emphasis on Coast (and TownsVillages) and less on Landscapes, Cityscapes and Transport, for example.

To many of you this may be a no brainer but it certainly helps me focus (ha!) so I have posted to pass on.

nj

[Paul Thompson]

Strange how it goes, I would say I have sold more Cityscape shots and hardly any coastal ones

I keep my pseudonyms in locations which helped when the location was more searchable

for example

iconic Hong Kong

 

Regards

Paul

[John Morrison]

Three pseudos for me... but, for a reminder of what's selling (and what ain't), I just scroll through the Summary of Images Sold... with time-frame set to 'all'...

[Nick Jenkins]

Thanks Maurice!!
I am seeking to increase my Alamy sales turnover and am running a spreadsheet with sales details against each of my pseudos. I'll trial this for a while and see where it goes.

nj

[Barking]

Bear with me - how do you create pseudos?

[Paul Thompson]

Go into Manage Images v2.4 then option - Defaults and pseudonyms

There you can add more pseudonyms

[Barking]

Go into Manage Images v2.4 then option - Defaults and pseudonyms

There you can add more pseudonyms

many thanks :-)

[Ed Rooney]

I'm wondering, Nick: has using pseudos improved your overall sales? Of course, maybe you can't accurately make that determination. 

[Nick Jenkins]

To be honest Ed, I only did this last week (following some very helpful advice from Alamy MS) so it's a bit early to tell if sales will improve. I have also revisited my keywords, which, I guess would have MORE impact on sales. Sure I could have not done the 're-pseudonym'ing' and just done a visual check on my sales but this just gives me a discipline to follow and keeps me on track. I bash stuff in but up til now haven't really managed the collection as carefully as I might/should.

[John Mitchell]

I wish that I had set up some pseudonyms when I began uploading to Alamy in 2007. Now I fear that I'll mess up my ranking if I start splitting my collection up. Any thoughts on this? Is it a good idea to become a late pseudonym adopter? My CTR is usually close to or above the Alamy average.

[Nick Jenkins]

Let those better qualified advise but MY understanding is that when you set a new pseudo and allocate photos to it, it picks up a middle ranking so it MIGHT help?
nick

[Pearl]

I wish that I had set up some pseudonyms when I began uploading to Alamy in 2007. Now I fear that I'll mess up my ranking if I start splitting my collection up. Any thoughts on this? Is it a good idea to become a late pseudonym adopter? My CTR is usually close to or above the Alamy average.

Creating a new pseudo for old images which haven't sold or received much interest from buyers might eventually strengthen the ranking of your main pseudo.  It won't happen straight away but in time....

 

Pearl

[John Mitchell]

 

I wish that I had set up some pseudonyms when I began uploading to Alamy in 2007. Now I fear that I'll mess up my ranking if I start splitting my collection up. Any thoughts on this? Is it a good idea to become a late pseudonym adopter? My CTR is usually close to or above the Alamy average.

Creating a new pseudo for old images which haven't sold or received much interest from buyers might eventually strengthen the ranking of your main pseudo.  It won't happen straight away but in time....

 

Pearl

 

Filing some of the non-performers under another pseudo makes sense. I might try this. I like the way Nick has organized his images. However, I think that doing something similar (by location in my case) could be detrimental at this point as my travel images seem to be coming up high on the page in search results. The non-travel ones don't do nearly as well. So that would probably be the best place to start. Thanks for the input.

[dov makabaw]

I use 4 pseudos and find that this works for me.

 

One each for new and performing images - RF and RM. This split is relevant for me.

One for non performing images.

One for non performing images which have started performing or are performing below par.

 

I review my main RM and RF pseudos regularly, and remove non performers, to maximise their ranking.

 

dov

[Jools Elliott]

Having done the same in the last couple of weeks it will be interesting to see over the next couple of months if anything happens. Keywords have been re-done and as mentioned in another thread I did sell an image from what I considered below par stuff.

 

Good luck Nick. Be interesting if things pick up.

[long journey]

I have 13 pseudos, all of different sizes and subjects. I find it useful and it's interesting to monitor their sale/zooms/CTR and subsequent BHZ placement. Doe's it make any difference to sales? Who knows, maybe, maybe not.

[Cryptoprocta]

Because people told me my AR would do down if I had too many 'similars', if there's anything I have many photos of, I put them into a pseudo. For example, I photographed many vintage tractors on a Road Run (i.e. many "vintage tractor"s, but all different models and makes) and put them into one pseudo.

 

Although I try to analyse why those of my photos which have sold, sold, I can't come to any conclusion other than they were what the buyer needed at the time. There seems to be no pattern as to subject, location and certainly no correlation with 'artistic merit'.

[dov makabaw]

Because people told me my AR would do down if I had too many 'similars', if there's anything I have many photos of, I put them into a pseudo. For example, I photographed many vintage tractors on a Road Run (i.e. many "vintage tractor"s, but all different models and makes) and put them into one pseudo.

 

Although I try to analyse why those of my photos which have sold, sold, I can't come to any conclusion other than they were what the buyer needed at the time. There seems to be no pattern as to subject, location and certainly no correlation with 'artistic merit'.

 

I make a note of all zooms and sales for each images. I often find that in a set of similars one outperforms the other. I then keep that one in my main pseudo and the others in my nonperforming pseudo. I am not capable of determining what the buyer is looking for but respond to what is happening.

 

dov

[Mirco Vacca]

I am also using pseudonyms.

 

I have one for RM and another for RF. It is indeed more easy to track.

[Colin Woods]

I used to have about 6 or 7 pseudonyms but found them to be counter productive. The problem I found was that a subject specific pseudo can have a very low rank and slip so far down in the searches as to be effectively non existent. So my churches and monochrome pseudos were completely lost to view. I now have just two pseudos, one for travel and the other non-travel. That way my poorer selling subjects like churches will not be relegated to the very bottom of searches and will be buoyed up a bit by my better selling subjects such as city centres. How this has affected my sales I can't say but I feel more comfortable with it. I used to occasionally play the BHZ game. When I had all my pseudos I had a couple on p3-4 and a couple on the very last page. Now I have two and they are on page 1-2 and 5-6 (this shuffles around obviously).

Cheers

Col

[John Mitchell]

OK, now I'm really confused. It sounds as if having a bunch of pseudonyms is useful for organizing images and keeping track of CTR, etc. However, there doesn't seem to be much evidence that having pseudos leads to more sales. But I'm probably missing something here. 

[Ed Rooney]

Helping to get organized? No thanks. It just sounds like more pointless work . . . and I'm sure I'm not making the minimum hourly wage now for all the time I put into stock.  Yes, we need to produce images, spend time on PP, and work on better key wording. But putting things into an assortment of pseudonyms? Don't think so. I have not read anything in this thread that says this activity will increase earnings.

[Nick Jenkins]

I for one don't claim it will increase sales - I staunchly believe that you increase sales by adding more images (more choice) and tightening up on keywords. BUT, if it helps me manage my portfolio (by telling me much more quickly that my coastal work is my best seller for example) then I am better placed to know what subjects to submit.
I do NOT claim this to be an exact science - too many variables by far - BUT if it helps me refine and concentrate what I do, then it can't possibly do anything but help? It MAY help lift some shots for a while by middle ranking against the new pseudos?

nj

[Ed Rooney]

I for one don't claim it will increase sales - I staunchly believe that you increase sales by adding more images (more choice) and tightening up on keywords. BUT, if it helps me manage my portfolio (by telling me much more quickly that my coastal work is my best seller for example) then I am better placed to know what subjects to submit.

I do NOT claim this to be an exact science - too many variables by far - BUT if it helps me refine and concentrate what I do, then it can't possibly do anything but help? It MAY help lift some shots for a while by middle ranking against the new pseudos?

nj

 

Nick, if organizing things with pseudos helps you feel/be more in control, then it's a good thing. Stock has become such a frustrating pastime, I was just feeling . . . frustrated. In the days before computers, I used to have a giant sketch pad on my desk, and I would write numbers and notes on it with a variety of different colored pens. I really miss my big desk and my pad. 

[dov makabaw]

I used to have about 6 or 7 pseudonyms but found them to be counter productive. The problem I found was that a subject specific pseudo can have a very low rank and slip so far down in the searches as to be effectively non existent. So my churches and monochrome pseudos were completely lost to view. I now have just two pseudos, one for travel and the other non-travel. That way my poorer selling subjects like churches will not be relegated to the very bottom of searches and will be buoyed up a bit by my better selling subjects such as city centres. How this has affected my sales I can't say but I feel more comfortable with it. I used to occasionally play the BHZ game. When I had all my pseudos I had a couple on p3-4 and a couple on the very last page. Now I have two and they are on page 1-2 and 5-6 (this shuffles around obviously).

Cheers

Col

 Hi Colin - has the performance of your Churches and Monochrome images improved since you integrated them in your main pseudos? Are there enough of them to hold back your ranking in your main pseudos? How much competition is there for these pixs ie are there a lot of other pixs of the same churches?

I have a non performing pseudo which is on the last page of BHZ on which I get regular hits and occasional sales. Food for thought.

 

dov