Просмотр сообщений

В этом разделе можно просмотреть все сообщения, сделанные этим пользователем.


Темы - DanPadavona

Страницы: [1]
1
General discussion / Will you leave Stockxpert?
« : Июля 28, 2008, 01:45:30 pm »
 :(

I sure hope it doesn't come to this.

From the way I, and many other contributors, interpret the usage rights in the Photos.com deal it appears designers will get rights reserved for an EL license by a simple 30 cent subscription purchase.  They will be able to put our images on t-shirts and mugs for resale.

This is terrible news, and it has been confirmed as true in the official thread:

http://www.stockxpert.com/forum.phtml?f=showtopic&n=15291&p=2

Steve,

I know you frequent this forum.  I have to believe there are a lot of large contributors who will pull out immediately if these license terms are allowed to go through.  I enjoy working with Stockxpert, but I won't hesitate to pull out if we are going to be giving up so many rights on our images for a lowly subscription payment. 

I can't help but wonder...WHY?  The RM folks have been saying for years microstock was nothing but companies racing to the bottom.  Price increases in recent months have gone through rather well at Shutterstock and iStock.  Clearly designers are willing to pay up for our images.  Why in the world would any company, let alone SXP, desire to basically give our images away?  Don't you profit considerably more by selling an Extended License than a sub sale? I just don't get the logic in this at all.

2
General discussion / Time to Retire Lev!
« : Апреля 18, 2008, 08:05:11 am »
I just noticed I had a big $1 sale at Albumo back in March.  I never even noticed.  So that means you must have made at least 2 or 3 cents that day.

Time to put on party hats and bring in the dancing girls!   :blob8:  :beer:  :appl:  :hello2:  :headbang:   :bugaga: 

Just don't spend it all in one place...

3
General discussion / MostPhotos
« : Марта 21, 2008, 02:36:53 pm »
I joined MostPhotos this morning.  I normally raise my eyebrows at such a new site.  However Laurin Rinder, who I respect immensely, has given this site a ringing endorsement.  He noted on the microstockgroup forum that he had more earnings there in 3 days than in an entire year at Lucky Oliver!  So I will give them a try and see what happens.  Each RF sale pays approximately 25 euro ($18 USD), and there is a 50% commission (70% for exclusives).

Uploading is a breeze if you use FTP.

The only minor negatives I see are a goofy community rating system, and the complete lack of a review process (some real bad pictures get in). 

The site is MostPhotos.com

 ;)

Be well my friends!

4
General discussion / StockXpert announces new prices
« : Марта 06, 2008, 08:50:38 am »
http://www.stockxpert.com/forum.phtml?f=showtopic&n=11322

Addition of XS blog size
+100% increase for Small size price
+50% increase for Medium
+60% increase for Large

Looks great to me!   :blob8:

5
General discussion / February Results
« : Марта 01, 2008, 05:06:57 pm »
I hope all of my friends in microstock had strong results in February. 

I grew earnings by 9.4% in February, and established a new personal BME. Contributions were down from January, which explains Shutterstock falling off. Even still, Shutterstock came in as my #1 earner slightly ahead of iStockPhoto.  I set individual site BME's at Dreamstime, StockXpert, 123RF, and yes even Lucky Oliver where I earned a massive 60 cents.


JanFeb
Shutterstock45.1%27.9%
Dreamstime10.9%13.8%
iStockphoto21.0%25.9%
BigStockPhoto7.0%10.0%
Stockxpert4.0%5.6%
123RF1.9%6.2%
Fotolia10.0%10.4%
Lucky Oliver0.1%0.3%
Total Earnings200.86219.68
[/b]

With the exception of Lucky Oliver, I was very pleased with my results everywhere. It is up to me to increase my skill level and produce better images if I am to grow earnings from here.                  


6
General discussion / Attn: Steve-Oh
« : Февраля 29, 2008, 04:42:47 pm »
Hi Steve,

Things have been picking up lately for me with SXP.  I definitely enjoy being part of the process.

I know in the last year, before I joined, SXP had a change in its Intellectual Property standards.  For instance, no more real estate photos without property release.  Also I thought I read something to the effect of no more sports photos without model release, even if the faces are not visible and the logos are removed.  I don't know if I have the story correct, so I want to show a few samples and see what you think.

This image is a big seller for me at Shutterstock, iStock and Fotolia:



Does SXP consider this to be an IP problem?  Or are images such as this acceptable?  I didn't want to waste a lot of time on uploads, nor waste the reviewers' time, if this was something which SXP feels needs a release.  Otherwise, they generally sell everywhere I upload them to, so I wanted to check first.

Thanks for the patience,
Dan Padavona (DanP68)


7
General discussion / Demystifying Shutterstock's Search
« : Февраля 29, 2008, 03:16:17 pm »
Part 1 of 2

In the first year I have been involved with microstock, I have become fascinated with how the various search engines work. After all, the results they return have a huge impact on our individual results at microstock sites.  Perhaps the most fascinating of all, maybe even more so than iStock's Best Match, is that of Shutterstock.

I love breaking open black boxes to see how they operate. Shutterstock, unlike any other site in existence, is an amazing volume producer. Therefor it is wonderful for studying which subject matters sell best, how strong a contributor you are, and even how your images move within the Search Results.

One thing I have seen written over and over on message boards, including Shutterstock's official message board, is that one has to "feed the beast" if sales are to continue. In terms of selling new images, of course this is true. But does "feeding the beast" have a strong effect on your older uploads being sold on a continuous basis?  I don't think it does.

There are 3 ways for designers to search for our images at Shutterstock besides physically browsing the categories. Their choices are to search by "Newest," "Random Order," and "Most Popular."  The first two choices are quite obvious and straight forward. The newest uploads are always placed front and center under "Newest," which explains why images take off so fast.  I'm not certain of the advantage of searching by "Random," but I do like that the option exists.  So the search function we need to study is sort by "Most Popular."


8
General discussion / Goal Setting in Microstock
« : Февраля 28, 2008, 02:01:34 pm »
This is my first post to this fine forum.  I certainly want to thank Lev for sharing so much information for others to benefit from.  I recognize a lot of names here from microstock boards.  My username is usually "DanP68," and sometimes simply "DJP".  It's good to see a lot of familiar faces.

I've been working toward a goal of 50 downloads in 1 month at Dreamstime.  I hadn't taken anything but casual snapshots before last summer, so this is a challenging goal for me.  I've used goal setting throughout my life, whether it be career related, fitness related, or anything else.  It works if you work it.  So now I am using it to become a successful microstock artist.

You can find my Dreamstime Blog on Goal Setting at: http://blog.dreamstime.com/2007/12/25/goal-setting-for-results_art25095.

I've increased my production and my Dreamstime goal is actually within sight, but my results are still very pedestrian. I need to create much better, more relevant work. And I humbly ask whomever is willing to participate, to help me get there.

In trying to determine a measurable indicator of success, I decided to review my individual image sales at Shutterstock.  The most downloads I have had in the initial month at Shutterstock from 1 image is a mere 50, and that was a seasonal image apparently uploaded when demand was high. A "successful" image for my portfolio generally sells 25 to 35 times in the first month at Shutterstock.

So I settled upon "75 downloads" for one image in the first month at Shutterstock as a challenge for me.  But I would like some feedback first before I set anything in stone.  Am I aiming too high, or too low?  I've grown my total sales to approximately 240-300 per month at Shutterstock, with a BME of 361.

In order to get this many downloads from image, it would have to be relevant, eye catching, and generally much stronger than my previous work. The idea I had was to create a set of images and offer them up to the board for critique, with my goal in mind.  Would anyone be willing to help me with my progress, or provide a little coaching?   8)

Страницы: [1]