If you ask me, exclusivity vs. non-exclusivity is a numbers game, plain and simple. Forget all the b.s. that the super-loyal istockers throw around, how they're supporting the best company out there, it's a community, blah blah blah. It's a business, and any decisions about whether to go exclusive there or anywhere else should be treated as such. If istock represents more than 50% of your combined monthly earnings, then maybe exclusivity is a good idea. If istock regularly represents 60% or more of your earnings, then hell yeah you should probably simplify your life and work only with them.
It's also a trial-and-error type of decision. Everyone's portfolio is different, and while one person might do very well at istock, someone else might do much better elsewhere. I think you need to try non-exclusivity for a while and track your earnings carefully before going exclusive.
I'd only do it if my istock earnings hit 60% each month. 50% is a good point to do it at, but I figure 60% is safer in case things go bad somehow and I've got that extra 10% buffer. And I'd only do it if I regularly hit that 60%. If one month istock represents 75% of my earnings, and the next month they represent 30%, it's not going to work.
Treat it that way, and you'll make the right decision. Forget all the other garbage, though. istock will all these ridiculous incentives. They even offer business cards to exclusives. Who cares? At the end of the day, it's about how much you make, and that should be the only motivating factor in making a decision about exclusivity.
Regardling SS, it is unfortunately true that your numbers are only as good as your upload rate. You need to constantly upload to keep the numbers high. I thought that was just a superstition for a while, but it seems that it is more likely fact. So it's not just a matter of average numbers at SS, and how many DLs a guy like yuri can get in a day. He maintains those numbers by constantly being in the process of uploading new stuff, and lots of it. His team is in a regular workflow of editing and uploading, and so they always have fresh stuff showing up and the numbers stay high.
|