Getting busy and falling behind...ouch

thesupe87 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-09-2006, 05:37 PM

Man, I am taking a beating this week with my micro sales. This is the first week/ week and a half that I stopped submitting new stuff - I am just so swamped with everything else going on in my life right now. The biggest loss is Shutterstock. It's like you have to submit at least 20-30 new images each week to keep the sales rolling in. I've been making 1-3 bucks a day with them compared to my 5-8 dollars a day last month.

Wow, I need to get my butt back in gear!

Have any of you guys noticed huge differences in sales, when you cool off from submitting so much?

gvictoria · #2 (**permalink**) 07-09-2006, 08:40 PM

I don't think that it's just the issue of not uploading... July is one of the slowest months of the year! Everyone seems to be on vacation around the world around these times. August will be a bit slow too and once comes September things should be perking up allover the sites, don't worry it's not just you, i'm positive it's with everybody

CJPHoto · #3 (**permalink**) 07-10-2006, 09:02 AM

My slow sales are tracking about the same as the previous 2 months. I dont upload lots each month though - 20 per month is good for me.

Lets hope they do pick up in future months.

morch · #4 (**permalink**) 07-10-2006, 09:55 AM

todd,

SS is particularly like that for some reason, a week after you stop submitting sales nearly stop for me too,

There are a few best images that keep selling, I supose this is when the images apear in the best sellers search results... Thats the trick only upload images that will sell lot's!!

Doug

CJPHoto · #5 (**permalink**) 07-10-2006, 10:20 AM

Could also be due to change in policy as quoted from Setho (admin) on shutterstock forum:

Quote:

Best Match only exists within the photographers' galleries. The new algorithm is going to be for the "Most Popular."

Not sure when it takes effect from

Karimala · #6 (**permalink**) 07-10-2006, 05:16 PM

The only thing that has saved my butt from a 0 DL day at SS the past few months is that I bombared them early on with niche shots. Almost 1/3 of my gallery contains shots of neon signs, all with various subjects that are rarely the same. It's a rare day when at least one doesn't sell. Lately the reviewers are starting to reject them for poor composition or too many on site, but because this is my niche, I can resubmit with a note asking them to view my gallery as they reconsider the review. Never fails...all are accepted eventually.

But yeh...I've also noticed that sales drop off at SS when I'm not uploading frequently, while everywhere else sales are steadily increasing or remaining stable. My sales have been in steady decline since March when I stopped submitting 50 or so shots a month and bombarding them with niche shots. Definitely cannot take a break at SS!!!

In a way the decline can be motivating though.

thesupe87 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-11-2006, 05:42 PM

My custom backgrounds/textures are the only shots keeping me alive. The ones that are in my top 10 or top 20, those are the ones that still seem to sell when it's slow.

DaveofCali · #8 (**permalink**) 07-11-2006, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesupe87

Man, I am taking a beating this week with my micro sales. This is the first week/ week and a half that I stopped submitting new stuff - I am just so swamped with everything else going on in my life right now. The biggest loss is Shutterstock. It's like you have to submit at least 20-30 new images each week to keep the sales rolling in. I've been making 1-3 bucks a day with them compared to my 5-8 dollars a day last month.

Wow, I need to get my butt back in gear!

Have any of you guys noticed huge differences in sales, when you cool off from submitting so much?

Thats one of the problems about Shutterstock. It's not truly residual income if you have to keep on submitting photos (hence, its not as reliable an income base compared to istockphoto and other microstock websites, in that you can't leave it alone for a month and expect to get the same amount of money.)

BTW July has been brutal on me as well. Since April, sales on shutterstock for me have slowed down 40% despite me putting more photos.

Karimala · #9 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveofCali

Thats one of the problems about Shutterstock. It's not truly residual income if you have to keep on submitting photos (hence, its not as reliable an income base compared to istockphoto and other microstock websites, in that you can't leave it alone for a month and expect to get the same amount of money.)

BTW July has been brutal on me as well. Since April, sales on shutterstock for me have slowed down 40% despite me putting more photos.

Agreed. When I started, I was really looking forward to a residual income, but the second I decreased my submissions, my income started dropping and it hasn't stopped...down 35% since March. There's a lot of pressure to constantly produce, if you don't want to lose what you've gained.

GWB · #10 (**permalink**) 07-12-2006, 04:21 PM

Yeah, Supe mine are slow too. I count it up to the generally slow business climate of summer. I'm on 7 sites and all have slowed to a creep. Even with Shutterstock being a bit slow, it still generates more DLs than any other site I'm on. Like others, I do have my consistent sellers to fall back on. It's just creating more of those.

Yep, my best month so far this year has been March as well. There's been a gradual slide since then. I expect it to pick up again in the fall, heading into the Christmas holidays. That's what happened last year, for me.

G.