So I have had a few days to recover from the unexpected closure of the PhotoShelter Collection and collect a few thoughts and plan a course of action. First a few thoughts:
1. For those that think your time was “wasted” keywording and uploading images, it is only wasted if you keyworded on the PSC site directly. If you keyworded locally in the EXIF of each image, that work will be recovered when you upload to your new agencies.
2. Thanks to the PSC team for giving it a go. I have worked at many startups so I know what a tough decision it was to try PSC in the first place then have to pull the plug 1 year later. I am sure the numbers where just not working out. Good call as I have seen far to may companies ride a bad decision all the way into the ground.
OK so now whats next?
1. Diversification is really important. I rode PSC into the ground and failed to upload anywhere else with any regularity. Now I am starting from scratch again.
2. Alamy seems like the next logical choice but man upsizing and uploading big ass image files is going to suck.
3. I need a microstock play. Yeah I said it, it sucks, and I hate it. I have images in my portfolio that are best suited for a RF microstock site. So it looks like iStock here I come for at least a few images.
4. I need to focus on a few niches. I spent most of this year shooting a little bit of everything. Some silos, a lot of kids, some landscape/nature, and a few travel shoots. I live in an area that has great travel and lifestyle photo opportunities, it is silly not to take advantage of them. Plus these types of photos tend to do fairly well in a RM portfolio.
5. My goal is in major jeopardy. I need to have an insane 4th quarter comeback. $1000 is going to be really tough given that I am still at $0. I got lazy waiting for that one big PSC sell instead of focusing on my goal.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Richard 09.14.08 at 9:08 pm
Bill: I’ll offer a few opinions. #1 regarding diversity. You’ve got to tackle one thing at a time. Diversity comes over time. If you spread all your eggs too thin at the beginning none of them will hatch. With that said, you’ve got to choose wisely. Alamy is established and a major player so there’s little danger of having the PSC situation repeat itself.
#2, you’ve got to have marketable work. Worry about getting the right images first, then sell later.
#3 Microstock will net you a few pennies or dollars I’ll grant that much, but if you want a sustainable business then this will hamper your ability to grow at a certain point because you won’t have the ability to service clients down the road if your images have sold as unlimited RF for pennies.
#5. If you don’t meet your goals this year, don’t push the issue. The most important thing is to make smart choices that benefit you in the long run.
Good luck.
Bill 09.14.08 at 9:34 pm
Thanks for the comments Richard, I am honored you would visit my blog, I am a big fan of your work!
I will hold off on microstock as long as I can but some days it just feels inevitable. I am going to upload some shots to Alamy this evening to get started.
Sean 09.14.08 at 9:59 pm
Bill,
I’ve just been dabbling in RF myself and have yet to make a sale. I’ve also only had 10 images up for less than a week, so…
One thing that surprised me was just how many of my archived shots might be useful for RF. Don’t get me wrong — very few would work for Alamy, if any, but I suspect I can make a little money just going through my archives and posting things. Yes, I suppose this could keep me from making sales down the road, but honestly, my work is nowhere near someone who sells macrostock or other images. The barrier for entry is so much lower for RF than RM.
I highly recommend starting small, getting a little experience (bad or good), then try to move up. Trying to break in at a high level without a ton of work will likely just be frustrating. Of course, again, I have zero experience, but I have noticed just how hard those at the top had to work to get there, and I know I can’t put in that kind of time and effort when I’ve got a family to support. I’ve found Dreamstime especially easy to deal with just getting started, although sales are probably slower than at the other sites. I’ve been pretty verbose with the whole process at my blog, so you can get an idea of what you’d be dealing with.
As far as niches — I think the niches will find you, not the other way around. Going through my old images I’ve noticed that I just tend to gravitate toward certain things (nature, macro, birds) and as a result, I’ve gotten better at them. I’m going to keep shooting what I feel like (including trying new things) give my images some time in a RF environment, and see what style develops.
Anyway, good luck. Yeah, I think your milestone will be very hard to make at this point… but you can always just roll it over to next year. The rest of us like hearing about your experiences!
Richard 09.15.08 at 2:40 pm
No problem Bill. With what you do have, I would recommend keywording them effectively. With accurate, comprehensive keywording it would surprise you what you can sell.
The part that hangs a lot of people when it comes to Alamy is can you pass their QC requirements? They require you to submit 48mb files minimum, whether you need to uprez or not is dependent on your camera obviously. For today’s SLR cameras, it should not be a problem however. I’ve even submitted point and shoot shots from my relatives.
Establishing an efficient workflow is very important when it comes to stock as well because by the time you’ve worked on your 2,000th image, time adds up no matter what you do.
Bill 09.15.08 at 8:12 pm
@Richard - I got my workflow down fairly well right now. I use Aperture and keyword using Controlled Vocabulary.
Last night I upsized in PS Elements for a large batch (44 images) and one image straight out of Aperture using the export feature to upsize. We will see how that works out.
Lee Torrens 09.25.08 at 12:10 pm
Microstock is a crucial part of any smart stock photographer’s strategy. Not all photos are created equal, and if “sustainable business” is truly what you’re interested in, you’ll shoot for all levels of the market.
Try to take advice from people who are passionate about photography and dis-passionate about business, and do your own research to confirm facts for yourself. Sometimes people mean well, but they give you the facts as they see them, which doesn’t always correspond to the reality for everyone else.