Author Topic: Double your portfolio = double your income? (Read 24608 times)

gejam · « **on:** June 16, 2010, 07:11 »

Double your portfolio = double your income?

Yes or no?

Eyedesign · « **Reply #1 on:** June 16, 2010, 07:17 »

Depends on content.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #2 on:** June 16, 2010, 07:27 »

Quote from: gejam on June 16, 2010, 07:11

Double your portfolio = double your income?

Yes or no?

Possibly, if you have 1 image, and you upload another similar quality different subject. More likely not.

Kone · « **Reply #3 on:** June 16, 2010, 08:55 »

^^ +1

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #4 on:** June 16, 2010, 09:18 »

For myself , I have never found this to be true. Usually market forces like increasing dilution hinder doubling income. It's more like double portfolio increase income by 50%. When you look at these these things you have to assume some constants otherwise it's meaningless. You can say stuff like it all depends how good your images are which is of course true but it make this analysis useless.

cidepix · « **Reply #5 on:** June 16, 2010, 09:24 »

Quote from: gejam on June 16, 2010, 07:11

Double your portfolio = double your income?

Yes or no?

Double your portfolio = triple your income

... or even more is possible depending on the quality of images. If the new ones are much better, then the income will be much higher than double.

cybernesco · « **Reply #6 on:** June 16, 2010, 09:28 »

It all depends on how good you are at producing dissimilar images. It is when you reach a point when your images are getting too similar that numbers don't matter anymore. For some people. it is after producing 10 images, some others 1000, some others 10000 and a few lucky gifted ones have unlimted imagination. Denis

PowerDroid · « **Reply #7 on:** June 16, 2010, 09:45 »

Quote from: cidepix on June 16, 2010, 09:24

Double your portfolio = triple your income

... or even more is possible depending on the quality of images. If the new ones are much better, then the income will be much higher than double.

Count me in the YES camp.

If you're doing things right, broadening your range of topics, learning from your mistakes, gradually sharpening your skills, then every additional image should increase your return. Further, as your port grows, you're more likely to hook people into buying multiple images from you.

I've mentioned before that my RPI has been consistent since day one. I have some confidence that every pic I add to my portfolio will increase my sales by a predictable amount.

lisafx · « **Reply #8 on:** June 16, 2010, 09:57 »

Quote from: Zeus on June 16, 2010, 09:18

For myself , I have never found this to be true. Usually market forces like increasing dilution hinder doubling income. It's more like double portfolio increase income by 50%.

^^ +1

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #9 on:** June 16, 2010, 10:05 »

Quote from: PowerDroid on June 16, 2010, 09:45

If you're doing things right, broadening your range of topics, learning from your mistakes, gradually sharpening your skills, then every additional image should increase your return.

Don't forget other peoples' additional images decrease your return at the same time.

PowerDroid · « **Reply #10 on:** June 16, 2010, 10:12 »

Quote from: sjlocke on June 16, 2010, 10:05

Quote from: PowerDroid on June 16, 2010, 09:45
If you're doing things right, broadening your range of topics, learning from your mistakes, gradually sharpening your skills, then every additional image should increase your return.

Don't forget other peoples' additional images decrease your return at the same time.

Good point. All I can share is my own experience. I just checked my spreadsheet, and it shows that when my port was half the size it is now, I was making less than half the money I'm making now (looking at the 14-day rolling average and not a particular day). I'm only a year and a half into ms so far, so at some point I'll probably join the ranks of the other vets here who say that you hit a wall at some point. I just haven't hit it yet, and I hope I don't for some time.

Megastock · « **Reply #11 on:** June 16, 2010, 10:44 »

A lot depends on how fast you can double your portfolio, too. If you could double it overnight, you would notice a big jump in sales. But if it takes you two years the online collections will probably have doubled, too. Hence why it is easier to ramp up sales in your early days. Once you have 10,000 images online it is pretty hard to ramp up another 10K that are unique enough from the from 10K to jump sales by the same amount.

No easy answer to this question...

louoates · « **Reply #12 on:** June 16, 2010, 11:16 »

If I deleted all the crap images I submitted in the first two years and all the zero sales images from that period I would have seen a doubling of my sales with doubling my total portfolio.

vonkara · « **Reply #13 on:** June 16, 2010, 11:27 »

If everyone double their portfolio, everyone will have to double their efforts to gain the same amount of money to me. This is just logic though. Think about quality instead of quantity first... Increase your quality = increase income, that's more like it to me

Edit: Not to forget that the number of designers stay about the same. Buyers don't increase as much as offer (our pics). I have no numbers, but it's obvious that there is more people signing up for selling than buying images.

gostwyck · « **Reply #14 on:** June 16, 2010, 11:36 »

Quote from: PowerDroid on June 16, 2010, 10:12

I'm only a year and a half into ms so far, so at some point I'll probably join the ranks of the other vets here who say that you hit a wall at some point. I just haven't hit it yet, and I hope I don't for some time.

It takes 4-5 years to 'hit the wall'. It's virtually inevitable if you upload with some regularity.

Year 1: Something is always more than nothing.

Year 2: You should double your port and be on a steep learning curve so your income should be rising fast.

Year 3: You'll still add 50% to your port and be benefiting from your increased knowledge.

Year 4: Only 33% increase in port over the year and by now some of your older best-selling images will have been bettered by others. There's less new stuff to learn and help you.

Year 5: Only 25% increase in port. The agency collections are now growing at about the same rate as your port and, with older images dying at about the rate you can produce new ones, your sales will probably stagnate. You've hit the wall.

cathyslife · « **Reply #15 on:** June 16, 2010, 12:07 »

For me, no.

lisafx · « **Reply #16 on:** June 16, 2010, 12:45 »

^^ Excellent summation Gostwyck!

PowerDroid · « **Reply #17 on:** June 16, 2010, 12:59 »

Quote from: gostwyck on June 16, 2010, 11:36

Quote from: PowerDroid on June 16, 2010, 10:12
I'm only a year and a half into ms so far, so at some point I'll probably join the ranks of the other vets here who say that you hit a wall at some point. I just haven't hit it yet, and I hope I don't for some time.

It takes 4-5 years to 'hit the wall'. It's virtually inevitable if you upload with some regularity.

Year 1: Something is always more than nothing.

Year 2: You should double your port and be on a steep learning curve so your income should be rising fast.

Year 3: You'll still add 50% to your port and be benefiting from your increased knowledge.

Year 4: Only 33% increase in port over the year and by now some of your older best-selling images will have been bettered by others. There's less new stuff to learn and help you.

Year 5: Only 25% increase in port. The agency collections are now growing at about the same rate as your port and, with older images dying at about the rate you can produce new ones, your sales will probably stagnate. You've hit the wall.

Thanks, this is a helpful glimpse into the future. I actually would be OK with this outcome, projecting steady but declining rates of growth through year 5, I should still come close to my long-term revenue goal. If I'm just working to maintain that level in the years 5 and beyond, I can live with that.

lefty · « **Reply #18 on:** June 16, 2010, 13:53 »

Quote from: sjlocke on June 16, 2010, 07:27

Quote from: gejam on June 16, 2010, 07:11
Double your portfolio = double your income?
Yes or no?
Possibly, if you have 1 image, and you upload another similar quality different subject. More likely not.

Hm, not sure if I understand sjlocke.
But from my own portfolio, I say first you look for the type or category that sell well for me. Then I increase that topic or category. Not similar but same category. But some time even similars be successful too.
I think depend on site.

But I take sjlocke meaning if you have one good seller of a man with a big fish. You do not want to upload 10 more man with big fish from the same shoot with only slight difference ,ie. camera placement is an inch different, .

lefty · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2010, 13:57 »

Quote from: gostwyck on June 16, 2010, 11:36

Year 4: Only 33% increase in port over the year and by now some of your older best-selling images will have been bettered by others. There's less new stuff to learn and help you.

Year 5: Only 25% increase in port. The agency collections are now growing at about the same rate as your port and, with older images dying at about the rate you can produce new ones, your sales will probably stagnate. You've hit the wall.

Exception is Dreamstime, your oldest pictures still outsell your new. So you stop giving new pictures and sit on backside to let old porfolio sell

cathyslife · « **Reply #20 on:** June 16, 2010, 14:34 »

Quote from: lefty on June 16, 2010, 13:57

Exception is Dreamstime, your oldest pictures still outsell your new. So you stop giving new pictures and sit on backside to let old porfolio sell

Lately, this has pretty much become my philosophy for all the sites!

brookefuller · « **Reply #21 on:** June 16, 2010, 14:51 »

Quote from: Zeus on June 16, 2010, 09:18

For myself , I have never found this to be true. Usually market forces like increasing dilution hinder doubling income. It's more like double portfolio increase income by 50%. When you look at these these things you have to assume some constants otherwise it's meaningless. You can say stuff like it all depends how good your images are which is of course true but it make this analysis useless.

This is along the lines of what I have seen as well. I shoot in sets of 20 images, often with several images on a theme for those Shutterstock downloaders who sometimes pick up more then 1 image on the same theme. I submit 100 images / week to several agencies.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #22 on:** June 16, 2010, 15:37 »

Quote from: lefty on June 16, 2010, 13:53

But I take sjlocke meaning if you have one good seller of a man with a big fish. You do not want to upload 10 more man with big fish from the same shoot with only slight difference ,ie. camera placement is an inch different, .

No, more like, if you have 1000 images, by the time you upload 1000 more, the first will have dropped in sales, so you didn't double your money at all.

lefty · « **Reply #23 on:** June 16, 2010, 15:45 »

Quote from: sjlocke on June 16, 2010, 15:37

Quote from: lefty on June 16, 2010, 13:53
But I take sjlocke meaning if you have one good seller of a man with a big fish. You do not want to upload 10 more man with big fish from the same shoot with only slight difference ,ie. camera placement is an inch different, .

No, more like, if you have 1000 images, by the time you upload 1000 more, the first will have dropped in sales, so you didn't double your money at all.

Ah, ok, understood now. I forgot the percentage. Thankyou sjlocke.

Norebbo · « **Reply #24 on:** June 16, 2010, 23:25 »

Quote from: gostwyck on June 16, 2010, 11:36

It takes 4-5 years to 'hit the wall'. It's virtually inevitable if you upload with some regularity.

Year 1: Something is always more than nothing.

Year 2: You should double your port and be on a steep learning curve so your income should be rising fast.

Year 3: You'll still add 50% to your port and be benefiting from your increased knowledge.

Year 4: Only 33% increase in port over the year and by now some of your older best-selling images will have been bettered by others. There's less new stuff to learn and help you.

Year 5: Only 25% increase in port. The agency collections are now growing at about the same rate as your port and, with older images dying at about the rate you can produce new ones, your sales will probably stagnate. You've hit the wall.

Very good summary. I'm just over four years into microstock, and I've hit the wall pretty hard. I'm at the point now that I can't seem to grow my income at all, no matter what I do. Very discouraging.

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Author Topic: Double your portfolio = double your income? (Read 24608 times)

gejam

Eyedesign

Sean Locke Photography

Kone

PeterChigmaroff

cidepix

cybernesco

PowerDroid

lisafx

Sean Locke Photography

PowerDroid

Megastock

louoates

vonkara

gostwyck

cathyslife

lisafx

PowerDroid

lefty

lefty

cathyslife

brookefuller

Sean Locke Photography

lefty

Norebbo

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