Author Topic: Upload whole portfolio to flickr? (Read 13475 times)

joingated · « **on:** March 08, 2010, 04:40 »

Hi Guys

Although Im new here Ive been reading this forums pretty much every day for a few months, so hi everyone, I definitely feel as if I know some of the characters in here, my first post is in regards to flickr. I have a small portfolio on flickr, mostly long exposure landscape shots separate from my microstock portfolio, I have about 1500 images across the stock sites half of which are illustrations. My question is has anyone uploaded their stock portfolio to flickr and found it useful, had any work from there?

On another note I wasnt sure whether to add my portfolio links to my profile I notice a lot of people dont and prefer anonymity, any advice much appreciated, Amended!: Have decided to be open cant bear the cloak and dagger stuff my links are in my profile!

Jo

Kone · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:04 »

Quote from: joingate on March 08, 2010, 04:40

Hi Guys

Although Im new here Ive been reading this forums pretty much every day for a few months, so hi everyone, I definitely feel as if I know some of the characters in here, my first post is in regards to flickr. I have a small portfolio on flickr, mostly long exposure landscape shots separate from my microstock portfolio, I have about 1500 images across the stock sites half of which are illustrations. My question is has anyone uploaded their stock portfolio to flickr and found it useful, had any work from there?

On another note I wasnt sure whether to add my portfolio links to my profile I notice a lot of people dont and prefer anonymity, any advice much appreciated, Amended!: Have decided to be open cant bear the cloak and dagger stuff my links are in my profile!

Jo

Welcome!

I would be very careful with Flicker, they are not very safe site.
But that is me maybe somebody else has different story.

Kone

lisafx · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:23 »

I think your question is a good one. I was wondering about doing that too.

After reading some other threads here where stock pros say they are getting assignment work and a fair number of sales on Flikr it definitely seems like something to consider.

Certainly the images would have to be heavily watermarked to avoid people just helping themselves.

MicrostockExp · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:32 »

I upload some of my pictures to Flickr using the Isyndica platform. Technically you can upload your 1500 images in just one click and a watermark will be automatically added. I guess it will take a couple of minutes for them to be online.
L

lisafx · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:59 »

Quote from: MicrostockExp on March 08, 2010, 12:32

I upload some of my pictures to Flickr using the Isyndica platform. Technically you can upload your 1500 images in just one click and a watermark will be automatically added. I guess it will take a couple of minutes for them to be online.
L

Have you gotten any sales or assignments as a direct result of Flikr?

MicrostockExp · « **Reply #5 on:** March 08, 2010, 13:09 »

Nope:( just people asking to use my pictures, for free.....
There are 4 billions images now of Flickr so the chance to be found are small except of some of your pictures are landing on Explore

sharply_done · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2010, 13:27 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 08, 2010, 12:23

I think your question is a good one. I was wondering about doing that too.

After reading some other threads here where stock pros say they are getting assignment work and a fair number of sales on Flikr it definitely seems like something to consider.

Certainly the images would have to be heavily watermarked to avoid people just helping themselves.

I've been on Flickr since 2005 - I used to have a paid account there (what they call "pro" costs $25 per year), but now only use a free account, which limits me to 200 images. If I wanted to I could open multiple accounts to bypass this, but that goes against the Flickr community spirit. Click here to see my stuff.

Getting attention on Flickr requires work: don't expect to upload a bunch of pics and have people contacting you out of the blue. First you'll have to downsize everything and add a watermark - watermarking is generally frowned upon, so I don't do that. After uploading you'll have to add tags (that's what they call keywords), which isn't done automatically. There's probably a way it can be done automatically, but I add add pics infrequently enough that I can't be bothered to get set up this way. To get good exposure you'll have to add your images to appropriate groups. The comment-on-a-photo-when-you-add-one groups are a popular way to increase an image's "interestingness".

As far as licensing goes, I'd typically charge $100 for a RM license. When I had more images there I used to make regular sales (1-3 per month on 1000+ images), but now that I only have 200 available I rarely see sales - perhaps 2 or 3 per year. In my experience, at least 2/3 of the people contacting me about using an image didn't want to pay, and I never heard from them after I mentioned the price. Nowadays my main reason for uploading there is for comparison purposes: I'm interested in seeing the correlation between an image's popularity on Flickr and it's commercial appeal.

Using Flickr is a really good way to make and maintain contact with people who like making photos. It's a photo sharing site, not a commercial image site, and you need to adjust your approach and expectations accordingly. For those making $50k+ in microstock, I'd say your main benefit from it would be that it might broaden your approach and outlook to photography - it's certainly not going to add significantly to your income.

lisafx · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2010, 13:30 »

Very good info Sharply and MicrostockExpo. Sounds like as a business move it wouldn't be worth it for me. For personal stuff I already have a pbase account I upload to, so I don't know that Flikr would offer me anything more than I get with Pbase.

gostwyck · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2010, 15:32 »

Great detailed info Sharply. Thanks for that.

joingated · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2010, 15:35 »

Thanks everyone great advice... I think personally I will continue to use it more for the community aspect and to post my best or unusual pics rather than stocky stuff. Though it's nice when those things cross over!

Jo

sharply_done · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2010, 15:51 »

Just realized I forgot to say that Flickr can be used as a gateway to getting images on Getty. It's a bit of a backdoor, and you can get images accepted that are well below their normal criteria.

PowerDroid · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2010, 15:57 »

Good info from Sharply, though my experience with Flickr has differed in regards to a few of his points...

Quote from: sharply_done on March 08, 2010, 13:27

Getting attention on Flickr requires work: don't expect to upload a bunch of pics and have people contacting you out of the blue.

I haven't done anything special to call attention to myself on Flickr... I just upload my stuff (around the first of the month I process and upload the prior month's worth of pics already sent to microstock). I started getting inquiries right away, and have made some direct sales as a result. Also I point people to my website, which has links to my galleries at the microstock sites, and I get referral commissions if/when they buy.

If you know how to set up Actions in PhotoShop, it's really quite easy to do. This automates the process of resizing an image, pasting a watermark onto it (if you choose to, which I do), and saving it to a folder of your Flickr pics. Takes about 15 minutes to process up to 100 pics this way. Uploading to Flickr is a breeze, and they actually pick up your keywords from your JPEG and don't require anything extra for tagging.

I'm charging far less than what Sharply charges, sticking closer to what someone would pay if the purchase was made via a microstock site. Even then, I think the average Flickr user is pretty price-averse, and around half of the time I think my prices are too much higher than FREE for their tastes. I make a sale about 50% of the time after quoting.

lisafx · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2010, 16:02 »

Thanks for the info Powerdroid. If you don't mind sharing, how many sales do you make via Flikr on an average month, and from how large a portfolio?

PowerDroid · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2010, 16:33 »

I'd say I'm doing about $30 / month from direct image sales and another $100 or so from custom work (people wanting images edited, combined, wording added, other strange requests). Maybe nothing to write home about, but for the very small amount of work involved, I'll take it. Port size is about 800 pics now.

madelaide · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2010, 16:50 »

That's what I have been planning to use Flickr for, although I have never uploaded anything there despite having signed up years ago. That is the same I wanted about Fotopedia, but they don't ike my 640x480 uploads.

cardmaverick · « **Reply #15 on:** March 08, 2010, 16:56 »

Quote from: sharply_done on March 08, 2010, 13:27

Getting attention on Flickr requires work: don't expect to upload a bunch of pics and have people contacting you out of the blue. First you'll have to downsize everything and add a watermark - watermarking is generally frowned upon, so I don't do that. After uploading you'll have to add tags (that's what they call keywords), which isn't done automatically. There's probably a way it can be done automatically, but I add add pics infrequently enough that I can't be bothered to get set up this way. To get good exposure you'll have to add your images to appropriate groups. The comment-on-a-photo-when-you-add-one groups are a popular way to increase an image's "interestingness".

Flickr can import IPTC data. All keywords are imported as Tags, so the process is totally automated, at least now it is, I can't say much about the past since I've only been active there for a month.

Like anything, you get out what you put in. After just shy of one month, and only 23 shots, I've had over 4,800 total views. Keep in mind, NOT all viewers are buyers! I've found some really strange searches used to find some of my womens fitness photos that are CLEARLY from someone not buying images - some are freaking hilarious. On the other hand, some are 100% buyer searches, as I'll see them looking for something with "ad woman fitness drinking" - stuff like that is NOT a casual browser. Another thing to remember is this: Flickr is seeing as the ANTI STOCK collection. I'm really not sure micro style images will be successful on there, simply because its those kinds of images buyers on Flickr are almost always RUNNING AWAY FROM. Getty's "Flickr Collection" is very different from its other collections. Keep this in mind.

I watermark my shots, haven't gotten any beef about it. I see Flickr more as a way to promote myself for assignments than selling stock per se. My brother has been on it for years and has sold a few photos, but the biggest snags pay wise were exotic destination weddings about a year ago.

Can you make it happen? It's up to you!

PowerDroid · « **Reply #16 on:** March 08, 2010, 17:03 »

Just looked up my stats to provide some real numbers...

I have 35,580 views on Flickr since summer of 2009.

I can track about $1,300 in revenue to my Flickr exposure, broken down this way:

About $200 in direct image sales
About $650 in custom work
About $450 in referrals using my links via my website

lisafx · « **Reply #17 on:** March 08, 2010, 17:21 »

Thanks for sharing those numbers PD. Very useful information for anyone considering uploading to Flikr. Sounds like it is as least as worthwhile as Canstock or 123RF.

click_click · « **Reply #18 on:** March 08, 2010, 21:57 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 08, 2010, 17:21

Thanks for sharing those numbers PD. Very useful information for anyone considering uploading to Flikr. Sounds like it is as least as worthwhile as Canstock or 123RF.

Would that be worth your time Lisa?

I think I'm going to try it though.

pixdeluxe · « **Reply #19 on:** March 09, 2010, 08:17 »

I've been submitting some files recently for consideration to Flickr RM at Getty. It seems pretty random what they're looking for, but the more 'snapshotty' the better. I think its safe to assume that they will not be interested in anything remotely smelling of microstock. I've started taking my camera on holidays and travels to try and get some fun images. Honestly, its a nice break from micro..

I've got 9 files approved so far, only in the past week and a bit, but no sales yet. Anyone seeing any movement here?

sharply_done · « **Reply #20 on:** March 09, 2010, 09:58 »

Quote from: pixdeluxe on March 09, 2010, 08:17

...
I've got 9 files approved so far, only in the past week and a bit, but no sales yet. Anyone seeing any movement here?

Check this thread: http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-macrostock/getty-flickr-collection-update-jan-26-2010/

Dook · « **Reply #21 on:** March 09, 2010, 14:05 »

Quote from: pixdeluxe on March 09, 2010, 08:17

I've been submitting some files recently for consideration to Flickr RM at Getty. It seems pretty random what they're looking for, but the more 'snapshotty' the better. I think its safe to assume that they will not be interested in anything remotely smelling of microstock. I've started taking my camera on holidays and travels to try and get some fun images. Honestly, its a nice break from micro..

I've got 9 files approved so far, only in the past week and a bit, but no sales yet. Anyone seeing any movement here?

I am interested- are you allowed to submit to Getty through two "doors" - Istock and Flickr?

cardmaverick · « **Reply #22 on:** March 09, 2010, 15:01 »

Quote from: Dook on March 09, 2010, 14:05

Quote from: pixdeluxe on March 09, 2010, 08:17
I've been submitting some files recently for consideration to Flickr RM at Getty. It seems pretty random what they're looking for, but the more 'snapshotty' the better. I think its safe to assume that they will not be interested in anything remotely smelling of microstock. I've started taking my camera on holidays and travels to try and get some fun images. Honestly, its a nice break from micro..

I've got 9 files approved so far, only in the past week and a bit, but no sales yet. Anyone seeing any movement here?
I am interested- are you allowed to submit to Getty through two "doors" - Istock and Flickr?

I'm petty sure Istock exclusives are not allowed near Flickr.

Dook · « **Reply #23 on:** March 09, 2010, 15:21 »

But, it is RM

sharply_done · « **Reply #24 on:** March 09, 2010, 15:25 »

Quote from: Dook on March 09, 2010, 14:05

I am interested- are you allowed to submit to Getty through two "doors" - Istock and Flickr?

Yes, you may still contribute to the Getty Flickr Collection (both RM and RF) if you are an iStock exclusive. Here's a thread on the iStock forum where someone wondered about exactly this:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=82914&page=1

As with the Getty iStock Collection, images/similars that are already on iStock are ineligible.

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Author Topic: Upload whole portfolio to flickr? (Read 13475 times)

joingated

Kone

lisafx

MicrostockExp

lisafx

MicrostockExp

sharply_done

lisafx

gostwyck

joingated

sharply_done

PowerDroid

lisafx

PowerDroid

madelaide

cardmaverick

PowerDroid

lisafx

click_click

pixdeluxe

sharply_done

Dook

cardmaverick

Dook

sharply_done

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