Author Topic: When did you have your BMEs? (Read 5670 times)

Perry · « **on:** September 27, 2012, 05:57 »

I'm interested in when you did have your last BME (Best Month Ever) on different sites? I think this will tell a lot about the trends. I started to think about this when DT seems to be resurrected from the dead again

My stats:
IS: March 2011
SS: July 2012
DT: May 2009 (September 2012 might be a new BME, just a few dollars short)
FT: September 2010 (nowdays about 70% less earnings than back then)
Veer: April 2012
Bigstockphoto: April 2012
123rf: February 2012

tab62 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:21 »

I am small potatoes compared to the 90% of the folks here thus take my stats lightly-

BME
Shutter (Sep 12)
FT (Sep 12)
BigStock (Sep 12)
Dreamstime (Aug 12)
123RF (May 12)
Deposit (Aug 12)

My portfolio is small thus each month is gaining in numbers maybe explaining why my sales are better each month. Kind of nice in the beginning in this business but it will bottom out (law of diminishing returns) some time...

T

luissantos84 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:30 »

SS: August 2012
IS: March 2012
FT: June 2012
123RF: February 2012
DT: May 2012

Wim · « **Reply #3 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:42 »

SS: July 2012 BME, August 2012 SBME so there is already a pattern here.
Others I don't care about BME yet since they only make me a fraction of what SS does.

John W. · « **Reply #4 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:45 »

Port is around 1100 pictures at SS/DT/BS. About 600-700 at the rest and Alamy 2100. I started end 2009:

SS: March 2012
IS: March 2011
IS PP: December 2010
DT: June 2012
FT: February 2012
123RF: December 2011
BS: September 2012
Canstock: August 2012
Veer: March 2012
Alamy: February 2012

sgoodwin4813 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 27, 2012, 07:46 »

For $$$ it is:
Bigstock: August 2012
Canstock: March 2010
Deposit: May 2012
DT: May 2012 (June and July very close but August 2012 was the worst in years)
FT: August 2012
iS: October 2009 (and that was with no ELs!)
SS: February 2012
123: January 2012
Alamy: February 2012

Top 3 BMEs over all sites combined: #1: February 2012; #2: July 2012; #3: May 2012.

BMEs for DLS are slightly different:
Bigstock: August 2012 (same as for $$$)
Canstock: August 2012
Deposit: April 2012
DT: September 2011
FT: August 2012 (same as for $$$)
iS: October 2009 (same as for $$$)
SS: September 2012
123: May 2012

Monthly averages for all sites are up compared to previous years due to portfolio growth - still very small.

JPSDK · « **Reply #6 on:** September 27, 2012, 10:58 »

I think it was back in 2009

ShadySue · « **Reply #7 on:** September 27, 2012, 13:04 »

iStock: Nov 2008 (sic) by miles, for $$ and dls

cthoman · « **Reply #8 on:** September 27, 2012, 14:47 »

Interesting topic. These are my top 10 earning months in microstock:

BME - Oct 2010
2nd - May 2012
3rd - Nov 2010
4th - Mar 2011
5th - Aug 2012
6th - Jan 2011
7th - Mar 2012
8th - Apr 2010
9th - Apr 2012
10th - Jun 2010

There's a good chance one of them will get pushed off the list by this month as well. I'm not sure about individual agency stats. They come and go, rise and fall, etc. It's mostly about overall performance.

Anyka · « **Reply #9 on:** September 27, 2012, 15:09 »

SS - March 12
IS - Nov 09 (!!)
FT - Nov 11
DST - Nov11
GLO - Feb12
132rf - Apr12
Depos - Sep12
Big - Oct11
CAN - Apr12
So only for Istock it's more than 12 months ago.

microstockphoto.co.uk · « **Reply #10 on:** September 27, 2012, 15:19 »

Great thread, Perry! A simple question which means more than complicated indexes

SS: mar 2012
Alamy: july 2012
DP: aug 2012
Veer: mar 2012

DT: mar 2011
123RF: mar 2011
CAN: feb 2011
StockXpert: mar 2011

FT: sept 2010
IS (incl. pp): aug 2010

Overall: mar 2012

(too small sample/ too large variations on other sites to even mention)

Edited to add this information:
started to submit to FT and DT in 2007; to all other sites in 2008 - except newer sites of course;
same pictures uploaded to all sites - except IS and Veer due to upload limits

stockmarketer · « **Reply #11 on:** September 27, 2012, 15:42 »

I'll follow cthoman's lead and post my top overall months:
(After four years in microstock)

1 - Mar 2012
2 - Feb 2012
3 - Nov 2011
4 - Apr 2012
5 - Sept 2011
6 - Sept 2012
6 - Oct 2011
7 - May 2012
8 - June 2012
9 - Aug 2012
10 - July 2012

ShadySue · « **Reply #12 on:** September 27, 2012, 15:47 »

While this is an interesting topic, it is pretty meaningless without all the other relevant details like how long you've been submiting to (different sites), how large your portfolio is at the different sites, how your port has been growing or not, etc.

leaf · « **Reply #13 on:** September 27, 2012, 15:49 »

Quote from: ShadySue on September 27, 2012, 15:47

While this is an interesting topic, it is pretty meaningless without all the other relevant details like how long you've been submiting to (different sites), how large your portfolio is at the different sites, how your port has been growing or not, etc.

... or if you've stopped uploading to site X or not.

That said, assuming people are uploading equally to all the sites, it is quite telling when one site had their BME over 1 year ago and all the others had a BME last month

nicku · « **Reply #14 on:** September 27, 2012, 15:51 »

SS- July 2012 ( but Sep. is very, very close to become my new BME )
DT - Oct. 2011
FT - July 2012
123RF - May 2012

cthoman · « **Reply #15 on:** September 27, 2012, 16:08 »

Quote from: ShadySue on September 27, 2012, 15:47

While this is an interesting topic, it is pretty meaningless without all the other relevant details like how long you've been submiting to (different sites), how large your portfolio is at the different sites, how your port has been growing or not, etc.

I'd need a whole topic just to explain all that in detail.

Quote from: stockmarketer on September 27, 2012, 15:42

I'll follow cthoman's lead and post my top overall months:
(After four years in microstock)

1 - Mar 2012
2 - Feb 2012
3 - Nov 2011
4 - Apr 2012
5 - Sept 2011
6 - Sept 2012
6 - Oct 2011
7 - May 2012
8 - June 2012
9 - Aug 2012
10 - July 2012

Nice steady growth.

cascoly · « **Reply #16 on:** September 27, 2012, 23:53 »

my BMEs are all over the place, but most were in 2012 -- no particularly bad monhth

it really depends on the breadth of your portfolio and the type of images you do

ClaridgeJ · « **Reply #17 on:** September 28, 2012, 01:10 »

Talking about BMEs and while we are on the subject. I heard yesterday that two Rm pictures of some gas industry were sold for 18K !
I guess whoever the photographer he had a BME and a BMY. There is still money around.

ClaridgeJ · « **Reply #18 on:** September 28, 2012, 02:03 »

Quote from: leaf on September 27, 2012, 15:49

Quote from: ShadySue on September 27, 2012, 15:47
While this is an interesting topic, it is pretty meaningless without all the other relevant details like how long you've been submiting to (different sites), how large your portfolio is at the different sites, how your port has been growing or not, etc.

... or if you've stopped uploading to site X or not.

That said, assuming people are uploading equally to all the sites, it is quite telling when one site had their BME over 1 year ago and all the others had a BME last month

I am wondering if people are uploading equally to all sites? I know I am not. Certain files goes to certain sites only because I know they have the markets, or am I wrong?

Dan · « **Reply #19 on:** September 28, 2012, 07:23 »

Although i have a small port this has been my best month ever. Just about doubled what DT brought in awhile back.

Karimala · « **Reply #20 on:** September 28, 2012, 07:51 »

I stopped regularly uploading about three years ago, so whenever I have a BME these days, it tells me that agency is doing something very right since I haven't worked at growing my portfolio. I can also see clearly which agencies are stagnant and which ones are killing my business.

SS: March 2010 (came very close to breaking it March 2012)
IS: June 2009 (nowadays consistently earning 2/3 less than my BME!

)
DT: March 2012 (while everyone around here was reporting a massive slump, I was having a surge in sales)
FT: May 2009 (nowadays consistently earning 90% less than my BME!

)
BigStock: June 2012 (previously April 2012...good things were happening this spring at BigStock!)
123RF: March 2010

FT is the big shocker. My earnings are proof FT did something to its search engine that is punishing contributors who stopped submitting images. What else can explain the two sudden drops...one late last year and one earlier this year...that wiped out 90% of my sales? Out of the blue, my once steady income dropped by a 1/3 in November. My new, lesser income remained steady until that number dropped another 75% in June, which has remained steady just like its predecessors.

John W. · « **Reply #21 on:** September 28, 2012, 08:20 »

Good to see those stats Karimala. It really shows a port has sales potential for years even if one stops uploading. I'm a bit surprised that only FT seems to punish inactive contributors. It would seem logical to favourite active contributors to keep them motivated to upload more.

Karimala · « **Reply #22 on:** September 28, 2012, 11:54 »

I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone taking 3 years off from uploading, but it is comforting to know that contributors can take time off without seeing their income fall off a cliff. The only drops I've experienced involve agencies that have tweaked my images out of their search engines and/or dropped royalty rates. As long as the agency itself is stable, my income has remained stable.

I'm sure glad more agencies don't punish inactive contributors! Fotolia's actions have really hurt my income, and it's coming at a time when I'm finally recovering from a 3-year-long series of unexpected, major life-altering events that severely hampered my ability to work. A 90% drop in income from one of my main agencies just makes recovery that much harder.

fotografer · « **Reply #23 on:** September 28, 2012, 12:00 »

Quote from: Karimala on September 28, 2012, 07:51

FT is the big shocker. My earnings are proof FT did something to its search engine that is punishing contributors who stopped submitting images. What else can explain the two sudden drops...one late last year and one earlier this year...that wiped out 90% of my sales? Out of the blue, my once steady income dropped by a 1/3 in November. My new, lesser income remained steady until that number dropped another 75% in June, which has remained steady just like its predecessors.

Ft seems to sell mostly new stuff these days. 7 out of 10 of all my sales there are from images uploaded in the last few months. I have images there that used to sell daily which are lucky to have one sale a month now. I hope that your problems are over now and that you can start uploading again. I'm still earning about a third of what I earnt over a year ago but if I wasn't uploading I would be earning much less.

raclro · « **Reply #24 on:** October 01, 2012, 17:35 »

April 2010 iStock was my BME in dollars.
since then I have added a couple thousand more photos there but am down 73% in dollars. To give some perspective, I averaged over $1100 per month in 2010. Competition has increased many times over both on iStock and other sites since then. There are simply way more choices out there for buyers than there used to be.

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Author Topic: When did you have your BMEs? (Read 5670 times)

Perry

tab62

luissantos84

Wim

John W.

sgoodwin4813

JPSDK

ShadySue

cthoman

Anyka

microstockphoto.co.uk

stockmarketer

ShadySue

leaf

nicku

cthoman

cascoly

ClaridgeJ

ClaridgeJ

Dan

Karimala

John W.

Karimala

fotografer

raclro

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