So it's only been a month, and I've been at IS long enough to know the year sometimes starts slow, but earnings are about half of what they have been (the last year). I know at best I will always make less at IS, and seriously considering dropping exclusivity, anyone done it in time for the first of the year, and how has it affected your download numbers? I worry most baout losing good placement in the searches, but with all of the site issues I don't think we get good placement any longer anyway.

This guy:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=291242&messageid=5713502

   This is an interesting question, given all that has gone on lately at IStock. The flip side of the question is the strong support that Yuri has given to the concept of exclusivity at Istock being the best way to go, if he were starting out today. Despite all the mean and ugly things that the current management has done to contributors, they still have a brand recognition that is so far second to none. Getting lost in the searches may end up being a function of not being exclusive in the long run, and the higher payouts associated with vetta files may in fact make the overall return at IStock superior to being spread out at other agencies. I wish I could identify a likely competitor to Istock. SS has steady sales, but because of the pure subscription model, it's suited to a high volume contributor more than anything else. I've been kicking around the idea of going exclusive with Istock, if for no other reason than it's proven sales statistics for my images. Like everything else in the microstock world, the whole concept behind this business is at an inflection point. IF they can get through the current state of disarray and come out on the other end with a site selling unique images of high quality, they will end up redefining the the macro/micro model convergence in a way that could make them the ultimate winner in a big way. The hard part is to leave out the personal feelings about the treatment of contributors and look at it from a purely business point of view, which is how Yuri seems to view it. My experience in microstock is limited, but I've made a good living out of being a photographer for a very long time, and one lesson I've learned is that things are always changing. The hard part is to see the long trend amid the short term noise. Many contributors have talked of deleting portfolios, but I'm curious how many have made that decision based on emotion rather than business.

The hard part is to leave out the personal feelings about the treatment of contributors and look at it from a purely business point of view, which is how Yuri seems to view it.

It's easy for Yuri to be 'dispassionate' as he is the only independent that hasn't had his commissions cut.

Back to the OP's question. I've always been independent but my data suggests strongly to me that IS have been in gentle but steady decline, relative to the greater market, for at least 6 months. This month they are projected to generate just 27.5% of my stock income compared to 36.2% in Jan 2010. That decline appears to be accelerating of late too, possibly due to the site issues. In the same timescale SS have increased from 23.8% to 34.4% this month, mainly due to a huge increase in PPD and EL sales. All the other agencies are largely holding their own.

Obviously it will take time for images to gain their rightful position in the default sort-orders at the various agencies but the cream will always rise to the top eventually. If you do go independent I believe you need to give it at least 18 months to determine whether it worked for you. At least then you will have enough data to make a good decision on where the future lies for your portfolio.

Here's an excellent blog where a former Istock exclusive documents her experiences since giving up the crown a couple of months ago.

http://stockcube-stockcube.blogspot.com/

I haven't cancelled, but have thought very seriously about doing it. I did enquire of CR what happens if you start the 30 day clock and then during that 30 days change your mind. The answer is that you can't back out, so you have to wait out the remainder of the 30 days as an exclusive, spend your 90 days as an independent, and then can re-apply.

So don't start the clock if you aren't serious about becoming independent

I was independent for nearly 4 years, so I am a bit "rusty" but still have a pretty good idea of what the issues are. I was pushed back onto the fence just as I was about to jump for independence by FT announcing their latest commission cut.

In spite of all the bugs and crap, my January so far is ahead of Jan 2010 (by about 10%) and the month isn't over, so I think I'm going to sit tight for a bit.

I don't know that anyone - independent or exclusive to one site - is in a good situation right now. We all have a set of risks and concerns about how things will play out over the next 2-3 years. So when I see swapping one set of icky circumstances for another, I'm much less motivated to drop exclusivity. Of course IS could tip the scales a bit if they made the partner program mandatory or pulled some equally numb-skulled move...

Quote from: jbarber873 on January 27, 2011, 16:59

The hard part is to leave out the personal feelings about the treatment of contributors and look at it from a purely business point of view, which is how Yuri seems to view it.

It's easy for Yuri to be 'dispassionate' as he is the only independent that hasn't had his commissions cut.

Back to the OP's question. I've always been independent but my data suggests strongly to me that IS have been in gentle but steady decline, relative to the greater market, for at least 6 months. This month they are projected to generate just 27.5% of my stock income compared to 36.2% in Jan 2010. That decline appears to be accelerating of late too, possibly due to the site issues. In the same timescale SS have increased from 23.8% to 34.4% this month, mainly due to a huge increase in PPD and EL sales. All the other agencies are largely holding their own.

Obviously it will take time for images to gain their rightful position in the default sort-orders at the various agencies but the cream will always rise to the top eventually. If you do go independent I believe you need to give it at least 18 months to determine whether it worked for you. At least then you will have enough data to make a good decision on where the future lies for your portfolio.

   I was really thinking about the John Lund blog post where Yuri said that he would be exclusive at Istock if he were starting out now. I understand that he is in a good position. My question about Istock is if being exclusive is the only way to sell at Istock going forward, since the agency, vetta and exclusives seem to crowd the search results. All of the independents are getting pushed down the line, it seems. Since this post was about dropping exclusivity, i was hoping that some exclusives could weigh in about both sides. It is a difficult choice to make, but I've only got a little over 1000 files, so it's not the huge big deal that it would be for someone with 20,000 files. As for SS, the sales are good and getting better, but many images that sell at both sites get far higher total payouts from Istock, with far fewer sales.

Quote from: lisafx on January 27, 2011, 18:07

Here's an excellent blog where a former Istock exclusive documents her experiences since giving up the crown a couple of months ago.

http://stockcube-stockcube.blogspot.com/

That's an interesting read. I was interested in the IS poll she posted, too. She is right, it is a small portion of the total number of contributors, but I would be willing to bet the percentages would be about the same if ALL contributors responded.

+1, good link

Still on the fence, been really happy so far as a Gold level contributor, but dropping from $2000 a month to maybe $800 this month is disturbing.

That's not good. iStock has been pretty bad for me this month too. I wasn't sure if that was a pattern or just my numbers.

My income at IS (non exclusive) has dropped 30% compared to january last year and almost 50% compared to january 2009. I'm at Istock since 2007. As SS income has increased 30% with last january.

JOANN- do you have any ranking at Fotolia still, you were likely around Gold were you?  Would you get that ranking back or do you have to start from scratch.

Also, my month at Istock is the worst since Nov 2008.  I hate to say "to be fair to Istock" I wonder if we all wouldn't have had a much better month if they hadn't f*cked everything up so royally for buyers.  Hopefully they take their magnificent site problems into consideration when they ever-so-fairly set next year's goal posts  .

Hopefully they take their magnificent site problems into consideration when they ever-so-fairly set next year's goal posts   .

The site's been fouled up since F5, and even more so with the launch of 'facetted search'.
However, they won't need to 'take that into account', because the targets are a movable bell curve (such as teachers used up to about 1990), with points based on how many contributers they are prepatared to tolerate at each percentage point, and the need not to 'lose' their top independent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_curve_grading

I think as an independent you need to do IS, FT, SS and probably DT to make it make financial sense.

+1

And anything else that has a really easy upload system (e.g. canstock)