Stats and Keywords

"Take decisive action in the direction of your goals" - Brian Tracey

Fewer than 1 in 25 people actually commit to uploading a portfolio once they register with a microstock website. Why would anyone not take decisive action toward earning passive income?

The Numbers Don't Lie

 If your goal is to earn money creating Stock Images and get cash for pictures, it's important to think of it as a business and the most critical aspect for any business is to focus on the numbers.

If you are a numbers person, then you are probably already doing this. If you are like me (not a numbers person), then it may be challenging at first but it won't take long to get a handle on what's important, develop a baseline and then just stay on top of trends, fluctuations and changes.

The truth is, without the numbers, you are just driving blind. To move forward in your business means you have to know where your business is going.

Some Things I measure are:

1. Portfolio Size - the rate at which I am increasing my portfolio. I try to keep this consistent and I add weekly targets. I say more about this in the Inventory Page.


2. Number of Image Views - This tells me if my Keywords are hitting the mark in searches.
   
   This is an exercise I do quite frequently.  It's quick and gives you a lot of insight into how many potential customers are interested in your image and how effective your keywords are.  I will search for similar images that are getting more views.  I will use any keywords used in that image that I haven't thought of for mine.  The intent is that this should help get my image in front of more potential buyers.
   
   I will do this for top selling images to gain them even more visibility and I will do it for my worst selling images to see if they are just not getting enough visibility. This sometimes helps to increase their sales. If not, I will not spend much more effort on those.


3. Number of Sales - I look at sales on a per image basis.  This tells me which images and subjects are most popular
   
   You can use this stat to tell you more than just how much a particular image is earning.  I use this this number to gauge how popular a subject actually is and when sales are taken into consideration coupled with the number of views, I know if I need to work on optimizing my keywords better.
   
   For example,  I have several images that have earned $200-$300 each.  By looking at the number of sales compared to the number of views, I know that for every 10 views, I make 1 sale (# of views / # of sales).  This ratio will not change but based on the number of total sales so far, I know that this image is worth spending a little more effort to try to increase sales by increasing the visibility.  I will usually go back to the keywords to see if I can tweak them in order to get more views.
   
   The number of sales also tells me which images are worthy of uploading to new Microstock websites I register with.


4. Acceptance Ratio - This lets me know if I am delivering what the particular Microstock websites are looking for.
   
   Do not take this personally.  It is always a business decision.
   
   You may love the image you uploaded but if the Microstock Website doesn't think it's right for their market, they won't accept it.  Suck it up Buttercup, put aside your ego and take the advice they give you when you get the rejection notice.
   
   Remember, you need them more than they need you and as a commercial artist, you need to realize that the customer (in this case the Microstock Website) has final say on what it finds acceptable.
   
    Another reason an image may get rejected is that the Microstock Website may feel some keywords are not related to the image.  Keyword spamming is a huge concern and is monitored closely.  When keywording, do your research and see what other artists have been able to use for similar images.


5. Increasing or Decreasing Monthly Sales Totals - Is my business trending up, is it trending down or is it stagnant?
   
   My Shutterstock account, for example, has increased by 200% and then another 50% within the last six months. All this while my portfolio has grown by less than 50%.  Because of my focusing on the numbers, I can attribute the increase to images that are more in demand and to better keywording.

Just as a note, I also monitor other contributors' views and sales.  This gives me a point of reference when measuring the success of my images.