I've become an exclusive photographer to DT nearly a year ago and I've never regretted making this choice. Since I've got a day time job to the side, I simply don't have the time to post all my pictures to dozens of websites. Let alone creating and copying the keywords, must be hell ;-)
Perhaps all of this was just dumb luck: I got rejected on 2 other sites before ending up with DT, this probably tells everything about the quality of my pictures ;-)
Seriously:
1) information I gained about DT proved to be correct: sales are high on this site, at first you're left in the jungle, but when you have proven to be able to collect US$100 sales, you're off to a flying start. And the site never ceases to grow. As do the sales. Service is great by the way.
2) if you're a full-time photographer, you're probably better off checking the sales on a few websites before becoming exclusive to one website.If ever becoming exlusive.
3) I reckon becoming exclusive to DT gives you a few advantages, maybe moving kinda first into the pecking order of presented images when submitting a search. Maybe the DT staff can enlighten us on this ;-)
4) forget about the US$0.20 for every approved image. It comes in handy, but that's not where you want to get your 'sales' from. It's a welcome extra, but not more than that. Your pictures have be high quality, period.
5) summary: if you've got a lot of time and/or if you want to gain your entire income from photography: do not become exclusive to one website. If you're an "amateur" like me, without lots of time, it won't hurt you to become exclusive to DT.
No, I'm not an admin to DT ;-)
keep on shooting, you crazy kids!
Alain.
posted in Exclusive photographer vs. exclusive images
