It is a closely guarded secret how the ranking of images is computed for searches. We all have wondered if and how acceptance rate, participation on the message boards, writing blogs, etc affect our ranking on searches and resulting sales.
I did an experiment this month; I wrote a series of blogs and was active on the message boards. I wanted to see if it had an effect on my sales.
Here are my results. During the past 5 months I have been averaging $75 dollars in sales each month. I have been averaging approximately 50 images sold each month.
During the month of January, I was more active on the message boards (total 53 messages); previous months I sent between 0 and 30 messages. I was also wrote more blogs, in fact, I issued 14 blogs during January. In the past, I would do one or two every couple months.
My sales increased to $128.00 during the month of January. This was my best month in sales but also nearly double my monthly average. In addition, I sold 75 images, about 50% more than average.
This is certainly not a statistical or scientific study but I do find it significant that active participation on Dreamstime does affect sales, at least in my opinion.
So, for all those that want to know how to increase sales; best way is to increase your portfolio and be active in the DT community. I hope all have enjoyed my blogs for the past month, it was a joy to share my knowledge with you all.
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lzf
guess that's really affected also based on your good pics..
Iwhitwo
Great experiment and results!! Keep it up and keep us informed John.
Mcjanice
I have enjoyed your blogs and found them very helpful, maybe I should participate more. I have been here almost a year and a half and have only sold 56 images. I was blaming it on the fact it was strictly wildlife which is what I am interested in and comfortable with.
Kimson1972
..I read every word from you carefully...!
Visceralimage
Adeliepenguin; i must admit I enjoyed sharing the tips. I usually work alone, very very alone but i do enjoy sharing my knowledge. The blogs are a great way to share because i do not need to be in front of a group, do not need to meet others, do not need to try to understand Russian language, etc.
Adeliepenguin
I figured you were up to something with all those blogs. Since I love shooting wildlife, I was looking for you on nearly a daily basis with some helpful hints:) Funny thing for me, I seem to have more sales with fewer messages. Congrats on the sales boom. I hope it continues for you. Keep us posted on your theories!
Anhong
Good article. Good luck! Write a blog is a very interesting thing.
Dmccale
I agree with Aginger.Good luck
Mani33
Indeed it helps for portfolio exposure! But not it's not a main factor! Some buyers do read blogs & message boards, so they might discover an image or a photographer through them!
In my case I have 3681 posts & 101 blogs! I should have been rich by now! LOL
Keep up the good work! ;)
Infotrontof
Very interesting indeed.
Thanks!
Aginger
Uhm, I can't tell more about post...but THAT cardinal photo is awesome! :)
Meryll
Your blogs are great and information in this blog useful too!
Visceralimage
Thanks Elianehaykal, good to know some enjoy them
Elianehaykal
Even if it didn't help your sales, don't stop writing blogs as I find them very awesome :D
Tan510jomast
i suppose any form of networking helps. it certainly doesn't hurt .
Egomezta
I have read a couple of blogs regarding this issue and also I can tell with my own experience, that yes there is a correlation between participation and sales, but also is very important to upload images (I have seen that it is even more important than participating in blogs), also another important fact is donating images (for free)...