New Business Model - Issue 2

Posted on 9/18/2007 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)







Issue 2 – Customer Growth – There has been an explosion of customers who want to use imagery, but the majority of these new clients have small budgets for photography. Meanwhile, sales to traditional stock photo customers have been sluggish for some time, and there are signs their needs will decline.



To understand the subject better, it helps to review a few recently written articles.



iStockphoto’s statistics shows a dramatic increase in customers quarter-by-quarter. Oleg Tscheltzoff of Fotolia claims revenue has been growing 10% a month for over 18 months, and he sees no end to this growth trend. On the other hand, my examination of the traditional industry indicates that printed products (the core users of still imagery) will experience a steady decline without hope of a turnaround.



Industry leaders are trying to devise ways to sell their images to these new customers. Getty has significantly lowered prices for Web use in an effort to reach the customer currently using microstock. Others who license Web use rights can be expected to match or undercut Getty’s prices in order to stay competitive.



RF production companies are beginning to make their images available for licensing at microstock prices, as well as through traditional RF distributors.














New Business Model - Issue 2

Issue 2 - Customer Growth - There has been an explosion of customers who want to use imagery, but the majority of these new clients have small budgets for photography. Meanwhile, sales to traditional stock photo customers have been sluggish for some time, and there are signs their needs will decline.

To understand the subject better, it helps to review a few recently written articles.

iStockphoto's statistics shows a dramatic increase in customers quarter-by-quarter. Oleg Tscheltzoff of Fotolia claims revenue has been growing 10% a month for over 18 months, and he sees no end to this growth trend. On the other hand, my examination of the traditional industry indicates that printed products (the core users of still imagery) will experience a steady decline without hope of a turnaround.

Industry leaders are trying to devise ways to sell their images to these new customers. Getty has significantly lowered prices for Web use in an effort to reach the customer currently using microstock. Others who license Web use rights can be expected to match or undercut Getty's prices in order to stay competitive.

RF production companies are beginning to make their images available for licensing at microstock prices, as well as through traditional RF distributors.

Links:

traditional industry: http://www.selling-stock.com/?p=1923

lowering prices: http://www.selling-stock.com/?p=2075

microstock prices: http://www.selling-stock.com/?p=2085


Copyright © 2007 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

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