• Asked by
• Peter C.
• |
• January 18, 2012
• |
• Nobody else has this question

Exclusivity and non-exclusivity

Hi Yuri,

I understand you are likely a real busy person, so I want to be respectful of your time by keeping this short.

Do you feel like you are better off having your photos on all different micro stock sites VS being exclusive on IS? Would you feel comfortable sharing in percentage terms (and NOT in dollar terms) how each site contributes to your total sales each week or month?

I ask because I'm an exclusive on IS, but I've kept it as a side job as I do graphic design by day. I am however of thinking of doing stock photos full time later in this year. So it has crossed my mind if I should stop the exclusivity with IS.

Thanks
Peter

• Answered by
• Yuri
• |
• April 25, 2012
• |
• 1 person likes this

Hi Peter.
Actually my sales are distributed very similarly to what you can find on different polls and ranking lists on the internet. For instance on http://www.microstockgroup.com and similar site.
There isn't any specific agency that really steps out in my statistics at all.

I have always thought that being exclusive to one agency is extremely risky. You're putting all your eggs in one basket - what happens if the basket breaks?
I think that the only exclusive deals that are really great for photographers are the ones where you can place some of your images exclusively on one platform and then place others exclusively on others. Content exclusivity instead of photographer exclusivity is definitely the way to go, if you ask me. However, this unfortunately is not something many agencies offer.

This policy is also honored on this site, as the photographers submitting images to PeopleImages are only required to be exclusive with us for the first year while they are trained by us. Only photographers who have participated in the Yuri Arcurs Boot Camp have a chance of being allowed to submit images to us, and we do everything we possibly can to teach them the necessary skills for creating great images. After the first year, we won't tie them down at all, and they can submit images to whatever agency they wish. :)

But in short, I think it's very risky being exclusive with IS. They are pushing forward exclusive content right now, and obviously they will want to keep their exclusive photographers happy. However, they do not have such a great competitive advantage as they had earlier on, and I really hope they will consider the idea of content exclusivity instead of photographer exclusivity. :) Having to submit all your content to only one agency is just too risky an endeavor for many photographers.
It is, of course, up to you whether you chose to stay exclusive or not. I just hope you will be able to benefit from my few pointers on the subject.

Have a great day.
Best Regards Yuri Arcurs