Author Topic: IMAGEBRIEF anyone? - 70% commission (Read 19808 times)

KnowYourOnions · « **on:** January 13, 2015, 04:35 »

http://www.imagebrief.com/

http://www.imagebrief.com/about

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #1 on:** January 13, 2015, 05:34 »

I am there, had a photo selected in the beginning but stopped uploading there as all the briefs I submitted to never seem to come to a conclusion. IB says all briefs get closed, but I dont believe it. Sometimes you have these urgent briefs, a buyer needs an image within 24 hours and a week later its still open.

Also, the amount of spam images submitted is staggering. Like no one reads the briefs and just submits anything they can find on their HD that remotely matches the request.

Ariene · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2015, 06:48 »

http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/imagebrief-com/msg262520/#msg262520

http://www.microstockgroup.com/selling-direct/success-on-image-brief/msg388989/#msg388989

http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/accepted-into-imagebrief/msg355232/#msg355232

I hope that helps a bit?

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #3 on:** January 13, 2015, 09:22 »

Gave up and turned them off.

I forgot to explain. They had a shot that came up twice, so I specifically took it. Involved a race track... never even got a short list. Could be that my shots sucked, but what I'm saying is this. For the rest of you...

Keep track and you will see repeating themes. That might help someone. You can plan a shot for the next time it will return. Good Luck.

Mantis · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2015, 09:28 »

I have had multiple images shortlisted but never landed a sale. I think their goal is to get you to sign up and pay for their premium membership, does that ring a bell....FAA..500px, bleh!

SLStudios · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2015, 16:05 »

It is harder to get the sales now too because of the new premium level they added. For about $60 a month, you can be a preferred photographer and I am convinced they push images from those people first. I, like others here, have been shortlisted a number of times but the brief was either abandoned, closed or someone else's image was selected. The rates look great but it is a hard place to make a buck. I feel like it is becoming more of a "shoot on spec" agency these days.

Yay Images Billionaire · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2015, 21:54 »

I've only submitted to 3 or 4 briefs, and had one sale. The sale equaled a few months worth of microstock money, so it was worth the effort.

My main annoyance there is the lack of a feedback or question system, as often the briefs I would attempt are vague. If I know I'm shooting the right subject, I'll do it, but I'm reluctant to make an effort to shoot something the buyer may or may not actually want.

Elenathewise · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2015, 22:22 »

I had many shortlisted, but never a sale. I think I am about to give up - too much trouble, and it is true that many customers give a very vague description of what they want, or don't really know what they want. I remember one brief requesting a business environment that "is not stocky" and the image that won was the stockiest image of a business meeting I ever seen. I shot something once for them specifically, and then the brief got cancelled because the client "decided not to run with the story". Some images do get selected and sold - but I guess it's too much of a lottery for me.

Freedom · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2015, 22:52 »

Yep, I also have many shortlisted and never got any sales. Will not bother this year.

Holmes · « **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2015, 00:39 »

i stopped to for same reasons above.

and many of the briefs are MORE than covered in general stock... like young woman strolling on beach in white dress or woman with mobile phone... seriously?

StockPhotosArt.com · « **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2015, 02:01 »

I've even stopped to look at their briefs e-mail. I have been shortlisted once but the brief was never closed even after a long time after the deadline. Plus, many of the requests are very hard to fulfill for me, as many require travel shots around the world so it's impossible to contribute.

Painter · « **Reply #11 on:** January 14, 2015, 04:13 »

I have uploaded to a few briefs, got some shortlisted and one sale. Well worth the effort. I do not think the premium level photographers are pushed, the customer chooses between all submitted. I am a hobbyist, I am not paying for the premium.

I think some of these customers want complete exclusivity, that is why they do not buy stock even if they need a "stocky" image.

The competition is really high on some briefs, I got the sale on a brief with quite few participants.

krislamor · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2015, 18:10 »

I started at Image Brief in December I think, so it hasn't been long. They must be putting the premium photographer persons' photos on the "a selection of submissions" page that shows when you go to the brief. There are always at least some reallly bad ones on there and usually most or all are just not good. I've been shortlisted once. None of the others shortlisted for that brief looked like mine. They were almost all stock looking and mine was not. I have noticed that many of the photos look just like stock photos available everywhere, so what is the point of saying they are not a stock photo place and that the photographers can't have their photos anywhere else in stock places?? Also, why would clients pay larger amounts for that stuff when they can get it so cheap other places? I noticed someone said they wanted it to be their own even if it looked stock. I don't know exactly what to think of it. I have so far kept trying. I just did some shots this morning, and now I go on there and all the featured photos for that brief look completely stock. Many times the photos don't follow very closely what the client asked for them to be. I agree it's as if stock photographers just scroll through their stuff and put anything remotely close on there. My fiance believes like someone else said, that it is basically a scam to get a monthly fee out of photographers. There's no way I can ever or would ever, unless I were getting plenty of pay from it, pay it I showed photo pages to people and they remarked as I thought they would. Most of the photos look like anybody could've pushed the button on the camera for them. They are flat, blurred, over exposed, and usually have that big ole sunspot in them. The people usually look so very faked. If that is what clients like then there isn't anything I can do but it is just odd. Another brief I am in just got shortlisted. Mine is not shortlisted. If you saw the ones that are you would realize that it is FREAKY. They look like a two year old made marks on the page and that's it. Totally. WTH

ScottishPhotographer · « **Reply #13 on:** February 17, 2015, 13:25 »

They also seem to have quite a delay in sending out brief emails at times - i.e. a day or two after they are posted.

I have just spent (I should say wasted and I bet I'm not the only one) over an hour going through my archive to find images for an urgent brief that the site stated was open to submission for another six hours. Since it was an urgent brief I dropped what I was doing to deal with it as soon as the email came in to my inbox. When I went back upload they had closed it early so I couldn't even upload the images I had selected (I hold my hands up and say yes that's why I came here to rant). I have one or two that are better than the ones they shortlisted so their loss.

In 2 years I've had only one sale. If the offer is less than $500 I don't usually bother unless I can gather images quickly.

ArenaCreative · « **Reply #14 on:** February 17, 2015, 14:18 »

I wasted time submitting to a few "contests" as well, and then lost interest.

miathemia · « **Reply #15 on:** June 11, 2015, 14:55 »

Hi guys.. had a particular interest in IB and after reading everyone's posts couldn't not post my opinion… In the last 3,5 weeks I have submitted to 42 briefs with an average of 3-4 photos per brief, - and never.got.a.one.sale. I would have thought that I completely suck as a photog but they've shortlisted my 5 images. They are all high res and all, and I actually try hard and spend sometimes a lot of time rummaging through photos in order to answer their requirements on subject/theme instead of uploading whatever-is-available-on the HD…
anyways...Then they closed one brief with the shortlisted image (their normal explanation is "Brief's closed. That's all, folks!"…..no additional comments, no explanation..no respect I'd say - we are not money beggars there and they don't do any charity, they Get Paid wit every single sale whether it's a free or premium account); and in the other brief with another shortlisted image they have awarded a photo that looked nearly same as mine!!! with two differences: mine was posted earlier (!!) and the awarded photog had a premium account. You can see for yourselves here: newbielink:http://www.imagebrief.com/briefs/sea-blue-green-colour-slash-close-up-details-zKESEX#/entries [nonactive] (my name there is Irina Mia, Spain).
After reading all your posts I can only say Thank you first of all for sharing your thoughts/ concerns.. and secondly - if anyone finds it helpful - I don't wanna submit to any more briefs for now. See how it goes and defo not going for premium account until I got at least 1 sale. They actually have contacted me like 3 times encouraging me to upgrade, but with all my honesty I said that I don't believe in this whole thing until my image(s) start selling…
Good luck to all of us and I'll write here if there's any news.

jefftakespics2 · « **Reply #16 on:** June 11, 2015, 15:47 »

Not a fan of IB. It reminds me of the workers hanging around a corner waiting for the dudes in pickup trucks to come by an make day work offers,, everyone scrambling to get a job.

fotografer · « **Reply #17 on:** June 11, 2015, 16:31 »

I've got a couple shortlisted at the moment but they seem like they are never going to close. !!

stock-will-eat-itself · « **Reply #18 on:** June 11, 2015, 16:53 »

Lots of shortlist no sales, it's like endlessly quoting for work but never getting the contract. Flawed business model if you ask me.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #19 on:** June 11, 2015, 17:05 »

http://www.alamy.com/blog/2015/04/phototasks

Fudio · « **Reply #20 on:** June 12, 2015, 06:28 »

Quote from: Semmick Photo on January 13, 2015, 05:34

I am there, had a photo selected in the beginning but stopped uploading there as all the briefs I submitted to never seem to come to a conclusion. IB says all briefs get closed, but I dont believe it. Sometimes you have these urgent briefs, a buyer needs an image within 24 hours and a week later its still open.

Also, the amount of spam images submitted is staggering. Like no one reads the briefs and just submits anything they can find on their HD that remotely matches the request.

Personally I still like the concept, but IB really needs to tighten up the model to keep me interested. Since I don't have a lot of images sitting on my HD that aren't already in stock elsewhere, I only submit to briefs that I can shoot easily and that I think have potential for stock after the brief closes.

The last one I shot for was a brief posted on May 20 with a two day deadline for submissions. Three weeks later the brief is still pending with no buyer activity for weeks. In the meantime though my images are in limbo. IB needs to be more stringent with buyers, forcing them to either award or close the brief within hours (or at the very least days) of the deadline. More direct buyer engagement and feedback would also be helpful.

wordplanet · « **Reply #21 on:** June 12, 2015, 13:36 »

Seem to be in the same boat as many of you. Shortlisted but no sales. Haven't uploaded that much there but I like the concept. The number of unfinished briefs and no sales to date, keeps me from buying into the premium account but I think it's an interesting concept and it seems to be getting more traction.

cathyslife · « **Reply #22 on:** June 12, 2015, 14:19 »

Quote from: wordplanet on June 12, 2015, 13:36

Seem to be in the same boat as many of you. Shortlisted but no sales. Haven't uploaded that much there but I like the concept. The number of unfinished briefs and no sales to date, keeps me from buying into the premium account but I think it's an interesting concept and it seems to be getting more traction.

I don't know anything about this company, but I wonder if your odds go up if you DO buy into the premium account? I know other companies I have dealt with using this business model do that. They favor those that pay to play.

Fudio · « **Reply #23 on:** June 12, 2015, 14:30 »

Quote from: cathyslife on June 12, 2015, 14:19

Quote from: wordplanet on June 12, 2015, 13:36
Seem to be in the same boat as many of you. Shortlisted but no sales. Haven't uploaded that much there but I like the concept. The number of unfinished briefs and no sales to date, keeps me from buying into the premium account but I think it's an interesting concept and it seems to be getting more traction.

I don't know anything about this company, but I wonder if your odds go up if you DO buy into the premium account? I know other companies I have dealt with using this business model do that. They favor those that pay to play.

It's certainly possible, however the briefs I've been watching seem to be awarded based on merit more than photographer standing. One possible advantage I can see in being a premium member is the ability to offer yourself for hire directly to a buyer. I would be interested in knowing how often that actually happens though.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 12, 2015, 14:48 »

I think this article sums up my feelings pretty well:

http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2015/02/imagebrief-scourge-on-photographic.html

ImageBrief seems to me like a place art directors go when they want something specific they can't easily find on the stock sites; photographers will probably never earn back the overhead they spend shooting for the briefs becuase the chances of being chosen are slim. I guess if you have something on your hard drive that fits the bill it might be worth your time to try, and if you can also license the image elsewhere it might make you some money after all, but it sounds like a much better deal for the buyer than the photographer.

krislamor · « **Reply #25 on:** July 13, 2015, 23:51 »

So I'm still on ImageBrief. I have not sold anything. I had one more shortlist. That one they said the buyer decided to not buy. So all this time of submitting like crazy, and only two shortlists and no buys. One really bothersome thing: I had photos that were exactly what the buyer wanted. I mean perfect. It was never checked that they were viewed. The buyer shortlisted one photo and it was not a photo, it was brush circles to look like bokeh. Four, I think it was, circles. Seriously. So over it. They asked for a view out the rain dripping covered window of a cop car coming with the lights in the rain. I actually had five or six of those. No kidding, and they were exactly what they described they wanted. But they shortlisted four circles and apparently never even viewed mine. They want a min of 60. a month for being a "premium photographer". I removed all my brief submissions but two that are still going on. And I don't know why I didn't remove those. And I am working on getting all my images off of there. I would love to know where else I can try to sell now that I have so many photos ready. And not a rip off place.

panicAttack · « **Reply #26 on:** July 14, 2015, 02:35 »

They have potential to be good but it is still not a serious place for selling images. They need to have some guaranteed briefs like 99design have or something like that.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #27 on:** July 14, 2015, 06:50 »

Long time ago I used to work for a company that had almost identical model but for different products. Mainly commodities which is different than stock photos but with all of the copycatting stock is becoming a commodity. Buyers would mainly use the system to get prices and then use that to go beat up their trusted suppliers during negotiations. Or just use it as a price check. Buyers rarely moved forward with accepting bids and when they did it was normally offline and not through the system. We had to regularly call buyers and ask them why they were placing bids and not moving forward. The business model was flawed and the company eventually went away when investors dryed up.

The problem with the model was that buyers had no vested interest or incentive in the system and already had contractual relationships with other suppliers. They didn't pay anything for the service so they didn't care. And there was no incentive to buy other than on price. And why would they buy from a new seller when they could just use the bid to negotiate with a trusted supplier.

In my opinion it needs an incentive/penalty system for both buyers and suppliers. Maybe like buyers can place so many bids for free without accepting a bid. Buyers who constantly place bids without accepting any receive a penalty. Buyers who regularly accept bids pay nothing and also get incentives. If they continue to allow buyers to place bids and not accept them, suppliers will eventually dry up and the system will collapse.

From the comments here I'm seeing a lot of the same issues I saw at that old company. It's a clunky business model. Maybe with some changes it could improve but when I look at this as it is now I don't see it as a good use of time for me. Maybe I'm missing something though.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #28 on:** July 14, 2015, 07:50 »

I just did one last week, shot exactly what they sketched, with all the requirements listed. Didn't even make the shortlist. Reminds me why I don't waste my time there.

jarih · « **Reply #29 on:** July 14, 2015, 09:05 »

Three month ago I started in the IB, some images are shortlisted, but not any sells at the moment, still most of those pending. But too many is "The buyer did not select any images this time." Even when you can see, there is nice and accurate images available.. Sometimes I think.. are some briefs only fake for us..

ShadySue · « **Reply #30 on:** July 14, 2015, 10:12 »

Years ago my sister was shortliste for a chef job in a restaurant which had been bought to upgrade. She was rather surprised to be asked for a kitchen design layout at her interview. As it happened, she knew all the others on the shortlist, and none was appointed. But they got some free layout suggestions!

StockPhotosArt.com · « **Reply #31 on:** July 14, 2015, 10:29 »

So, if all of this is happening and people even get suspicious about the legitimacy of the briefs, shouldn't we start to question what is happening to the uploaded photos and if they are safe there?

After all it doesn't seem to be all that many briefs closed, and from what I remember reading all these years I do not think anyone has ever sold anything there.

This whole thing is just a bit off to me. I've been accepted a few years ago, submitted to a few briefs, got shortlisted at least once (I think) but the briefs never closed. Certainly not by the end of the announced time, or even close.

Gave up on them years ago.

Fudio · « **Reply #32 on:** July 14, 2015, 10:52 »

Quote from: Fudio on June 12, 2015, 06:28

Quote from: Semmick Photo on January 13, 2015, 05:34
I am there, had a photo selected in the beginning but stopped uploading there as all the briefs I submitted to never seem to come to a conclusion. IB says all briefs get closed, but I dont believe it. Sometimes you have these urgent briefs, a buyer needs an image within 24 hours and a week later its still open.

Also, the amount of spam images submitted is staggering. Like no one reads the briefs and just submits anything they can find on their HD that remotely matches the request.

Personally I still like the concept, but IB really needs to tighten up the model to keep me interested. Since I don't have a lot of images sitting on my HD that aren't already in stock elsewhere, I only submit to briefs that I can shoot easily and that I think have potential for stock after the brief closes.

The last one I shot for was a brief posted on May 20 with a two day deadline for submissions. Three weeks later the brief is still pending with no buyer activity for weeks. In the meantime though my images are in limbo. IB needs to be more stringent with buyers, forcing them to either award or close the brief within hours (or at the very least days) of the deadline. More direct buyer engagement and feedback would also be helpful.

May 20 2015 - "Brief launched. We have liftoff"
May 23 2015 - "Brief in review. Sit tight!"
June 18 2015 - "Update from buyer: We are still hashing out the cover for xxxx - so please keep images intact. I will be in touch about this soon."
July 14 2015 - "Update from buyer: We are still hashing out the cover for xxxx - so please keep images intact. I will be in touch about this soon."
Today - Closing my account

marquixHD · « **Reply #33 on:** July 14, 2015, 12:28 »

Quote from: imagesbykenny on January 13, 2015, 21:54

I've only submitted to 3 or 4 briefs, and had one sale. The sale equaled a few months worth of microstock money, so it was worth the effort.

My main annoyance there is the lack of a feedback or question system, as often the briefs I would attempt are vague. If I know I'm shooting the right subject, I'll do it, but I'm reluctant to make an effort to shoot something the buyer may or may not actually want.

as they are fairly new, they still could -- as in ought to! -- improve on that one and add that use case to IB in order to make it more worthwhile.

Holmes · « **Reply #34 on:** July 14, 2015, 16:31 »

i sent this to them.
we will see if they reply.

Mantis · « **Reply #35 on:** July 14, 2015, 19:37 »

I've probably submitted 100 images overall and had 2-3 shortlisted. Never a sale. Stopped uploading altogether. What happens to our images when they aren't selected?

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #36 on:** July 14, 2015, 19:46 »

Wow, did you see all the VERY specific "briefs" today?

skyfish · « **Reply #37 on:** July 15, 2015, 02:02 »

With all concerns shown here i even didn't start. The time possible lost i better spend where the sales are and real work. Real. Many places now look like they got crowds which brought them audience and clients, but the purpose was to create a platform serving for a circle defined in beginning

jarih · « **Reply #38 on:** July 15, 2015, 07:20 »

There should be something like that, the buyer statistics to see us:

- beginner buyer, first brief or not
- purchases, how many images buyer has purchased earlier, 1-10, 10-100, over 100
- buyer hit rate %, tells how often buyer purchase image or not
- and question for buyer (filtered by IB), all of us can see buyer's answer

The BHR (buyer hit rate) should be important together with the purchases amount. Better values, better buyer – I like to shoot.

Fudio · « **Reply #39 on:** July 15, 2015, 08:16 »

Quote from: Mantis on July 14, 2015, 19:37

I've probably submitted 100 images overall and had 2-3 shortlisted. Never a sale. Stopped uploading altogether. What happens to our images when they aren't selected?

In your account interface there is a tab for "my images". You can delete your images from that pane however I'm not sure how "deep" the deletion actually is. If you choose not to delete them apparently they are archived and cataloged to show to future buyers with similar brief parameters. Allegedly.

Stu99 · « **Reply #40 on:** July 15, 2015, 09:07 »

I decided to test the waters with Image Brief in April, I have submitted to quite a few briefs, mostly archive stuff from old shoots and unused images. Whilst I am disappointed at the low number of briefs that are awarded and converted into sales I remain interested as I have actually had some good sales there. I signed up as a premium member and paid the annual fee of $499. So far I have had 3 sales since April ($1250, 100% commission as a premium member) and still have a number of images that are shortlisted.

This week they launched the beginning of a new way to get your images in front of buyers through their 'Personal Marketplace', thus allowing me to create a database of searchable images as well as the usual method of exposure by submitting to briefs, I can select images to be sold as RF or RM, minimum selling price remains at $250.

My advice is not to write them off, keep an eye on the briefs especially the specific ones where you might have something sitting on your hard drive that fits the brief criteria. This may not be a good fit for all photogs but look at the briefs and see if your work suits some of the styles the represented agencies are looking for. I am enjoying being with them right now, their communications have been excellent every time I posed a question and I am am making sales. New developments like the 'Marketplace' shows to me that they are expanding their operation, hopefully this will in time bring more sales. I hope sharing my experience helps and wish everyone good luck in making some sales in this super-competitive field.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #41 on:** July 15, 2015, 09:22 »

As far as I can see, "Marketplace" is just another stock library. I paid to be in Shutterpoint 11 years ago. Wasn't worth what I paid.

Stu99 · « **Reply #42 on:** July 15, 2015, 09:29 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on July 15, 2015, 09:22

As far as I can see, "Marketplace" is just another stock library. I paid to be in Shutterpoint 11 years ago. Wasn't worth what I paid.

Sorry to hear that. I will see where this goes with 'Marketplace' as its an added 'paid for perk' to premium membership, I'll add a few hundred originals to their library, see what that generates and make a decision whether I renew the premium membership based on the return from 100% commissions next April when renewal fee is due.

Ntwadumela · « **Reply #43 on:** November 23, 2015, 20:39 »

" ... But ask yourself, why would they commission a shoot when they can get multiple shoots commissioned for free with no obligation to actually buy/license a photo!"

"... Back in 2011 American Photographic Artists (then Advertising Photographers of America) issued an APA Alert warning photographers of ImageBrief as "a service that we recommend you avoid." APA stated "We feel that this type of business scenario where photographers shoot on "spec" in hopes of having their work used will only further erode the hiring/licensing model that APA supports." Some things never change. APA was right then, and the warning rings true still."

newbielink:http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.mx/2015/02/imagebrief-scourge-on-photographic.html [nonactive]

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: IMAGEBRIEF anyone? - 70% commission (Read 19808 times)

Semmick Photo

Uncle Pete

StockPhotosArt.com

stock-will-eat-itself

Fudio

Fudio

StockPhotosArt.com

Fudio

Fudio

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors