Author Topic: GL News (Read 54481 times)

GLStock · « **Reply #25 on:** August 04, 2016, 17:57 »

@Microstockphoto: I'm sure you've received many false promises, so have we all. That is not unique to the "stockworld".

You are already let down by GL, which you've made perfectly evident here, so regardless of what we do with the company, you will be "abusive", or will display dissatisfaction with us, when in reality, your life is likely very much unchanged by our presence here.

The best we can do is be in front of the issues at hand and address them head on. Do we have more to learn? Yes. We've owned this website for all of 2 weeks, so there is a learning curve when taking over any business.

If you want to see positive changes, your opinion is just as valid as anybody elses, and we are open to discussion and we value your opinion, especially if you consider yourself an expert in the field.

GLStock · « **Reply #26 on:** August 04, 2016, 17:59 »

Quote from: sharpshot on August 04, 2016, 17:35

Compared to the emails I usually get from sites, this one was great. I wish you the best of luck. Only problem with the email was this line, did you leave "one" out?
" If GraphicLeftovers is not already your number source of income for selling your Stock Photos, we are confident it will by the time we are done with all of the improvements we have in store."

Thank you @sharpshot, I'm embarrassed about the typo! We've been dying to reach out to our customer base, but have been waiting until the developer finished with a few functions that we needed! A bit too excited, but thanks for pointing it out.

stockastic · « **Reply #27 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:00 »

I think some degree of contributor control over pricing will be essential.

Since you're very forthrightly coming here to MSG looking for input, notice the discussion in another thread about the loss of the 'niche' market. To us, 'niche' means anything that takes some time and money to shoot, but won't sell very often. There's no point in submitting such photos for sub-$1 returns. Some of us think the existing agencies are just writing off this part of the market.

Microstock has become like the Middle East - no one can figure out how to make things work. Years of competition on nothing but price have taken a huge toll on the perceived value of stock photos. New thinking is needed.

FYI, I never had a single bad thing to say about GL's previous owners. They were unfailingly friendly, fair and helpful. The business seemed to get off to a good start but at some point took a huge hit when Google changed their game.

THP Creative · « **Reply #28 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:07 »

Well compared to all the news from microstock sites these days ("Good News! We are lowering your commissions to 10%") I think what the new owners have done here is very commendable and I really do hope they succeed.

I for one am all for GL working, and always have been, its just never really gotten off the ground. But 52% commission was always great, and to be honest guys, 40% for newcomers is still above average.

While skeptical on the viability of huge sales growth, I hope to be able to come and report massive earnings increases on GL in the coming months

GLStock · « **Reply #29 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:11 »

Quote from: stockastic on August 04, 2016, 18:00

FYI, I never had a single bad thing to say about GL's previous owners. They were unfailingly friendly, fair and helpful. The business seemed to get off to a good start but at some point took a huge hit when Google changed their game.

Couldn't agree more. Kelly and Daniel are great people, and have always been highly capabale. They started something great, and we are hoping to continue in their footsteps, while offsetting the slow down in traffic. There are a lot of opportunities that they didn't have the time to commit to, and we are excited to fill in those missing spots, while also continuing the things they were very good at!

EmberMike · « **Reply #30 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:22 »

It will never cease to amaze me how negative people here can be about absolutely anything. GL was barely showing up on anyone's radar until this week and it the news that it was sold to new ownership with plans to bring it back to prominence. And no part of that announcement had anything negative in it as far as existing contributors are concerned.

But that won't stop anyone from coming in here and crapping all over some good news.

I seriously think some folks around here want things to always be bad.

Anyway, to the point of this discussion...

I love that GL is back and under new ownership. I had the chance to chat with Phil from the new GL via facebook this week, something that in and of itself should be refreshing to everyone who has ever tried to communicate with most stock companies. Open communication and a willingness to interact with contributors is already a step in a really good direction.

GL was always fair with royalties, and that doesn't change for most of us. Again, more good news.

The new ownership team comes from a marketing background. Honestly I'll take a non-stock background over a stock background when it comes to these companies today. Which companies led by people from within the business have done well lately?

On the other hand, I'm looking at companies like Creative Market, who emerged out of Autodesk, a company with almost no background in the stock business, rising to success (for me anyway, they're my #2 earner every month, beaten only by SS) despite no background in stock and doing things completely differently than the other stock companies. So I say "bring on the non-stock ownership," it could be the best thing for growth in this industry today.

All I can see here in this announcement is good news. If this didn't happen and GL just quietly went away, I wouldn't have benefitted from that at all. Instead, GL is aiming for a reboot and future growth, and if it works, I'll definitely benefit from that. Its a chance for something positive to happen, and maybe re-open a good source of royalty income for us. How is that a bad thing?

Best of luck to everyone at GL. Some of us are pulling for you and hope to see you succeed.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #31 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:35 »

The email just came through here.

Nothing wrong with GL, Kelly was always great. Small sales, but simple interface. Good luck trying to bring it back to life. There's no particularly stand out USP.

stockastic · « **Reply #32 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:37 »

Quote from: EmberMike on August 04, 2016, 18:22

The new ownership team comes from a marketing background. Honestly I'll take a non-stock background over a stock background when it comes to these companies today. Which companies led by people from within the business have done well lately?

Agreed. Someone new has to come in and challenge some of the assumptions. One such assumption, I think, is that the typical buyer is working on a 5-figure project with a budget of exactly $5 for photos. :-) I think the one-size-fits-all pricing model had more to do with simplifying an agency's accounting and IT operations than it did with actual buyer expectations.

EmberMike · « **Reply #33 on:** August 04, 2016, 18:43 »

Quote from: stockastic on August 04, 2016, 18:37

Agreed. Someone new has to come in and challenge some of the assumptions...

But not here, not at MSG! A lot of folks around here just want these companies to stick to the script and do things exactly like everyone else does them, but do them better and somehow be more successful. Change everything, but don't change anything really. Make it better, but don't do it any differently.

People want companies run by industry insiders? No innovation is going to come from the same old people trying to rehash the same old stock business model. The best thing we can hope for these days is that more people come along who are looking to challenge assumptions and defy the status quo.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #34 on:** August 04, 2016, 19:55 »

Thanks for coming here to answer questions - it's appreciated. I did get the e-mail and obviously will be very happy to see things pick up.

I had suspended uploading when things appeared to stall, but obviously have a lot of other stuff to upload if that makes sense (I'm on vacation at the moment, but once home again).

Good luck with relaunching the agency

noodle · « **Reply #35 on:** August 04, 2016, 20:31 »

It is always welcome news if another agency can step in and find success in this business
However even Adobe with its deep pockets and established niche with designers and ad agencies, it has not had as much success and as deep an impact as i would have thought
So just how much success GL will have has me a doubting Thomas until I see tangible evidence

michaeldb · « **Reply #36 on:** August 04, 2016, 20:43 »

Quote from: stockastic on August 04, 2016, 18:00

I think some degree of contributor control over pricing will be essential.

Since you're very forthrightly coming here to MSG looking for input, notice the discussion in another thread about the loss of the 'niche' market. To us, 'niche' means anything that takes some time and money to shoot, but won't sell very often. There's no point in submitting such photos for sub-$1 returns. Some of us think the existing agencies are just writing off this part of the market.

Microstock has become like the Middle East - no one can figure out how to make things work. Years of competition on nothing but price have taken a huge toll on the perceived value of stock photos. New thinking is needed.

FYI, I never had a single bad thing to say about GL's previous owners. They were unfailingly friendly, fair and helpful. The business seemed to get off to a good start but at some point took a huge hit when Google changed their game.

I don't post much here anymore as I am not actively doing microstock. But I would like to say that I agree with everything Stockastick has said here - great post. I too always liked GL, always considered Kelly a friend, and still have a couple thousand illustrations on GL.

Re niche markets and setting our own (high) prices for images which would only sell a few times - if I could do that I might consider doing microstock illustrations again. Right now, it is neither fun enough nor lucrative enough.

Good luck to the new owners!

sgoodwin4813 · « **Reply #37 on:** August 04, 2016, 20:58 »

Thanks for grandfathering in the 52% commission - I'm sure we all appreciate that. It was very annoying when 123rf went to a RC system and at first said the old 50% would be grandfathered in and then changed their minds. I hope GL will stick with it.

When GL stopped accepting uploads a couple years ago (or whenever it was) and sales dried up it seemed like the site was moribund. I'm glad to see new owners giving it a go in this difficult business. As others have said, competing solely on price will only go so far and won't generate a lot of enthusiasm from contributors. Most of us probably agree that the ideal site would have a good commission rate, easy uploads, fast and fair reviews and no subscriptions - you are batting 100% on those so far (assuming reviews are fast and fair with the new owners). However, the number that is most important is how much we can make at the end of the day. Right now GL is at 0.3 in the poll with 37 votes so you have a long way to go. I stopped uploading there in 2014 but will start again to see how it goes. I also do not see the USP for the new site and it is hard to know what that might be. Do you accept PNGs? Canva is doing quite well with those although of course they have a very different approach (with a great USP). Not sure what else you can do to be different but I hope you are successful.

PixelBytes · « **Reply #38 on:** August 04, 2016, 20:59 »

First off, I must have missed the email. This is the first I am hearing about a change of ownership. I always liked Kelly, April and the gang at GL and wish them success in whatever they're going on to next.

That said, sales there this year have been beyond pitiful. The worst of any of the low earners I contribute to. I would LOVE to see this site come back to life and start earning me money. Thank you for the grandfathering.

May I suggest that since you will have new contributors making 40% and established contributors making 52 %, that you do NOT do as some other sites and jerry rig your search to favor newer 'cheaper' portfolios and bury the work of your skilled and experienced artists. This sort of short term policy has hurt the long term solvency of the sites that tried it.

Wishing you the best and looking forward to once again drawing an income from GL.

cthoman · « **Reply #39 on:** August 04, 2016, 21:40 »

Thanks for braving the playground. It's tough being the new kid at school.

Best of luck to Kelly and the rest. Hopefully, sales will pick up at GL.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #40 on:** August 05, 2016, 00:26 »

GL has also always been one of my favourite sites, it's a shame the Google shake up destroyed sales there. I hope whatever they do they continue to respect contributors.

Microstockphoto · « **Reply #41 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:03 »

embermike, sorry for being so negative, but you agree that lowering prices and giving away images for free is good news?

remember jon from shutterstock, he spoke to contributors too in the beginning, remember lee from canva, he spoke here too in the beginning, remember mat from adobe, he spoke here too in the beginning, etcetera. of course they talk to us now, because they need us, at some point that will stop too

i WANT GL to succeed, nothing bad about the previous owners, but we've heard the same thing over and over again,

anyway, carry on, i wish the new owners all the success in the world and lots of fortune, and may we all benefit from it,

sharpshot · « **Reply #42 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:32 »

Quote from: noodle on August 04, 2016, 20:31

It is always welcome news if another agency can step in and find success in this business
However even Adobe with its deep pockets and established niche with designers and ad agencies, it has not had as much success and as deep an impact as i would have thought
So just how much success GL will have has me a doubting Thomas until I see tangible evidence

It might be easier to boost a smaller site that has less wrong with it, like GL. There were so many problems with FT that still haven't been fixed by Adobe, like how they managed to make my portfolio almost invisible to buyers

sharpshot · « **Reply #43 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:42 »

Quote from: PixelBytes on August 04, 2016, 20:59

...May I suggest that since you will have new contributors making 40% and established contributors making 52 %, that you do NOT do as some other sites and jerry rig your search to favor newer 'cheaper' portfolios and bury the work of your skilled and experienced artists. This sort of short term policy has hurt the long term solvency of the sites that tried it...

Good point. I would much rather we all got 45% and have no bias in the search than get 52% if it means my images are going to sink down the search, like they have with several sites now. If I was in the position of the new GL team, I would keep it simple and pay everyone 50%, like Pond5, Alamy, Stocksy, Stockfresh and a few others do. 50% seems fair and I'm sure those sites make decent profits. The way things are going, there might be a time when they are the only sites worth uploading new images to.

fotografer · « **Reply #44 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:50 »

I've always liked GL and for me the only thing lacking was sales. Hopefully with the right marketing you will be able to remedy that. Thank you for the grandfathering in.

Chichikov · « **Reply #45 on:** August 05, 2016, 03:22 »

Quote from: GraphicLeftovers on August 04, 2016, 16:14

[…]
For those of you who are already sellers with GL, again, you have been grandfathered in and will continue enjoying the same commissions that you always have.

For how many time?

Chichikov · « **Reply #46 on:** August 05, 2016, 03:26 »

Quote from: GraphicLeftovers on August 04, 2016, 16:53

[…] Those who have a great internal reputation do not have limits, though new posters start at 20 per day until we see the quality of images being submitted.

I find that 20 a day is very uneasy to manage.
From my point of view 600 a month will be very better.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #47 on:** August 05, 2016, 04:05 »

Can I suggest you start of with a different payment structure that is actually sustainable in the long term for both contributors and the site?

It could seem harsh to start off with but we have seen the alternative which is sites constantly cutting commissions to try and increase profits.

What about a tiered payment structure? Ones based on an absolute number of downloads inevitably end up with promises of volume that are never met, as the agency plays it safe with unrealistic predictions. How about one based on contributors' performance compared to other contributors. So those earning in the top 10% of contributors get 75% commission, the next 10% get 60% and so on down to say 25%. It will keep people motivated. Plus people can't really complain because if they are on a low tier they know it is directly based on their sale-ability compared to other contributors and how much they are contributing to the site's success, not because they have failed to meet an arbitrary level set by the site.

People will like the 40% commission and grandfathering for now, they wont like when the "exciting" announcement is made that everyone has to be moved to standard commission, or when it is 30% then 25% in a few years when more money is need for marketing the site.

dpimborough · « **Reply #48 on:** August 05, 2016, 04:20 »

I'd be more interested in finding out who the "mysterious" new owners are.

As to rate cuts for new contributors they also paired that up with increasing the payout amount from $50 to $100.

The rate of sales at GL will probably mean that very few contributors will reach payout for years.

EmberMike · « **Reply #49 on:** August 05, 2016, 08:30 »

Quote from: Microstockphoto on August 05, 2016, 02:03

embermike, sorry for being so negative, but you agree that lowering prices and giving away images for free is good news?

I didn't read anything about that in the announcement. In fact, as I understand it there is no plan to lower prices. Where did you get that from?

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Author Topic: GL News (Read 54481 times)

GLStock

GLStock

stockastic

THP Creative

GLStock

EmberMike

Sean Locke Photography

stockastic

EmberMike

Jo Ann Snover

noodle

michaeldb

sgoodwin4813

PixelBytes

cthoman

Justanotherphotographer

Microstockphoto

sharpshot

sharpshot

fotografer

Chichikov

Chichikov

Justanotherphotographer

dpimborough

EmberMike

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