IMAGEBRIEF anyone? - 70% commission

[KnowYourOnions]

http://www.imagebrief.com/

http://www.imagebrief.com/about

[Semmick Photo]

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]

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]

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.

[SLStudios]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Holmes]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[miathemia]

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]

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]

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

[stock-will-eat-itself]

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]

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

[Fudio]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.