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Author Topic: Friday's RC target announcement and iStock's strategy behind it  (Read 62858 times)

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ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #125 on: June 04, 2011, 03:40 »
0
I noticed that several posts have been deleted without trace over the past couple of days. You only know if you catch a forum saying that Lobo made the last post, but when you go into the forum, there's no Lobo post there within the stated time span ...
Like some people on the discussion group, I've never managed to 'catch' the stupidly-named 'LiveChat' actually being live, even during iStock working hours. Around the time the new targets were announced, the LiveChat icon disappeared completely for a short time, not even greyed-out. Maybe there's only one live-chatter, so when she's on a call or on a break or at the loo, it's unavailable.


Slovenian

« Reply #126 on: June 04, 2011, 03:54 »
0
[1] I suspect the medium-term plan (perhaps it's too kind to imagine they actually have a plan) is to have iStock as only Vetta and Agency, and the rest will be dumped into Thinkstock.

I'd go along with that if they introduced non-exclusive Vetta and Agency. Which really wouldn't be a problem if they dumped everything else on thinkstock. I'd really love shooting the Vetta stuff and of course get mid/macro stock payments for doing it (I presume they'd raise the exclusive prices and non-e would be at the current level of A/V)

« Reply #127 on: June 04, 2011, 04:42 »
0
now i have the 25% but in march i reached the 30% , so someone know when will be the updates of the rate of earning...

in my schedule tab continue to appear 25% and the update still missing...

« Reply #128 on: June 04, 2011, 04:48 »
0
now i have the 25% but in march i reached the 30% , so someone know when will be the updates of the rate of earning...

in my schedule tab continue to appear 25% and the update still missing...

If I were you, I'd email support. Since RC is a new thing, I doubt anyone knows the answer here. Please let us know.

« Reply #129 on: June 04, 2011, 04:53 »
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I noticed that several posts have been deleted without trace over the past couple of days. You only know if you catch a forum saying that Lobo made the last post, but when you go into the forum, there's no Lobo post there within the stated time span ...

.. including this post, deleted last night from the RC Credits thread:

-------------
Kelly Thompson on 8th September 2010 - http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=252322&page=1
But, we expect to see our total royalty payout increase by more than 30% next year, from $1.7-million per week to well over $2-million per week. Make no mistake, the total amount of money iStock contributors are making is going up.

Kelly on 5th May 2011 - http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=328488&page=4
The fraction of a percent was definitely about the total change in royalties paid out, not the number of people it affected.
--

Would it be fair to say that a mistake was made?

Maybe Steve Shankland was closer to the truth when he wrote the following in September 2010 - http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20015830-264.html

Cultivating or exploiting the community?
Thompson bristles when questioned whether iStockphoto's size and market power might mean it's turning from cultivating its community of contributors to strip-mining it.
-------------

After Lobo deleted it, I sitemailed him saying that I felt it was relevant to that thread to note that Kelly made a projection in September that royalty payouts would rise by 30%, then conceded last month that payouts have changed by 'a fraction of a percent'.

He was decent enough to reply with a civil message explaining why the post had to be deleted.

For me there is a positive side to this greed from iStock:
- The introduction of P+ has made dropping exclusivity even more attractive
- Shutterstock seem to be going from strength to strength

« Reply #130 on: June 04, 2011, 04:56 »
0
now i have the 25% but in march i reached the 30% , so someone know when will be the updates of the rate of earning...

in my schedule tab continue to appear 25% and the update still missing...

If I were you, I'd email support. Since RC is a new thing, I doubt anyone knows the answer here. Please let us know.

I wrote on the istock forum soon after the announcement of joize, but I had no answer ... I tried to rewrite this morning, before it was the 24 in Canada, but  ( L O B O ) canceled me the request 2 times threatened to ban access to the forum because he thinks no one at that (it was only 23.30) have been able to answer me ....

I wonder, at least the question could leave, instead of deleting it.

« Reply #131 on: June 04, 2011, 05:01 »
0
Maybe Steve Shankland was closer to the truth when he wrote the following in September 2010 - http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20015830-264.html


Huh, I don't remember seeing that article...

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #132 on: June 04, 2011, 05:21 »
0
now i have the 25% but in march i reached the 30% , so someone know when will be the updates of the rate of earning...

in my schedule tab continue to appear 25% and the update still missing...

If I were you, I'd email support. Since RC is a new thing, I doubt anyone knows the answer here. Please let us know.

I wrote on the istock forum soon after the announcement of joize, but I had no answer ... I tried to rewrite this morning, before it was the 24 in Canada, but  ( L O B O ) canceled me the request 2 times threatened to ban access to the forum because he thinks no one at that (it was only 23.30) have been able to answer me ....

I wonder, at least the question could leave, instead of deleting it.

Patience, poppet: I've got an outstanding Support ticket from February, and it's only asking why I don't get the official emails despite being opted in. It's disappeared from my open Tickets list, but we've been assured  :P that doesn't mean they've been deleted. (My earliest visible open tickets are two Scout tickets raised on 13th March).
In any case, they've promised to back date any increases.
The second post from Joyze in that thread says:
"What happens if Ive already reached the next level in these new targets? Well be retro paying the royalties. Next week well announce the schedule of when you can expect the retro pay and well also announce when all of the information will be changed on the website."

« Reply #133 on: June 04, 2011, 05:21 »
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Frank: I must complement, your growth is simply incredible! reaching the 30% mark less then 3 months is very very fast.

Sue: I think you can quite easily get that target and more!  First of all you have a great starting point, you already have a well established portfolio, the subject matter isnt very cummon (AKA not smiling blonds or isolated apples), you are at the gold canister level which means you have VERY high uploading limits (use them!)
As I recall you are from Scotland, right ?  do you have all of the national landmarks on your portfolio ?  This is your house! no reason you shouldn't have the best photos of Scotland on IS !
What about all the famous things scotland is famous for ?  Why try and shoot a distillery (or a few ?)

Regarding the caption thing, we get wrongfull rejections ALL the time. a scout ticket or direct ticket to contirubutor relations will fix this, just give them a list of all the wrongfull rejections, so no need to waste more time (just have some patience).

Everybody gets the stupid flat/dull colors rejection!  What we do is play with the contrast/brightness a bit, write a polite note to the inspector stating what we have done to correct the image and ask him to please be more specific if he thinks there is still a problem with the image.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #134 on: June 04, 2011, 05:31 »
0
Regarding the caption thing, we get wrongfull rejections ALL the time. a scout ticket or direct ticket to contirubutor relations will fix this, just give them a list of all the wrongfull rejections, so no need to waste more time (just have some patience).
You get three Scout tickets a month, so that would have taken >16 months to get through the caption rejections alone. And as mentioned above, I have outstanding Scout tickets from 13th March, so it would be more than 'some' patience. As above, I have an even older support ticket still waiting for a reply (third sending).

As for distilleries etc, I never get replies from anyone (snail mail, email, phone, turning up in person) for my requests for property releases, or even just simple 'releases' for editorial. Funnily enough, I had no bother getting permission to get in to do shootings for the course I'm doing, except one place which has a flat 'no photography' rule, but none of these places would give permission for the pics to be stock editorial shots. So rather limited to places and angles you can shoot from the street, which everyone else has done. A lot of that stuff I put on Alamy anyway (1500+ shots and growing). And there's still the problem with the constant rain!
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 05:45 by ShadySue »

« Reply #135 on: June 04, 2011, 05:34 »
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Sue, I ment a direct email to contributor relations, this is much quicker then a scout ticket, if you do use your regular scout ticket, don't open 1 for each photo but 1 scout ticket for the whole batch (even though they ask no to).

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #136 on: June 04, 2011, 05:44 »
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Here's how the targets are demotivational:
I'm almost halfway to the 30% target at the moment (that's not good because we have three slump months coming up). So I guess I could push a bit more to try to ensure I stay on 30%. But I'm realistic enough to know I'll never reach 40,000, so I'd be far better to focus my energy on Alamy or on getting into that other agency (huge time investment on producing work that wouldn't 'fit' onto iStock - and possibly not Alamy - if rejected, and totally dependent on getting at least 'decent' natural light).
Obviously iStock couldn't GAFF: I could delete all my files and they'd barely notice. But if everyone did that, they'd notice. Of course, that's not likely to happen: what's more likely to happen is that more people drop exclusivity, and they'd gain even more (unless that person had a lot of V/A.)
It may be that they're going to introduce non-exclusive V/A soon (we know that Agency is already not totally exclusive), following P+. They'd rather pay out the lower non-exclusive commissions, because of that thing I still don't understand about how profitability (%age) is more important than profit (bottom line).
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 06:05 by ShadySue »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #137 on: June 04, 2011, 05:52 »
0
Sue, I ment a direct email to contributor relations, this is much quicker then a scout ticket, if you do use your regular scout ticket, don't open 1 for each photo but 1 scout ticket for the whole batch (even though they ask no to).
It is a direct email to contributor relations which is outstanding since February. I did have a reply to a later email asking if it was lost, telling me it wasn't lost and would be replied to in due course. Note that it was only asking why I don't get the mass emails though opted in, not some great issue that needs tons of research. Previous replies on the same subject said it was something to do with my email address, but I have given them two valid email addys, both of which get emails in when I request payment (split between the two, don't know why!).
As my Scout tickets are outstanding since mid-March, resubmitting was actually faster, even at the c10 days for editorial inspections. It's all relative.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 05:53 by ShadySue »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #138 on: June 04, 2011, 05:57 »
0
-------------
Kelly Thompson on 8th September 2010 - http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=252322&page=1
But, we expect to see our total royalty payout increase by more than 30% next year, from $1.7-million per week to well over $2-million per week. Make no mistake, the total amount of money iStock contributors are making is going up.

I wonder if he would provide independently audited figures at the end of the year to see if his speculation worked out.
Still, even if so, it wouldn't hide the fact that they were making even more off the back of our efforts.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 06:02 by ShadySue »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #139 on: June 04, 2011, 06:00 »
0
Oh, h*ck double post again. Need a nice cup of tea! Sorry.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 06:01 by ShadySue »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #140 on: June 04, 2011, 06:00 »
0
Sorry, hit quote instead of modify.

« Reply #141 on: June 04, 2011, 06:14 »
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I can't really find the targets motivating in any way. I'm already at 17% this year (I have about 13,000 redeemed credits), and I don't think I could make it to 18% even if I uploaded like h*ll (I would need 27,000 redeemed credits more, the would mean doubling my income for the rest of the year - not going to happen). The gap between 12,500 and 40,000 is just HUGE.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 06:16 by Perry »

Slovenian

« Reply #142 on: June 04, 2011, 06:14 »
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I think an experiment should be made:

1. Black diamonds should join like video diamonds did for Vetta video and demand, not to only keep last year's RC targets, but due to noticeably lower sales, to lower them. They should give them a short time frame to correct them and publish them, a week would be just right IMO.

2. Threaten to deactivate 10% of their files every day after the set date. Or just all of them at once, to see the impact it really made.

We should then only lay back and enjoy the show and see them humbly apologize (I'd love nothing more than to to smack all that arrogance out of them and meet their (our really demands). Why only black diamonds? Because unity could never be achieved through the community and they're the foundation of IS. Imagine just Yuri, Lise and SJlocke doing that. It's not just the dropping sales, but also all the negative publicity that would force them to oblige. And they would profit long term, at least till the end of 2012 (for those asking why they would sacrifice their earning for a week or so)
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 06:16 by Slovenian »

« Reply #143 on: June 04, 2011, 06:17 »
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but also all the negative publicity that would force them to oblige.

Sorry to dissappoint you, but I don't think IS cares for negative publicity.

« Reply #144 on: June 04, 2011, 06:21 »
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istock's forum is simply a joke, THIS is the only decent stock forum (micro and not) around.

Slovenian

« Reply #145 on: June 04, 2011, 06:24 »
0
but also all the negative publicity that would force them to oblige.

Sorry to dissappoint you, but I don't think IS cares for negative publicity.

If media reported about ALL of the major players boycotting them, buyers not being to able to find their content (I imagine many go straight to someone's port and search within it), if Yuri gave a couple of really negative interviews and ask people on youtube to boycott IS, explaining why (he's great at that, he's not only smart, but has a degree in psychology), they would oblige, because it would cause massive drops in sales as well;)

« Reply #146 on: June 04, 2011, 06:25 »
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Slovenian: The problem is BD's ARE meeting the RC target. Why would they rebel ??
Yuri is also getting his 20% so he isn't hurt in any way, why would he do anything against IS ??

Slovenian

« Reply #147 on: June 04, 2011, 06:30 »
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Slovenian: The problem is BD's ARE meeting the RC target. Why would they rebel ??
Yuri is also getting his 20% so he isn't hurt in any way, why would he do anything against IS ??
Are they, did they confirm it? OK, those three might have, but what about the rest. Lisafx and some others surely didn't. They have a lot of muscle even without the top 3 and if some top diamonds joined "the cause" it would surely be enough. That would mean 100k+ files, many of them selling almost hourly.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #148 on: June 04, 2011, 06:40 »
0
but also all the negative publicity that would force them to oblige.

Sorry to dissappoint you, but I don't think IS cares for negative publicity.

If media reported about ALL of the major players boycotting them, buyers not being to able to find their content (I imagine many go straight to someone's port and search within it), if Yuri gave a couple of really negative interviews and ask people on youtube to boycott IS, explaining why (he's great at that, he's not only smart, but has a degree in psychology), they would oblige, because it would cause massive drops in sales as well;)
The only way Yuri could hurt iStock would be by totally withdrawing his port. If he just asked people not to buy from iStock it would be a bit silly if he were still selling files there. I guess he's 'happy enough' with 20%, since he has apparently never made moves to be exclusive (except in Vectors IIRC) ior even a non-exclusive 'exclusive' like Rubberball. Of course, like anyone else, I'm, guessing (again) he'd be happier with a fairer cut. Unless he's the one that 'money isn't what makes him happy'.

« Reply #149 on: June 04, 2011, 08:22 »
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istock's forum is simply a joke, THIS is the only decent stock forum (micro and not) around.

I couldn't agree more. I've stopped participating altogether at Istock six months ago. Tired of my threads getting locked instantly each and every time I ask a question that is relevant to my future (and happens to be a question about Istock)....such as something along the lines of "where is Istock advertising these days"?

Not to hijack this thread but Shutterstock's forum is a joke as well.  I mean you have mr. know it all there, you have that guy with 10,000 crappy images who claims to be the king of stock....when he is in fact a laughing stock (he can't get anything accepted anywhere else)....people get pissed off and amazed how he gets his files accepted when legitimate stock images that FAR EXCEED the value and quality of his get rejected.....and contributors are very open about this over there.  The on-going political threads rule over there and there's very little discussion about "the industry" and stock in general.  The stupid "show me how great you are" threads and "show me your latest download" add absolutely no value other than boosting ones ego.

I got fed up with both forums and joined MSG.  I like it here, I don't agree with everyone all the time but I also learn different perspectives..... and my mind does get changed with good posts from a lot of you.  I've not put anyone on ignore (when we could) because I still want to see what they have to say on other topics.  That's what a forum is all about, sprinkled in with some socializing discussions as well.

One more thing.  I like the tutorials and blogs this site offers and I have used a few in my work (so close my account because I used this guys action :).  I am about a 3,000 image contributor so I have a good deal of experience but I am certainly open to improve and these blogs and tutorials help me a lot.  The other forums really don't offer this...Istock does have some stuff, to be fair.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 08:44 by Mantis »


 

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