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Author Topic: Zymmetrical appears to deliver  (Read 17395 times)

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« on: February 13, 2008, 14:19 »
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I know I should keep this secret, but I got 2 sales of 7$ and 11$+ at Zymmetrical with just a tiny portfolio. Somehow, these guys seem to deliver, quiet as they are amongst the big loud guns of SnapVillage, Albumo and even MostPhotos that will rock the world... next year.

I uploaded 5 shots last September to test the waters, and then I was off in the jungle for a few months. When I logged in to my email in a Netcafe somewhere in November, I had a mail that I earned 7$ on one of those shots. OK... a random hit I thought.

Nevertheless, last week I started uploading in bulk part of what I had in 300DPI (there seems to be a DPI problem on ZM) and 50 were approved already. Checking in a few days later, I noticed there was almost 20$ on my account. Somehow, one of these recent shots must have sold.

I know, I should keep this golden tip secret since the first mouse gets the cheese but if you like this tip, here is my referral link:

Zymmetrical - referral

and for those that are allergic to referrals or can't stand me  :o :

Zymmetrical - clean

By the way, I'm an avid fan of Paul Melcher's blog. It's one of the 10 that are left over in my feeds, next to Dan Heller of course.

Zymmetrical is still a bit confusing as to the trajectory uploaded photos go. After FTP (hey why can't SnapVillage or iStock make an FTP?) the photos seem to vanish in the hays, but after a while, and like the monster of Loch Ness, they surface again.

A neat thing about ZM is that the reviewer (an angel told me in a dream) is PM himself, and that he puts prices on your photos. Those range from 3 to 25$ and it gives a pretty good idea where ZM is heading to: no culture, architecture, nature - but PEOPLE.

In short... the best experience in new sites, as FP seems slowly going down the drains too, at least for me this month...


gbcimages

« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2008, 14:23 »
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I had one sale in three months, to slow for me I closed my account no time  to wait for them  to get things together

« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2008, 14:25 »
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Sorry Flemish, I already have an account there, but after reading your endorsement they may just be the next one I contribute to.  I wouldn't mind trying MostPhotos as well, but the site is so excruciatingly slow I would never be able to check my account...

« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2008, 14:34 »
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I had one sale in three months, to slow for me I closed my account no time  to wait for them  to get things together
Some people do better on site A than on site B. I made more on ZM in 4 months with 50 shots than on LO in 14 months with 400 shots.
Quod licet Iovi, non licet Bovi  ;)

« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2008, 14:41 »
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I wouldn't mind trying MostPhotos as well, but the site is so excruciatingly slow I would never be able to check my account...
I made that remark when they just started and Moori came on here to endorse them. I have a PC from the Neozoicum with 256MB RAM (only for the web), and MP didn't load. I found out it was their landing page that contained a 300KB background!
It's still slow, with their nice effects, reflections and popups... their programmers must be artists. It just floods my PC with scripts...
Any web designer will tell you that a production site should be mean and lean. DT and SS load in a second.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2008, 14:44 by FlemishDreams »

gbcimages

« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2008, 14:44 »
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I recently joined LO,I'll upload some and see how they do for awhile. There is just to many sites that  not doing well at all. I just can't waste my time with them any more.

« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2008, 15:11 »
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I prefer mostphotos at the moment.  The upload works and there are sales at $18 each.  Will get back to zymmetrical when the ftp works properly.

« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2008, 15:32 »
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I have 3 sales in Zymm - 2 this month - and have US$15.40 in my account.  Compared to 19.50 in CS, I think I'm doing well (22 images in Zymm and 70 in CS).

Of course, my portfolio and my sales are small in both to make a truly valid comparison.

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #8 on: February 13, 2008, 21:58 »
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Thanks FlemishDreams...  took your advice and had a look at Zymmetrical..  hmmm.

I registered, got the info and promptly set up a ftp client.  Logged into Zymmetrical via the ftp details only to find my "private upload folder"  ..well, ain't so private.  It contained 97 hi res images from another photographer.. which I could download without an issues.  (Don't worry, I deleted the one I downloaded to test and get the photogs name)

Is this common with this site?   Seems pretty unsafe to me...   might not be uploading there for awhile.

Is big brother still watching this post?

cheers,  JC 

« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2008, 00:47 »
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And yet, their initial "f-you" posting should bring hesitation to anyone. If they offered RM licenses then I would consider since at least 1 of the top execs. knows "P.C." communications.

« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2008, 02:39 »
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Flemmish,

I'm sorry I've already joined Zymmetrical with images pending, but I appreciate the update on your successes there :)

Mark
« Last Edit: February 14, 2008, 02:44 by mwp1969 »

zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #11 on: February 14, 2008, 04:34 »
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Good to hear from everyone on the progress. It is really rewarding to have this kind of feedback - this business is entwined in our lives and it's fantastic to see people realizing the vitality we have going on here.     

Jeff - no that's not a normal thing, your folder issue was an isolated event brought on by working late last night when I should have called it quits. Things are repaired now.   


Thanks FlemishDreams...  took your advice and had a look at Zymmetrical..  hmmm.

I registered, got the info and promptly set up a ftp client.  Logged into Zymmetrical via the ftp details only to find my "private upload folder"  ..well, ain't so private.  It contained 97 hi res images from another photographer.. which I could download without an issues.  (Don't worry, I deleted the one I downloaded to test and get the photogs name)

Is this common with this site?   Seems pretty unsafe to me...   might not be uploading there for awhile.

Is big brother still watching this post?

cheers,  JC 

zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #12 on: February 14, 2008, 08:03 »
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 ???
Removed- not worth the trouble.

And yet, their initial "f-you" posting should bring hesitation to anyone. If they offered RM licenses then I would consider since at least 1 of the top execs. knows "P.C." communications.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2008, 11:33 by zymmetricaldotcom »

« Reply #13 on: February 14, 2008, 10:38 »
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Can it be true.... are you Canadian?  For some reason I thought you were another Romanian company until I read some blog somewhere (Dan Heller maybe?).   Is that why your avatar is winterish?

zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #14 on: February 14, 2008, 11:09 »
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Yep, we're a Vancouver-based business.   I am 4th generation Canadian-Finn.

Believe it or not, it's usually not so winterish in Vancouver.  ;)       I did spend my youth trudging through the snowdrifts of eastern Canada but wised up enough to go West Coast.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2008, 11:12 by zymmetricaldotcom »

« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2008, 11:40 »
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That's cool to know.  Make some room Istock.  I'll start uploading to your Canuck site later this month. 

- From a 4th gen Swede/Norweigan presently in Winnipeg-but-don't-hold-that-against-me.


« Reply #16 on: February 14, 2008, 14:42 »
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Yep, we're a Vancouver-based business.   I am 4th generation Canadian-Finn.

Believe it or not, it's usually not so winterish in Vancouver.  ;)       I did spend my youth trudging through the snowdrifts of eastern Canada but wised up enough to go West Coast.

Holy Cow. Vancouver is pretty close as I'm in the Seattle area ... perhaps I could stop by  one day ... :)

Mark

zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #17 on: February 14, 2008, 14:50 »
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Well everybody and their dog will be coming for the olympics 2010, hopefully we have a nice Googleplex-style headquarters by then for entertaining visiting photogs.  ;)

« Reply #18 on: February 14, 2008, 19:53 »
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And yet, their initial "f-you" posting should bring hesitation to anyone.
It had the reverse effect on me ;-)
Maybe I'm a masochist.  ;D

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #19 on: February 15, 2008, 05:35 »
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And yet, their initial "f-you" posting should bring hesitation to anyone.

Money heals all wounds...  ;)

« Reply #20 on: February 15, 2008, 05:48 »
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I have had problems with FTP but tried the online upload again and it is easy, so I will start some serious uploading.  Still waiting for my first sale but I like the look of the site and the higher prices.

Contakt

    This user is banned.
« Reply #21 on: February 15, 2008, 06:18 »
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Zymmetricald, I'd lose those rotating images on the front page. It could be just my monitor but they're not smooth and I'm seeing jagged edges as they spin.

zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #22 on: February 15, 2008, 06:28 »
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I think it's a dependent a lot on the users CPU, but you're right, I've never been satisfied with the animation on that.  Guess we'll go back to the standard slideshow.


Zymmetricald, I'd lose those rotating images on the front page. It could be just my monitor but they're not smooth and I'm seeing jagged edges as they spin.

« Reply #23 on: February 19, 2008, 07:36 »
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I think it's a dependent a lot on the users CPU, but you're right, I've never been satisfied with the animation on that.  Guess we'll go back to the standard slideshow.


Zymmetricald, I'd lose those rotating images on the front page. It could be just my monitor but they're not smooth and I'm seeing jagged edges as they spin.

I'll second that. Not very nice to look at.

« Reply #24 on: February 19, 2008, 10:01 »
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One of my picture is rotating actually there ;D the green spiral staircase but no sales yet

Contakt

    This user is banned.
« Reply #25 on: February 19, 2008, 10:24 »
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Despite the title of this thread, it's looking like this site appears NOT to deliver.
It appears to me Zymmetrical has already become a victim of its own hype and from the amount of bugs encountered so far and other sloppy typos on the site the omens are not good.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2008, 10:59 by Contakt »

gbcimages

« Reply #26 on: February 19, 2008, 10:54 »
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your right!

« Reply #27 on: February 19, 2008, 13:57 »
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I think it's a dependent a lot on the users CPU, but you're right, I've never been satisfied with the animation on that.  Guess we'll go back to the standard slideshow.
Personally I hate animations and swfs on landing pages. Imagine you're on dial-up in the jungle or on a slow PC. The landing page of a site should be lean and mean and blazing fast. When I visited MostPhotos, I even have to restart my PC after that because it's flooded by nice looking scripts. That's why I never comment there and sneak in by the back door and beyond their landing page.
The site of Yuri Arcurs is like that: a landing page with a "loading" progress bar that goes on forever, at least on my slow PC.

Luckily Firefox has the ability to block animations and swfs.

« Reply #28 on: February 19, 2008, 14:34 »
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I agree with you Flemish about the animations.
Is it really needed?

Would be nice to be able to move around quickly rather than pages dragging to open. I find it quite slow myself.

zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #29 on: February 19, 2008, 20:04 »
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OK, how does it grab you.. now :   www.zymmetrical.com

Flemish, I agree 100% on the principles of a good homepage design you mentioned, however we are catering to a more specialized visitor base so some of the laws of screen real estate and load speed can be relaxed, a bit.  And for the hardcore users that are just visiting the site for the beef (their sales stats etc.), yes there are some browser tricks that can be done, all the way up from that most basic of tricks, the inside-page bookmark.   :P
« Last Edit: February 19, 2008, 20:11 by zymmetricaldotcom »

« Reply #30 on: February 19, 2008, 20:12 »
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OK, how does it grab you.. now :

I'm not sure this is faster in a slow connection. 

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #31 on: February 20, 2008, 02:21 »
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I find it kind of slow too. I decided to try it out, but so far the side loaded so slow that I gave up. If I would be a customer, I would go somewhere else, if I knew a place where I can search faster.

« Reply #32 on: February 20, 2008, 03:28 »
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Alamy has a good home page.  No images on it, just a big search box.
www.alamy.com

« Reply #33 on: February 20, 2008, 06:01 »
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I think it's much better, a step in the right direction.

I don't think the images need to be as large and I find the different types of fades/transitions between images a bit too much, I think just one type would work much better.

K.I.S.S.

« Reply #34 on: February 20, 2008, 11:54 »
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OK, how does it grab you.. now :   www.zymmetrical.com

Flemish, I agree 100% on the principles of a good homepage design you mentioned, however we are catering to a more specialized visitor base so some of the laws of screen real estate and load speed can be relaxed, a bit.


1 - Like it is now, it violates the 800px rule. The slideshow in col #2 pushes the vital textual info in col #3 and #4 outside an 800px screen. Does a landing page really need a large logo in col #1? Landing page screen real estate is priceless. A good example of a 4-column design is iofoto. All the vital info is there at first glance.
Most people in a production environment (picture buyers, not picture admirers) don't use their browser in full-screen. And even if they do, there is the browser sidebar. A design beyond 800px is not recommended, and if you do, put the main info on the left so it will never overflow.

There is the 5-second rule. In 5 seconds a visitor has to be able to make up his mind about what this site does. Does it sell, does it showcase, is a portal? Where is the strategic info on page #1 of ZYM?
Looking for a one-stop shop where you can license all possible digital art Royalty Free for your projects? You just found it! Zymmetrical licenses fonts, images, music, and all that at fanciful prices, straight from the artists. Blablabla....

2 - Since any agency should cater for buyers and not for poor people with slow PCs, you can relax the mean/slim rules for sure. Buyers will have fast PCs and be on broadband. You can also bookmark the backdoor of course, bypassing the official landing page.

3 - The ShutterStock theatre solution is really neat. You have a grand public (buyers) entry www.shutterstock.com with all the glitter and the glamor and the grandeur, and the artists entry at the side submit.shutterstock.com which is fast and lean and small that leads straight into the dressing and make-up stalls ;-)

4 - I don't like to plug myself but I just revamped Flemishdreams like iofoto's site. Have the vital info fast on the landing page, in one glance. (1) What I got, and (2) where you can buy it. Anybody interested will surely trickle down, the rest just clicks away. Any vital info about a site should load and be evaluated in 2-5 sec. That's real life attention span on the net.

Just my 5 (Euro!)cents
« Last Edit: February 20, 2008, 11:58 by FlemishDreams »

« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2008, 17:14 »
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Zymmetrical,

I think the changes you made to the home page (eliminating the rotating animation) will be a huge plus for you. Thank you for listening and being open to feedback from other here on MSG.

Mark


 

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