MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => Adobe Stock => Topic started by: sharpshot on March 22, 2012, 14:08

Title: Fotolia survey
Post by: sharpshot on March 22, 2012, 14:08
Just did the Fotolia survey.  It was better than the istock one but I kept filling in the extra box that commission cuts are their biggest problem.  Hope they take notice but they will probably decide that the way forward is another commission cut :)
Title: Fotolia survey
Post by: RT on March 22, 2012, 14:17
Just completed a survey I got from Fotolia via email, reading between the lines I think they may be waking up to the fact that treating contributors like crap is losing them sales.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: RT on March 22, 2012, 14:18
Ah...just seen Sharpshot has started an identical thread. Leaf can you combine these?
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: leaf on March 22, 2012, 14:30
Ah...just seen Sharpshot has started an identical thread. Leaf can you combine these?

done
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: tab62 on March 22, 2012, 14:34
So funny the first two subjects are the FT Survey and FT Sales Drop- I wonder if these two can be combined?
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: cthoman on March 22, 2012, 14:39
I received it too. I guess I can fill out their survey, but is burning the place down and starting over really an option for FT?
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Pixart on March 22, 2012, 15:16
I bet they are sorry they gave me so many blank boxes to speak what is on my mind. 
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: lisafx on March 22, 2012, 15:50
I haven't gotten a survey from Fotolia.  Wonder why not?
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Anita Potter on March 22, 2012, 16:32
I haven't gotten one either Lisa.  Yet again FT sending out emails to only a handful and not all.  These exclusionary tactics are not good for relations on top of the other relations issues with them.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: click_click on March 22, 2012, 16:38
Done and done. Maybe our opinions will lead to improvement.  :-X
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Mantis on March 22, 2012, 16:44
I got it, I deleted it.  Showing them as much courtesy as they've shown me.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Tryingmybest on March 22, 2012, 17:46
Just did the Fotolia survey.  It was better than the istock one but I kept filling in the extra box that commission cuts are their biggest problem.  Hope they take notice but they will probably decide that the way forward is another commission cut :)

Got mine and just filled it out. Reminded me of those "psyche" tests you get when applying for a job at a big company. Yuck. I complained about the categories. I wrote they should eliminate them.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: WarrenPrice on March 22, 2012, 18:19
I complimented them on their entire business; really sucked up ....
Then deleted the whole thing.   :P
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on March 22, 2012, 19:21
They didn't send me one either, but then I'm not on their favorite people list :)
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: stockmarketer on March 22, 2012, 19:29
I didn't get the survey invite either.

I'm guessing they pulled a random sample of contributors.  If there are multiple write-in boxes, that's a lot of information to go through manually, and they may not have wanted tens of thousands of responses at once. 

Speaking of which... what is the current number of Fotolia contributors, anyone know?  Of course, only a portion of those would be active.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: wut on March 22, 2012, 19:37
I received it too. I guess I can fill out their survey, but is burning the place down and starting over really an option for FT?

What do you mean by that?

I didn't get the survey either. I never really get any...
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: ThomasAmby on March 22, 2012, 20:11
I did receive it and I did fill it out. More than happy to let them know that I don't like royalty cuts and that I'm not a big fan of changing goal posts whenever you feel like it..
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: cthoman on March 22, 2012, 20:13
I received it too. I guess I can fill out their survey, but is burning the place down and starting over really an option for FT?

What do you mean by that?

I didn't get the survey either. I never really get any...

I meant there was really no point to having a survey. They are never going to come anywhere near doing anything that would entice me back. They'd have to change everything. Even if they did that, I still doubt I would trust them.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: jatrax on March 22, 2012, 23:54
I got it and filled it out.  Which seemed silly considering my tiny portfolio.  I have done enough surveys, both built and taken, to recognize what they are after.  A lot of the questions were worded so that they will prove that reducing commissions did not have an affect on contributors.  You usually see something like this when management has decided on something but needs "proof" they are right.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: cascoly on March 23, 2012, 00:12
i'm always happy to help an agency improve, so i filled it out -- my biggest peeve is the hassle involved in submitting, combined with a high rejection rate
  for me, it's enough hassle i havent bothered to upload to them in more than a year
----

however, i got really annoyed 1/2 way thru when they wouldnt let me skip any answers - demanding to knowmy income,  other agency info, etc, so i filled those in randomly and told them so

my guess is they had some statistics expert tell them they had to have all questions answered, but they never gave a thought to the fact that they were asking VOLUNTEERS to give them personal financial info!! 
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: sharpshot on March 23, 2012, 01:54
I don't know why sites don't just read their forum section here.  It's easy to see that fotolia has ruined their reputation with contributors.  If they gave us all a 5% commission increase, they would take a first step towards fixing that.  It would make me think that perhaps commission cuts have come to an end and there is some future for microstock.  It seems extremely unlikely that they will do this but I think if they are serious about competing with SS, they need to motivate their contributors.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Mantis on March 23, 2012, 14:08
I received it too. I guess I can fill out their survey, but is burning the place down and starting over really an option for FT?

What do you mean by that?

I didn't get the survey either. I never really get any...

I meant there was really no point to having a survey. They are never going to come anywhere near doing anything that would entice me back. They'd have to change everything. Even if they did that, I still doubt I would trust them.

That's why I didn't bother answering the survey.  My income is cut in half from their last search adjustment debacle.  I can accept some income fluctuation with best match changes, but not a ~60% cut.  Just to be fair from an income perspective, I went from around $180 a month to $70 a month.  I just felt that filling out their survey would be a waste of time and not turn the dial back to somewhere between $180 and $70.  I mentioned in another thread about my ranking going from around 1000 to like 2400 over night.  Shame.  I still upload there but it's close to last on my priority list.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: Paulo M. F. Pires on March 23, 2012, 18:01
Got mine and already done. I hope that someone read all ours answers and do some changes  ::)
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: photoeuphoria on March 23, 2012, 21:04
I did not get a survey either, so I emailed them my opinion anyway.  No reply.  No surprise.  I do not upload much to Fotolia anymore.  Because it does not have any effect on my sales, I feel my time is better spent focusing on other areas, other companies.   I log in to Fotolia every couple of months to see if I can cash out some gas money.  It is clearly realistic to believe that my loss of sales came from a loss in traffic to my port.  A pretty drastic loss in traffic.  (numbers below) I do not expect there to be any thing done about it.  If a change to the search engines shifts luck back in my direction, I will start uploading again.  Otherwise,  I am done with Fotolia and I will remain grateful for the gas money while it last.

03/01/2010-03/23/2010 views = 31889
03/01/2011-03/23/2011 views = 20369
03/01/2012-03/23/2012 views = 4743   


And to save you the math and guesswork, that is a difference of $1600.  Ouch, right?   
 
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: jbarber873 on March 23, 2012, 21:34
 It came addressed from "newsletter fotolia", so maybe that's why some didn't see it.
 I was honest- they have lost the confidence of many in the community with commission cuts and arrogant administration, and they won't get it back. Good thing it was anonymous, since they have a reputation for being petty and vindictive. ( I wonder if I should say that here ;D  )
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: lagereek on March 24, 2012, 03:01
No survey here!  havent recieved anything.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: OM on March 24, 2012, 07:47
I got it and filled it out.  Which seemed silly considering my tiny portfolio.  I have done enough surveys, both built and taken, to recognize what they are after.  A lot of the questions were worded so that they will prove that reducing commissions did not have an affect on contributors.  You usually see something like this when management has decided on something but needs "proof" they are right.

Did receive it but haven't yet looked at it or filled it in yet. I'll reserve judgement until I've seen what they are after but with the general level of distrust (or should that be 'disgust') here, you'll no doubt be right about their survey intentions.
Title: Re: Fotolia survey
Post by: dirkr on March 27, 2012, 14:51
Got the e-mail today. They even had a version of the survey translated to German. Makes sense, as they are pretty big in Germany and many of their German photographers may not want to / be able to answer in English.
Let's see if we ever hear anything back. Not holding my breath though...