Author Topic: NEWS - Operation Level Ground attracts Artists to Fotolia (Read 57155 times)

MatHayward · « **Reply #50 on:** October 21, 2009, 22:45 »

I don't see why people that weren't contributing to Fotolia before wouldn't want to now. There is strong momentum with increased visibility in the market and the commission rate for photographers is so much higher than it is at I-stock. Doesn't I-Stock pay somewhere around 20% commissions? At Fotolia I am getting 55% commission and can charge $5 for XS files and $30 for XL if I want to (though I choose the $3-$18 range instead).

Whoever posted about the professionalism of micro-stock hit the nail on the head in my opinion. It's not a market for amateurs anymore. So many of the big dogs have made the switch. The switchover from macro to micro reminds me of the reluctance to switch from film to digital. It took a while to get the ball rolling but once it did there was no stopping it.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #51 on:** October 21, 2009, 23:31 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 21, 2009, 22:45

I don't see why people that weren't contributing to Fotolia before wouldn't want to now. There is strong momentum with increased visibility in the market and the commission rate for photographers is so much higher than it is at I-stock. Doesn't I-Stock pay somewhere around 20% commissions? At Fotolia I am getting 55% commission and can charge $5 for XS files and $30 for XL if I want to (though I choose the $3-$18 range instead).

Whoever posted about the professionalism of micro-stock hit the nail on the head in my opinion. It's not a market for amateurs anymore. So many of the big dogs have made the switch. The switchover from macro to micro reminds me of the reluctance to switch from film to digital. It took a while to get the ball rolling but once it did there was no stopping it.

So what's the word on whether this is open to existing contributors?

rene · « **Reply #52 on:** October 21, 2009, 23:33 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 21, 2009, 22:45

I don't see why people that weren't contributing to Fotolia before wouldn't want to now. There is strong momentum with increased visibility in the market and the commission rate for photographers is so much higher than it is at I-stock. Doesn't I-Stock pay somewhere around 20% commissions? At Fotolia I am getting 55% commission and can charge $5 for XS files and $30 for XL if I want to (though I choose the $3-$18 range instead).

It's not true. Fotolia doesn't pay 55% commission to non exclusive so why you compare it to non exclusive commission at IS?
And dont forget a footage. Fotolia's deal is the worst in this industry. 3,5$ for HD video!
An
My earnings (total and per download) are much, much higher at Istock. Talking about porcentage is useless. Only money in my pocket count.
And now most important point : I just don't trust Fotolia anymore. They can give something today and take it back tomorrow. They change rules (subscriptions, rankings, commissions...). They take back our money too. Recently they took 400$ from Jason Stitt' account.
There is no this kind of problems at Istock. IS is thieves free.

cthoman · « **Reply #53 on:** October 22, 2009, 00:25 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 21, 2009, 22:45

I don't see why people that weren't contributing to Fotolia before wouldn't want to now. There is strong momentum with increased visibility in the market and the commission rate for photographers is so much higher than it is at I-stock. Doesn't I-Stock pay somewhere around 20% commissions? At Fotolia I am getting 55% commission and can charge $5 for XS files and $30 for XL if I want to (though I choose the $3-$18 range instead).

Whoever posted about the professionalism of micro-stock hit the nail on the head in my opinion. It's not a market for amateurs anymore. So many of the big dogs have made the switch. The switchover from macro to micro reminds me of the reluctance to switch from film to digital. It took a while to get the ball rolling but once it did there was no stopping it.

Ditto on what Traveler said. Is it open to existing contributors?

sharpshot · « **Reply #55 on:** October 22, 2009, 02:43 »

Fotolia have always had much lower sales than istock for me. I don't like the 20% I get with istock but when I earn around 300% more there a month than FT, I can put up with it. FT have lowered commissions and changed the rankings, costing me lots of money, what is to stop them doing that again? Now they are offering higher ranking and therefore higher commissions and more money to new contributors. I have been there over 3 years, don't they care about loyalty? If I wasn't committed to so many other sites, I would be seriously thinking about going exclusive with istock now. I can't see the advantage of going exclusive with FT, they need to do something to rebuild my confidence in them. Making this offer open to their old contributors might do that.

loop · « **Reply #56 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:00 »

Quote from: sjlocke on October 21, 2009, 19:34

I wonder if we forced their hand with that post about Jim yesterday (whoops!).

I don't think so. If they are looking to attract istock exclusives, they needed to make the offering public, to let them now about it.

RT · « **Reply #57 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:33 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 02:00

........ so I keep on feeling pretty good about my decision to be an exclusive contributor there.

But how do you feel about those with less sales than you being ranked higher and getting better search placement ... does that feel pretty good?

traveler1116 · « **Reply #58 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:38 »

Quote from: RT on October 22, 2009, 04:33

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 02:00
........ so I keep on feeling pretty good about my decision to be an exclusive contributor there.

But how do you feel about those with less sales than you being ranked higher and getting better search placement ... does that feel pretty good?

I think his profile picture might explain how he's feeling if thats the case.

qwerty · « **Reply #59 on:** October 22, 2009, 04:55 »

Imagine the noise if this was happening at Istock.

Most of the things Istock does improves it for their exclusives, this is exactly the opposite.
Come and load your 1000's of photos with not only good search placement from new photos but also high canister levels.

Matt from you constant posts about how good fotolia is you must be some how connected to the site.

rene · « **Reply #60 on:** October 22, 2009, 05:15 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on October 22, 2009, 04:38

Quote from: RT on October 22, 2009, 04:33
Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 02:00
........ so I keep on feeling pretty good about my decision to be an exclusive contributor there.

But how do you feel about those with less sales than you being ranked higher and getting better search placement ... does that feel pretty good?

I think his profile picture might explain how he's feeling if thats the case.

Are you talking about Oleg's shoe?

travelstock · « **Reply #61 on:** October 22, 2009, 07:42 »

Slightly OT.. but has anyone looked at FT on Alexa lately? The line I find interesting is: "Where people go on Fotolia.com: 63.4% - de.fotolia.com"

Is it just a coincidence that Istock has set up shop in Berlin recently... I know the rent is cheap there but I'm thinking that they might have other intentions with the move.

@ MatHayward ... I notice that the one question you're not answering, and that FT is silent on so far is "So what's the word on whether this is open to existing contributors?" I'm not wrong in thinking that you're better connected at FT than most of the rest of us here?

gostwyck · « **Reply #63 on:** October 22, 2009, 11:59 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 11:16

I don't know the answer to whether or not this option is open to existing contributors. I doubt if it is as I don't think it would make a lot of sense from a business standpoint but that is an uneducated guess. You are mistaken as I'm not an employee of Fotolia. I have been a member there since the beginning and had taken an active role in the forum years ago. It (the forum) was essentially un-moderated and got a bit out of hand so myself and another active contributor Christina aka Kerioak from the UK volunteered to moderate the forum. I have always been a glass is half full kind of guy. Lets be honest, pretty much any time any change is made people tend to immediately freak out rather than think it all the way through and view it from all perspectives. Just because it doesn't necessarily benefit me right now doesn't mean it won't in the long run. If more high end, professional stock photographers are recruited to Fotolia that would serve me by increasing traffic from buyers as the FT reputation will continue to grow and pick up more momentum. That is good for me, good for all at FT.

It's easy for you to see a positive side in this Mat because you yourself have benefitted from a similar artificial boost in your ranking and therefore your earnings. I suspect if that had not happened, and you were still a couple of years away from Emerald, then you might have thought differently.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #64 on:** October 22, 2009, 12:04 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 11:16

Quote from: holgs on October 22, 2009, 07:42

I don't know the answer to whether or not this option is open to existing contributors. I doubt if it is as I don't think it would make a lot of sense from a business standpoint but that is an uneducated guess. You are mistaken as I'm not an employee of Fotolia. I have been a member there since the beginning and had taken an active role in the forum years ago. It (the forum) was essentially un-moderated and got a bit out of hand so myself and another active contributor Christina aka Kerioak from the UK volunteered to moderate the forum. I have always been a glass is half full kind of guy. Lets be honest, pretty much any time any change is made people tend to immediately freak out rather than think it all the way through and view it from all perspectives. Just because it doesn't necessarily benefit me right now doesn't mean it won't in the long run. If more high end, professional stock photographers are recruited to Fotolia that would serve me by increasing traffic from buyers as the FT reputation will continue to grow and pick up more momentum. That is good for me, good for all at FT.

Just my .02,

Mat

Are you sure that expanding the FT reputation is a good thing? $:-\$

cthoman · « **Reply #66 on:** October 22, 2009, 12:37 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 12:13

That is definitely a fair point and I can't deny your logic. Keep in mind however that when the criteria for Emerald was switched from 10,000 sales I had somewhere around 9,985 sales under my belt. In my very biased opinion I feel that I have earned the rank of Emerald but again, you make a fair point. I am grateful for the rank crank and appreciate my high commission rate and flexibility with pricing.

I appreciate your honesty and I think a lot of us hope for the best with any change as well. Although, we all have been burned before, so we plan for the worst too. If it is not for the existing contributors, it just doesn't make sense to a lot of us that we could delete our portfolios and get emerald status tomorrow instead of several years from now by keeping our portfolio on Fotolia. Personally, I'd endure the pain of reuploading my entire portfolio to have a shortcut to emerald.

elvinstar · « **Reply #67 on:** October 22, 2009, 13:09 »

Quote

My earnings (total and per download) are much, much higher at Istock. Talking about porcentage is useless. Only money in my pocket count.

While that my be true for you, it is not true for all of us. My FT income consistently top IS.
If my IS commission was the same percentage as FT, that wouldn't be true, but it's not.

And, to be a complete spoilsport, each one of us can play by the rules of an agency or not contribute. That's really all there is.

cthoman · « **Reply #68 on:** October 22, 2009, 13:59 »

Well, I applied and filled out the form. I figured there was nothing to lose.

To anyone that filled out the form, did you see the "Add More" button that they were referring to on the form?

sc · « **Reply #69 on:** October 22, 2009, 15:10 »

Quote from: cthoman on October 22, 2009, 13:59

Well, I applied and filled out the form. I figured there was nothing to lose.

To anyone that filled out the form, did you see the "Add More" button that they were referring to on the form?

Nope that button was missing when I filled out the form as well.

elvinstar · « **Reply #70 on:** October 22, 2009, 16:01 »

I couldn't see the button either.

lisafx · « **Reply #71 on:** October 22, 2009, 17:07 »

Quote from: gostwyck on October 21, 2009, 14:18

Quote from: sjlocke on October 21, 2009, 13:35
I like what level I'd be at ...

You could probably write your own list of demands. Oleg would probably require a defibrillator if he bagged himself a Black Diamond with this stunt.

ROFL! Absolutely.

I am thinking Sean's incentive package would look something like a top athlete gets for signing on with a pro team. Maybe a lamborghini for starters?

travelstock · « **Reply #72 on:** October 22, 2009, 17:41 »

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 11:16

Quote from: holgs on October 22, 2009, 07:42

I don't know the answer to whether or not this option is open to existing contributors. I doubt if it is as I don't think it would make a lot of sense from a business standpoint but that is an uneducated guess. You are mistaken as I'm not an employee of Fotolia. I have been a member there since the beginning and had taken an active role in the forum years ago. It (the forum) was essentially un-moderated and got a bit out of hand so myself and another active contributor Christina aka Kerioak from the UK volunteered to moderate the forum. I have always been a glass is half full kind of guy. Lets be honest, pretty much any time any change is made people tend to immediately freak out rather than think it all the way through and view it from all perspectives. Just because it doesn't necessarily benefit me right now doesn't mean it won't in the long run. If more high end, professional stock photographers are recruited to Fotolia that would serve me by increasing traffic from buyers as the FT reputation will continue to grow and pick up more momentum. That is good for me, good for all at FT.

Just my .02,

Mat

Thanks for your response Matt - I didn't mean that you work for them, just that you know more of what's going on there.

The reason it would be a good business decision is that it would put back a bit of goodwill amongst contributors, particularly those that feel burned by the change in the rankings system. It would be an extra reason NOT to go exclusive to IS, and that it wouldn't actually affect that many contributors.

Financially FT benefits by having more files at higher prices - while the % commission drops, the total $ will actually increase.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #73 on:** October 22, 2009, 20:39 »

Quote from: holgs on October 22, 2009, 17:41

Quote from: MatHayward on October 22, 2009, 11:16
Quote from: holgs on October 22, 2009, 07:42

I don't know the answer to whether or not this option is open to existing contributors. I doubt if it is as I don't think it would make a lot of sense from a business standpoint but that is an uneducated guess. You are mistaken as I'm not an employee of Fotolia. I have been a member there since the beginning and had taken an active role in the forum years ago. It (the forum) was essentially un-moderated and got a bit out of hand so myself and another active contributor Christina aka Kerioak from the UK volunteered to moderate the forum. I have always been a glass is half full kind of guy. Lets be honest, pretty much any time any change is made people tend to immediately freak out rather than think it all the way through and view it from all perspectives. Just because it doesn't necessarily benefit me right now doesn't mean it won't in the long run. If more high end, professional stock photographers are recruited to Fotolia that would serve me by increasing traffic from buyers as the FT reputation will continue to grow and pick up more momentum. That is good for me, good for all at FT.

Just my .02,

Mat

Thanks for your response Matt - I didn't mean that you work for them, just that you know more of what's going on there.

The reason it would be a good business decision is that it would put back a bit of goodwill amongst contributors, particularly those that feel burned by the change in the rankings system. It would be an extra reason NOT to go exclusive to IS, and that it wouldn't actually affect that many contributors.

Financially FT benefits by having more files at higher prices - while the % commission drops, the total $ will actually increase.

I think holgs is right, I was planning to go exclusive on IS in January it looks like but maybe bumping up my rank a few levels would stop me from doing this and maybe I would start uploading there again to see how the change affects me.

leaf · « **Reply #74 on:** October 22, 2009, 22:45 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on October 21, 2009, 23:31

So what's the word on whether this is open to existing contributors?

I talked to Jennifer from Fotolia at Photoplus today and she told me that current Fotolia contributors would not qualify for 'Operation Level Ground'

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Author Topic: NEWS - Operation Level Ground attracts Artists to Fotolia (Read 57155 times)

MatHayward

traveler1116

rene

cthoman

MatHayward

sharpshot

loop

RT

traveler1116

qwerty

rene

travelstock

MatHayward

gostwyck

WarrenPrice

MatHayward

cthoman

elvinstar

cthoman

sc

elvinstar

lisafx

travelstock

traveler1116

leaf

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