MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => General - Top Sites => Topic started by: pingh on September 21, 2007, 04:19

Title: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: pingh on September 21, 2007, 04:19

Ok. So there are about 30 microstock companies out there. And most of them have over 200 000 photos. How did they start? I mean, they couldn't open the site before they had any photos - and I, for sure, wouldn't post any photos if they didn't have any beforehand. Did they pay the photographers a sign-on fee or what? I see that Albumo did that, but what about the others? Isn't kind of like the hen and the egg?

Title: Re: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: Peter on September 22, 2007, 03:24

I was wondering the same question! They couldnt just started with 0....

Title: Re: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: leaf on September 22, 2007, 03:26

well the owner probably had a thousand or more, and his friend perhaps.  Then there is a few people who just want to 'try' .. say 100 of those that upload 10 images each, and a few that like the easy approval ratings and so on.... it adds up i think.

Title: Re: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: Lee Torrens on September 22, 2007, 11:36

There are different ways to market your new microstock agency to contributors.

- Fotolia paid contributors for each photo.
- LuckyOliver gave them credits (tokens) for each photo.
- Albumo is paying contributors when they reach an upload milestone.
- It's my opinion that SnapVillage did deals with high-profile microstock contributors, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of the others did this as well. Yuri said that he's been offered many deals by new agencies.

Leaf is right - many of them start out with the owner's own photos. You can still see Bruce Livingstone's portfolio (http://www.istockphoto.com/bitter) on iStockphoto and Bryan Zmijewski's on LuckyOliver (http://www.luckyoliver.com/portfolio/bryan).

Fundamentally, they need to inspire confidence in contributors, such that the contributors believe they'll eventually get a return. Incentives help get the ball rolling, as it's easier to attract more contributors if they can see others already have their portfolios uploaded. Flexing a bit of marketing muscle goes a long way too, as contributors can see you have the ability to draw attention.

Of course it also helps if your owner is the richest man in the world!

Title: Re: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: Karimala on September 22, 2007, 15:32

SS started with John uploading about 10,000 images of his own. 

Title: Re: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: mwp1969 on December 02, 2007, 15:43

Which site is owned by "the richest man in the world"?

Mark

Title: Re: How long time did microstock companies use to build a portofolio.
Post by: GeoPappas on December 02, 2007, 15:53

Some sites also court the big players in this field.  They probably offer them special royalties or other incentives to get on board.