Author Topic: Dear stock agencies, time for you to take control (Read 14151 times)

stock-will-eat-itself · « **Reply #50 on:** August 27, 2014, 17:03 »

Quote from: EmberMike on August 27, 2014, 13:54

Quote from: stock-will-eat-itself on August 27, 2014, 13:21
...If they do it with an exclusive program then fine by me, I've seen it work very well over at iS...

I'm not sure I can ask this without it coming across as snarky, but... if it worked so well at iStock then why aren't you still exclusive there?

Did work well, past tense.

Exclusivity only really works when you have the majority on board, we all know how badly it was mismanaged, Royalty Credits, Google deal, etc, etc... they lost the majority.

I've been on both sides of the fence and when it worked income was high, way higher than SS and the top tier put together. I jumped because I could see where my income was heading, SS were obviously hurting iS so I hedged my bets.

Don't underestimate Getty, they are way bigger than SS and all the other micros put together. They're also bloating their collection to match the competition. I think its naive to think they'll sit back and not start undercutting SS with the indy collection they have. They can do it through iS by offering existing clients big discounts (which we'll not even notice) or through Thinkstock by just dropping the prices or start their own DPC.

Offset is an attempt at eating into Getty's market but they need way more content.

I know its hard for indies to believe but MidStock pricing was hugely popular before they out priced it, income was extremely good and motivation to produce top end work was high. Getty sales were also pretty good before they stopped E+ nominations. I think indies had a glimpse of what could happen to their income with the + files when they were allowed to nominate before they canned it and decided to go head to head with SS.

Like I say if SS are still a long way from pole position, I actually think they are vulnerable to a counter punch from iS/Getty or even Fotolia. I wish they would take a proper swing at Getty and show some evolution away from micro and start properly motivating their contributor base.

Ubermansch · « **Reply #51 on:** September 01, 2014, 04:17 »

I sympathize with all the sentiments above on these 3 pages.

The truth is microstock is a business and too many photographers believe the total and complete end of their online microstock selling business is the submission and acceptance of their work to an SA

If I use someone like stocksy or stocktal for higher earnings, it doesnt change anything as long as the fork is firmly in the meat. You have to REMOVE that fork from the meat for the meat to be properly shared.

People complain but dont join these innovative start ups with 70 plus percent going to the contributor. They are looking for pennies now, rather than changing "the business forever" Is it possible that one day getty will be begging you to submit images at 75% your way? HEC YES!

An SA like stocktal offers 78% flat commission, no catches. Are we crazy supporting the big Sa's? An SA like this, giving this much room to move, one could do a lot of things one cannot do with a business model that exploits the hard work of producers. You become in charge of your own marketing using them for reach. THATS THE JOB - NOT TAKING 200,000 pictures!!!

Stocksy offer 50% with full promise that any extra profits at year end will be shared with ALL members at end of every year. THIS IS THE TYPE OF MODEL WE WANT! I want that promise too! The stocksy start up is the guy who originally started istock, so, he "GETS IT"

The truth is we need fair share and we need room to move so we can market our own stuff using the "reach" of the SA as a low priced search engine tool. THATS IT!

I can write my own blogs and market my own images situated on an SA but I need a FAIR SHARE. So thats my take. You cant build a microstock photography business on dust and sand, you need some water too.

I wont call this a rant, its the truth, but end rant.

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Author Topic: Dear stock agencies, time for you to take control (Read 14151 times)

stock-will-eat-itself

Ubermansch

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