Quote from: topol on July 25, 2013, 16:11

Having to really nail them is trivial when there are 20+ million images in store.

Due to Pareto's Law only 20% of those 20 million images are selling well and compensating for the remaining 80% of low sellers.

That means 2 millions of top sellers and of those 2 millions 100,000 are Yuri's, that means his portfolio alone impacts an agency like SS for around 5% of their sales but as far as we know it could be even 10-15% !

Of course random buyers will quickly grab the clones but some buyers could go back to istock if they're fans of Yuri and his team.

again your predictions are wrong, keep trying!

Yuri's father said on SS forum that Yuri was having around 4k downloads a day or 120k a month, SS reported 22.3 Million downloads in the first quarter of 2013 or 7.43 M a month, making Yuri numbers just 1.61%

delete

I'm not sure what to think,
There's a guy who made it all the way to the top from scratch, produces the best "Merchandise" in our industry and everybody else is jealous and does not give credit were credit is due. This man became very successful with hard work and great strategies. What are we doing? - Checking his spelling? - very childish of us in my opinion.


I for my part would like to succeed and listen to people who have done it, not judge them.


There is no fairness in business and I don't expect it. I'm not waiting for Yuri to change my diapers.
I'm not hoping that successful people hold back, turn around and offer their hand to me, so I can have a piece of the pie too. That's not how it works.


Great going Yuri, it does suck that you car is nicer than mine, but I know why, and you deserve it. Get it while you can!

You Made my day!

Quote from: Yuri_Arcurs on July 25, 2013, 16:12

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 25, 2013, 16:09

Quote from: Yuri_Arcurs on July 25, 2013, 15:54

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 25, 2013, 15:48

What a narcissist! Sneers at us all over how he won't deal with us, only with "professionals", then can't resist cobbling together some stats that might support the contention that he is god's gift to the universe and can't resist coming to amateursnapperstockgroup.com to brag about his importance.
Sorry, Yuri, didn't you get the message when iStock sacked Sean? Nobody is of any real importance to the stock industry, not Sean and not  you. But don't let that get in the way of your self-esteem.

Hi. Send me an email on [email protected] and let's discus a bit further. I feel somewhat sad that I can make you explode like this and would like to know why. Are you ok with discussing over email?

I've observed  you over the years. My opinion of you went down the drain in an SS thread a long time ago when someone pointed out that one of your people line-ups was ridiculous with the fake reflections not matching the line, so the whole effect was absurd. Instead of admitting you had screwed up and pulling the failed picture, you said it was all the fault of a trainee photoshop worker (who I think you named) and that while the picture was rubbish, that might be the sort of thing customers wanted.
In a couple of replies you showed 1) a complete failure to accept that anything you published could be wrong, even though it clearly was; 2) a desire to blame your staff instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, however minor the issue might be, and 3) complete contempt for buyers and a willingness to leave them looking like idiots by buying your mistakes.
I've wasted very little time on your pronouncements since then, though I understand you have provided a lot of useful information to people as a part of your self-promotion drive.
No need to do it in private communication, dude. Your latest "microstock fails because I leave" is just part of the observed pattern.

Unfortunately it was the screwup of a trainee photographer. I told him nicely what kind of trouble this caused me and he was very apologetic. He is still part of our team today and teaches our advanced retouching classes. He was 16 years old at the time of the "reflective surface" mistake and was competing internationally on several photoshop competitions. I simply had to be silent about it. The reflections looked crap. Totally. I agree, but I was not going to smooch it into somebodies online reputation at the age of 16. Then I rather take it on myself. Wish I did and which you are now blaming me for.

Thank you for proving my point. It appears under your name. Everything that appears that is good shows how great you are. Everything that is bad is the fault of someone else. It was FOR SALE on SS. And you blamed a photoshop trainee, not the photographer.

Are you serious? I would not want to the under your wing. Have some heart please. Are you suggesting that I be a more evil boss and less forgiving?

I meant:


What are we doing - checking his spelling?


Sorry, English is not my first language either, edited and fixed in my OP

Checking his spelling should be considered a free service. If you are the king of stock and most successful photographer in the world and the one that brought down SS stock and caused the biggest upset in microstock history, you could expect a proofread announcement. Otherwise it just looks so silly.

Quote from: EmberMike on July 25, 2013, 16:13

Quote from: Yuri_Arcurs on July 25, 2013, 15:05

Quote from: EmberMike on July 25, 2013, 14:53

Yuri, I used to respect you and what you've been able to accomplish in microstock. But the way you've handled this is really disgusting.

Microstock companies gave you the opportunity to become what you are today. Maybe you've outgrown them, but it's really disrespectful to mock these companies on your way out the door, saying things like "professionals work with professionals" and calling your departure "the first substantial setback in microstock history."

You aren't microstock. We all are, and some of us real professionals in microstock wouldn't act like children on our way out the door if we ever opted to move on.

I completely agree. So why do you think I am saying what I do? Think deeper my friend.

Well, for a minute I thought you might be trying to get other people to take up the cause, put more pressure on the microstock companies to make changes by getting all of us involved. But I don't think you're ever coming back to microstock so what's the point? Even if you tried, I suspect a lot of companies would tell you to hit the bricks after you publicly mocked them and implied that they aren't professionals.

So what is it? Let's not play a guessing game here. If there is some deeper meaning behind what you've said, just fill us in. Otherwise I'm taking your words at face value. You made a ton of money, moved on, and now openly mock the companies you left behind, the ones that enabled you to grow your business and make millions. What exactly am I missing?

I like your thoughts. I really don't see it the way you do and I don't think you understand the business that we (our images) have created. Do you really think that the optimal price for those images is a 300USD/mth subscription? Am I the only one see this? And yes. It starts by somebody like me saying no thanks.

So how come this haven't bothered you for years and years? I'm guessing it only started to be a problem after sales either stagnated or reduced despite uploading... which means the actual problem is not the business model but the competition.

I have a simple question for Yuri:

Do you believe that photographers should go artist exclusive with istock/Getty?

Do you have the impression the company has a successful future and growth ahead of it?

Thanks!

Well I saw stocks rise and fall, lets wait for Shutterstock To Announce Second Quarter 2013 Earnings Release on August 7, 2013.

And I dont think it will be a disaster as they are the only site for me that is selling images on daily basis even with small portfolio.

Do you really think that the optimal price for those images is a 300USD/mth subscription? Am I the only one see this? And yes. It starts by somebody like me saying no thanks.

Welcome to the club. It took you long enough to get here, although I'm not sure about the whole iStock/Getty thing.

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 25, 2013, 16:21

Quote from: Yuri_Arcurs on July 25, 2013, 16:12

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 25, 2013, 16:09

Quote from: Yuri_Arcurs on July 25, 2013, 15:54

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 25, 2013, 15:48

What a narcissist! Sneers at us all over how he won't deal with us, only with "professionals", then can't resist cobbling together some stats that might support the contention that he is god's gift to the universe and can't resist coming to amateursnapperstockgroup.com to brag about his importance.
Sorry, Yuri, didn't you get the message when iStock sacked Sean? Nobody is of any real importance to the stock industry, not Sean and not  you. But don't let that get in the way of your self-esteem.

Hi. Send me an email on [email protected] and let's discus a bit further. I feel somewhat sad that I can make you explode like this and would like to know why. Are you ok with discussing over email?

I've observed  you over the years. My opinion of you went down the drain in an SS thread a long time ago when someone pointed out that one of your people line-ups was ridiculous with the fake reflections not matching the line, so the whole effect was absurd. Instead of admitting you had screwed up and pulling the failed picture, you said it was all the fault of a trainee photoshop worker (who I think you named) and that while the picture was rubbish, that might be the sort of thing customers wanted.
In a couple of replies you showed 1) a complete failure to accept that anything you published could be wrong, even though it clearly was; 2) a desire to blame your staff instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, however minor the issue might be, and 3) complete contempt for buyers and a willingness to leave them looking like idiots by buying your mistakes.
I've wasted very little time on your pronouncements since then, though I understand you have provided a lot of useful information to people as a part of your self-promotion drive.
No need to do it in private communication, dude. Your latest "microstock fails because I leave" is just part of the observed pattern.

Unfortunately it was the screwup of a trainee photographer. I told him nicely what kind of trouble this caused me and he was very apologetic. He is still part of our team today and teaches our advanced retouching classes. He was 16 years old at the time of the "reflective surface" mistake and was competing internationally on several photoshop competitions. I simply had to be silent about it. The reflections looked crap. Totally. I agree, but I was not going to smooch it into somebodies online reputation at the age of 16. Then I rather take it on myself. Wish I did and which you are now blaming me for.

Thank you for proving my point. It appears under your name. Everything that appears that is good shows how great you are. Everything that is bad is the fault of someone else. It was FOR SALE on SS. And you blamed a photoshop trainee, not the photographer.

Are you serious? I would not want to the under your wing. Have some heart please. Are you suggesting that I be a more evil boss and less forgiving?

Actually, you would have liked it under my wing because I took responsibility for my staff's mistakes, so if there had been a problem I would have taken the rap, not you.  I know that is not the fashion among top business people these days.

If you did protect his reputation, you did it by naming a girl photoshop trainee instead of the photographer.

And the mistake was actually yours, for a failure of quality control.

All you actually needed to do was say "I produce a lot of pictures and once in a while something goes wrong, sorry" and then pull the offending picture. That would have solved everything. Instead you insulted buyers and threw blame at staff whom you never acknowledge when things are going right.

The most astonishing thing is that you seem not to be able to understand what I said in the previous posts.  Instead, you are trying to play the "he was only a child, how can you be so nasty to him" card.

Sorry, that's pathetic.

I have a simple question for Yuri:

Do you believe that photographers should go artist exclusive with istock/Getty?

Do you have the impression the company has a successful future and growth ahead of it?

Thanks!

They know the most about the business of selling stock images. The rest are still just catching up. It never really was fair game, but we all signed up to play along.

2) a desire to blame your staff instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, however minor the issue might be,

He does have a history of that.
When he was outed for having some (just a few IIRC) RM pics on Alamy which were also RF elsewhere, he blamed his staff.
Clearly, he doesn't believe in 'the buck stops here'.

Yuri,

It is a very confident blog, maybe too confident (being diplomatic). I have no axe to grind with you and I am not jealous of your success as stock is a hobby for me. You earned your success.

I don't see mobiles being the future as you do. Quality is not good enough. There is money to be made if you are in the right place at the right time like citizen journalism.

My experience is when a leader in a field leaves then someone fills the gaps. Everyone is replaceable. The world moves on and adapts.

If you can take loyal customers with you and earn more money when the stock industry appears to be racing to the bottom, then good luck to you.