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

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.

Ah...just seen Sharpshot has started an identical thread. Leaf can you combine these?

Quote from: RT on March 22, 2012, 19:18
Ah...just seen Sharpshot has started an identical thread. Leaf can you combine these?

done

So funny the first two subjects are the FT Survey and FT Sales Drop- I wonder if these two can be combined?

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?

I bet they are sorry they gave me so many blank boxes to speak what is on my mind. 

I haven't gotten a survey from Fotolia.  Wonder why not?

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.

Done and done. Maybe our opinions will lead to improvement. 

I got it, I deleted it.  Showing them as much courtesy as they've shown me.

Quote from: sharpshot on March 22, 2012, 19:08
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

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.

I complimented them on their entire business; really sucked up ....
Then deleted the whole thing.   

They didn't send me one either, but then I'm not on their favorite people list

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.

Quote from: cthoman on March 22, 2012, 19:39
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?

What do you mean by that?

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

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..

Quote from: wut on March 23, 2012, 00:37

Quote from: cthoman on March 22, 2012, 19:39
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?

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.

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.

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!! 

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.

Quote from: cthoman on March 23, 2012, 01:13

Quote from: wut on March 23, 2012, 00:37

Quote from: cthoman on March 22, 2012, 19:39
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?

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.

Got mine and already done. I hope that someone read all ours answers and do some changes 

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?   

 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   )