Hello everyone,

As you are aware, contributors that had opted out of Dollar Photo Club were inadvertently opted in for approximately 20 hours. Initially when the bug was discovered it was thought that this only impacted the search engine and that buyers received a 404 error if they attempted to purchase a license to use the file. We recently discovered however that some images were downloaded and licensed.

We are very sorry to everyone that this has impacted. To demonstrate our sincerity, any images belonging to opted out contributors that were downloaded while this bug was active were paid a subscription commission and now Fotolia will add a full resolution credit sale commission (standard license) to those effected. Those effected will see the additional commission in the next few days.

My role at Fotolia has recently changed. I have switched into a full-time contributor relations role. Contributors are an important part of Fotolia and I would like to personally prove that to you as we move forward. I can be reached directly via email should you have any questions, comments or concerns: [email protected]

Kind regards,

Mat Hayward

First Fotolia started DPC and mirrored all content without notifying us. Then when we protested they made opting out available but offered people who opted in higher royalties, which we who opted out did not receive. Then our opted out lower royalty images were discovered on DPC anyway. Then Fotolia claimed it was only a one day glitch and customers could not purchase the images. Now it turns out they could and did purchase images. Thanks for stopping by, but I'm sure you'll understand why I don't believe a word of it.

I think you need to make a few posts before the options appear.

I managed to get in and get a screenshot of mine clearly showing the OFF option.

Despicable.

Things are normal for me. But if it is a test, I hope they roll it out quickly!

There are many reasons I'm trying to leave my industry. I started doing stock for fun, then when I started making a nice "Christmas bonus" from it, I started to see it as a viable way out. Still trying.

Quote from: Shelma1 on May 21, 2015, 12:22

Oh sure, I tried a variety of social media (free and paid), blogging, Google ads, etc. etc. More time and money wasted tweeting and posting and writing, only to barely break even money-wise. And since time is money, again, that's time I could have used to create images that would already be selling elsewhere.

Plus, since I get paid six figures to tweet and post and write ads, to do that for "free" for myself just annoys me, because I know what my writing time is worth. (It's worth a lot more than my drawing time.) And I could have spent that time writing ads for someone else and made even more money.

I didn't mark this post down, but I'm wondering why people pay you "six figures" to tweet and post and write ads, but when you did it for yourself you "barely broke even".

I wish I could tell you why my website isn't selling. (Well, it is, but just enough to break even. I'm one of a handful of Symbio people who make sales every month.) I'm assuming one reason is because I haven't made a major time or financial investment in marketing. Another could be the competitive landscape�how do you compete against SS, Getty, iS, etc., when your portfolio is barely a drop in the bucket compared to theirs? I was hoping the linking aspect of Symbio would give us some sort of edge, but it doesn't seem to have worked out that way.

The large micro and macro sites spend millions on marketing each year. That includes market research, media placement, PR, website optimization, an aggressive worldwide sales force, parties for big clients, and so many other variables that are impossible to replicate as an individual.

The vast majority of small businesses fail, even when they have the backing of large investors.

And finally, I work in large multinational ad agencies, with staffs of thousands of people doing different specialized jobs. If working in advertising automatically led to success with your own business, we'd all quit and start our own businesses. But unfortunately it doesn't work that way. It is a lot easier to just have a job and make a salary than to take the risk to start something on your own.

For me personally, I look back at the amount of time I spent on my site and wish I'd spent it drawing or writing instead. I'd have a lot more money in the bank today. But that's my opinion and experience, and perhaps others feel it was worth their time.

Quote from: Shelma1 on May 21, 2015, 12:22

Plus, since I get paid six figures to tweet and post and write ads, to do that for "free" for myself just annoys me, because I know what my writing time is worth. (It's worth a lot more than my drawing time.) And I could have spent that time writing ads for someone else and made even more money.

Really you make sooooo much money your time isn't worth promoting your site but it is worth it to complain about it here?   

I spend a lot less time complaining here than you do. And a WHOLE lot less time taking snarky potshots at people.

I think it's a cost vs reward question. It can't hurt to have your site online with your images for sale

Well, yes and no. I like having a site online, but the site itself has made me no money. And the time I spent designing the site and uploading and keywording thousands of images could have been spent creating more images for the sites that do sell. There's no way to say for sure, but I figure I probably would have made several thousand extra dollars over the past year if I hadn't taken the time to build my own site. In fact, I've really neglected it over the past couple of months...it's my last priority now.

Also, I do marketing for a living, and the last thing I feel like doing on my own time is more marketing. With the micro sites, finally someone does the marketing for me instead of the other way around.

However, I did "meet" many really nice people through the Symbio effort, so that was great. And one in particular give me several custom assignments, so a big, big thank you to her.

Building your own site is a lot of work, and marketing it is even more. Just something to keep in mind.

They're about normal for me...too few to be statistically significant.

They need to send out a correction via email. Otherwise anyone can license an image for templates under the standard license and point to the original email if challenged legally.

I noticed the same thing. Huge drop compared to yesterday. Glad I'm not the only one!

Veer has very low sales and serious keyword issues. Instead of arguing with us why don't you fix things? Time better spent, IMO.