|
MicrostockGroup Sponsors
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - Zero Talent
Pages: 1 ... 72 73 74 75 76 [77] 78 79 80 81 82 ... 94
1901
« on: February 03, 2016, 16:27 »
You will understand that with the new EL price tiers, shutterstock has the ability to tweak it's search to serve a larger percentage of content from lower tier contributors, to buyers.
Here we go again! Same old conspiracy under a new form! If you check the EL poll, you will notice that a large majority of ELs announcements is coming from top tier contributors. As I said, it may be the case that only top tier contributors vote on that poll, but I rather doubt it. From what I see, there are a lot of beginners on this forum, maybe more than veterans. Anyway, the graph may actually show that your theory is only a conspiracy theory: 74% of ELs are announced by top tier contributors. While this large gap may also be caused by the fact that top tier contributors have larger ports, this evidence rather invalidates your speculations!
1902
« on: February 03, 2016, 12:32 »
77 respondents:
1903
« on: February 02, 2016, 15:37 »
56 respondents so far:
1904
« on: February 02, 2016, 09:26 »
with 49 respondents:
1905
« on: February 02, 2016, 09:23 »
Thank for the response. But this is not the same problem we had last week. Some of the downloads are missing in the earnings page, which are recorded in the downloads page. How is yours?
Yesterday, I was missing 41 downloads from my January totals, indeed (but with no impact on the $ amount) Today, the numbers look OK.
1906
« on: February 01, 2016, 18:08 »
With 43 respondents:
Interesting to observe that mainly Top tier announced EL sales: 38 vs 3, 3, 2.
Maybe because statistically Top tier contributors have larger ports and the chances to score ELs are higher? Or because the majority on this forum are top tier users? Too soon to tell after only 1 day.
I'm also surprised to see only 8 votes for opt-out!
1907
« on: February 01, 2016, 13:15 »
with 34 respondents:
1908
« on: February 01, 2016, 09:13 »
with 24 respondents:
1909
« on: January 31, 2016, 20:26 »
10 respondents so far:
1910
« on: January 31, 2016, 18:14 »
1911
« on: January 31, 2016, 17:17 »
Edit: the 100 responses limit for the free version has been reached. There is no point in collecting responses anymore.
The only solution for a more statistical relevant analysis is to use a subscription based surveymonkey account.Since this website's poll system doesn't allow multiple responses from the same user, I closed the previous EL royalty poll, and as advised by Leaf, I created a new one on Surveymonkey. This new poll allows multiple responses from the same user and it has a more accurate overview, in a matrix format, with royalty brackets for each tier (see attached). Please follow this link, and cast your vote each time you sell an EL (+ opt-out). Mark all the ELs you got since the change was implemented. Those who voted in the previous one, please do it again here. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H657G6VI'll publish the results as regularly as possible.
1912
« on: January 31, 2016, 15:31 »
for one comment above (supermarket parallel):
if there is no supermarket (which "only" sells farmers product) - yes, you'll have to drive/walk/whatever 100miles to the nearest farm, and trade with farmer directly.
if there is no farmer - anywhere/nowhere - you can go and try to find one in first-class private jet - but, having in mind there is no farmer - you won't eat. - no farmer-no food supply. food/farmer is "older" than supermarket.
i was selling my images before microstock, and i'll sell them after microstock as well - if there is demand for content. somehow, there will be the way from customer to producer. but, you guess - if there is no images - there is no images.
Sooner rather than later, you will realize that you will prefer to pay someone to drive those 100 miles for you, because that time will be better spent by you, doing what you are expert in: being a professor, an engineer, a photographer, etc. Actually this happens today, in Venezuela's crippled economy, where black market "professional buyers" offer their services to those who can't afford to queue for hours, in front of those empty "supermarkets", waiting for food to arrive. Now, replace "supermarket" with "agency", replace yourself, the "food buyer" with our clients, the "photo buyers", and you will understand that agencies are here to stay. Again, this doesn't mean that I enjoy these EL royalty cuts, but one must be realistic in expectations and demands. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
1913
« on: January 30, 2016, 19:44 »
Funny you should say that, because there's a growing movement in the U.S. for people to start eliminating lawns and start growing their own food. I did, and now grow almost all the fruits and vegetables I eat. It saves money on lawn maintenance, saves money on groceries, gives me fresh air and exercise and gives me better, fresher food. Supermarket food is really disappointing now. And my garden is much closer than the supermarket. (Of course, not everyone has the space or time to do that.)
Supermarkets make it easier for most people to shop for food, but if their suppliers all got together and stopped delivering to them, they'd quickly be out of business. Consumers would turn to a different supermarket chain very quickly. Of course, it's more difficult for farmers than it is for us. I doubt most of us will lose our livelihoods if we opt out of Enhanced Downloads.
Very good! Great initiative! But this is besides the point I want to make. You will still need your grocery store/supermarket close to the place you leave, no matter how much food you grow yourself. You still need a "middle man", to buy the expertise you don't possess from, in most aspects of your life.
1914
« on: January 30, 2016, 18:42 »
The agencies are quite literally nothing without us. They have no product to offer other than our work.
This is a very clear fallacy: very popular, but very wrong! This is no different than saying that supermarkets have no contribution to the economy because they only sell products made by farmers. Just imagine your life if have to constantly drive 100 km to the nearest farm, to buy your food directly from the farmer. Or imagine how much a farmer could focus in producing your food, if he would have to drive 100 km to sell his products directly to you. How much time would he have left to do his expert work: producing your food? There are farmers markets, here and there, during some weekends, but this is rather the exception to the rule. BTW, you can always grow your own food, if you want, but you will most probably become a farmer yourself, instead of being a photographer. The same goes with the agencies: they do your marketing and the sales (for a price), allowing you to focus on what you are good at: producing photography. If you are good at marketing and sales, you wouldn't need agencies to promote your work. And you can quit anytime, if you think you are better at sales and marketing. What stops you? Actually if you would be that good, I rather believe that you would already have your own agency  The "middle man", so hated by the leftists, is essential for a successful economy, because it allows everybody to specialize and focus on their core strengths, instead of wasting time and energy playing amateurish games in sales or marketing. Having said that, it doesn't mean that you have to accept whatever the "middle man" wants from you. When you have actual leverage, you can negotiate. Someone said, in some other thread (or here?), that social media could be used as powerful leverage in negotiations. But again, you could not be 100% successful without an agent, a lawyer or an accountant, while none of these professions do "actual work" as defined by some proletarians.
1915
« on: January 30, 2016, 16:24 »
Different files at SS vs FT for me. When the same files at both, different sell at FT or SS. Tells me different buyers. Also different because of SS strange rejection. FT is taking more of my graphic style, might be Adobe direction for designers?
My sales on FT are growing but so are mine on SS. I don't see any big change at the top but see FT gaining on IS, maybe passing them.
SS stock price has nothing to do with EL change. If anything should have made the stock go up. Companies want to make more profit. Stock holders want to make more money. IMHO the stock was overvalued.
Same observation. Both FT and SS are growing, while FT is about to become the runner up. "Strangely" enough my best SS seller is also my best FT seller. But I agree: the overlap is far from 100%. Some photos sell much, much better on FT than on SS, and vice-versa. But the same goes for IS, for that matter, actually even for TS. One of my best PP seller, in terms of $ (>$500), has never been sold on IS! Not once in ~2 years, since I uploaded it. Imagine that! My best IS + TS seller, in terms of number of sales, has been rejected by SS and only seldom sells on FT. So yes, each agency has different customers, but also, very important, different search algorithms. And different marketing strategies.
1916
« on: January 30, 2016, 16:04 »
You can conclude very little from the poll.
1. You don't know how many people are participating.
2. You don't know if they're telling the truth.
3. As you say, you don't know their media.
4. You don't know how many people are submitting/polling to/for each agency. If you wanted to know which was 'best', everyone would need to be submitting and polling on each of them. If someone only submits to e.g. four agencies, the poll results don't give an accurate comparison.
5. Plus many people report on the forum that they are holding their ports at some agencies, and only actively uploading to certain others. The poll can't reflect this.
6. And, for example, I don't poll my Alamy earnings, because if I did, my iS poll would move from exclusive to indie, which would be inaccurate.
7. You don't know how big the submitters portfolios are, or how long they've been submitting.
Anyway, the answer to your questions is 'it depends on the photos/videos/vectors' (e.g. info I have from within and outwith msg suggests (not proves) that SS does much better for US-based photographers than UK-based ones) and from the forum it seems that Ft does better for Europeans. Forum posts seem to indicate that for several people, the results are fluid.
It's not an exact science.
No poll is 100% right, all have a margin of error. Yet polls are widely used, in all domains, to identify trends. A statistician could quantify the error margin and minimize it, by asking more questions about each respondent's background. But this simple poll is better than no poll. I too find it fairly accurate, the only exception, for me, being 500px, which ranks higher than what I see here (4th)
1917
« on: January 29, 2016, 20:57 »
Can't the OP edit to add "Opted Out"
Done. I specified 1000 votes/user, but I don't see the submit bottom anymore, after the first vote. This thing doesn't work as intended.  Maybe Leaf can advise. Edit: Yeah, Leaf confirmed. This poll system cannot handle what we need (i.e allowing voters to return to vote again). We need an external one (e.g. surveymonkey). Sorry people!
1918
« on: January 29, 2016, 17:22 »
I have opted out and will not vote in the poll. Happy now? 
Maybe we need another poll to track how many have opted out, plan to opt-out or not. Why don't you create one?
1919
« on: January 29, 2016, 16:39 »
I'm not sure if this poll system is suitable to track the distribution of the new EL commissions.
I'm giving it a try. Let's see if it works.
You can vote as many times as you want, but please vote only once, each when you sell an EL.
1920
« on: January 29, 2016, 15:04 »
The russian microstock forum microstock.ru has begun keep track of the new EL downloads based on sales price point and country of sale origin.
You can see the translated discussion text, spreadsheets and graphs here.
http://tinyurl.com/hen75yz
Interesting! I wonder if we can use the poll system available on this site to do something similar. I never created a poll here, so, will it work if we set one with the following options: - voting intervals <=$15, $18, $22, $25 and >=$28 (since only 5 voting options are available) - unlimited number of votes/user (eg.1000) - allow voters to change their vote - set the poll to run for, let's say, 1000 days I mean, with the above settings, will voters be able to return to the poll and vote again, each time an EL is sold, without losing the previous vote? ?
1921
« on: January 29, 2016, 14:12 »
I received e-mail this morning from someone in "Contributor Success" about a customer request for an enhanced license for one of my images (for $22).
The "issue" is that I have opted out and they were offering to process the sale with my permission.
I told them I was very sorry, but no. My answer, in part, with a link to this thread, was:
"I realize you dont set policy on contributor royalties at Shutterstock, but I opted out of Enhanced Licenses this week after Shutterstock cut enhanced license royalties for contributors.
It is a shame - Id like to offer the customer what they want - but I will not be party to the erosion of royalties owed to contributors. If youd like to explain to Paul Brennan that Id happily opt back in to Enhanced Licenses if Shutterstock comes up with something more reasonable for contributors, perhaps hed reconsider?"
Nice move! Maybe SS should redesign the EL opt-out button to something like: opt-out if my commission is below $xx, where $xx can be set to $28, or whatever each individual considers acceptable.
1922
« on: January 28, 2016, 18:22 »
You only confirm what normally happens when the search algorithms are changed.
And such changes can happen "OVERNIGHT" and not only "post IPO".
I find perfectly justifiable to constantly fine tune and improve the search algorithm in order to make easier for customers to find what they need. There are patents and PHD thesis dealing with such algorithms.
Do you expect a company like SS to stick forever to some 10 years old dusty algorithm only because it used to work in your favor?
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
No I don't, however I DO expect and have earned a level playing field and that changed when they introduced the new search.
If you think that you are superior and smarter and that your port will never be downgraded so that shutterstock can earn more money serving content from new contributors you are in for a shock down the line.
No, I'm neither smarter nor superior. I'm continuously learning and experimenting.
When my revenue will decline, I will look in the mirror to try and understand what is wrong with my work. I'll do my best to fix the problems, instead of going paranoid blaming IPO conspiracies, etc.
A clear fact is that our competition is getting stronger every day, the abundance of pictures is driving costs down. So, I am aware that this business is in decline. But again, it has nothing to do with IPOs and other speculations.
My goal is to ride this wave as long as possible.
Btw, when is this "veteran penalty" expected to kick in? The day after you reach top tier, as I read some of your fellow conspirationists claim? The month after? The year after? 2 years after? Do I have to get myself ready to be shocked 3 years after? When?
Done squabbling with you, again fairly arrogant if you think we have not asked ourselves those questions, including doing what we can on our end to solve the problem.
I can remember talking in person to someone with a similar attitude, who thought it could never happen to him.
Until it did.
No problem. Anyway, we are not going anywhere with your "Believe me, I'm a doctor" attitude. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
1923
« on: January 28, 2016, 12:07 »
You only confirm what normally happens when the search algorithms are changed.
And such changes can happen "OVERNIGHT" and not only "post IPO".
I find perfectly justifiable to constantly fine tune and improve the search algorithm in order to make easier for customers to find what they need. There are patents and PHD thesis dealing with such algorithms.
Do you expect a company like SS to stick forever to some 10 years old dusty algorithm only because it used to work in your favor?
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
No I don't, however I DO expect and have earned a level playing field and that changed when they introduced the new search.
If you think that you are superior and smarter and that your port will never be downgraded so that shutterstock can earn more money serving content from new contributors you are in for a shock down the line.
No, I'm neither smarter nor superior. I'm continuously learning and experimenting. When my revenue will decline, I will look in the mirror to try and understand what is wrong with my work. I'll do my best to fix the problems, instead of going paranoid blaming IPO conspiracies, etc. A clear fact is that our competition is getting stronger every day, the abundance of pictures is driving costs down. So, I am aware that this business is in decline. But again, it has nothing to do with IPOs and other speculations. My goal is to ride this wave as long as possible. Btw, when is this "veteran penalty" expected to kick in? The day after you reach top tier, as I read some of your fellow conspirationists claim? The month after? The year after? 2 years after? Do I have to get myself ready to be shocked 3 years after? When?
1924
« on: January 28, 2016, 08:28 »
Just a collateral comment: a cropped FF image will NOT be identical to a cropped sensor image, even when the "zoom factor" is matched.
There are DoF differences between the two. At the same aperture, FF has a shallower DoF. And this can make the two versions very different, especially when shooting wide open.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
1925
« on: January 27, 2016, 22:49 »
You only confirm what normally happens when the search algorithms are changed.
And such changes can happen "OVERNIGHT" and not only "post IPO".
I find perfectly justifiable to constantly fine tune and improve the search algorithm in order to make easier for customers to find what they need. There are patents and PHD thesis dealing with such algorithms.
Do you expect a company like SS to stick forever to some 10 years old dusty algorithm only because it used to work in your favor?
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Pages: 1 ... 72 73 74 75 76 [77] 78 79 80 81 82 ... 94
|
Sponsors
Microstock Poll Results
Sponsors
|
Show Posts
