Quote from: stockmarketer on May 28, 2014, 13:42

Let's all take a breath...

The email said "small scale beta test program."

When anything in the IT world is being rolled out it gets beta tested to a small group before it goes to the masses.  And typically the people beta testing the software do not pay for it. 

This is an evaluation period.  Picture an ice cream supplier giving one of those tiny taster spoons to the food buyer at Wal-Mart.  The supplier isn't going to ask Mr. Purchasing Executive to pony up a quarter before he gets his taste.  The supplier knows that if Wal-Mart likes what it tastes, it could result in an enormous, game-changing order.

I believe in DT.  They have been good to me over the years (and of course, I have been good to them.)  If this came from an agency I believe is shady, I would take a skeptical view of this. 

DT has a BIG fish on the line, trying to reel it in and create an potentially enormous payday for all of us.  Think for a moment before you try to cut that line.

As for me, DT selected a HUGE amount of my images to run in this test, and I'm ALL IN.

The rest of you can demand your quarter for the taster spoon.

+1
I'm IN

What?  You mean you're not panicking over a beta test that could allow a few of your images to be downloaded by testers at no cost for a few weeks (even though we're told we could still be compensated for these)?  Haven't you heard that the world is ending?  How dare an agency, by most accounts one of the "good ones," try to land a deal that could potentially mean many more sales for us in the long run?  The nerve! 

It is getting to the point I am afraid of what I will find here when I sign in. DT has always treated me well. But hell no you can not give my images away for free.

I opted out!

I think what so many people are failing to understand is that DT's endgame is NOT out to give our images away for free!

They are conducting a small, limited-time test with the "big fish" partner to make sure the partner is satisfied with how it will work.  If partner is indeed satisfied, a deal that could be quite lucrative will be entered, and we could benefit greatly. 

DT has said they would try to retroactively pay us for those images downloaded in the test period, but I'm guessing those will be pennies compared to the many dollars that will come once the full deal is in place.

Once again... the images are free only during the initial beta test (and perhaps not free at all, if we are indeed retroactively paid)... don't throw away future dollars worrying about a few pennies you may drop along the way!

Yes, sales have been VERY delayed in reporting the last few days, but when reporting finally got caught up (just in the past hour or so for yesterday's sales), the numbers look normal.  In fact my Sunday and Monday totals were about 20% higher from the previous few Sundays and Mondays.  Sales for today (May 20) just started showing up... so I think that means no more Monday (May 19) sales to be reported.  Is anyone seeing evidence that May 19 sales are being reported AFTER May 20 sales start showing up?  I don't think that typically happens at DT.

I had considered myself retired from posting, but this has me intrigued enough to share my take.

First, I have my doubts that this will end microstock as we know it.

I�m a buyer as well as a contributor.  I would never want that viewer on my website, even my personal blog.

It�s even conceivable that a potential buyer would be attracted by the notion of free images from iStock, search through the site to find the perfect image, go through the motions of putting the viewer on his/her site, deciding it looks like crap, and then saying, �but I still really like that image� and to buy it would only be a few dollars.� 

OK, that�s a very �glass half-full� way of looking at this, but it�s a possibility, and that�s the kind of person I am.

Second, assume the worst for a moment.  iStock kills microstock.  None of us make any money going about this the way we do it today.  We would all stop doing it, right?  There would be no more fresh content.  Sure, with 30+ million images out there, the world would exist just fine for a few years if not a single new image was created.  But it couldn�t go on for long.

New imagery would be needed, and if no one produced it because microstock was dead, a new model would HAVE TO rise from the ashes to make image creation profitable.  It�s supply and demand.

I happen to think this is not the revolution.  This effort will not be embraced widely enough to kill our livelihoods.  But a revolution will happen one day, maybe soon, and a new model will emerge that makes creators want to create, or the world will have no new images.  And since the world is becoming more �visual� every day, relying more on effective images and less on text every day, I�m confident the work I produce will be more in demand tomorrow than it is today.

That�s my prediction, anyway.  Now back into retirement.

I think I'm with Luis on this.  You might have been the first one to come up with the skeleton/tree concept, but it doesn't appear (to my untrained eye) that they actually pulled portions of your art to make this.  Maybe they saw your art and decided to do something similar, but you can't copyright an idea or concept... so while they get no points for originality, they're almost certainly in the clear, legally speaking.

Ok.. well if popular opinion wants it in two sections then so be it.
If the symbio threads die down to only a couple then there is seriously no sense in having a separate section but until then...

I want to echo XPTO's original post thanking you, Leaf.  Glad you listened to your members and made the change.  (I don't think I've seen another post with 17 "hearts".  That should be a big vote of confidence that you did the right thing.

Was really disappointed this morning when I saw Symbiostock mixed back into the top stories.  I'm really glad you separated them again.

Maybe I'm a "big player"... I dunno... from various numbers I've seen, I think I'm in the top one hundred or so.

I am still waiting to see evidence that people are getting regular sales.  For me to be worth it, I would need to see at least 5 to 10 sales a day, and based on what I've seen so far, the early adopter Sy sites just haven't built momentum yet.

Still watching and waiting...

Quote from: stockmarketer on September 06, 2013, 09:55

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

You surprise me with this one. I've noted how intelligently you have approached microstock, always analysing how to make the biggest buck with your time ... yet you seem unable or unwilling to undertake the couple of clicks it requires to make best use of your time on MSG?

I ignored Symbiostock threads months ago, as soon as they started to take over the front page. Until you started complaining about them I had no idea that they were still going strong.

Hi Gostwyck,

I think you and I are a mutual admiration society.  You seem to be the one with whom I agree the most in the forum.  I think I would have a similar reaction to seeing someone post a complaint like mine.  The only reason I haven't ignored Symbiostock threads is that if it ever starts paying off for people, I'd like to see those threads and then reevaluate my decision to sit out on Sy.  Of course, with each passing week that seems less likely to happen, so I might hit that Ignore button sooner than later.

But I'm most concerned about the casual visitor who doesn't know that ignoring is an option.  These people may have really useful insights that could benefit you and me.   I really do think the overall usefulness of the forum is threatened when an important new thread is immediately buried (at least for the 95% of the audience who is not ignoring Sy threads). 

Someone with valuable microstock experience but an infrequent visitor here might stop in, see dozens of Sy threads, and decide,  "nothing for me here" and never come back.  They lose by not seeing the relevant stuff, and you and I lose by not reading their thoughts on things that really matter to us.  A lot of those folks won't bother with investigating how to hide certain topics.  They just won't come back.

I'm shocked that people aren't weighing in on this.  When a major agency makes a significant change that impacts us, we should all take serious note.

I think the problem is... DARE I SAY IT... that Symbiostock topics are choking everything else out.  There are about a dozen Symbiostock topics pushing this thread way down the list.  A year ago, this thread would have gotten a lot of attention and sparked a lot of conversation.  But today, people aren't seeing it because "how do I do this or that" Symbiostock topics hog up virtually all the space "above the fold."

I'm not a Symbiostock hater ... I consider myself in the "wait and see" camp ... but it really has taken over this forum and made it less useful for those of us on the fence or disinterested in Symbiostock.  Not sure what the solution is, but I can see myself checking this site less and less if this continues.  Just not interested in having to scroll and scroll and scroll to find items that are actually relevant to me.

Good to hear more people getting their first sales.  If this keeps up, I may be swayed to jump into the SY pool.

Facebook advertisers will begin seeing the option to use Shutterstock images gradually over the next few weeks.

Have been looking for an answer to "When does this start?"

Found it here:
http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/2013/08/facebook/

Yeah, I keep seeing the "over the next few weeks" quote in every article or blog post on the subject. 

To me, that means they're phasing it in so that some people may be seeing it now, and some may not for another week or two.  I think that's typically how a big site like Facebook rolls out new features.  Which means that we could start seeing strange SODs showing up any time now... and which made me wonder if yesterday's $.95 SOD was my first one.  Anyone else?

Weren't we getting kept at the .38 level for a limited period as the new plan rolled out?  When was that supposed to end?  When I saw the email I thought it meant they were extending that .38 level trial period.

I have made 37.50 euro (50 dollar) in 3 sales, in 2 months. Its not much, but the potential is there. I might even be on par with people submitting to Stocksy.

Hmm... I'm starting to become intrigued.  $100 a month is about at the level this starts getting my attention, and it looks like you're heading in that direction.  If I could spend a few days building a site and throw all my images up on it, and let it generate $100 a month without too much extra work (or expense*) I could be swayed. 

Anyone else seeing results like this yet?

* As for expenses, how are you storing/serving your images?  At $25/month are you profitable?