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Messages - Adeptris
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51
« on: October 20, 2009, 14:03 »
To be fair to the agencies, if you haven't made a payout yet, you have probably cost them money in administration and rejections (inspection cost) ... Stocksites have it easy, they do not have to send their buyers out into the market, or sit for hours trawling the web for acceptable content, they have vendors knocking the doors down to contribute thier assets. Sourcing a good product is part of any business, they have asked for samples, judged the samples as acceptable, added them to thier collections and may have presented them to the customers, we all know that many of the search engines favour different searches and contributors, pushing good images down the search. The reason many may not have had a payout is not rejections and administration, but because of a small portfolio and all the other variables that may be stacked against them, because the site unfairly weights images, search on several websites and you will see the same sets of images, a buyer may look at the first few pages, this promotes the images on the first page and demotes the images further down, it is very debatable if the website offer the best images! I recently researched a number of stocksites for a blog article I was writing on image diversity , one thing I was frustrated by was the same images coming up on the first pages across many websites, time and time again. Not reaching a payout does not mean a bad product, often it can be down to website thinking customer want to see the same images for a search, week in week out and month in month out. My Ideal website would offer a different set of images every time I used the same search term, this would make the buyers use light boxes more, then you would know the better images. Regards David 
52
« on: October 18, 2009, 10:50 »
Quote Button instead of Edit 
53
« on: October 18, 2009, 10:47 »
As this is the off topic forum I thought I would let you know about an application I found that does what it says. I have a few websites and a couple of blogs, I have spent a lot of good money on plug-ins or applications that are limited in functions or just not up to what they claim, I am sure there are many others that get frustrated with poor products. I was searching for a new template for my WordPress blog, looking for a simple clean theame, there was an affiliate link on one blog to an application called Artisteer, I purchased the application was able to create a new theame for my blog in 30 minutes, easy creation and editing of the page, header, menu, content, buttons, layout etc:, you can use the suggest function or edit the elements from dropdown lists and views. I know a few of you also do some website stuff, the package I purchased $129.95 has the following features Free upgrades for 1 year Design Suggestions Design Features Export as XHTML+CSS Export as Wordpress Theme Export as Joomla 1.5 Template Export as Drupal 5/6 Theme Export as DotNetNuke 4.9+ Skin Export as ASP.NET Application Export to CodeCharge Studio Custom Value Dialogs (screenshot) Library of Textures, Glares and Gradients Number of Color and Font Schemes 70+ Number of Photo Objects 300+ There is a cheaper option $49.95 with not so many export types, there is a Free trail version that adds a watermark, but I use WordPress and DotNetNuke and I am currently looking at ASP.NET so the full package was the one for me. Anyway here is the results of 30 minutes with an application I have never used before: http://www.digitalweblogistics.com/blog/Yes the advert on my blog post for Artisteer has an affiliate link, and the 300 photo objects include many Microstock Style images. This is a reasonable overview:
Any feedback welcomed! David
54
« on: October 17, 2009, 03:49 »
I seriously doubt that generic Joe needs to buy commercial quality images for their Facebook profile. They would rather snap it with mobile phone or use something from a top page on Google Image Search. Unless he has a business I do not believe he got such a need.
Please do not paint all social network or other online users with the same brush, generic Joe comes in many different age groups, backgrounds, education levels, and moral values, and many would not know what a commercial quality image was, just that they like the image and it fits the use. Many will know that it is wrong to copy an image and would visit a microstock website and pay $1 - $2 for a xs image to use with comfort, even if you have images on flickr you may get requests to use an image, so not everyone is unaware of copyright issues. Definitely a growth of great proportion thus the drop in the other models. Istock sold $865,000 in sales just yesterday. Just one day, that's serious chowder at a few bucks a piece.
<...
>...
Shame we did not know the quantity of images downloaded, back to the OP's question, lets say the Istock artists share of the above amount is around 30%, say $260,000 some of that will never be paid out, some will be converted to credits, and until the remainder is paid out it will be earning interest or for new start-ups and smaller sites could be used as working capital. Any Escrow Account would need to be funded, this could be done from the interest earned, but the loss of liquid revenue to the websites make the idea a non starter, it would be nice if there was a law which stated that any royalty revenue received on behalf of an artist for a completed work and completed transaction must be paid withing 3-6 months, maybe that would be a better approach. David
55
« on: October 16, 2009, 15:51 »
I think Amazon, eBay or any other online store is not interested in a "product" that does not appeal to generic consumer audience. Frankly, who needs stock, designers, press, publishers, web masters? Ebay are a true merchant that connects sellers and buyers for a fee, they do sell quite a lot of small value items as well and the funds go instantly to PayPal that was more my point, they have a huge market and I have sold low value items and some prints on ebay Sub $10 and an instant payment via Paypal, so why not direct digital downloads. Who do you think buys the most Microstock images, I keep reading about ADs, designers, press, publishers, web masters, but it is 'generic consumers' everyday people that need an image for a printed or online article, presentation, essay, blog, personal website, community leaflet, homework, facebook or just because they like it, these are the largest group of microstock customers. David
56
« on: October 16, 2009, 14:06 »
As already said about 75% of contributors never make a payout, this is a part of the stock sites business model, when contributors give up they often delete the images and leave a few dollars in the 'account' or convert thier earnings to credits and purchase images thinking that the contributors will benefit, or just not bother, all these values are budgeted in the business plan as working capital. There are some sites that will pay when you close the account, or at year end without a limit, but not many do that, really the funds should be moved to deffered earnings, I have a PayPal verified business 'micropayments' account with lower charges, I have some website skin assets on another site that pays $5 a pop to PayPal, I am also going to try this on a merchant transaction basis with a test website next year, so there is no real reason for site not to pay-up as a transaction of a couple of dollars takes place. Micropayments fees for US dollar transactions are 5% + 5 cents per transaction.
When compared to PayPals standard fees (2.9% + 30 cents), the micropayments rate can save money for merchants whose average selling price is below $12. You pay more longer term but you are not waiting a year for a payout! The Commission
Reading the blogs you might be impressed by the amount in millions of commission paid out to contributors, and you may read about a new microstock start-up and a photographer saying "40% commission is a good deal".
The agencies commission rates are between 20% 70%, with one of biggest paying just over 25% the real payout will be nothing like the advertised percentages.
Many agencies have a set minimum payout level that a contributor must reach before they see a cent of their commission or royalties, it is widely reported that 75% of Artist never make a payout so on this revenue there is 0% commission to pay out.
When an artist gets disillusioned and gives up on a stock site they might choose to delete their images and leave the few dollars they have earned, there is then 0% Commission to pay out on this revenue.
Others like me think they are clever when they close an account and convert the earnings and download images to help others but this comes out at about a 5% commission to payout.
Lets say the real commission paid is in the region of 10% 30%, that leaves a lot of revenue for the stock sites, for every 100 million of revenue the stock sites owners get 70 90 Million, the type of percentages the contributors get should be what the agencies get. David
57
« on: October 15, 2009, 02:39 »
I did not add any Images in September and had no sales, there are about 20,000 assets a week are being added with the recent push into stock imaging, once this settles down Sales should improve. I am waiting for my Alamy account to be closed, I am evaluating different parts of stock and creating a VA website, in a week or so I will only have images with The3dStudio until I decide on a direction. My Image sales were not what I would call regular 'microstock images', it would be intresting to hear about the style of images sold, from those with sales. My sales were, Danger Sign, Cake, Leopard, amur tiger, staring tiger, horse head, wooden toy and three people shots. David 
58
« on: October 14, 2009, 14:43 »
I have just run the Plug-in, the instructions on the website are very clear, there is also a plug-in for PowerPoint, these will be ideal for my grandson to use. I am waiting for a password reset as I have not logged on for 18 months! Just a bit more information you can Publish to Wordpress direct from Microsoft Word 2007. David
59
« on: October 14, 2009, 14:16 »
For the Bloggers we need, optional Paypal with no website registration and Pay-Per-Download, and Plug-ins for Firefox, 'Live writer' and WordPress. While you are there a website Plug-In like Adsense targeted images that website visitors can purchase, and Website owners and Bloggers can make affiliate commission on any sales Then you have most of the market covered, Well done! David
60
« on: October 14, 2009, 03:25 »
How about any plans to open up thier API for software developers, so they can create non registration (affiliate fee) Pay-Per-Download plug-ins.
David
61
« on: October 13, 2009, 02:10 »
This actually exists....Topcoder.com is one of them. Eastern europeans are very strong by the way (estonians particularly).
Hugo There is also www.getafreelancer.com I wanted a couple of 3D Characters for a website, I posted the project and got a few bids, looked at samples, selected and hired a freelancer from the US, I was quoted $350 in the UK for a single brand character, for the same money I am getting 2 different characters in 10 different poses. This is an early draft of one of the Characters:  $150 to create both the Characters, and $10 an image to pose them and add accessories. David
62
« on: October 12, 2009, 11:24 »
I got into software development way too late. No technical education, had to learn it all myself, bluff my way into jobs and compete with guys with B.S. and M.S. degrees. Somehow I've been making a good living at it for over 20 years. As Lawrence Welk used to say, "it's-a never too late". Software developer for 15 years, ex builder, self taught, no technical education, currently looking at Windows Azure the Microsoft Cloud! David
63
« on: October 12, 2009, 10:57 »
Possible copyright issues with a potential for real ID fruad, check out these guys! All US items I am from the UK, so are these fun or could they be used for illegal uses? http://www.overnight21.com/David 
64
« on: October 12, 2009, 02:30 »
More an issue with the designers IP for full image banknotes, as for the queens likeness would not any image with a Recognizable person require a Model Release for commercial use. Copyright is a funny area, look at a simple thing like playing cards, the patterns on the back are copyright protected, the design of the Aces are copyright protected but the other pictures which to me are more likely to be different are not copyright protected. In the rejected images the notes can be seen as the primary subjects, with banknotes in a wallet or sticking out from the slot in a 'piggy bank' the notes may be seen as secondary and part of a composite image where possibly no object is the primary subject, if the image was a small table with a wallet, loose notes, stack of coins and keys spread out it should be ok, but the rules maybe seen differently by different sites or inspectors. David 
65
« on: October 07, 2009, 06:47 »
My Coffee is a 'Vente Latte', my machine is a 'Starbucks Outlet', that what comes with working in the 'City of London'. David
66
« on: October 06, 2009, 08:12 »
I don't think it will give a high enough return, the code renders an image from 235px - 728px with a description, a google ad or two a photographers credit and a link back to Fotoglif, the right mouse is disabled. There are no links or affiliate links back to the artists portfolio from Fotoglif or the blog post which might have added value, so the only revenue to share between two or three parties is the targetted adsense revenue. I do not think the uptake by casual bloggers will produce enough revenue, the blogs that get a lot of hits already use microstock for images, and already have thier own Adsense revenue streams, Fotoglif offer 20% affiliate fee, so the blogger would loses 80% of thier Google income for that pages impressions. Fotoglif have not developed the three key blog plug-in applications for WordPress, Live Writer and Word, and offer affiliate programs for publishers and developers at 20%. Artist 50% Publisher 20% Developer 20% Not much left to run the business servers on? Blogging is a business tool that earns advertising revenue, it does not need free images or services trying to take it's revenue, it needs images delivered to the blog or application, with easy access and pay-per-download. David ("Simples")
67
« on: October 05, 2009, 14:56 »
I had a look and I see they have 818341 getty images. Perhaps this is worth checking out? Microstock was laughed at a few years ago, I wouldn't be surprised to see other ways of making money from images come along. This might not be it but who knows?
This is the same Getty deal as PicApps, Getty wholly own the images, any payment goes into Getty's bottom line, no contributor share. With Getty and Corbis allowing thier owned images to be used by these services, could wrongly encourage contributors David
68
« on: October 04, 2009, 12:17 »
I work as a contracted Software Analyst and Developer in the UK, the product is Microsoft Dynamics NAV I have done this for over 13 years, during this time outsourcing companies in India have tried to grab a share of consultancy from the resellers on the same business model as this, saved overheads, payroll and costs, sounds good at first. But they have been tried but none have taken any real market share and the projects have all come back in-house, although the main core product code is written in india, all the quality control is done in the US and the localisation in each countries version, this is because the people in each country know the market needs, this is the same as stock, QC need the feedback from searches and talking to customers they may have to adjust quickly, good local knowledge of trend and experience cannot be taught or passed on easy to outsourcing companies in other countries. If we look at Alamy with 16 million plus images, the development, data centres, support and initial image check is already done in India where they have built a base, if I remember right they did try to QC from the indian operation a couple of years ago and batches were being approved all hours evenings and weekends, but all the QC is now done in weekday hours in the UK or US and less bad batches are getting under the radar, as they do not reject on content only quality, if this did model did not work for them with thier own india based staff, I am not sure who outsourcing could work for, maybe a new startup trying to build a collection, but in time they will want in-house control by thier own resource, outsourcing QC makes a company vunerable. This is not a dig just my observations and opinon. David
69
« on: October 04, 2009, 00:32 »
Good Luck with your venture, it might work for an initial first look to filter out the dross, but I would think that any good business would keep the final quality control in-house, the end collection is the brand. David
70
« on: October 02, 2009, 00:31 »
Hello Leaf,
its already here, http://www.microstockplugin.com.
Seamless search and purchase of images through Wordpress, add copyright notice automaticaly, enable the Affiliate program and get automatic backlinks with your Affiliate ID on every purchased pictures, automatic SEO optimization with your own keywords, available in 4 languages and many many more.
You can view a short in-use video here http://www.screencast.com/t/xFOE4yAM0
PS: No watermarks of course! Points you are missing: I do not want to pay for ten credits if I need just two Images to complete a post, 'non site registration' and if I go to a microstock website spend 1 credit I purchased for $1 or 1 I can use it in my blog without the link back to artist or the website I purchased it from if I am promoting a service I want special rates, I blog and would not use it as it needs to plug in to blog editing tools like Live Writer and Microsoft Word where I compose and publist to my blogs, I never blog via the website. David
71
« on: October 01, 2009, 11:28 »
Just had a look over on the Alamy forum, there is a thread about a bad September, then as I am reading down there is a reply! Great start for October! I just made an $1100.00 sale on a common general stock photo I shot 3 years ago! The sale could have been a couple of months ago, but it just shows you never know what will sell and when. David
72
« on: September 30, 2009, 08:58 »
There's a reason why big names such as Yuri Arcurs, Ron Chapple (iofoto), Kirsty Pargeter, Lev Dolgachov and Andres Rodriguez (only to name a few) has already signed up for it. Drum roll and here is the reason!! Finally, we're offering an additional 5% commission on every single credit sale you make when you join the WordPress project. An additional 5% will make a difference to these guys, but not someone else that has a small portfolio! David
73
« on: September 30, 2009, 08:36 »
But
IS sells 480x321 px for 1 credit
DT sells 424x283px for 1 credit
StockXpert sells 400x300px for 1 credit
etc, etc. . . . . .
To paying Customers and the artist gets commission, what is free in that? The problem with providing images for blogs is not that bloggers are so tight and will not pay-per-download, the problem is the credit packages, subscriptions and delivery method. Modify the plug-in with, 'non site registration', PayPal IPN, limited use licence, and browser downloads without visiting the website, and you will get good paying customers $1-$4 a pop, and all the other SEO benefits. From my Blog post here
As a blogger what do I want?
I want some easy tools that allow me to write a blog and post this to the internet, I use the program Windows Live Writer for my content, I not only use this software for blogs but most of my other website content is updated using Windows Live Writer, with all content delivered direct from my desktop, if I have an image that I own on my hard drive, I can insert this into my post and Live Writer will send this to the website for me when I publish.
But I do not use images much simply because of the hassle in getting the right asset, I could stop what I am doing, go to Istock search for an appropriate image and download it, but that is all time consuming, and if my credits have run out I just pay for another ten credits, so often where an image would add value to my content I do not bother to use one.
I would like to be able to insert a licensed asset into my posts without advertising or having to leave the application I am using, I also do not want to pay for ten credits if I need just two to complete a post, I do not want to download a large size that is far to big for my content needs, and I only want to purchase a licence to use the asset once, as I am not likely to use it again. David
74
« on: September 29, 2009, 23:18 »
Adeptris, Are you going to sign up? Anyone else signing up? 5 years is a long time. A photographer with a huge portfolio on a number of websites is unlikely to change thier direction, so this might be attractive as it will maximize their return from The3dStudio. There could be a number of reasons I might want to remove an image from sale, a buy-out, the request of a model, to make an image exclusive on another stocksite, to become exclusive somewhere, a change of direction etc: I have a small portfolio and still looking to find the right markets and find it to restrictive, as said 5 years is a long time and it is frustrating removing images that are time locked, 6 months to a year is managable with an option to 'buy-out' or apply for a singe image deletion by request, I would not sign up yet, because I am leaving my options open to be more flexible to market changes. David
75
« on: September 29, 2009, 10:04 »
>..
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they announced a month ago they reached 400,000 looking today (Monday) their library could hit 500,000 within a week.
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16 Artists used my affiliate link and 14 of these are active contributors, it will be interesting to see how thing develop. It looks like they will reach the 500000 assets today! David
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