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Messages - Mantis
5126
« on: October 01, 2011, 15:44 »
It's been cyclic for me ever since I joined. Waves of subs then a smaller wave of $2-$10 dl's.
5127
« on: October 01, 2011, 08:44 »
I used to but only do it now with a note as they recommend, and only on certain images. The frustrating part is the time and money spent on shoots, then they reject for LCV or some other reason. You have essentially wasted your time (when said images never find their way onto a site) and money (prop expenses, model expenses, beer).
5128
« on: October 01, 2011, 07:47 »
Inventive and full of fresh ideas! no wonder they are the market leaders.
And if they gave out a raise, they would really put themselves on an even higher plateau 
5129
« on: September 30, 2011, 05:55 »
trying to be photographers and we spend all day here, playing with ourselves. 
you spend all day playing with yourself, too?? I should fit right in!!
I am in Canada catching a flight to the USA in a few and I saw this post just before catching the shuttle to the airport. I couldn't stop laughing on the way to the airport..good one. Welcome.
5130
« on: September 28, 2011, 08:34 »
I had an enhanced dl and per day dls are up a tad for some reason.
5131
« on: September 26, 2011, 17:47 »
Good recovery Mav (I mean Leaf) 
5132
« on: September 24, 2011, 19:50 »
Well the funny thing is that none of the images I have seen on their site (interior) can be done with point and shoot. That means that lighting would have to be hauled, multiple exposure work would likely be a workflow, editing in PS to get that "look", submitting and waiting for the okay stamp. So you make $50 bucks plus 50 miles of travel worth $.50 cents a mile for another $25 bucks (less the gas you already used) makes this venture peachy!
5133
« on: September 24, 2011, 17:19 »
I'm emerald and haven't recieved a letter as yet. I wonder if Lisa has had one!!
I'm not aware of having gotten one, but I've been offline for days. Doing remodeling and can't access my office or computer. Reading this on my tiny netbook. I didn't get the letter in my webmail account, unless spam filter got it.
FWIW, I would expect to leave FT if I was dropped to white commission level. My income there is already less than half what it was a year or so ago. I will not be told where I can upload. That's the whole point behind being independent.
That's the whole point...no one should be able to tell you where you can upload the images you own without stating it in a contract before hand or tell you how much YOU chose to sell them for. They are your images. That should only be for exclusives...not independents.
Agree with you, but it seems to me that micros keep changing the rules as we go. Say one thing then do another. It is a freakin crap shoot to upload these days because you don't know what tomorrow brings.
5134
« on: September 24, 2011, 17:16 »
Quick snapshots, right. Then, so how much is 'competitive'?
Here's some info I found on Google.
Freelance photographer for Airbnb.com
Want to be a part of one of the hottest tech start-up's that has been featured in press such as Forbes, Inc. Magazine, New York Times, Tech Crunch, Mashable, USA Today and Bloomberg? Airbnb.com is looking for some freelance photographers to join the team.
DESCRIPTION:
- As an Airbnb photographer, assignments will be given to you sporadically. You will need to be able to provide great customer service and respond to an assignment within 48 hours
- If you accept an assignment, you need to arrange a time where you can go to hosts space and complete photography assignment within 7 days
- You will be responsible for uploading and delivering photographs to hosts via our website
QUALIFICATIONS:
Strong photography background and portfolio
Ability to shoot interior photography
Great customer service skills
Excellent organizational and time management skills
Ability to be Airbnb brand ambassador when meeting with clients
We pay US$40-US$50 per listing you shoot, and there are no min. or max. number of listings you can shoot. This is an ongoing project and starts IMMEDIATELY! If you are interested, please reply and an online portfolio is required.
That probably sounds about right, but given the time to take the photos, edit them, drive there and back and upload, it sounds more like a 4 hour job and to cover expenses (indirect expenses like accounting, heat, internet, camera and direct expenses like gas) ... I'm afraid I wouldn't do it for less than $200. For a part time person or a hobby photographer, $50 might be tempting enough though... or if your cost of living is very low.
Totally agree, Leaf. The actual workflow is not discussed (editing, hauling gear, lighting, set up, etc) and 30 minutes is purely an understatement. However, they do claim to pay travel, which I assume is a per mile rate..probably like 50 cents a mile. The images I saw on their site are clearly not point and shoot, either. This tells me that there is a lot more time involved than 30 minutes on the interior assignments.
5135
« on: September 24, 2011, 16:46 »
Quick snapshots, right. Then, so how much is 'competitive'?
Here's some info I found on Google. Freelance photographer for Airbnb.com Want to be a part of one of the hottest tech start-up's that has been featured in press such as Forbes, Inc. Magazine, New York Times, Tech Crunch, Mashable, USA Today and Bloomberg? Airbnb.com is looking for some freelance photographers to join the team. DESCRIPTION: - As an Airbnb photographer, assignments will be given to you sporadically. You will need to be able to provide great customer service and respond to an assignment within 48 hours - If you accept an assignment, you need to arrange a time where you can go to hosts space and complete photography assignment within 7 days - You will be responsible for uploading and delivering photographs to hosts via our website QUALIFICATIONS: Strong photography background and portfolio Ability to shoot interior photography Great customer service skills Excellent organizational and time management skills Ability to be Airbnb brand ambassador when meeting with clients We pay US$40-US$50 per listing you shoot, and there are no min. or max. number of listings you can shoot. This is an ongoing project and starts IMMEDIATELY! If you are interested, please reply and an online portfolio is required.
5136
« on: September 24, 2011, 09:07 »
Forget it. It is not going to happen to Emeralds and above. FT is already making too much from them. This is designed for the low-selling contributor.
Then why did only the high-selling contributors get the threatening email? From the responses in this thread, it appears that no one Silver or below received this.
Wouldn't you NOT send the email to those you're NOT targeting, and instead send it to the people you ARE targeting?
I am a silver and I also did not receive the email...just another datapoint >:
5137
« on: September 23, 2011, 18:57 »
"People like Yuri with the power to take a stand should do so in principle. It might cost them a percentage that is not insignificant but it should send a clear message to management that you can't expect to beat contributors to a pulp and get away with it."
If they wanted to send any message, they would have already done, by not uploading to the penny sites in the first place. It's likely they created this problem by uploading anywhere with a pulse, as Gostwyck said.
E=MC2
5138
« on: September 23, 2011, 18:56 »
I don't think it is a direct reaction to Photodune - they are too small (though I still won't support them with their current setup).
I think they followed the developments at Istock closely. After a year they decided that the majority of independents took Istock's kick between the legs with a simple reaction - whine a lot but continue to upload. The few that stopped uploading or pulled their port are insignificant.
So they decided that lowering commissions for those who accept lower commissions elsewhere (and Istock's commission is the lowest) would work. The part about prices is only there to confuse the masses and make it look at least a bit logical.
+1000
5139
« on: September 23, 2011, 17:19 »
Google works well.
5140
« on: September 23, 2011, 17:09 »
It really doesn't matter which agency for which they are referring because they can use anybody and anything at anytime to "justify" these new rules. It is all crap and merely a move to transfer revenue from contributors to FT. I think they are dying a slow death and they are milking every drop they can before it's over. My sales are 50% down in the last three months and even potentially lower with these shenanigans now happening. I suspect I am in for more beer money reduction.
5141
« on: September 23, 2011, 16:25 »
Interestingly, there isn't a thread at FT on this. I bet they are clobbering those as fast as they blossom! 
5142
« on: September 23, 2011, 16:04 »
The are so naive, do they really think it's the lower price competition (where???) that is hitting them?
That's the EXCUSE to claw back revenue. I also think their end is near.
5143
« on: September 23, 2011, 16:00 »
The are so naive, do they really think it's the lower price competition (where???) that is hitting them?
That's the EXCUSE to claw back revenue.
5144
« on: September 18, 2011, 18:30 »
Interesting how dropping sales means new markets opening up to some : ) I get suprisingly big batches of downloads from india if the SS map is trustworthy, their ratio is increasing a lot.
It's kinda basic business 101 and cause and effect. I will share some basic business information with you. For every business response there is a possible competitive response. So while dropping sales somewhere may mean less sales for contributors on those sites, there may be other sites opening up to steal some share. Does "big batches of downloads" mean 2 or 50? That's a VERY OPEN STATEMENT TO MAKE.
5145
« on: September 18, 2011, 16:43 »
No end, just a transformation as new markets open up.
There are more and more markets and countries around the globe entering the internet age. How many webdesigners in India, China, Middle East, South America are using stock sites today? How many will use it in five years? These are huge markets. Much bigger than Europe, even bigger than North America.
I think MS will not die, it will just continue to soften. As demand grows in emerging markets so will supply and purchasing outlets. The days of growing your port and realizing decent gains (notice I said decent) are closing....and closed for many low volume contributors.
5146
« on: September 18, 2011, 15:52 »
I have no confidence in the future of microstock, so I might as well make as much as I can now.
Sadly, I have come to pretty much the same conclusion. I've joined a bunch of smaller sites I wouldn't have bothered with a year or two ago as part of a strategy to maximize my earnings on my existing portfolio.
It's all well and good for us to plan ahead and do what we can to support (and even police) the industry for the long term, but developments in the last year have me questioning whether there is a long term for microstock - at least from the contributor perspective.
Same here...uploading to a few smaller sites hoping something will make it worthwhile. I have been on several smaller sites in the past and deleted my ports due to few sales. Now, with less income due to wife getting let go, I am borderline desperate.
5147
« on: September 17, 2011, 19:24 »
Why is healthcare in the US so expensive? Here is a good synopsis -
http://moneyland.time.com/2010/02/25/why-is-health-care-so-expensive-let-us-count-the-conspirators/
The bullet points are -
Insurance Companies are businesses
No electronic records
Perverse incentives
Malpractice madness
Statistics
Premium pricing in the ER
We're fat
We take more pills
No shopping across state lines
What do I owe
And lobbyists pouring big bucks into their political coffers
And party line ideologies (Libs vs. indep vs conservs)
And ignoring constituent voice
And too many regulations
And too many singular political beliefs pushing theirs on the masses
And block and tackle to resolve the real barriers to a robust, cost effective system (tort reform)
Just sayin.
Tort reform? Thirty-eight states already have some form of it in place, and my state is one of them. The price of my health care does not seem to be that much cheaper because of it, though. But we do seem to have attracted a lot of doctors. Of course, an individual can't sue their doctor for more than $750,000 if they do something wrong. Like chop off a leg wrong, if I understood it correctly.
all that your are pointing out is that there is no real tort reform. THERE IS NO TORT REFORM going on. This 38 state thing you mention is a fantasy. There MUST be congressional tort reform.
5148
« on: September 17, 2011, 10:23 »
A question. In USA if you have no money and you get hit by a car and have a broken leg/pelvis what happens at the moment. Is there any safety net ?
Yes, care is free.
As I understand it, you won't be denied entry into an ER if you show up and need urgent care, but the hospital will definitely send you the bill afterwards.
So if you had no money they would take you to court and take your cardboard box you sleep in ? Or is there some budget allowed for cases like this built into everybody elses costs they pay.
Are all the hospitals privately owned and run for profit or are there like community ones or ones run by things like the church etc that are not for profit.
It will be transitioned to Medicade, which is the free insurance for the poor.
5149
« on: September 16, 2011, 19:13 »
Why is healthcare in the US so expensive? Here is a good synopsis -
http://moneyland.time.com/2010/02/25/why-is-health-care-so-expensive-let-us-count-the-conspirators/
The bullet points are -
Insurance Companies are businesses
No electronic records
Perverse incentives
Malpractice madness
Statistics
Premium pricing in the ER
We're fat
We take more pills
No shopping across state lines
What do I owe
And lobbyists pouring big bucks into their political coffers And party line ideologies (Libs vs. indep vs conservs) And ignoring constituent voice And too many regulations And too many singular political beliefs pushing theirs on the masses And block and tackle to resolve the real barriers to a robust, cost effective system (tort reform) Just sayin.
5150
« on: September 16, 2011, 06:34 »
A question. In USA if you have no money and you get hit by a car and have a broken leg/pelvis what happens at the moment. Is there any safety net ?
Yes, care is free.
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