There are two competing business models in play here - those who make money from creating and selling images, and those who make money selling advertising and referral links from blogging about it.

Both are legitimate ways to earn income and neither is necessarily morally superior to the other.  However, for the blogging/referral folks to make money, they need to sign up as many people as possible to COMPETE with the image makers. 

Surely it is not that hard to understand that the people whose LIVELIHOOD depends on selling images would be less than enthusiastic about encouraging or sharing information with the bloggers. 

It has nothing to do with wanting to be helpful to newbies, BTW.   I get sitemails from newbies often asking for tips on lighting, photoshop editing, etc. and have always tried to be helpful and encouraging.  And I have seen other experienced people here do the same - including the ones in this thread. 

It is one thing to help out a person who is really trying to learn, vs. providing blanket info to someone who is going to use that information to line their own pockets while simultaneously draining yours.

Like I said, nothing inherently wrong with making your money blogging about micro, just don't expect those that stand to lose out from your efforts to help you do it

quick question? are you talking about myself when saying making your money blogging?.. I will add again that I got 30$ from referrals, and I am at 1300$ in sales, around 1 year in stock!

Quote from: luissantos84 on February 28, 2010, 16:34

great

in the old alamy thread the author said he hired real elephants for this set, must have been a pricey shoot
but definetely paid off !

take that, microstocks !

huge

If I see one more apple metaphor, I'm going to go bananas. 

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

ehehe good one

Generally speaking, it's only the amateurs/part-timers who have the "encourage and increase competition" mindset. Trust me, luissantos84 and deyu16, your attitude will change once or if your earnings increase enough to become your sole source of income - you'll be playing your cards much closer to your chest when that happens.

I respect what you are saying, I guess I won't act like that, instead I could use a language more similar to yours and show my opinion more gently without offending anyone like some have done here and other posts!

But again there will be always competition, what do you want?.. Agencies could be more strict ok, I agree on that, but if there are approving our pictures what is the problem?.. The problem is our, we shoot, we work, we upload then we sale... the problem isnt ours!

UPDATE: now I have 5 members ignoring me, god it is increasing, is there a bad list, like Gigli from Jennifer Lopez and Ben?...

Quote from: luissantos84 on February 28, 2010, 14:41

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on February 28, 2010, 14:39

Quote from: deyu16 on February 28, 2010, 14:19

Ok I see that you are thinking inside the box ...Lets see if I got this right...so you are the only one who sells apples right?That means that you can sell any apples you like it doesn't matter if the client likes them or not...You are the only one and the client has to buy from you...furthermore you can charge whatever you want for that apples ...for example let's say you got an apple for $1 and you sell it for $10(because you are the only one selling there no competition) so you make 10 times profit...ok all good but when the other guy decides to open his own store the picture has change...Now you have competition and you can't do what you like because you will go out of business! So you have 2 options 1)continue living in the box with no competition and go bankrupted OR struggle to have the freshest apples and with a good price....the I guarante you that the demand will be much bigger......Competition is good either way you look at it...if a new microstocker comes in and submiting the most eye catching images this world has ever seen what do you do??Don't you try to perfect your self as much as you can? Don't get me wrong but thats business....you can't change anything...what ever you do there will always be competition ....and besides denying it you might as well look at the best part of competition

Lets say there are now thousands of apple sellers all selling the same perfect apples. And while buyer demand has increased it's only a fraction of the supply of apples that have flooded the market. What does your business class suggest in this scenario?

it is simple, go and get a new business! if you don't want to have competition then leave!

The new business won't have competition?

EXACTLY!!! so you will have to deal with competitors, doesn't matter if it is stock, apples or monkeys! Why are you all trying to eliminate competitors? You could do that but they won't go away simple, so accept them, help or not, but respect at least!

Quote from: sjlocke on February 28, 2010, 14:23

Quote from: deyu16 on February 28, 2010, 14:19

.for example let's say you got an apple for $1 and you sell it for $10(because you are the only one selling there no competition) so you make 10 times profit...ok all good but when the other guy decides to open his own store the picture has change...Now you have competition and you can't do what you like because you will go out of business! So you have 2 options 1)continue living in the box with no competition and go bankrupted OR struggle to have the freshest apples and with a good price....the I guarante you that the demand will be much bigger......Competition is good either way you look at it

Are you sure you went to business school?  I'll stick with number 1 (where I wouldn't go "bankrupted" as the only seller).

ROFL       

Seriously deyu16, you should ask for a refund from your business school.   Sorry!

you are such an... god! always bashing everyone! why is that? what do you gain with this attitude over and over??

Quote from: luissantos84 on February 28, 2010, 12:19

I think that there a lot of guys that just want to put "newbies" (whatever) down and down, so they have no competiton, that's the real business right??

I think most people here are decent and aren't trying to put anybody down. A few do, most don't. I'd say they're trying to paint a realistic picture this isn't easy.

Quote from: luissantos84 on February 28, 2010, 12:19

My pictures are just my pictures, they won't compete with anyone, I just don't get why is this when someone less "earner" talk in a topic!.. when do we become successfull?? 1k a month is enough? then I will talk

Won't compete with anyone? If someone buys one of your pictures they mostly likely chose yours over somebody elses. That's competition. If on the other hand you don't plan to ever sell a photo, why are you here?

one thing is planning and selling pictures, other is just putting all competition to the floor, I guess you could do that but do it properly, the right way which is giving the market better pics than the competitor, that's good! The bad is putting down so you wont have any kind of opponents, it is just my way of thinking, I don't mind to compete I just want to do what I am doing and stop reading this non-sense BS just to eliminate everyone, yeah we are all going to leave so you can get all the royalties! I am not talking to you directly, I am talking to guys that thing this way!

lol so there is no competition?

FORGET!

Quote from: luissantos84 on February 28, 2010, 09:55

Quote from: fotografer on February 28, 2010, 02:59

Why would we want to encourage people to see the potential of this business?  All that does is create more competition.

Quote from: deyu16 on February 27, 2010, 21:56

I started this post ................. encourage people to see the potential of this business!!!!!

Do you think that your idea is right??.. If everyone thinks like that the world will end soon, there will be no jobs, not education, not development..! If you have knowledge and don't want to teach anybody?? Life ain't correct that way, not just in stock photography..!! Sharing is very important, it wouldn't be nice to be old and think that we haven't help anyone, doesn't matter the subject!

Of course there are certain persons that want just referrals and so on, but honestly making 200$ like deyu16 and myself aren't done with just a day of work.. first you can do some research then TALK!

I wonder if inviting people to the party is actually helping them at all. They get false hopes, end up spending a bunch of money on equipment, spend a lot of time trying to copy bestsellers, end up frustrated and quit. Ok, maybe only 90%. Would rather help an old lady cross the street. I don't think guys like Yuri are afraid of the competition. It's just numbers, 500,000 contributors= piss poor RPI for everyone. I would recomend micro to someone who I thought had a lot of talent and was in need, but I wouldn't BS him a say it's easy money. There are any number of jobs that pay better for most.

I am 100% with you! I dont encourage people to join, but if I have a friend that wants to know I will tell him and why not helping getting approved at agencies and so on..! Of course it is necessary a lot of work to start getting some bucks, but it is a great feeling seeing that anyone enjoys your photos..! I also keep up my blog as a motivation to myself, I set small goals and milestones, easy to get and it keeps me focus on getting more success and learning more about photography! I am not copying others photographers photos, I am just shooting around, almost everything, seeing what is demanded and see what works in terms of sales..!

My main issue is when guys talk about referrals, because in my case got just 2 or 3 which is like 30$ from almost a year in stock, so no big deal when I am at around 1300$! My referrals haven't got my 300 approved at IS, it was done by myself with my own effort! I just want some respect when guys say things totally unproperly and not true!

Why would we want to encourage people to see the potential of this business?  All that does is create more competition.

Quote from: deyu16 on February 27, 2010, 21:56

I started this post ................. encourage people to see the potential of this business!!!!!

Do you think that your idea is right??.. If everyone thinks like that the world will end soon, there will be no jobs, not education, not development..! If you have knowledge and don't want to teach anybody?? Life ain't correct that way, not just in stock photography..!! Sharing is very important, it wouldn't be nice to be old and think that we haven't help anyone, doesn't matter the subject!

Of course there are certain persons that want just referrals and so on, but honestly making 200$ like deyu16 and myself aren't done with just a day of work.. first you can do some research then TALK!

ah ok! I am sure he got plenty of stuff on hold

Eventually, there will be no monetary commission. Instead we'll receive Fotolia Credits, which have no cash value, but can be accumulated to get cool prizes like maybe a Fotolia tote bag or a Fotolia coffee mug.

ahahah like a gas/fuel station!