Quote from: VB inc on August 11, 2011, 14:46

Quote from: gclk on August 11, 2011, 13:21
I'd ask all iStockphoto staff for their opinions on why there's such a negative attitude towards iStockphoto on the site's forum, on public forums like this, and in the wider industry.  And I'd ask them what they believe could/should be done to improve things.

Then I'd ask the same questions of groups of customers and contributors.

Using the information gained I'd move quickly, and set about restoring confidence in the site and the brand.

I might even come up with a Google-like "Don't be evil" mantra, and then make sure the company sticks to it.

nice ideas. unfortunately none of this will matter if the main objective for the managing director is to hit a certain amount of revenue this year.

Really?  If there is a negative attitude towards the company across buyers, contributors and the wider industry, wouldn't you expect that to be quite important to revenues?

I'd ask all iStockphoto staff for their opinions on why there's such a negative attitude towards iStockphoto on the site's forum, on public forums like this, and in the wider industry.  And I'd ask them what they believe could/should be done to improve things.

Then I'd ask the same questions of groups of customers and contributors.

Using the information gained I'd move quickly, and set about restoring confidence in the site and the brand.

I might even come up with a Google-like "Don't be evil" mantra, and then make sure the company sticks to it.

Quote from: gioadventures on August 10, 2011, 13:57
I checked several files I track and they are not in the same they've been. They are overwhelmed by non-exclusive files.
All my E+ files comes in the search after the Standard collections. and the Vetta files disappeared. That's what I see.

Quote from: franckreporter on August 10, 2011, 18:33
I have no charts to show, but the real change in the best match, there is bringing the price level to 1 / 4 .....
most of the images are non-exclusive, and not all of these have thousands of downloads

Same here.  Leading to some days with extremely low (out of the ordinary ebb/flow) sales.

Difficult to tell whether this is...
   A strategy to drive down the prices presented to customers /
   An attempt to drive down the overall percentage royalty paid to contributors (closer towards 15%) /
   Another bit of testing out search changes on the live system to see what might make iStock commissions go up /
   .../

Quote from: pieman on August 09, 2011, 23:07
I love fan threads

Well there you go Lobo

Quote from: Slovenian on August 09, 2011, 14:13
Great August sales for me, I had a couple of XXXL Dls and lots of large sized DLs, besides tripling the DLs. I love the latest best match shift;). My 2 bestsellers are not selling well lately as well, although one is placed in the first row of search results and the other in the second. Overall this summer is great so far, sales rising instead of falling although I uploaded just a dozen photos in the last month and a half (but a new series is waiting for review)

Great to hear that sales aren't down across the board

I try not to jump to conclusions about drops in downloads or best match shifts, but from half-way through 1st August onwards I've seen a noticeable drop in earnings that seems different from a 'summer slow-down'.  Sales for me have been erratic as usual recently, with some days being OK and others being a complete joke, but overall sales for last week dropped significantly.

I don't keep a note of file best match positions to keep track of changes, but there does seem to have been a change in the files that I'm selling.  Some strong sellers appear to have fallen off a cliff, and very noticeably I'm getting sales from old files that had between 1 and 10 sales in the past.

Anybody else finding something similar?

Quote from: guenterguni on August 08, 2011, 13:19

Quote from: gclk on August 08, 2011, 13:05
^^ interesting to see previous high profile iStockers such as Tyler Stalman leaving iStock employment, joining the Saatchi Online team and promptly dropping iStock exclusivity.

Stalman is still exclusive photographer on iStock, your information is wrong. See http://www.istockphoto.com/stalman

I stand corrected... could have sworn that last time I looked he was no longer listed as exclusive, but you're right - he definitely is now.

^^ interesting to see previous high profile iStockers such as Tyler Stalman leaving iStock employment, joining the Saatchi Online team and promptly dropping iStock exclusivity.

As I understand it, if Saatchi Online continued doing what they do now, there would be no need for him (or even Bitter himself) to have dropped iS exclusivity.

Of course there could be plenty of other reasons for them to drop exclusivity I suppose.

Quote from: dcdp on August 08, 2011, 07:07

Quoteon iStock JJRD said:
With that said : talented & hard working individuals have nothing to fear - quite the contrary.

Does anyone else find this a perplexing comment? The July thread is full of people who are having their worst month in 2/3/4/5 years both in terms of DLs and $$ and JJRD comes out with a comment like that. It is either implying that these people who are tanking have nothing to fear (despite they are tanking) or it's implying they aren't "talented and hard working individuals" because they are tanking ... way to encourage people! And the response from contributors is "Thanks for allaying our fears JJRD!". It's like people live in a reality distortion field. Mystifying ...

Yep, I found it perplexing, and all the replies (except yours - good on you for posting it) even more odd.  Easy to read it as a vague threat, along the lines of if we decide that you are not talented and you're not working hard enough, you have everything to fear

I'd say that if he didn't already know that there is to be a new round of shafting contributors coming along, he wouldn't have put it as he did.

If that's the most reassuring thing that can be said

Quote from: ShadySue on August 07, 2011, 15:06

Quote from: gclk on August 07, 2011, 14:25
I wouldn't want Lobo's job.

Well, no, but you'd think he could have picked up some other skills and advanced by now.
iStock's careers page says:
"We love learning
We thrive off running one of the world's busiest and fastest-growing sites and we offer our employees training opportunities in many of the fields our business impacts. So whether you are interested in advanced layer-masking techniques for Photoshop, want to be an illustrator or a videographer, or just want to learn how to take a picture in focus, we're going to help.
Launched in spring 2008, iStock U is an in-house set of courses from our own experts on all kinds of visual art. You'll be immersed in a creative, web-friendly environment and we'll provide you with training to make the most of it. "
As a minimum. he should be required to get, say, 50 files in each media online, so that he knows all the frustrations of the process. It's easy to be snarky when you haven't a clue. I wouldn't dream of commenting on the issues an audio contributor might have, for instance.
And did he get a pay cut when most contributors did? Unlikely, I'd say.
Though he has been treated badly by his overlords, e.g. when they dropped the September bombshell and disappeared, and he was left, as someone here put it, 'playing whack-a-mole' with the inevitable fallout for IIRC about a week.

Haha, good points.

Back in the 'whack-a-mole' days following the grim September bombshell, I actually thought he moderated that quite well.  He seems to have become a lot more intolerant and less reasonable since then.

Quote from: luissantos84 on August 07, 2011, 14:34

Quote from: gclk on August 07, 2011, 14:25
IMO his approach could be improved a fair bit, but it's also a job that could be done a lot worse.

like telling guys to fu... off, thats a dumb topic or question.. eheheh

... saying that he does seem to enjoy calling contributors 'd1cks' from time to time.

It seems that iStock's moderators are there to uphold the rules, but not to abide by them.

I wouldn't want Lobo's job.

Rob was excellent, and it was sad that he felt he had to leave.  But if Lobo had left instead and Rob had stayed as the main forum moderator, even with his friendly and diplomatic way I don't think he could have kept the forums together though everything without losing some popularity.

Lobo does sometimes spice up the company's wwttff sauce with his own flavor of jerk sauce.  IMO his approach could be improved a fair bit, but it's also a job that could be done a lot worse.

Regardless of the fact that iStock have taken more commission over the past year than any previous year, even the most blind-faith iStock wooyayer would have to admit that in terms of the company's reputation, the past 12 months have been a disaster.

With high profile industry bods seizing on Kelly's words with gleefull 'haha, microstock is unsustainable' claims, the management strategy seemed to quickly move towards a keep-a-low-profile-and-hope-it-goes-away strategy, until months later the ill-advised, partly denied/partly corrected interview, where Kelly achieved very little more than further alienating any iStock suppliers who weren't already 100% hacked off.  Oh, and he let it slip that payouts to artists - which he'd promised would be rising - had fallen.

Rebecca has an opportunity to freshen up what's been negligantly allowed to become an extremely stale and negative situation.  She could and should act fast with a fresh attitude, and make a positive difference.  There are many thousands of active contributors who could still be turned back from their anger towards some level of enthusiasm for iStock.

She may not have a background in photography, but she has got a background in start-ups so she must understand the power of goodwill and word of mouth.  The power that's worked against iStock for 12 months.

A Pony for every contributor and the chance for people to invest in iStock at a subsidised price would be a good start 

Quote from: Pete on August 06, 2011, 10:26
The title of this thread is 'Big Change'.Nothing big will stop the profits pouring into the Istock coffers.I have already made Istockphoto around $60,000 in my short  time as a contributor.That will rise  to around $100,000 in the next few years.
The company Mr Livingston developed continues to make easy money from showcasing peoples content.

Mr Livingstone, I presume   

Quote from: cobalt on August 06, 2011, 09:06

Quote from: grp_photo on August 06, 2011, 07:30

Quote from: cobalt on August 05, 2011, 23:13
she will quickly understand the value of a strong crowd sourcing community. People are ready to work for free, what´s not to like?

Getty's crowd sourcing resource is Flickr, please don't get naive!

I don't see a huge flickr getty community. just getty picking images from a site with pictures.
...

And they're picking a lot.  The flickr collection on Getty now holds more than 120,000 files.  That's about twice as many files as the Vetta collection on Getty.

Quote from: Slovenian on August 05, 2011, 14:57
I'd split RC levels in half in become a loved dictator

Haha, good plan

One of my immediate goals would be to get rid of the appearance of nepotism, which - whether the 'old boys club' accusations are true or not - has damaged the credibility of the site.

I'd look to address issues around the fact that admins and inspectors control what content makes it into the site, but also often have significant portfolios themselves.  The result can be that it often looks as though these people are able to submit an image, and make the decision that it should go directly into the Vetta/Agency collection.  This happens very quickly, while a 'normal' contributor would perhaps wait a fortnight before seeing an equivalent image going into the main collection.

It wouldn't make any sense to ban employees/inspectors from being contributors, just treat them like any other 'normal' contributors by making the files in the inspection queue anonymous to make everybody's work stand on its own merit.  Buyers don't care if content was produced by a senior member of the content team or whatever.  They just want the best content.

To start regaining credibility from buyers and artists, I would make it clear that a fresh start is happening at the company, based on a more open and respectful approach.  Without directly saying that major mistakes have been made in the recent past, I'd make it clear that there will be positive changes in the future, based on real consultation and collaboration with buyers and artists.

I see this as a real opportunity to reverse the negativity that has massively damaged the iStock brand since last September.  The changes were supposedly meant to address sustainability problems but they may well have done the exact opposite. 

I'd see it as a chance to clean up problems within the company which have been badly needing a fresh look for far too long.

If Rebecca shows a genuine interest in involving everyone in changing iStock's future for the better, this could and should be a positive turning point for iStock.

...what would your priorities be?

You're moving to Calgary.  Taking account of iStock's current position in the marketplace, and its context within the Getty group of companies, what changes would you put into action immediately, and what would your longer term aims and priorities be?  And why?

Quote from: VB inc on July 27, 2011, 16:37
just another indicator of them getting desperate to replace lost buyers

On one hand I am glad that - with more print and online advertising, and now by finally starting to do some work on the referral program - some positive efforts to improve marketing and advertising are belatedly happening.

On the other hand, I can't see why there need to be such tight conditions attached to people getting the $20 referral bonus.  

If I encourage someone to check out iStock, and they sign up and like what they see, build up some lighboxes, download some free files etc, test the water by buying 12 credits, then - outside the bizarre 30 day window - buy a larger credit package, I get nothing as the referrer.  How does the 30 day window make sense?

Yep, it sucks 

The worst case earnings drop for that diamond exclusive who was getting 50% for an EL is a vetta or agency EL.

Where they used to get 50% they now get 28% or 26% (if they're lucky).  Ouch.

Haven't got the article to hand, but I'm pretty sure I read recently that the Stock Artists Alliance, which is sadly closing down, did a survey a while ago where they purchased a variety of their members' images from different (macro) agencies, and noted how the sales were reported.

The results were not good - many sales took an extremely long time to get through to artist payment, and - much worse of course - many sales were never reported and artists were not paid.  I believe they then confronted the agencies with their findings.

Suppose people pooling together to do something like that - taking care not to break any of iStock's strict rules - would be the only definite way to know how quickly sales are reported, and to check that royalty payments are correct, without payments to artists being missed out.

^^ Well said cobalt.

With people at the top of the company having so often emphasised the huge importance of iStock's community to the growth and success of the company, it's been odd and concerning to see how little they apparently care that iStock's actions (and in some cases total lack of actions) over the past year have almost 100% demolished that community.

iStock would probably say that their committment to things like iStockalypse events proves their committment to keeping the community strong.  But unfortunately it's not hard to feel a bit cynical about that.

Quote from: shank_ali on July 18, 2011, 18:51

Quote from: gclk on July 18, 2011, 18:42
On the subject of E+, I've now got 34 E+ slots available.  Before the price filter I usually had them all used up, but now I'm waiting to get a better idea of how sales patterns change.

Shame it's so difficult to work out sales patterns from our own sales data that iStock bother to make available to us.

Each to there own but please tell me why you bother with sales patterns.How long does it take you ?What are you looking for ?
New files are struggling to get any sort of foothold at the moment, such is the amount of content getting added to the library.I never notice patterns, i just know my good sellers keep selling  at the moment.

Shank, haven't you just pointed out a sales pattern that you've noticed, then said that you never notice patterns?  You're a funny guy 

What am I looking for?  At the moment It'd be good to know how badly hit sales of my E+ and Vetta files have been by the introduction of the price filter.

Other times it could be useful to know loads of things from our sales data - how different types of files have performed, which files used to sell well but then suddenly stopped selling for whatever reason, ...

On the subject of E+, I've now got 34 E+ slots available.  Before the price filter I usually had them all used up, but now I'm waiting to get a better idea of how sales patterns change.

Shame it's so difficult to work out sales patterns from our own sales data that iStock bother to make available to us.

Just wondering if there's some rich functionality I'm missing out on... apart from maybe the occasional mass site-mail, has anybody found a use for 'Friends' (ex Creative Network).

Before the site refresh, it was good to be able to have a look through new uploads from people I know, but now that functionality is gone, is there any useful functionality there at all?

Can't say I spend much time hanging around in the 'Contributor Lounge' either.

Quote from: shank_ali on July 11, 2011, 18:39

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 11, 2011, 18:30

Quote from: shank_ali on July 11, 2011, 18:26

Quote from: qwerty on July 11, 2011, 08:42
trolling up a storm again.  Why don't you start a thread about how good the RC system is, [snip]

That's next week !....Let's stick to one interesting thread a week.The PP will grow and so will the money payed to those contributors who have opted in.

So why were your last comments there about your earnings collapsing?

I don't quite follow? I never got chance to post my June PP stats which a marked improvement over May 100+.I'm looking for 500 PP sales a month.I want to buy a dairy cow for the back garden.Fresh milk on my cornflakes ever morning would be bliss !

You might come home one day and find that iStock are milking it