I saw and used the tool but have no idea how it works for analysis?  Without more information ... numbers, etc ... how does it work?

They are not giving the figures, but just the trends. Just type in the boxes, the keywords of your choice, then hit search and you can see when those keywords are most sought after. The word Sunset is most sought for in January and Sex is most sought after in December, by a long way.

They could try to counter with... Others pretend to be Big in Stock, but there's only one name to remember and that's isignStock.

Sorry, I couldn't bring myself to type it, hence the replacement 

Maybe they're test running a free section.. 

Quote from: Microstock Posts on July 09, 2011, 17:04

I'm ignored by 1 person and I've made 1 useful post out of 438 posts. I'm really suprised more people aren't ignoring me 

Nobody can ignore you MP because then they would miss looking at your hilarious avatar

haha, so my cat saved me. Makes a change from me saving him (he's a bit of a coward with the neighbourhood cats). I don't ignore anyone on msg, but sometimes if I'm on public transport and people are talking at the top of their voices, I kind of wish there was an ignore button.

Kind of related and very funny. Someone showing how our internet lives could appear if it was reenacted in real. I 'Like' this.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbKfIM2ECEw&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

I like the UK photographers group.  14 of us joined and there's not a single comment.  Can't get much more British than that   I was going to break the silence by saying something about the weather but I thought better of it.

  Can't believe how hot it is, maybe I can skip my holiday to Majorca this year.

Have to put my plans on hold for India.Istockphoto just announced a Lypse to Milan,Italy.
Lots of names will be going into the draw.Might get lucky again !

So long as Lobo isn't doing the random picking of names. 

jsnover, can you do me a favour and make a microstock site. You make more sense than most of the microstock sites put together. Ok that may not be so difficult. "IS has always said that it's irrelevant to them that something sells elsewhere. Not sure why that is irrelevant as these sites aren't art galleries."  What a classic line.

p.s. lagereek, I know I've now contradicted myself from what I said earlier in the thread. But I guess ur right, if u have already proved urself beyond doubt. ie. this photo has sold a gazillion times, it's kind of dumb that another site would reject it. A simple check box in the submission process, +15, +20, +30 sales on larger competitor, with random checks by site staff to see we are not telling porkies, could be a solution. After all, I guess all sites want images that sell well.

Congrats.  I had to laugh when I saw that they list 5 microtosk sites.  They have the big 4 and Crestock   They obviously didn't do much research or they would have seen Crestock down in low earners in the poll here.  It will be funny if they get lots of amateur photographers submitting there, with their high rejection rate and low sales.

Yes it will. 

I never thought they would change it. This is far more impressive. The old site functioned pretty well, but well past its sell by date on the design. I love the way on the homepage if you click "Search our library" not "Search", the search box moves to the centre of the screen. Nice touch. Don't like the logo, although the one that pseudonymous has done is much better. In fact I've gone from not liking the logo to liking it. It's amazing what a difference small changes can do.

Amazing growth on CanStockPhoto, almost 5 million image files now. I think when I signed up in late 2008 they had less than 1 million. Duncan, remind ur buyers that they need to buy images of Asia  I don't sell much with CanStockPhoto, but I know others that sell pretty well. Keep up the good work and thanks for having good contributor support.

Quote from: Microstock Posts on July 05, 2011, 00:20

Quote from: holgs on July 05, 2011, 00:11

What you're asking them to do is sign a legal document - if they can't read it, the whole process is meaningless. Good luck trying to get that enforced if it ever becomes an issue. Sorry but both from an ethical and legal perspective what you're suggesting is just wrong.

No, because I tell them that I am a photographer and sell the images online. I can speak the language, ah on second thoughts then yes, maybe it is better for the OP to have a translation.

The consent their signing isn't for you to be able to sell the image, its to allow for commercial use of that image, usually by a third party. Getting any person to sign a document which they can't read, from which you plan to benefit is a potentially risky exercise - usually more so for the end user than for you though. Obviously there are ways of getting around it - a translator comes to mind - but a cursory explanation from someone who plans to benefit from the signature usually wouldn't cut it. Obviously that doesn't stop many from doing it that way.

Personally I'd be curious to know how you even go about finding the legal guardians of Cambodian postcard sellers (for example) and explaining the whole process to them.

Holgs, I spent 2 days at the Wats with an English speaking guide. Pretty much one of the days I was there was spent at Bayon temple. There are entire families at all the Wats selling stuff to tourists. These kids parents were there also. It really wasn't very difficult. I also have plenty of other portraits in my collection which have been submitted as editorial, as I was unable to have model releases completed or sometimes I just didn't have a model release form.

Indonesians are in general some of the easiest people to deal with, especially if you are going to where not many foreigners go to. In general they are extremely flattered that you want to take photos of them, however many of them can be quite shy. The character of the people differs from island to island, but I'm sure u won't find too many problems taking photos of them. It really is a breeze taking photos here compared to the West. Sometimes if I can see that the person I am photographing is particularly poor, I will give them some money, 50 cents, a dollar etc. But it isn't necessary also, the only time I have been asked for money for taking photos is from the Balinese, but as you can imagine with the whole world coming to this island, the local people often just see us as a walking wallets.

For the model release, you need to get a phone number, a lot of them have mobiles or their family members will have mobiles, plus getting a witness for the shoot is pretty easy. Learn the words "minta izin" which means can I ask for your permission. Say it as it's spelt, with rising intonation.

These people are very perceptive in terms of being able to read you. If you are a sincere guy, they pick up on it easily, the same as if you have bad intent. So be friendly with them, smile a lot, enjoy their company and you just won't have any problems photographing them or getting releases. You don't need a translation, it will just slow you down. If they ask why, "kenapa" just reply "perlu izin", I need your permission. That really should be enough.

How many complaints, how long did it take for them to produce a goddam price filter? Like half a year? Thats an insult in itself, too late.

I was thinking that myself, the price filter should have been implemented such along time ago. It probably wasn't, as they probably wanted to push more expensive images. It's probably only been implemented now because they realize that it's beneficial to them to have it, as maybe they have realised they have scared off too many customers (more than they anticipated) who see high priced images pushed to the front. Lots of probablies in my sentences here, as I can only speculate. Buyers who have recently switched to other microstock sites, probably won't be aware of the price filter and even if they are, may well be unwilling to switch back, especially if they are happy with the other site or sites they have chosen.

^^^No problems with rejections for me and they do have some sales.  It can't just be me getting some sales there, as they are doing OK for a relatively new site in the poll results here.  Definitely not an istock wannabe, unless istock has suddenly started paying non-exclusives 50% commission

Hence we should encourage sites that pay us our worth. It's detrimental to us all in the long run if we don't. I know IS is a money maker, but more so for them than us, no matter how successful we are as microstockers. 15% commission on IS, $4 EL's on ft, just how low can it go, has it hit the bottom yet? If it has, what's the next step for them to squeeze more out of us, to make their shareholders smiles even wider. Charge to submit? And because people will still be earning dollars from them, there would be people who would pay, possibly enough people. Coming soon to a microstock site near you.