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Topics - johngriffin
1
« on: March 14, 2012, 14:52 »
I never posted the announcement to MSG but we are proud to pass 1,000,000 quality images at Cutcaster. We werent the first or the fastest to a million but from the start we stressed quality over quantity and that guided our image growth strategy. We couldn't have gotten there without the support and patience from the amazing group of people here at MSG. I want to personally thank all of you that helped us grow to hit one million. Lets see how fast we can get to two million. The one-millionth image was submitted by Serbian photographer, iMarin, of a woman singing into a retro microphone. http://blog.cutcaster.com/2012/02/16/cutcaster-celebrates-1-million-images-quality-over-quantity/
2
« on: October 21, 2011, 15:53 »
Recently, we translated Cutcaster into 15 different languages. While it was a large undertaking, translating the site, a lot of the words we had originally used on the English version of Cutcaster lost their meaning when translated into different languages. Some of our translations dont sound right or lack professionalism when read by someone living or from that country. We are asking for your help. If one of the languages below is your mother tongue and you would like to earn a little extra money for a few hours of work checking and correctly our pre-translated versions of the site, we would love to speak with you about this project. We can provide you with an excel sheet with the short snippets of English and pre-translated text which needs to be checked and corrected if needed. We also can provide you immediate help if you have any questions. Most phrases that need to have their pre-existing translations corrected are 1 to 6 words long. Danish Korean Greek Dutch Russian French Norwegian German Italian Polish Swedish Czech Japan Portugese Chinese If you are interested please let your contact info below and the language you can help with or email us at [email protected]. Many thanks,
3
« on: October 05, 2011, 16:37 »
Cutcaster is offering you an opportunity to earn $500 and to get your artwork seen by over 300,000 visitors the next month. Our friends at Famocracy.com are launching a global search for the next great talent in photography with a fun competition! To enter the competition, go to Famocracy.com, and upload your absolute favorite photograph to enter (you retain all rights over the image and can upload a small image but you must be the copyright holder). Then get as many people to vote for your image as possible, on Famocracy.com. You can upload as many entries as you want. The photograph with the most votes by December 1st gets $500 in prize money and will be featured on the home pages of Cutcaster.com and Famocracy.com, as well as on our blogs! Its that easy. This is your chance to become famous for your photos.
4
« on: September 20, 2011, 20:29 »
FTP is now enabled and ready for uploading. Still use uploads.cutcaster.com as the host and use the email you have registered with Cutcaster or your username to login and your Cutcaster password. Now you can upload and transfer the files to our site from your favorite FTP client. Your files will be automatically processed and added to the submit page. We hope you like the changes and let us know your feedback below or if you have trouble by sending us an email at [email protected].
5
« on: September 12, 2011, 11:33 »
For those of you who are Cutcaster members, could you please take a moment and add a link to Cutcaster portfolio number in your signature here at MSG? We have seen that those people that do are getting their portfolios indexed better by the major search engines as well as increase their earnings via our photographer referral program. You can find your number on your main profile page under your referral account. For example, I can find mine by taking this URL http://cutcaster.com/search/portfolio/874219924/ and pulling out all the numbers. Then just enter only the numbers part on your http://www.microstockgroup.com/profile/ page. Thanks for taking a moment to do this.
6
« on: September 07, 2011, 11:32 »
Today, Cutcaster re-launched with several upgrades that address growing needs in the stock image marketplace for both image buyers and sellers. We wanted to make changes that would translate to real improvement for all our users. Our image search engine now helps buyers find, filter and download relevant images more quickly, and weve made it easier for our contributors to sell their images and earn good money doing it. We've now combined an easy-to-use search interface with a highly accurate contextual search engine that disambiguates word meanings. As the user types in keywords, the engine determines their meaning and the intention of the searcher to provide more accurate image results. As the searcher applies additional filtersfor number of people, orientation or dominant color, for example search results are updated immediately, making it easy to focus and expand results as necessary. If a keyword has multiple meanings, a user will be able to select their meaning by clicking on the keyword to choose the right meaning. We do all the rest. The checkout process has been improved as well with simplified pricing, shown in credits and dollars, and the introduction of PayPal. Our goal was to make downloading images as seamless as possible for people. Users dont even have to register to buy, and now they have even more secure payment options. For its contributors, Cutcaster has increased its royalty payments to one of the highest rates in the industry. Our rate are going from 50% to 55%. We want to continue offering excellent images from great contributors, and our rates help us attract and choose the best. At a time when other sites are reducing their royalty percentages and payouts, were increasing them. A greatly simplified user interface facilitates how contributors upload their images and view their image stats. We will have the FTP upload option enabled again after next week but you can upload images now via the upload area in your account. The whole site is optimized for our sellers now. Theres no guesswork, from signing up to providing the right tax forms, to getting paid. We hope you enjoy all the improvements and we welcome your feedback.
7
« on: August 25, 2011, 16:20 »
Our FTP upload option will be closed down for all contributors over the next two weeks to give our reviewers a much needed break and give our programmers a chance to move over your old files to the new site. We are sorry for the inconvenience that this may cause and ask for your patience. The new upload system will feature a new flash upload system as well as the current "browse" and FTP options, only much stronger and more secure. Uploading is going to be a snap going forward. In the meantime, we ask any contributors that you submit all files that are in the edit and describe area before Sept. 1st in order for us to transfer over those files to the new database.
Super excited to show off the new site and how much easier it is to use. If you have questions please post below.
8
« on: March 24, 2011, 15:10 »
Looking for anyone on MSG to help us test quickly a new design layout at Cutcaster and would love your quick feedback on how you use and navigate Cutcaster. It's really simple and will take like 3 minutes of your time. Anyone, even if you have never been to Cutcaster before or are a member, can help. If you are interested, please email [email protected]. Many thanks in advance.
9
« on: March 08, 2011, 15:05 »
Here are two very short videos to help you understand how the new lightbox system works. We have a few more tweaks to make to the feature but the first video shows you how you should be
and then second video shows you how you can
. We will be releasing shortly the ability to delete lightboxes, set them to public vs private and also the ability to easily send them via the site instead of copying and pasting the URL into an email to someone. Hope these help and please pass along your feedback regarding the lightbox functionality.
10
« on: February 18, 2011, 18:56 »
How to change your photo or vector's price at Cutcaster?This is a quick overview for how you can re-set your prices at Cutcaster. This option will be available for the next month and then we will implement a different process for pricing your images which we are excited to share with you. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsYP0I-TBw[/youtube]
11
« on: February 15, 2011, 16:12 »
Hey MSG'ers, The newly designed Cutcaster needs engaging and attractive banner ads and referral banners for the web to make more buyers and sellers aware of Cutcaster. We wanted to create a fun challenge at Cutcaster that would allow us to work with our creative community and reward users who help us create these outstanding banners banners so we decided to create a design challenge. Our newly designed site needs new banner ads and referral banners for the web and we are asking for your help. Three winners will be selected based on their banner's design and will receive 250, 175 or 100 Cutcaster credits for their winning banners. In addition, we will post links to the winners websites or Cutcaster studios from our design and photography blog, write about the winners in our monthly newsletter and talk about them on our Cutcaster Facebook page, Twitter and Myspace. Your designs will be famous and visible anywhere we advertise or anywhere users embed their referral links. To enter, select from any of the stock photos, stock vectors or free photos at Cutcaster and use your imagination to create engaging and attractive referral / ad banners for any of the sizes below to promote the new Cutcaster. 480 x 60 728 x 90 125 x 125 250 x 250 300 x 250 120 x 600 Remember, the web banners are intended to attract both buying and selling traffic to Cutcaster so you can design for either but remember to express quality, price and speed in your designs. For more details on the Banner Design Challenge please check out the FAQ and submission details at Cutcaster.We are looking forward to seeing all your creative work and answering any questions you may have.
12
« on: February 10, 2011, 17:51 »
Happy to share some results from our annual Picture Buyer Survey. Learn about image buyers budgets and their industries http://bit.ly/fIcRUaWe will be releasing a bunch more image buying stats to help you guys learn more about the buyers who are using Cutcaster and how you can sell more stock images in general. This is going to be a part of a new series where we release more data from the agencies side so contributors know more about the picture buying public.
13
« on: January 21, 2011, 14:30 »
The future of Cutcaster is now online and we are ready to do battle with the top tier agencies for image buyer's attention. Check out the brand new Cutcaster. With a completely revamped design, a lightning fast site, a simplified pricing structure and brand new code, we can now provide picture buyers with more powerful/easier searching, superior results accuracy, and a better overall user experience. Try out an image search here. Pending files and accepted files, which were uploaded or accepted after December 21st, 2010 will be moved to the new site over the next 3 days. In addition, we have rebuilt our FTP option for uploading images and will release that next week. Currently, you can upload individual images and we will parse out your IPTC data like normal. Still no assigning of categories which we will do automatically for you and attaching a release is now sooo much easier. While some image agencies were pinching pennies from their users or others were closing their doors because of the economy, we dedicated ourselves over the last 9 months to listening to their customers needs, learning more about online image search and building one of the fastest and simplest user experiences for searching and downloading royalty free images. Cutcaster pays contributors between 40-60% of image royalties (60% if you include referrals) and you can request payout after you hit $20 in image sales or referral. Our sales have been constantly improving and that was before this major change so we are excited to see how things improve going forward. To learn more, check out our Frequently Asked Questions or see how easy it is to buy stock images from us.
14
« on: January 13, 2011, 13:18 »
We are just about to release our new site (CAN'T WAIT) and wanted to see if a few of you wanted to test out our new search and see what the new site looked like.
It still has a few bugs and we need to add a bit of text but there are a few things that need some feedback on which would be great if we could get your opinion. Just need a few people if you can help today.
Please shoot me an email john AT cutcaster DOT com or post below if you would take 5 minutes to check out the new site and provide a bit of feedback.
15
« on: October 19, 2010, 19:13 »
We're back with the second installment of our photo caption contest. Make up a funny caption and tweet it with the hashtag #cutcastercaption1 ( Cutcaster on Twitter), post it as a comment on our Facebook page ( Cutcaster on Facebook), or post a comment here on the blog. Top three caption submissions win $25, $15, or $10 of Cutcaster credits! Heres the picture: How to get your nose larger?Good luck and can't wait to see some of your captions.
16
« on: September 27, 2010, 17:28 »
Hey MSG Members, Just wanted to give you guys a heads up on a new educational resource we just launched at Cutcaster to help educate photo buyers and researchers on the appropriate ways to download and use photos they find online. If anyone wants to collaborate with us on the site we are more than happy to work with willing participants to grow the resource base and create new content. See below Press Release For Immediate Release Cutcaster Launches Educational Copyright Resource, Stock Photo License September, 2010 - San Francisco, California Stockphotolicense.com, an educational copyright resource for photo buyers and researchers, launches their new website this month with the goal of explaining in simple terms how one can use an image online and the various legal complexities of digital image use. The site provides detailed information on image license types, photo copyright issues, legal protections and extensions, using free images, Creative Commons, personal vs. commercial use and provides a list of questions you can ask your image suppliers before you buy an image. As image use among bloggers, website owners and graphic designers increases, many image users dont understand specific licensing terms or how to legally use content they find online. This has increased the amount of illegally downloaded images and copyright infringement cases, which happen in most cases without the image user even realizing the legal ramifications of their actions. Stock Photo License provides a checklist roadmap with questions you should be asking to ensure the legality of your image use online. We receive a variety of questions relating to the differences between royalty free and free images as well as how an Internet user can utilize images they find online. John Griffin, the creator of Stock Photo License said. Stock Photo License specifically presents information and resources on image licensing and copyright matters for the image researcher, photo buyer or anyone that wants to legally use another persons image they found online. The website lists copyright and legal resources as well as asks typical questions with answers to help an image user. Stockphotolicense.com was created by Cutcaster, a photography marketplace that specializes in royalty free photos as well as free images, to serve as a resource for both photographers who upload their images online and those looking to download images. Stockphotolicense.com has an active user base and is seeking to add more resources to its list of specialists.. If you own or know of a copyright or licensing resource that could work with Stock Photo License please reach out to the team at [email protected] or follow SPL on Twitter @stockphotousage. For more information on Stock Photo License please email [email protected]http://www.Stockphotolicense.comAbout Stock Photo License Stock Photo License (SPL) presents information and resources on image licensing and copyright matters for the image researcher, photo buyer or anyone that wants to legally use another persons image they found online. The websites goal is to provide those who are unsure about image licensing with the information, legal definitions and resources to make informed and legal stock photo purchases. Stock Photo License is for every photo researcher, photo buyer, photo user and photographer who is interested in learning more about the changing landscape of photo licensing and is a collaborative effort between all the parties involved with photo licensing.
17
« on: September 09, 2010, 15:10 »
I posted this on our blog but wanted to bring it up here. http://blog.cutcaster.com/2010/09/09/photographers-frustration-and-a-path-for-change/It feels like dj vu all over again, doesnt it? Fall seems to be the season for falling commissions. Weve seen it in the past with the big boys and now even the smaller players as they drop the commission they pay to photographers without any worries. Who knows if the reasoning this time is the need to raise prices while decreasing payouts just to survive, the continuing indifference to their contributor base who grew the companies, so much supply that it doesnt matter if the companies piss off a few people because the majority will go along, venture capitalists swoop in to squeeze money out of their investment in a business at the contributors expense, a flat economy, or just plain corporate greed? What can a photographer or photo buyer do you might be asking? Should a photographers union be organized to fight on behalf of buyers and sellers? We have those already and we still get these drops. Should you delete or stop uploading your portfolio? You might feel like you are one of a million and it would have no effect except on your income stream. Should they just shut up out of fear that Big Brother is watching and might shut down their account? I guess, I should get ready for my accounts to be shutdown at a few places after this post. I am frustrated and mad. First, as a friend to a lot of the people who sell photos who get affected by changes like this and second as a business owner who is trying to compete in an industry where it feels like agencies do things behind a cloak of secrecy and then photographers go along with changes that suck for them and do nothing about it. Commissions are falling, agencies are lowering prices to compete, the industry has become stagnant with no real competition outside of a few companies that monopolize, there is a glut of supply and most photographers are mixed and feel disorganized on what course of action to take. One thing is clear. We need to act now and we need change. 1. Remove any links you have to sites that lower payouts without giving you notice or keep the details hidden in confusing press releases. Dont market sites that dont care about YOUR bottom line. 2. Do link to sites from your blog, website or portfolio site that pay you higher commissions even if they have less sales for you. You need to turn the tide in favor of you and help the sites with less money that you trust get links. Dont stand idle while the established players lock you into this future. 3. Stop referring and directing buyers to your lower paying commission sites and start sending them to sites that pay you more commissions. Only you have the power to change this by sending buyers to your higher paying sites instead of going along with the status quo. 4. Start an upload embargo for 6 months to a year and dont upload new or exclusive content to sites that lower payouts without notice and discussions. 5. Upload to sites that have lower payout thresholds and commit to keep those limits low. 6. Dont go exclusive with one agency. Only go exclusive with certain new uploads that you know sell better at certain sites, which pay you a high commission rate 7. Delete your portfolio from sites that are non-transparent with commissions and pricing strategies 8. Tell a buyer how these royalty drops hurt your individual business and how they can get the same image for the same price at another site but that you get paid a higher commission if they buy from the newer, higher paying site. Photo buyers care so you need to let them know you are getting unfairly screwed and they can help change that without spending more time or money. 9. Commit to a new agency that you trust on a non-exclusive basis and support them with your uploads and, if you choose, a small amount of exclusive content so they have something unique to market. Write a blog article or post in a forum about the agency and why you chose it. 10. Convince one fellow photographer to act with you and take concrete steps TODAY towards changing your situation for the better. Photographers and photo buyers have strength in numbers. It takes one person to start this and a community of people to cooperate in order to change and finish this. If you feel these commission drops are unfair and non-transparent then dont complain but ACT. Your actions will speak louder than any complaint. Learn more: http://blog.cutcaster.com/2010/09/09/photographers-frustration-and-a-path-for-change/#ixzz0z45NSW1uFind Great Images and Vectors for your blog
19
« on: May 18, 2010, 14:56 »
We are currently looking to speak to qualified freelancers with the following experience:
2-5 years PHP work, familiar with SVN, must be comfortable with command-line linux, mysql, apache. Understanding of MVC is necessary, CodeIgniter is a bonus, tomcat/solr is a bonus. We are not looking for purely a PHP person, but the right person should have a little bit of command-line linux experience so they can help manage our deploys and other system issues.
Please PM me your background, some sample websites, and your rate. I already have a couple of projects in the pipeline that I need help with.
20
« on: May 10, 2010, 17:54 »
21
« on: April 28, 2010, 12:40 »
Hey Everyone. As we near the release of our second generation search platform, we are looking for a few fearless and savvy people to help test our new search engine that will be released in a few weeks. Next week we would like to start beta testing some of the major improvements and tweaks our developers made to the old platform and database. We need help ironing out the bugs in order to ensure that the results are faster, more relevant and accurate. If you are interested in being one of the few beta tester for this new feature please email [email protected] to let us know. We will make sure you get complete access to the new feature and your feedback will be what shapes the new search platform. As a Thank You I am happy to add some Cutcaster credits to your account or increase your payouts by 5% for your help. Cheers, John
22
« on: March 29, 2010, 14:38 »
We are looking to hire another PHP/MySQL guru at Cutcaster and want to ask you guys first if you could help or know someone who might be. You should have experience with e-commerce sites and have a great knowledge of php and mysql. Experience with CodeIgnitor and Amazons Web Services is an added plus. Need to be comfortable speaking English. Please send us your background to [email protected] so we can review your qualifications and if appropriate schedule some time to speak. We are looking to fill this role immediately.
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« on: February 16, 2010, 16:38 »
Can you help us improve our service by answering this 2 minute photo buyer survey which is anonymous? I would greatly appreciate the feedback. Thank you so much. http://bit.ly/9Q8GQ7
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« on: February 05, 2010, 23:42 »
http://blog.cutcaster.com/2010/02/02/photo-lightbox-feature-release-new-additions-and-explanations/I would love any and all feedback. You need to be logged in to see the lightbox preview area. I hope you guys like but really for the buyers ;-) I will take in all your feedback so let me know. Have a good weekend to everyone. From this point forward Cutcaster is re-branding the Clipfolders and calling them Lightboxes which is an industry standard term that photo buyers are used to seeing. What is a Lightbox? As you probably know, a lightbox at Cutcaster is a customized folder that lets a user organize digital photos and illustrations that they would eventually like to download or share with a colleague/friend. Any files can be assigned to a viewable lightbox folder by subject, for later convenience, or used to compile unrelated photos for a specific project layout. Lightboxes also allow photo buyers and graphic designers to show clients options for a project in one simple uncluttered folder. Use the lightboxes to store a group of photos that you would like to eventually purchase or send to a colleague/friend to review. Lightboxes can be set to private or public depending on your purpose for using them. I hope the change of names doesnt confuse anyone and hope this makes using Cutcaster easier.
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