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Messages - bryan_luckyoliver

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51
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Istockphoto - Dollar Bin, Phase II
« on: April 29, 2007, 18:05 »
Not that I care what istockphoto does :)

Sharply_done- you might consider keeping your images active...unlike a retail store, there are no limits to space. If fact more images can help you. A properly metatagged photo (whether it's a good one or not) can create more marketing exposure for you. At a certain point quality is relative...

52
Hi guys- the discussion is great.

What we're doing is a bit of trail blazing- I understand that there is potential backlash, but we think there is an opportunity to make in-roads into an area that has been difficult to tap.  Microstock as a whole is going to face change- the same change that traditional stock photographers faced when microstock entered into the market.

Midstock, like microstock, is less about a price point and more about how things are done.  Longtail customers (people who buy one or two images a year) will pay a premium for the right type of image. They are not going to surf the web extensively to find the "right" price. For a shot of a dog, micro-type pricing is fine, but if you have a macro shot of a rare enzyme higher pricing won't change sales.

thesentinel says, "I see this ubiquity of image availability as the main reason why a 'midstock' pricing will have difficulty in taking off, if you want to charge a premium on your images you must control their availability." Perhaps this might be true, but when the entire web is your market, you'll no longer be able to control the availability like Getty.  What if a photo sharing site with 1 billion images decides to sell images? Surely there are a million images that can compete with Getty, but now they have 999 million pages of marketing content.

We'd prefer that images be exclusive, but i think longer term it's about unique content that might get trapped in page 9 of the search results. I think the Sideshow will be good for people with unique content. A great shot of a business man against white may not be the type of image that works- the competition is tough.

The 90 day trial is in place for us to work out the kinks with a select group of artists. I'm sure parts of this will get some tweaks. The 100 download minimum is to keep things in check- many of our artists don't have experience pricing their work- top sellers in our system have some idea of sales.  Longer term this barrier will not mean much once our traffic grows.

Thanks for the insights. We're making huge progress each month- thanks for hanging in there with us as we grow.

53
Nruboc- Well, we can agree to disagree. It's been less than a day, so it will take some time for things to settle down. We're still an underdog, but we're going to continue to push forward and differentiate our offering.

The first 90 day offer is to get some of our most prolific Carnies the opportunity to play around with the feature to see what works.  They are taking the risk with us, so it seems fair to help them out. Many of our early adopters of LuckyOliver will not be able to join in right away, but they'll still be able to use their tokens that they accumulated last year for uploading.

And Mitch? We tapped him on the shoulder because he seemed to give us both kudos and slaps on the wrist.  He's very pragmatic- we felt this was important to shaping a forum that will benefit a lot of people.

As always, feel free to shoot me an email!

54
20 downloads on 275 images :)

I just a did a blog post on this: http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog/213/yet_another_nifty_graph

It's interesting to analyze trends- some people are having more success than others. The variables change from person to person. We're just starting our marketing, so hang with us over the next year as we grow.

55
LuckyOliver.com / Re: Vancouver Ballyhoo
« on: April 16, 2007, 14:39 »
Ha, now that is a great name: osloalyhoo- it's a bit of a tongue twister.

We've got a bunch of them in the works right now- if your interested, we'll send over the goodies to get a group going in your area.  We're keeping them somewhat low-key. We're trying to set up co-group leaders with all the right stuff.

We've done some already and tried to figure out a formula that works for small groups. I think this next one will be pretty neat. Shoot me an email if your interested in collaborating on one in your area.

56
LuckyOliver.com / Vancouver Ballyhoo
« on: April 16, 2007, 12:57 »
Hey guys, I thought I'd let you know that on Saturday Jill will be leading a group of people on a photoshoot of Granville Island, Vancouver.  We've got access to some great locations.  Shoot her an email if you're in the area!

http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog/210/10_days_til_the_bc_ballyhoo


57
LuckyOliver.com / Re: ftp problems
« on: April 06, 2007, 10:17 »
Sorry about that guys...the switch over caused FTP to go down.  It's back up again.

As for Joel, he's got a great team working with him.  We have a hosting company that's working with him on all decisions.  We made a gunslinging call to rollover to a new web server to help with performance.




58
General Stock Discussion / Re: to be a reviewer
« on: March 27, 2007, 21:55 »
Well, let's see...I could chime in here since I've done 80-90k reviews at LuckyOliver. :)

We're lucky to have pasionate Bouncers on board (though I still do some reviewing).  We see our Bouncers as a part of the community...so we encourage Bouncers to both submit and review- it really keeps us in touch with the whole process.

It just depends on the submissions. We have our own system that I won't get into- but an established photographer that has a proven record is going to be easier to review...we don't need to write a whole bunch...they already get it (but then it can be slow because it's also fun to admire the craftsmanship).

In the end it's not about trying to reject images- it's about helping people create better ones (yeah, yeah...I know, we're idealistic).  Ultimately our technology will help filter images based on merit. We have a three tiered structure in which we can override any review, but we tend to trust the original gut call.




59
Off Topic / Re: Business idea, what to do?
« on: March 27, 2007, 11:30 »
Not a problem Leaf...feel free to ping me anytime. While strategy is important, most of it's execution.  Get the team focused- good things happen when there's a clear goal.  The details work themselves out!



60
LuckyOliver.com / Re: What I said to Lucky Oliver today
« on: March 27, 2007, 01:41 »
CJ (your post got in-between my last post)- so I'll give you guys the last word after this :)

I've posted this before:

Guys, I thought I would chime in to provide the right type of information.

LuckyOliver stills offers 60% commission to exclusive images. Extended License and Buyouts are both 50%. Our average royalty is 35%. We'll continue to offer variable percentages based on need (our last drive was 60% for noise images). We'll continue to look at our royalty payout as variable, not a fixed number- this is different than most sites. For comparison, Getty gives an average of 15%-17% for royalty free images.

In some ways the percentage doesn't make much sense. Sometimes to create a sale we spend a ton of money for that download. An example: If we do a drive in which we pay for a referral and marketing costs, your cut of a large image could be anywhere between $1.20 and $2.40. Our cut might be -$1.00. This might be balanced out by earning on another drive, but the equation doesn't always work out.

Another example: If you get a download from a subscription site, you get $.25, and if the customer only downloads one image, your cut is far less than 1%. Direct comparison with percentage isn't feasible. In reality a percentage comparison doesn't really make sense- average dollars earned per photo is a better metric- you can then weight it by either future potential earnings or immediate volume. It will give you a sense of earning potential.

We give substantial discounts to Olivers that buy tokens in bulk. So really the percentage given to Carnies is really not accurate (it's higher). For some Olivers the value of a token is much lower ($.83)...but we still consider our payout royalty on the assumption that your getting $1 for a token. This benefits artists. We might clarify this on our payout chart.

We're still growing. It's going to take some time guys, but we're actively working on creating opportunity everyday. Some people have already had some early success on our site, but the vast majority of Carnies are going to have to hang in there as our volume of traffic increases. You guys have been superstars so far and we appreciate all your efforts.

Feel free to email me if you ever have questions!

61
LuckyOliver.com / Re: What I said to Lucky Oliver today
« on: March 27, 2007, 01:35 »
Hey Greg- I'll be on the losing end of any argument when it comes to payouts.  I'll add a few additional thoughts- you guys can have the last word.

1. "First, it says that sales are tanked." Greg, they continue to grow faster week by week.  In fact, it means just the opposite...if sales happen faster for each Carnie it means we're not making interest. If you're not interested in the shirt...it's no biggie...it'll save us a some money. We thought it would be fun to reach a milestone for each Carnie.

We had the most buyers ever today. We have a lot of people requesting payouts this week.

2. "Don't offer to convert our earnings to tokens".  We won't comment on this anymore - you're going to need tokens.

3. Well, not sure what to say about the future of LO- we can sit here an promise a bunch of stuff or work hard each day to show we mean business.  Our doors are open, you can talk to me most of the time and we've got a history you can follow on the blog.

Feel free to give me a call!


62
Off Topic / Re: Business idea, what to do?
« on: March 27, 2007, 00:40 »
Hey guys I've heard from a few of you...just wondering if your interested in my help :)

Building off Diego's ideas-

This might be strange, but I'll throw it out there-the photos only play 1/3 into the equation (sorry guys, but i'm also a photographer too!)  Another 1/3 goes into the story your trying to tell.  Some people call this brand, I prefer to call this a story. Online it's slightly different than a traditional product brand.  The last 1/3 goes into your marketing/technology strategy.

You need to find people that excel in each of these groups.

63
Off Topic / Re: income tax deductions
« on: March 27, 2007, 00:31 »
I had a little post about this last month :)

http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog/181/Save+a+Dime.

64
Off Topic / Re: Congrats to Laurin Rinder
« on: March 27, 2007, 00:29 »
Awee...alright. Laurin's bustin' my chops, but it's a great shot.  The lighting on the face is incredible...if you're able to view the larger version look at the wrinkles full size!  Beautiful image.

65
Microstock Monitor / Re: Microstock Monitor is BACK! :-)
« on: March 27, 2007, 00:23 »
Nice work Daneel, persistence paid off :)

66
LuckyOliver.com / Re: What I said to Lucky Oliver today
« on: March 27, 2007, 00:21 »
Hey Laurin...since we're friends, I thought I'd post my reply here from the blog as well. :)

Hey Laurin, thanks for the comments.

You're in good company- LuckyOliver also believes in our artists.  It's our goal to bridge the gap between Carnies and Olivers- and I hope this shows.  We're determined to create a great experience that will produce revenue for many people.  Some people are already benefiting from LuckyOliver.  It's my hope we can pull others into the mix.

We're not really focused on what other sites are doing...we're still not done with our development and have a lot more to roll out for our Olivers and Carnies.  Creating a scalable site requires a baseline functionality- we're still not there yet.

1. I mentioned ealier in this post that we're still trying to understand the metrics.  We'd prefer to be conservative.  As for interest on your money?  I'm guessing the t-shirt (given at 100 downloads) is more than the interest earned right now. We're also covering the the transaction fee which starts to add up over time. We'll look at our program in the middle of the year.

2. Carnies can convert royalties to tokens as soon as you reach ten dollars! Many Carnies need those tokens on LuckyOliver.

We feel good about the progress we've made on the site.  As we roll out new features I think you'll find that there is more and more for everyone.

Thanks for all your hard work!

67
Off Topic / Re: Business idea, what to do?
« on: March 22, 2007, 10:58 »
Let me know if you'd like me part of your discussion...I'm sure I could help you get a sense of your costs and time.

68
Off Topic / Re: Business idea, what to do?
« on: March 20, 2007, 22:14 »
Well, it might be strange that I would be piping in on this discussion, but I'd be happy to help anyone in the group get a good sense of what it takes to set up a site.  While the coding and technology part is straightforward, the marketing and daily operations part is probably the most difficult.  A new site will potentially have to endure a couple years of loses (either in time or money)  to get to a strong foundation.

As for a business idea?  I wouldn't stress too much about someone stealing the idea...it comes down to execution. When I started my first company ten years ago I met with a bunch of VC's and wanted everyone of them to sign NDAs. I was worried about people stealing an idea. I quickly learned they don't sign NDAs. I also learned I don't like many of them :)

After hanging around enough entrepreneurs, it really comes down to a market and talented team.

69
At LuckyOliver we allow you to set your Buyout price. 

70
LuckyOliver.com / Re: LO Review time
« on: March 16, 2007, 13:22 »
Yeah, sorry about that guys.  You're submitting tons of new images- we're flattered. While we'd love to quickly go through them all, we feel like it's important to maintain the same level of quality. We're diggin' in trying to put the extra time into the reviews.

We're also continuing to build the team to meet the increase in volume.

Thanks for hanging in there!

71
LuckyOliver.com / LuckyOliver Update
« on: February 28, 2007, 18:09 »

http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog/190/what_the_heck_are_we_doing

I thought I would post a link here for those photographers that are interested in where we're headed. Sorry for the promotion- I just thought it would help answer a lot of the questions we get. Feel free to share your thoughts on the blog.

I'll be posting more information about our marketing efforts over the next few months.  Anyhow, thanks for letting me share!

72
Yeah, San Jose might not be a meca of photography, but I assume you have the whole Bay Area to work with...

So I'll throw some ideas out there...tons of great places to go. Sometimes pictures are better than words...so here are a few places I shot (these are pretty old...but maybe helpful?):

Oakland cemetery:
http://zurb.com/oakland/index.html

Arastedero and Woodside:
http://zurb.com/nature/index.html

Suisan Bay- One of my favorites (took a zodiac boat to take these):
http://zurb.com/mothball_fleet/index.html

Napa:
http://zurb.com/napa/index.html

Stanford:
http://www.zurb.com/stanfordcampus/index.html

Hope this helps.




73
General Stock Discussion / Re: Economics...
« on: February 25, 2007, 23:27 »
I'll add a few thoughts :)

Our two biggest sellers are blog size and large. The blog size is 300x400 pixels...so I would say that objects and buildings that don't date much will have a long shelf life. iStockphoto followed us on this, so they must see the same market.

I don't see computer and phone resolutions changing much in the next 5 years-. I would assume that low res images will still have a long shelf life.

The question really is, will buyers continue to need fresh content- which is yes.  A photographer with a stagnant portfolio will have a harder time selling 5 year old images.  An active photographer will have more success selling older shots.


74
Off Topic / Re: My Photos in Sweden Newspaper 23 Feb 2007
« on: February 25, 2007, 23:14 »
Wow Peiling, it looks like you've made a lot of progress in the last few months.  It's great see your success.  Keep at it!  I'm curious what your your now doing?  It seems like your getting much more exposure!

75
LuckyOliver.com / Re: What about Lucky Oliver?
« on: February 25, 2007, 23:10 »
Hey guys, it's great to see some of you getting sales- downloads are steadily increasing week by week. I know the importance of seeing the dollars in your account, but we'll continue to ask for your patience as we expand our presence.  It's going to take some time to see the same type of activity as companies that have been established for five + years. We're getting there...just keep mind that the market is still rapidly expanding.

Some artists will see more growth than others now- it's key to look at our momentum over months and years.  We're focused on two things- establishing relationships with people and providing education for buyers and sellers.  Longer term this will provide a solid foundation for growth- short term it will be hard to see our progress. We believe this grass roots approach teamed with a strong marketing program will fuel growth.

Thanks for your efforts!



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