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Messages - klsbear
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76
« on: May 31, 2014, 09:16 »
I don't sell a lot but
A) easy uploading system
B) good royalty percentage
C) artist friendly people
So it doesn't cost me much to keep them in my list for agencies to upload to.
Why should I stop (or even remove my images) from an agency unless it takes steps that are against my interest as a contributor?
I agree with the reasons above. I'll add that having a larger selection of images helps attract and retain buyers too. About 18 months ago I was searching for a specific image for a promotional card I was putting together for my husband's business. I searched GL and Stockfresh first but couldn't find a suitable image. Ended up buying from Bigstock. Did a search on the same keyword last night and saw a much bigger selection with several that would have worked. I just logged in a few months ago to see a nice sale paying $44.20 - pretty good incentive to add more images if I can start getting more of those.
77
« on: May 30, 2014, 16:53 »
You have to wait to see if you get that "curated" e-mail to find out rather you will be in the search results? I've got 8 sitting in my gallery but none show up in the search. It sounds like if you're not curated in that those photos just sit there. I just uploaded them last week, don't remember the exact date.
Am I correct in my thinking?
I think they are asking for 15 to 20 images to be reviewed in the curation process. 8 might not be enough.
78
« on: May 25, 2014, 23:22 »
It is a relic of another era (pre-Google) and it attempted to solve translation and ambiguity - does black mean the color of something or the ethnicity of a person; is lavender a color or a plant. Everything is hierarchical - specific terms exist within broader ones. If only the world and the English language were as ordered and simple (limited) as the CV 
And it's why, for example, if you search for Blue Whale by best match on iStock, the top results are actually blue whales, not just any sort of whale or whale shark swimming in blue sea, as with e.g. SS, Alamy or Stocksy. ("Blue Whale" works on Stocksy and to some extent on Alamy, but not on SS). Other phrases likewise, of course.
But how do you handle something like Shrimp Cocktail which works if the buyer searches for the phrase, or if they search for shrimp if you've used that as a keyword too, but if the buyer searches on shrimp, then narrows the search by adding cocktail your shrimp cocktail won't show up unless you've also included cocktail as a keyword. But that could be considered keyword spam if you're image now shows up under a search for cocktails meaning beverages. If the search only takes phrases in the CV or individual words instead of pulling words from phrases you have to add the singe words or risk being missed in searches.
79
« on: May 21, 2014, 12:44 »
I just got the same screen. Was real near a payout. Hope they are not kaput.
Same for me too. I was closing in on a payout.
80
« on: May 18, 2014, 14:10 »
Even better if we could opt-in individual images as exclusive. Like DT does. I don't want to have all my images exclusive, but a couple for sure..
I think an Exclusive Image option combined with being able to opt it into the SOD/sensitive use category would be a winner, especially for those that don't want to put their entire portfolio into the sensitive use category.
81
« on: May 17, 2014, 10:48 »
You probably need to have your host increase the Max File Upload Size and memory limits in your php.ini files. The default tends to be low for many images on most shared host sites. I posted some links with more information over on your Symbiostock.org post.
82
« on: May 12, 2014, 21:28 »
Sometimes it does pay off to do free work.
I was doing some free shooting for AARP here in Nevada when they asked me to cover a visit by Pres. Obama where some AARP personnel would be in the audience wearing their organization's shirts. Got an event press pass through them and was one of those guys you see sitting on the ground down in front of the stage/podium. After the formal event he held a short press conference in a private area and I was able to shoot that as well. I gave AARP the images they wanted and they said I could have the rest to do with as I liked. Several hundreds of dollars and downloads later, I think that free gig has more than paid for itself. And the images are still selling once or twice a week.
Now if I could just figure out how to get more well paying free gigs like this, I'd be set for life. 
The difference here is that they offered you something of value in return - access to the event that you otherwise would not have and unrestricted use of the remaining images. Additionally, it was something and someone with high commercial value. They were not asking you to shoot a local chapter leader for free. You bartered your time and some images for access access to the event.
83
« on: May 08, 2014, 07:00 »
Dirkr - You are correct. I dont remember seeing this earlier. I had asked (via DP support) to get me off of all partner sites. I see this new check box today and it is already checked for me (Disable partner sales)
Would be interesting to hear from someone who has not opted out of DP partner sales to know what they see in the check box (Checked or Un-Checked).
Default is unchecked. I just opted out.
84
« on: May 07, 2014, 21:49 »
Spammer. The first post they started is about wholesale clothing.
85
« on: April 30, 2014, 22:11 »
Unsurprisingly, one of the few operations IS has managed to run smoothly with a capital schmoo. The mail arrives.....the money disappears.
But I am grudgingly grateful for the staggered clawback.
For now.... Should we take bets on whether or not it will stop after six months like it is supposed to or will we get a seventh withdrawal followed by contributor outrage before they take three months to figure out how to pay us back?
86
« on: April 27, 2014, 14:45 »
I've been happy with my Elinchom kit but I've also seen a number of people on the SS forums recommend the Adorama Flashpoint brand. Lots of options at reasonable prices. I noticed a kit for about $200 that included two 160w stobes, stands and umbrellas. That might work for you, or look at some of the options with more power if your budget is a little higher .
87
« on: April 27, 2014, 10:12 »
If your concern is regarding VAT tax I believe there was a group working on a plugin that would address that issue. I think they were developing it for their needs with the intent to offer it for purchase. I haven't heard anything recently but you might want to post your question over in Symbiostock's forum too with more details about your concerns. I think there are others with sites in the EU so they may have some solutions for you.
88
« on: April 27, 2014, 09:02 »
Symbiostock is not currently set up for automated separation of contributors within one set up so a co-op could become a fair amount of work for the manager to maintain and manage. You might find a solution in partnering with one other person, especially if you could share skills and had complimentary work, ie: a photographer and illustrator (easy to separate sales), one hosting and managing and the other handling marketing and promotion.
89
« on: April 13, 2014, 20:20 »
Fotolia issues a 1099 based on the royalties that were credited to your account during the calendar year, not what was paid out.
I believe their rational for that was that the royalties in your account are listed as credits that you can use to purchase images so they consider that a form of payment. Those credits can later be converted to cash when they hit the minimum payment but the time of payment is when the credits hit your account.
That's fine if that's what they want to do. But I don't recognize that as the amount I earned. And I suspect neither does the IRS. I can't pay my mortgage, bills, or ebuy a cup of coffee with Fotolia credits, so I only consider the funds they actually pay me with to be my real earnings.
If you go by that logic, then if am paid let's say $100 by check in 2014 and I don't cash that check until 2015, then the $100 doesn't count as income for 2014 and it's added to my 2015 earnings instead. The reason being that I can't pay my bills with a 3rd party check, which means I can't do anything with the money until I either deposit it in my checking account or cash the check. So by your reasoning the $100 doesn't count as income until I cash the check. I don't think it works like that.
It's a difference in accounting methods. Typically in what is is known as Cash Basis you count the income when it is received, regardless of when it was invoiced or earned. In Accrual Basis You would count it when it is earned, not when you are paid. Sounds like you are using Cash Basis for your business and Fotolia uses Accrual Basis.
90
« on: April 11, 2014, 22:06 »
Fotolia issues a 1099 based on the royalties that were credited to your account during the calendar year, not what was paid out.
I believe their rational for that was that the royalties in your account are listed as credits that you can use to purchase images so they consider that a form of payment. Those credits can later be converted to cash when they hit the minimum payment but the time of payment is when the credits hit your account.
92
« on: April 02, 2014, 22:16 »
It's available now - has been up for me for at least an hour now.
93
« on: April 02, 2014, 17:47 »
If you go to your Downloads page instead of the stats page you can view the download history, complete with a picture of what sold. Only downside is that it doesn't give you the total for the day.
94
« on: March 16, 2014, 13:46 »
They claim to be targeting only special high volume buyers but I got an invite to apply for the program as a buyer and I've never purchased a single image from FT, only there as a contributor. I don't think the club is as exclusive as they are trying to make it seem to be.
95
« on: March 16, 2014, 08:37 »
Have you tried disabling plugins then processing? Some issues have been triggered by the plug ins creating the issue. Next-Gen Gallery was causing some problems though I don't recall if it was related to the problem you describe.
96
« on: March 15, 2014, 07:02 »
I had good credit sales for the past few months but see a drop this month in both activity and type of sale. So far it's been all subs for the few sales I've seen.
97
« on: March 11, 2014, 17:55 »
asked Cascoly a few questions regarding domains at Symbio forum, no reply
He was traveling for awhile but he's back now. He may have missed your questions.
98
« on: March 10, 2014, 19:25 »
It seems like it takes around 90-120 days for people to start seeing sales. Also if you just upload the same images as the micros and don't do any SEO or customization of your titles and content it will probably take longer.
That's interesting to know. I'm getting close to that range, so hopefully things pick up soon. I think I'm spoiled because my Ktools site started selling right away. I probably put a little more work into it, but not a ton more. My traffic is still garbage though, so I need to work on it. It's all on my to do list.
The only sale i made was in the first couple of months, before i even had all of my images online. Nothing after that.
Dont have an SY site now, but still have my own site. It still takes work.
Success = sales and money.
If you can work on your site full-time, if you know quite a bit about seo, if you can spend time on social media, if you have multiple sites you can all link together and you dont mind waiting a year or maybe more for a sale, then you might be successful.
I think the part in bold applies to any self-hosted site, not just Symbiostock, and anyone considering a self hosted site on any platform should take note. There is no magic wand - "build it and they will come" just doesn't apply. As photographers whether it's assignment work, micro, self hosted or with an agency you need to put in the effort to build a strong portfolio and market yourself.
99
« on: March 10, 2014, 15:00 »
We have an anonymous poll on the Symbiostock site and of the 54 people voting the results currently stand as follows:
Zero sales - 18
1-5 sales - 20
6-10 sales - 8
11-20 sales - 4
21-30 sales - 0
30+ sales - 4
Yes it's true that not everyone sees sales yet but some may be relatively new or not have too many images to offer. What encourages me is when I see the total voter number remain the same but the higher tiers grow as votes are updated. A lot of site owners don't come to the forum so it's hard to get the full picture when it's only reflecting a portion of the sites.
I've seen one sale to date from my site but also don't expect much with less than 300 images. As best I can tell they found me via a google search. I remain encouraged that sales will grow as I add images and put more effort into SEO.
100
« on: March 08, 2014, 16:23 »
I'm seeing it in my portfolio too. Some have a larger "super" size option in both the jpg and tiff tabs. It seems to be pretty random as well. Some of the Super size images are those shot with my old 30D so they didn't have overly large file sizes to start. Wonder what we get paid on those.
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