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Messages - DonLand
76
« on: August 27, 2013, 09:46 »
The premium plug in lets you apply almost any sales avenue including RM and El's etc.
77
« on: August 27, 2013, 01:53 »
I jumped in!
The batch edit looks fantastic. Obviously have not had enough time to really put it through it's paces but on first impression, very impressive. The thumbnails open very quickly and scroll smooth as butter, which is something that a lot of web sites would have difficulty doing. Looks great, THANKS!!!
78
« on: August 26, 2013, 20:32 »
"There's a fix in place for Monday."- IS Tick-tock  9:30 EST... 6:30 WST... Still some time left, but not much... Should we start a poll to see if they will make it or not? Hope they do, but... this is IS after all!  Betting against them is like shooting fish in a barrel! 
79
« on: August 26, 2013, 18:55 »
I sure (hope?) everyone realizes this is a group effort! The more we promote the Network the better it is for everyone including yourself. The problem before is everyone was their own little site with a few thousand images at most. If I were a client I would want a variety of images to choose from. Symbiostock will solve this problem. Everyone just needs to be sure to include the global search (symbiostock.info) as one of their network links. Currently there are many holes that need to be filled, but that will come with more and more artists signing on. As this grows and more artists hear of it more will sign creating the snowball effect.
The Network needs to attain a certain size (1,000,000 images and 1000 quality artists?) to be truly viable and to become a destination where clients will go to find their images they need. It will take time but it is the first site I have ever seen where this is a distinct possibility. The snowball effect is slow to start but hard to stop once it gets going. It may just be the game changer we have all been looking for. I'm sure the agencies are already aware of Symbiostock but currently are not too concerned. I wonder how that will change in a few years. Just my meager .02
80
« on: August 26, 2013, 18:29 »
Leo, you certainly have a very eloquent way of getting your thoughts across...
81
« on: August 26, 2013, 18:20 »
Ok, can someone explain what's the difference and benefit between SYS and other sites like PhotoShelter etc.
The question is very simple why SYS not PhotoShelter and why SYS is the most promising project.
Tks,
With Photoshelter you're basically on your own. SYS is a network where members feature each other. Every participating member benefits from it.
Not even to mention that SEO is far more superior with SYS. Your images will actually be found.
And of course, SYS is free.
I had a stockphoto site from one of the others for 2 years. Hardly had any hits at all. Within two months I have a MUCH higher Alexa rating than I ever had before plus my images are showing up on google search almost instantly. The SEO is MUCH better. Also like mentioned above it is a linked network. This one thing is HUGE. Instead of being on your own you are linked to every other site that has you individually or if not hopefully everyone realizes they should ALL link to symbiostock.info where a client can search the entire network while on your site! It is like having an single agency but with individual people. Hopefully this thing will bloom as it is what is sorely needed for the creative people behind the images. This will not happen over night, but within a couple of years this may be a MAJOR way for independent people to make some serious income without being at the whim of some conglomerate. It all depends upon the artists at this point.
82
« on: August 26, 2013, 15:43 »
Yea, my thinking alike. I'll gladly donate from the first couple of sales.
83
« on: August 26, 2013, 15:39 »
Be sure to link to: http://symbiostock.infoThis will link to the entire Symbiostock network!!!! Martha,
I have some wildlife pictures, and many landscape images from Canada, mainly Ontario.
Still uploading, and many more images to go.
I haven't done my networking part yet, but would be honored to link with your site.
84
« on: August 25, 2013, 12:32 »
Probably has been said before but...
Need more rights models, specifically RM.
Need to be able to change the default number of thumbnails visible to go along with the ability of the client to change the number of thumbnails visible.
85
« on: August 24, 2013, 19:53 »
Well at least that is good news (relatively speaking!!!) for exclusives.
Maybe they got tired of reading this thread?!
So now the question is how are exclusives doing with the new prices?
For non-exclusives 15% is still a slap in the face.
86
« on: August 23, 2013, 08:25 »
If its an upgrade plugin, 75 dollar might be a bit steep. I am more than happy to purchase the plugin for say 50 dollar. I was thinking of donating that amount anyways if it was going to be free.
I agree, 75 seems too much but you need to be rewarded for your efforts. Of course non of us have the right to tell you what to do or charge but to me somewhere around $50 seems about right. Since it is a plug in having the premium option is great for those that want it. At $50 if this takes off you'll be able to quit your daytime job 
87
« on: August 22, 2013, 21:44 »
Why stop?
1- The possible future exclusive earnings.
2- 1/2 the commissions now because of the new price restructuring.
Neither of the above were in action when I started submitting in April.
I signed up with IS because I was just starting in MS and wanted to get an idea of the income level possible so I could extrapolate it to see what the income could be by being exclusive.
88
« on: August 22, 2013, 19:55 »
Like I said... I am looking towards the future, so yes it does affect me.
89
« on: August 22, 2013, 18:44 »
Two of the main problems iStock has is the percentage they pay contributors in combination with the inexpensive prices. They overly corrected prices and the price division between the collections is too large. These need to be brought closer together.
They also need to increase the minimum rate they pay both exclusives and non exclusives to something which will make people start submitting to them again. I'd say start non-exclusives at 30% and exclusives at 40% both with the ability to go up 10% with some realistic target numbers, not the 1,200,000 sky high figure. Even the 125,000 is ludicrous.
Finally we all agree their uploading requirements is at best byzantine.
90
« on: August 22, 2013, 18:21 »
Simply, I was looking towards to future. If the future is actually the current incorrect values I don't see it as being worth uploading to. In the meantime I'll just leave my current small portfolio there and wait until we see where they are actually heading. I know what the are... it's just what if this is what they will be. I find it hard to believe this is an accident, just my pessimistic side showing as it relates to moves GI has been doing for the past 15 or more years. Until its "fixed" I'll put on hold any uploading to the site as a precaution, that is all. Hope it is just a mistake and will be taken care of but until then I'll remain in a holding pattern there.
You aren't exclusive so are what are you worried about? The rates are only wrong for exclusive photos.
91
« on: August 22, 2013, 17:16 »
I know what the are... it's just what if this is what they will be. I find it hard to believe this is an accident, just my pessimistic side showing as it relates to moves GI has been doing for the past 15 or more years. Until its "fixed" I'll put on hold any uploading to the site as a precaution, that is all. Hope it is just a mistake and will be taken care of but until then I'll remain in a holding pattern there.
92
« on: August 22, 2013, 12:15 »
Even though I'm not exclusive (not even qualified yet) I have stopped uploading to IS simply because of this "bug" or whatever you want to call it. I have left open the possibility to go exclusive in the future, but with those rates currently being shown there is no way I would ever go exclusive. There are also a number of other reasons I prefer not being exclusive with them. In reality I sincerely wonder if they are testing the waters to see if they can lower rates once again! I would not leave it past them. 
93
« on: August 22, 2013, 11:55 »
LOL true!
94
« on: August 22, 2013, 10:48 »
I use LR collections and smart collections extensively to keep track of which agencies have what images, but it cannot automatically link and upload with Symbiostock, other than FTP, but I use a separate FTP program to upload anyway so I'm not concerned.
I have my agencies organized as below. It takes time to set it up but once done it is extremely beneficial to me. Others have different ways they work, but this works for me. Good luck.
I start with a "Main" collection which I call "000 MS Images". The reason for "000" in front is organization. It puts this collection at the top of my collections. I put every image that is in any agency or that I want in any agency in this collection. When I'm trolling for images I'll make this my target collection and simply hit the letter "B" when I'm on an image that I want moved to my "000 MS Images" collection. I also tag every image in this folder with the Label Color "Blue" so I know at a glance what images are in my Stock collection. I also create a Smart Collection called "000 Images Need Blue" with three match all parameters, show images in collection "000 MS images", Label color is not Blue, Label color is not Red. This is simply a check to easily see if all images in "000 MS Images" are correctly labeled "Blue" or "Red"(FYI, for simplicity sake I've called it Blue above but in reality I use a custom name, Microstock)
I then have a Collection called "001 Agency Images"
In this I have Collections for each agency. iStockPhoto would be "IS iStockPhoto". ShutterStock is "SS Shutterstock".
Within each Collection I have a smart collection. I'll give you a ShutterStock example.
Smart Collection: SS.1 Future Images Match ALL Collection contains words "000 MS Images"
Collection doesn't contain "SS."
The above smart collection will only show images that are in 000 MS Images but are not in any other "SS." collection. It works this way because smart collections do not calculate the results of other smart collections.
Smart Collection: SS.2 Select Images Red Match ALL Collection contains words "000 MS Images"
Collection doesn't contain "SS."
Label Color is Red
The above smart collection only shows Red Label colored images that are in "000 MS images" and not in any other "SS." collection. These are images I picked out from my "SS.1 Future Images" that I WILL be working on.
Regular Collection: SS.3 Working On I simply grab images from the SS.2 Select Images Red that I AM working on. When an image is moved into this collection it is automatically removed from SS.1 and SS.2 above.
Regular Collection: SS.4 Ready to Upload These are images that are finished and ready to upload. When moving them here I would remove them from SS.3.
Regular Collection: SS.5 Uploading These are images that are currently uploading. You can do without this folder, but I like the extra layer so I know where each image is in the process line. These have been removed from SS.4
Regular Collection: SS.6 Pending These are images that are waiting approval from the agency. They have been moved here after SS.5 and removed from SS.5. I actually have sub collections in here because I would usually have multiple collections pending at the same time.
Regular Collection: SS.7 Resubmit These are images that were rejected but can be resubmitted after correction.
Regular Collection: SS.8 Rejects Rejected Images moved from SS.6 and removed from SS.6.
Regular Collection: SS.9 Online Approved Images moved from SS.6 and removed from SS.6.
Finally I have a Collection called SS.10 Duplicate Check which has 6 Smart Folders. These are to make sure at a glance that the same image does not appear in multiple places, so it is a check.
The first Smart Folder is called "SS.3 Duplicate Check"
It contains the following rules.
Match All: Collection contains SS.3
then a sub group: Any of the following are true:
Collection contains SS.4
Collection contains SS.5
Collection contains SS.6
Collection contains SS.7
Collection contains SS.8
Collection contains SS.9
You would repeat that for each of the other Collections replacing SS.3 with SS.4 and putting SS.3 where SS.4 was etc.
Finally I use JF Collection Publisher to collect and "Publish" my images to a folder. I use a smart folder for each agency within JF Collection Publisher.
I create a Publish Collection with the process parameters I want for the agencies. Within this one Publisher are Smart Collections. The ShutterStock one is named ShutterStock Uploading and contains the following 2 rules.
Match Any of the following:
Collection Contains all SS.4 Ready to Upload
Collection Contains all SS.5 Uploading
They are processed into Its Own sub-folder and named for the collection name give above.
The set-up takes a bit of time, but if done it makes keeping everything organized very easy. As images are chosen they get removed from the folder to be able to choose from and from then on will not appear as needing to upload to that specific agency.
Finally... I also have some exclusive images. They are also put in the "000 Microstock Images" collection. They are also placed in an agency exclusive folder set up the same way above but without the "xx.1 xxxxx" Smart Folde
The exclusive images would end up in the (example) "GI.9 Online". In each Agencies xx.1 Future Images I would add Collection doesn't contain "GI."
Hope that helps and makes sense.
95
« on: August 21, 2013, 08:24 »
I think that is why he is going free on it with a donation request, thus the only version will be the premium version, no? Wont there be a split in updates as well, since you need to update the free version and the paid version separately, doubling the work. Not everyone will get the 75 dollar version, so at some point you will see a definite split in Symbiostock sites, the free ones, and the paid ones. But they still need to work together in the network.
96
« on: August 20, 2013, 14:15 »
Devil's advocate here.... What if G---y said offered ridiculous $$$ for www.symbiostock.com, www.symbiostock.info and www.symbiostock.net websites? What if they offered Leo ridiculous $$$ for the site and code and sent out an update that broke the network? Just saying... 
97
« on: August 20, 2013, 11:40 »
OMG, that is awesome. I never realized we could add the global link! I just did and moved it to the top of my networked list.
This is GREAT AND NECESSARY for customers so they don't have to keep clicking links to try to find an image which may or may not be on a linked site.
EVERYONE NEEDS to do this!!!!
Ok, now is there a way to make the results show as a large grid instead of a single row?
98
« on: August 19, 2013, 13:17 »
In a followup to yesterdays thinking there might be a reporting glitch In the end I think it was as others have said and just the ebb and flow of selling stock.
Don,
Just wanted to say that I never used the word "glitch" and never intended to indicate such. I think there is a problem ... more related to growing pains than "bugs" or "glitches."
May be a sync problem? I'm wondering (or wandering ) if there is not more than one server to handle the load of so many images being added daily. That could create a sync problem and cause some reporting delays.
Again, not saying there is a "glitch." Just speculating on the seeming delay in reporting.
Never said you did... it was more like what I said, but now I doubt there was anything wrong, just the ebb and flow of selling images on SS.
99
« on: August 19, 2013, 08:56 »
I'd like the links to increase from the current 10 to at least 20 other sites.
While at it I'd like the option for the networked images to come in as a single group so it looks like a single large site like it appears on the Global Symbiostock Search Engine site rather than split into 10 or (hopefully) more individual sites.
100
« on: August 19, 2013, 07:42 »
In a followup to yesterdays thinking there might be a reporting glitch In the end I think it was as others have said and just the ebb and flow of selling stock.
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