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Messages - ZymmMan
1
« on: March 14, 2009, 10:59 »
You should not beleive every word a CEO writes on his blog. If he was convinced by others not to purchase Istock, then he is a lousy CEO. He should not brag about his obvious lack of sills. He also later sold Jupiterimages, once valued at $400 million for a mere $96 million. That final sum barely covered the debt he had accumulated.
Obviously, he is allowed to feel sorry for himself, but as a leader of a company, he should stop blaming others.
2
« on: March 05, 2009, 20:15 »
just to let you know, we are aware of the issue and keith is on it ( he has been really sick the last few days). Update very soon.
Best
3
« on: March 05, 2009, 09:53 »
I am not associated with this besides writing for their newsletter once in a while. However, some of you might be interested in voicing your position to a poll that , in the past, has always ignored micro and Midstock photographers : "How was 2008 compared to 2007? What are industry trends in the production and sale of stock images? Selling-Stock has launched a survey ( http://www.jimpickerell.com/surveyshared.aspx) to gather information from photographers, designers and illustrators concerning their 2008 income and cost of doing business. Go to http://www.jimpickerell.com/articles2/admin-article-view.asp?id=2022 to review our 2007 Income Survey results. The 2008 survey asks the same questions and will provide comparative numbers enabling creators to make informed decisions about trends. In this rapidly changing and challenging business environment, many image creators are adjusting their business strategies. Some freelance stock photographers are turning to assignments. For others a staff position, possibly even in a non-related field, is their primary source of income and the revenue earned from freelance work is only a secondary income source. Conversely, amateurs with no expectations of ever earning a living from photography are finding that selling stock can be a lucrative and rewarding supplement to their income. Many freelance photographers sell into multiple segments of the photography industry. To understand the importance of each we ask photographers the percentage of their gross photography revenue that falls into several segments of the industry. This will help us understand the changing relationships between freelance newspaper and magazine assignment work, advertising and corporate work and pure stock sales. Selling-Stock encourages every photographer, graphic designer and illustrator who licensed rights to images in 2008 - be it for a few hundred dollars or tens of thousands - to respond to the surveys nine simple questions. The survey will remain open until April 15, 2009. An in-depth analysis of the results will be published in Selling-Stock. The survey is designed to gather data from individual creators, not agencies or other organizations that represent creators work. However, organizations engaged in licensing images are asked to encourage their image suppliers to participate. Image production companies that produce images specifically for licensing as stock are also asked to respond. Those interested can respond to the survey by going to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/surveyshared.aspx. The more data we can collect, the greater the validity of the results. All individual responses will be held in strictest confidence and no attempt will be made to identify specific individuals."
4
« on: March 03, 2009, 12:02 »
@ John, Krisdog...
Sorry guys, I was just responding to a comment Flemishdreams had made in this thread about Zymmetrical. But I do wish Cutcaster all the success it deserves.
5
« on: March 03, 2009, 10:07 »
Business is booming.
I hope it won't be like Mostphotos, YAY and Zymmetrical. The first months those sites sell well. Then when they hurrayhs go all over the forums and the blogs, the crowd and the volume uploaders get in and the site dies for the first mice, as the number of buyers doesn't catch up at the same pace.
FlemishDream, To compare us with Mostphotos and Yaymicro is not really fair. We did not announce, like the two others, that we had millions of dollars in funding nor that we were part of another big business. Keith and I have been very hard at work investing all our hard earn dollars and time into update, fixes and marketing. It might be a slower growth than "richer" companies, but it is still a growth. You might see bumps, hills and valleys in your sales report and its normal, at first. Remenber, unlike others, we are in for the long haul and not the fast track marketing craze. we are not a bubble. Maybe because the bulk of our recent sales have migrate to Norther Europe and you images might be less appealing there? Difficult to know. I hope you agree with the difference and looking forward to making you and all our members millionaires. Best Paul M
6
« on: January 23, 2009, 16:51 »
Oh yes we are going somewhere...We had a rich month in December (maybe not affecting everyone), pulled out of Beta, fixed bugs, redesigned our home page, hired more editors and are about to launch a major Marketing campaign, the first in a series.
We have been extremely busy and remain dedicated to our task. All should see the rewards soon.
7
« on: January 13, 2009, 09:26 »
Blaneyphoto,
No problem. I respect that. Quick question for you. Do you also license the celebrity images in your portfolio through Istock ? If so, I would be curious to know how well it works ?
8
« on: January 13, 2009, 09:05 »
Blaneyphoto,
The site is password protected. Can you copy and paste it here maybe ?
thanks
9
« on: January 12, 2009, 17:20 »
Could you please post the link where you have seen this information? The Getty site makes no mention of it nor do I see any press release.
Thanks !!!
10
« on: October 21, 2008, 14:28 »
Hi, Aka Tom and others that read my blog. If you read it well, it is intended at traditional pro stock shooters, and not at Micro stock shooters. Obviously, I would not have entered this business if I thought all shooters should rethink their strategies. What you should consider funnier is when traditional pro stock shooters are begging microstock agencies to raise their prices dramatically in order to save their income. http://www.microstockdiaries.com/can-intervention-save-the-stock-photography-industry-from-microstock.htmlIt is a pathetic attempt to preserve the "gentleman club" that stock used to be. Our sales, our traffic and our company otherwise, is doing very well. so much so that we now have photo agencies contacting us to be part of our offering. They appreciate that they can be part of the same search with different pricing point and that image buyers can decide for themselves what image they like, regardless of its cost. It is not "all for $1" or "all for $500" but a very wide range of options. Buyers like to be able to pick and choose between pro and non pros, compare and shop, all from one location. Indeed, we are not on the top 6. Not yet. We do not promise anything that we cannot deliver. We have taken the slow and prudent growth rather than the "mutli million investors" cash and burn model that so many have failed before. It might take some time to reach the top of the ladder, but neither Keith nor I have any doubts that we will make it. We both remain available for any suggestions, comments and criticisms. anytime.
11
« on: August 25, 2008, 16:52 »
Dear Dnavarrojr,
You are absolutely right. It makes no sense to refuse images because a lot of similar already populate the database. However, you would be surprise at how many copy cats are out there that systematically copy images that are best sellers in the hope of getting high results.
What our reviewers are looking for, exactly like our image buyers, are images full of creativity and innovation. Photographs that change the rules of what has been seen and sold before. They reject similar images because they do not feel that adding them to our offering will bring any additional choice to our image buyers, besides maybe more "noise".
As much as we would love to keep every single image submitted to us, as much as we want ( need) to offer those who come to our site to purchase images a sincere and contrasted choice that reflect the imagination, passion and creativity of our photographers.
on a more general, I would like to say, as everyone on this forum well knows, editing is in no way an exact science with a clearly defined set of rules. What works for certain sites will not for others. In no way will I ever tell Istock or Dreamstime how to edit the images they receive, although I do have my opinion. It is the eternal debate of what taste better, Pepsi or Coke ?
An old French saying goes a little bit like this : " Taste and colors are not a subject of argument". Why ? because no one will ever be right.
I believe it applies well to editing.
best
PM
12
« on: August 25, 2008, 08:32 »
Rejections, rejections, rejections...
An ongoing topic here, in this forum. let me explain our policy in details so it will make more sense to all :
Our editors are not machine. They carefully inspect every image at 100% of their size for any default and imperfections. You would be amazed on how many images we get with dust on them. If your were purchasing an image, regardless of the price, I do not think you would be happy if you had also to clean it up before usage.
Because we are not in a race to be the first to license 4 gazillion images, we spend quality time with all the submitted images.
Every rejection has an explanation. Instead of posting how many rejections you had, try reading the reasons and tell us if you disagree with them and why. We are open to dialogue, as you can see. We more than appreciate feedback and we know that editing is not an exact science. as Chief Editor, I am always available for comments on our editing team.
We reject with a purpose : it is not the photographer that we reject, it is the image. We add comments that hopefully will make the images more marketable. All our editors know how much work and passion you have put in your images and respect it tremendously. Some of you complain about the long editing time..Well, part of it is due to a thorough editing team that can sometimes spend a lot of time on an image, discussing it with other editor.
We know our clients : we have a lot of valuable data and feedback from our image buyers. Our editors are aware of it. Their editing is made to get you the highest ratio of image uploaded/images sold.
Quality brings quality : the higher the bar, the highest respect you get, the highest price per image you receive.
Finally, let's not focus on the rejection numbers but what explanation you receive for them. The answer to all of your questions about our editing policy is in them. If you still continue to have doubts, let me know and together, we will solve it .
hope that helps
PM
13
« on: June 06, 2008, 13:47 »
Zeus,
The main difference is the pricing. We let our contributors decide at what price they would like to license their images. The result is that the average price is higher than microstock. Not as high as macro/traditional RF but not as low as micro. Thus the appellation "midstock" .
Our users can also change their pricing ( once every 8 days at the most) if they feel they are too high or too low. We do have some similar images than microstock but we also have images not available in those sites. We receive a lot of submissions from pros, for example, that do not wish to subscribe to microstock pricing but still would like to get their feet wet in lower pricing than they were accustomed to.
Finally, the lightly higher pricing allows us to give back a higher percentage ( 70% in our case) making each sale more lucrative for the photographer or graphic designer.
Hope that helps
14
« on: June 06, 2008, 13:29 »
Microbius,
We are taking note and we thank you for your feedback !!
Cheers !!
15
« on: June 06, 2008, 12:17 »
And if I may add, we just posted a press release this week showing an example on how we market Zymmetrical directly to image buyers with strategic relationship instead of only using Ad words in the hope that someone will notice. http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php/topic,4890.0.htmlWe will be announcing more of these relationships in the future as we engage Zymmetrical to be present, and visible, anywhere and anytime someone has the intend to purchase photographs. Our marketing strategy is comprise of much more than just relying on word of mouth or links exchange, and we are using the full power of our relationships and experience to bring your images in front of the eyes of those who will pay to license them. We are generating sales, quite well in fact, but as Rome, or longer established companies, we will not be at full speed in one day. Hope that helps
16
« on: June 05, 2008, 09:27 »
For your Information: Zymmetrical and Adbynet Make Advertising On the Net A Breeze! High Quality Stock Photos, Images, Graphics, Fonts and Videos Available From More Than 4,000 Artists Around the Globe combined with high quality, low cost campaign production and tracking open doors to net advertising to millions of worldwide small and medium companies. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -- Zymmetrical, the worlds first social digital art marketplace, today announced an agreement to allow users of Atlanta, Georgia-based AdByNet.com ( www.adbynet.com), access to their library of digital art from more than 4,000 artists around the globe. Adbynet is an online media planning and buying firm that provides all in one advertising strategy, creative, execution and analysis services. In making the announcement, Keith Tuomi, Founder and CEO of Zymmetrical.com, said AdByNet is the perfect partner. We facilitate the offering and exchange of the raw material for a successful campaign. Into the expert hands of AdByNet's creative and analytical team, they become the weapons of success for anyone ready to take the net advertising plunge. Both companies strongly believe in leveraging technology to its fullest while keeping a strong customer service. Mr. Tuomi said small and medium businesses invest over $126 billion in advertising each year worldwide. AdByNet offers these enterprises a compelling and results driven service to save them time and money. This agreement will save their users more than 80% of reproduction costs, and 70% off the cycle time, compared to outsourcing the work. Frederic Bien, AdByNet Founder and CEO, said, Zymmetrical has the most balanced offering of high quality stock photos, graphics, fonts and videos at very affordable prices. Thanks to its crowd sourcing approach, our clients are always guaranteed fresh and pertinent content for the ads we create, place, and track for them. By combining their efforts, both companies seek to lower the entry point to advertising on the Internet. Millions of local businesses are loosing on the opportunity to drive new customers to their businesses Thanks to the budget friendly content of zymmetrical.com, and AdByNet's knowledge and partnerships in the industry, it is now possible for any business to create a laser sharp ad campaign for less than $600. Mr. Bien said that since Zymmetrical's perfectly edited content is created by everyday people, it is quite possible that a car dealer in one part of the country might create images suitable for another dealer in some other part of the country. This agreement with Zymmetrical make visibility and exchange possible. It's the Internet at its best! About Zymmetrical  www.Zymmetrical.com), is the worlds first one stop shop social marketplace. Thousands of user generated photographs, fonts, videos, and graphics can be found at a price point defined by the artists themselves. In partnership with its members, Zymmetrical has changed the rules of content licensing by building the first fair trade community-conscious platform. With a 70% commission rate, and full control on pricing, Zymmetrical provides high quality content at budget sensitive prices. Zymmetrical is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. About AdByNet : Adbynet is a media and buying agency that provides strategy, creative, execution, and analysis, in the placement of video and display Internet advertisements, and paid search solutions. Working closely with Google's AdSense network, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, online social networks, several video-sharing sites, and Yellow Pages directories, AdByNet tracks the success of client advertising campaigns with advanced mathematical techniques to optimize media buying decisions, and effectively manage client marketing budgets. For more information about how Atlanta, Georgia-based AdByNet optimizes client digital touch points in making the most of online advertising budgets, go to www.adbynet.com. # # # CONTACTS: For Zymmetrical For AdByNet Sarah Bennet David Andersen 404.514.0424 [email protected] [email protected]
17
« on: May 31, 2008, 06:59 »
We, Keith and I, pay attention to your postings here and elsewhere. They help us make sound decisions that are based on your opinions and experiences. Keep them coming !!
Pm
18
« on: May 25, 2008, 06:20 »
nata_rass,
Not sure what you are referring too. We have an absolute strict policy never, ever to reject ANY image without a detail explanation. If you have had any of your images treated that way, let me know and I will get the responsible editor out of our team. I and everyone at Zymmetrical agree. It is disrespectful and impolite and should never happen.
Please email me at pmelcher(@)zymmetrical.com with more details and information so I can solve this issue promptly.
best
Paul M
19
« on: May 23, 2008, 17:46 »
10- 12 billion dollars ? wow? are they launching a space program ? I believe you mean millions.
best
20
« on: May 22, 2008, 11:10 »
Why worry about how they will makes money ? Enjoy it while it is free. BTW, TinEye was created by a great Canadian company called Idee Inc. ( http://www.ideeinc.com) who has other very, very ( paying) useful services. best
21
« on: May 21, 2008, 08:13 »
dear digiology,
The bigger the target image, the better. TinEye uses fingerprinting to locate a usage, meaning that they have a proprietary algorithm that scan the original image and finds all the corresponding matches. The more information it has to start with, the better the results will be, especially if your images has been heavily altered or cropped.
Hope that helps
best
22
« on: May 20, 2008, 13:43 »
Has anyone tried TinEye ? if not, you should, it is a great tool. More here http://www.tineye.comBest Paul M
23
« on: May 20, 2008, 11:44 »
UncleGene,
Thank you for the comment. We are extremely busy catching up on editing. As we previously posted, if you want your images to be considered on top of the queue, please use the submission tool that allows you to pick a price, spell check your keywords and select a catogory. This allows the editors to process your files faster.
We take great pride in our editing team who works around the clock on images to make sure they meet a certain quality requirement as well as legal concerns. You would be surprised on how many images we receive with a logo in the background, for example. If we let one skip, we might get our clients very angry if not, in big trouble.
We also do not set limits on numbers of uploads. We tend to believe your images are better off waiting in our Q than on your desktop. Maybe it is a mistake ?
Finally, we caught the hamster and we will soon set him free for someone else to chase.
Looking forward to making great sales with your work.
Best
Paul M
25
« on: May 18, 2008, 00:12 »
ErickN,
you can never be wrong when you shoot the lady and the last think I would like to do is to dissuade you from doing so. Like any woman, Lady Liberty needs to be charmed and if you can, she will give you the favor back. But, like any woman, she needs your full attention before she will help you out and it is not a simple trip ti New Jersey harbor that will help you out.
My experience shows, and I am no photographer, that she loves playing with the sun, the clouds and the winds, and she has tired the most patient artist. She stands by the water and its crystal reflection and adores playing with its multiple reflecting mirrors.
She knows who she is and will make you pay the price. Like the Sphinx in Egypt.
what I am trying to say, is that, it is up to you, not the location, to capture her.
That image you reference to, BTW, seems like a composite. I might be wrong, but the building behind her does not look like anything familiar on the downtown manhattan skyline.
anyone wants to add ?
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