Quote from: sjlocke on October 22, 2012, 13:47

Quote from: mattdixon on October 22, 2012, 13:39

Encouraging news, shows there is potential in true independence.

For some, or one, not necessarily for you.

Not necessarily even for 'one'. The OP stated he was still some way from making a profit.

Did you do the math??  If this is a typical weekday that is $25 per image downloaded and over 3 million dollars of sales in a year.  But he said monthly sales are doubling.   In a year from now he will be at 3 billions in sales with $0 marketing.   Why keep you images on other sites where you make 25 cents a sale.   Pull all your images off other sites fire all non-critical staff and wait for the other agencies to panic and offer you 7 billion dollars in a buyout.     

Quote from: gostwyck on October 22, 2012, 13:53

Quote from: sjlocke on October 22, 2012, 13:47

Quote from: mattdixon on October 22, 2012, 13:39

Encouraging news, shows there is potential in true independence.

For some, or one, not necessarily for you.

Not necessarily even for 'one'. The OP stated he was still some way from making a profit.

Did you do the math??  If this is a typical weekday that is $25 per image downloaded and over 3 million dollars of sales in a year.  But he said monthly sales are doubling.   In a year from now he will be at 3 billions in sales with $0 marketing.    Why keep you images on other sites where you make 25 cents a sale.   Pull all your images off other sites fire all non-critical staff and wait for the other agencies to panic and offer you 7 billion dollars in a buyout.   

LOL! You are funny!

I wasn't talking about iStock or me.  I was pointing out that just because one business has sales, that isn't an across the board indicator that anyone can follow the same path.

Indeed. But you can't help but admire Yuri and his project.

I only wish I'd thought of it when he did, had the same drive and the opportunities that Yuri created.

More power to him.

Quote from: mattdixon on October 22, 2012, 14:58

You think iStock is going to take good care of you?

I wasn't talking about iStock or me.  I was pointing out that just because one business has sales, that isn't an across the board indicator that anyone can follow the same path.

True, but it isn't an indicator that no one can follow that path either.

Quote from: beau_nash on October 22, 2012, 15:45

Indeed. But you can't help but admire Yuri and his project.

I only wish I'd thought of it when he did, had the same drive and the opportunities that Yuri created.

More power to him.

What's stopping you now?   One site is not the end all of opportunities for the rest.

Good question Sean. Life is getting in the way at the moment but I also think that Yuri got his timing spot on when he started a few years ago. Having said that, I'd be glad with a fraction of what both you and Yuri have achieved.

Quote from: beau_nash on October 23, 2012, 07:53

Quote from: sjlocke on October 22, 2012, 15:51

Quote from: beau_nash on October 22, 2012, 15:45

Indeed. But you can't help but admire Yuri and his project.

I only wish I'd thought of it when he did, had the same drive and the opportunities that Yuri created.

More power to him.

What's stopping you now?   One site is not the end all of opportunities for the rest.

Good question Sean. Life is getting in the way at the moment but I also think that Yuri got his timing spot on when he started a few years ago. Having said that, I'd be glad with a fraction of what both you and Yuri have achieved.

I have a fraction of what Sjlocke and Yuri have achieved and I am still not happy.

Well, yes. So do I. The trouble is that 1/100,000 is a fraction just as 999/1,000 is.

Congratulations Yuri.  Nice to see you are succeeding. 

Doesn't affect the rest of us, as Liz pointed out, but perhaps it will eventually be a wakeup call to the big agencies.

This is puzzling.  A site that you are not on that is going to eat up big market share does not affect you?    Yet you are so affected by sites you are on that lower commissions.   I predict that Yuri's site will be dominant in 2-4 years.  After reviewing the site if you sell people photos you will lose sales.   I predicted google would be the dominant when the had 15% market share.  Once sells get high enough, and his army is grown to produce enough content, then if he is smart he will pull all content from other sites.   One great advantage is there is no "low quality content" which clutters up the other sites.   If he expands to other genres and keeps the same standard the you who say you aren't affected will be affected big time. 

Hey, I opened my site a year before Yuri opened his.  I should be making more money than he does!   

Me too. What's the deal? Maybe, I need a "Yuri approved" sticker on the front page.

There won't be a wake up call for the agencies unless someone makes a site where all artists can submit "their sites" and integrate it in the search so it functions as a huge stock photo search engine that when you click on a photo, you are redirected to that artist's website..

This site would have to be free to be any different from the agencies.. In fact this site must be built by us, contributors and when popular enough it will destroy the middle man..

Everybody will earn as much as their own potential and there will be no fees... artists will only pay an annual amount so the website can survive.. nothing more.. the more artists there are, the less fee to be paid.. probably only as much as pennies and cents

Something along with that concept exists already. It's http://www.picturengine.com.
Or if you want to build your own site then check out Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/faq
Building a great search engine is challenging, but not impossible.

Until then I'm really happy joining new innovative agencies. 

Congratulations Yuri. I wish you all the best. I do believe success of this venture disrupts the power of the larger agencies.

Does the website is down for anyone else?  www.peopleimages.com

Yup:

A Database Error Occurred

Error Number: 126

Incorrect key file for table '/tmp/#sql_3b4_0.MYI'; try to repair it

DESCRIBE `roles`

Filename: /ebs/site/application/libraries/datamapper.php

Line Number: 645

Perhaps Yuri and his website have been so horrified by iStock's latest freebie venture that they can no longer function.

Or worse ... their lawsuit has been issued an interim cease and desist order.  Has anyone heard how that is coming along?