MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: anthonycorreia on March 19, 2013, 09:26

Title: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: anthonycorreia on March 19, 2013, 09:26
Hello,

I wanted to share some information regarding Shutterstock's Contributor Success Guide to all here. The Contributor Success Guide is now available in five languages which is very exciting.

If you are new to stock or want to improve your skills, we've assembled hundreds of tricks, tips, and explanations that can help you become a top contributor.  Access our Contributor Success Guide at the following language links:

English: http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide.pdf (http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide.pdf)
Portuguese: http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_portuguese.pdf (http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_portuguese.pdf)
French: http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_french.pdf (http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_french.pdf)
German: http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_german.pdf (http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_german.pdf)
Russian: http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_russian.pdf (http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/wp-content/uploads/contributor_success_guide_russian.pdf)

More information is available on Shutterbuzz: http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/contributor-success-guide-available-in-five-languages (http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/contributor-success-guide-available-in-five-languages)

Sincerely,
Anthony Correia
Director, Contributor Success
Shutterstock | Bigstock

Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: Veneratio on March 19, 2013, 11:34
Obviously aimed at beginners but thanks Anthony, good to see such a good introduction being made available to develop the business and thereby sales. Is a similar document available to new buyers?
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: scottbraut on March 19, 2013, 12:04
Hello,

Also - to piggyback on Anthony's topic here - if there are any topics you'd like to see in future guides, or additional feedback on this one, please let us know.

Best,

Scott
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: JPSDK on March 19, 2013, 12:45
A very good guide. It is something I would like to send to photographers that consider venturing into microstock.
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: stockastic on March 19, 2013, 13:51
Yeah I need to improve my skills because today I had 2 rejections.

One was for "-Titles may not contain unnecessary information and/or they must be in English."   The title of the photo was "Pinto beans".   

The other was for white balance - which I'd calibrated with a gray card and verified on a calilbrated monitor - but I suppose there's some new technology from NASA we're supposed to be using...

I hope they have a new guide for their reviewers too.
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: rubyroo on March 19, 2013, 14:12
Thanks Anthony and Scott.  You're the "bee's knees" and the "cat's whiskers".  I wish a guide like that had been around when I was just starting out.

@ Stockastic - I'd send a note to support on that one if I were you.  I'm sure they'll help you out.
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: RacePhoto on March 19, 2013, 14:18
Being in five languages doesn't do anything "exciting" for me, I only claim to speak or understand one.  8)

Nice work and I'm sure many people will appreciate the efforts to have a guide. Don't stop updating the FAQ section, I still go back there now and then for answers which I may have forgotten or didn't come up before.

When you come out with the secret decoder ring for "Poor Lighting--Poor or uneven lighting, or shadows. White balance may be incorrect." I want one.  ;)
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: stockastic on March 19, 2013, 14:19
@ Stockastic - I'd send a note to support on that one if I were you.  I'm sure they'll help you out.

I will appeal/resubmit as usual.  What worries me is that I get the feeling these are automated rejections - i.e. a simplistic algorithm scanning for white balance of 'typical' subjects, a dictionary lookup that flags non-English words.
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: gostwyck on March 19, 2013, 14:39
Yeah I need to improve my skills because today I had 2 rejections.

One was for "-Titles may not contain unnecessary information and/or they must be in English."   The title of the photo was "Pinto beans".   

The other was for white balance - which I'd calibrated with a gray card and verified on a calilbrated monitor - but I suppose there's some new technology from NASA we're supposed to be using...

I hope they have a new guide for their reviewers too.
What sometimes happens is that the title and keywords from one image can automatically replace those of an image in question. I don't know how or what causes it to happen exactly. I think it is supposed to be a time-saving feature but sometimes it happens by accident. Your 'pinto beans' image might have been rejected because it had completely different title and keywords than you intended. I had a couple rejected myself with that reason before I realised what was happening.

Sometimes the reviewers miss the error and accept the image. I've seen images in searches that were clearly inappropriate to the keywords used and, when I've clicked on the image to check it's keywords, they were all inappropriate and had obviously been accidentally transferred from another image.
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: w7lwi on March 19, 2013, 16:26
@ Stockastic - I'd send a note to support on that one if I were you.  I'm sure they'll help you out.

I will appeal/resubmit as usual.  What worries me is that I get the feeling these are automated rejections - i.e. a simplistic algorithm scanning for white balance of 'typical' subjects, a dictionary lookup that flags non-English words.

Pinto may be an English word, but it is also a particular breed of horse.  You don't suppose SS is borrowing the IS disambiguation program (God Forbid!).
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: Veneratio on March 19, 2013, 16:44
I guess one thing all current contributors would love is a regular update on required images. Itm entions in the document about chcking whats trending on social networks etc but surely if SS did this leg work it wouldbe more beneficial all round? It frees more time for getting those images made and uploaded and it allows SS to very directly grow their library to meet demand highlighted by their customers.

Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: rubyroo on March 19, 2013, 16:52
Plus one to that Veneratio.  The requests posted on Twitter are great, but the more information we can access easily on what's trending and on any identified gaps in the collections, the more we can help SS to help us. :)

As Veneratio says, the less time we have to spend researching, the more time we can spend shooting... and the sooner you'll have those images in the collection.  Win/win :)
Title: Re: Contributor Success Guide
Post by: gillian vann on March 20, 2013, 07:02
Plus one to that Veneratio.  The requests posted on Twitter are great, but the more information we can access easily on what's trending and on any identified gaps in the collections, the more we can help SS to help us. :)

As Veneratio says, the less time we have to spend researching, the more time we can spend shooting... and the sooner you'll have those images in the collection.  Win/win :)
+1
cos I really don't like Twitter