Now that Symbiostock has crossed the 100,000 image barrier, what is your guess to how many total Symbiostock images there will be (as displayed on Symbiostock.info) by the end of the year (12/31/2013 11:59 PM GMT)?

My guess is 250,000.

Meh.

should've added a poll

It really depends if the premium version wil be free or not..

It could be anything from 200k to 500k or a million depending on how the project evolves..

Quote from: cidepix on August 23, 2013, 00:38
should've added a poll

It really depends if the premium version wil be free or not..

It could be anything from 200k to 500k or a million depending on how the project evolves..

The premium version is ready. I haven't released it because I only get to make this decision once:

FREE or NOT.

In the end, I still need a way to profit.

That being said I'm working completely with free software now:

Eclipse, Ubuntu, Linux, Blender 3d... best of the best.  Free. And people still profit somewhere.

I'll get back to you. I just need to perfect my own profit model and Premium will be available.

Quote from: Leo on August 23, 2013, 00:42

Quote from: cidepix on August 23, 2013, 00:38
should've added a poll

It really depends if the premium version wil be free or not..

It could be anything from 200k to 500k or a million depending on how the project evolves..

The premium version is ready. I haven't released it because I only get to make this decision once:

FREE or NOT.

In the end, I still need a way to profit.

That being said I'm working completely with free software now:

Eclipse, Ubuntu, Linux, Blender 3d... best of the best.  Free. And people still profit somewhere.

I'll get back to you. I just need to perfect my own profit model and Premium will be available.

Yeap! You should definitely find the best way to monetize it without hindering its growth..

I thought your initial idea of a free theme and paid plugins was great.. it could have been like $15 per plugin and $75 for a plugin bundle.. so keeping everyone on the same theme would have been easier..

But since you have gone a different route I hope you can figure out the best possible way that will help you earn money while ensuring a healthy growth of the community..

The premium upgrade is actually a plugin. I haven't gone a different route technically.

Actually the only way to benefit from the premium upgrade is to already be a professional seller. Other than that it would be a useless perk. In the meantime I'll continue to refine it and think about things.

You should monetize your effort Leo. Maybe you can offer to the old members that run a symbiostock website from the early days and helped you to test how it work, a good discount or for free some plugin. Other like me can buy with no worries the needed plugins; in wordpress we must pay for a lot of good plugin and it's fine I think.

I'm with Alberto. Fine with whatever you choose to do, Leo. I will gladly pay for a plugin, but if it's "free" I'll make a respectable donation.

We all want you to gain somehow from all the effort you've expended and the great product you've provided us.

Quote from: Leo on August 23, 2013, 00:42
In the end, I still need a way to profit.

I will freely admit that I haven't fully thought through all the implications of this idea, so it might be a bit half-baked but here goes....

• If a buyer from one symbiosite moves to another through the network search, that could be trackable by having each site append links to other symbiosites with a URL referral parameter unique to each site (ex. ?ref=leo).  This ref URL parm could also be passed as a chain (ex. ?ref=leo&bob&mary) which gets appended through each hop.  Probably should also be stored in a 30-day cookie by each site to allow for a window of opportunity.
  

• When a buyer purchases an image license on a symbiosite, a message is sent to a central server with the referral parms, image ids, license types and quantities.
  

• The central server keeps a running tally of intersite referrals.  Participating site owners have their Paypal email stored there.
  

• On a monthly basis, site owners are encouraged to voluntarily and optionally pay a percentage commission on their previous month's sales to any network search referrers based on volume with possibly an additional "tip" to a general Symbio fund (either Leo's personal account or some company if a dev. corp is founded).
  

• If participating site outgoing referral payments are also tracked by managing these payments through the central server, then a hall of fame/shame could be established on the central server to show who's sharing the love and who's not.  Also, as the network grows there really does need to be some way to prioritize the network search results, so sales and referral crosspayments could be used a weight for this.
  

a lot of that is done already -- having info on referring sites, etc, but beyond that I think it's a bad idea - the whole concept is SYMBIOstock --> working together.  the last thing we need is making judgments and posting names of sites that don't do things the way some other folks think they should

and once the system gets going, site owners aren't going to want to keep track of payments to dozens of different paypal accounts;  also, while there are global search engines for symbio, it's never been the intent for these to police the network

steve

Quote from: alberto on August 23, 2013, 01:59
You should monetize your effort Leo. Maybe you can offer to the old members that run a symbiostock website from the early days and helped you to test how it work, a good discount or for free some plugin. Other like me can buy with no worries the needed plugins; in wordpress we must pay for a lot of good plugin and it's fine I think.

I'm with alberto, too. You have invested so much time and effort and should receive more than our thankfulness. I understand that you do not want symbiostock sites being devided in those who can afford it and those who can't. But if it's a plugin as you said anybody can start a well working site for free and decide later whether to purchase the plugin or not.

I'd be more than happy to pay. Heck, I've been expecting to pay for the update and I'm surprised to see "free" being considered.

Quote from: Leo on August 23, 2013, 01:48
The premium upgrade is actually a plugin. I haven't gone a different route technically.

Actually the only way to benefit from the premium upgrade is to already be a professional seller. Other than that it would be a useless perk. In the meantime I'll continue to refine it and think about things.

Leo,  if it's a plugin and it won't effect the way premium and regular sites connect,  then charging for the plugin should not be an issue..

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.

To get back on topic. We are growing with a rate of 15,000 images per month. Give or take a few. If we are at 100 now, I'd say we'd be around 150,000 come the new year.

Quote from: Ron on August 23, 2013, 11:07
To get back on topic. We are growing with a rate of 15,000 images per month. Give or take a few. If we are at 100 now, I'd say we'd be around 150,000 come the new year.

you are forgetting the snowball effect..

it's always smaller in the beginning and as it rolls on snow it quickly becomes HUGE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_effect

Quote from: Ron on August 23, 2013, 11:07
To get back on topic. We are growing with a rate of 15,000 images per month. Give or take a few. If we are at 100 now, I'd say we'd be around 150,000 come the new year.

Actually, in July we added 20,000 images. In August, it should be well over 20,000.
This compares with 65,000 images in the previous 5 months, so the snowball effect is already happening. 250,000 images by year end is a very good possibility.

Quote from: Ron on August 23, 2013, 11:06
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 

Quote from: cascoly on August 23, 2013, 06:44
and once the system gets going, site owners aren't going to want to keep track of payments to dozens of different paypal accounts;  also, while there are global search engines for symbio, it's never been the intent for these to police the network

I have an affiliate program for my site. I was worried about having to pay a bunch of affiliates or record taxes for them, but I always thought of it as a good problem to have. Unfortunately, I don't have that problem because my affiliates aren't generating sales.

If anybody wants 20%, feel free to sign up. I still want that problem. 

I am super excited guys... things start to come together... stock became fun again. Lets keep the buzz going.

Quote from: Ron on August 23, 2013, 14:28
...stock became fun again...

+1

Quote from: Ron on August 23, 2013, 14:28
... stock became fun again.

+2