...but will be brought back up!  I'm going to make this next site better when I get the chance.

See the benefits of non-centralization? My money making website (network connected) as well as Symbiostock both crashed due to traffic overages. I saved the money making one one, but have to rebuild the other! No big deal.

The point is - even when someone squashes the queen bee, the rest of the hive can go on working.

Its just really cool how the main site got destroyed and nobody even noticed except by a few minor inconveniences.

And that, people, is why we build the network!

Actually watching the site get melted was more of a moment of success. Symbiostock and my site went out of commission, Cathy reports sales the next day .

I wish more people would stop watching from the sidelines and start getting their hands dirty. The more growth Symbiostock has as a whole, the more it will magnetize an audience.

On that note, I don't think we're really taking advantages of networking like we should. We could easily be sending signals through the network, sending all sorts of info to respond to traffic changes, even leveraging social networks to cause viral marketing in response to traffic trends.

This network is just waiting to be used. Its non-centralized, but still like one big machine that can be turned on.

Leo, don’t you think about creating affiliate/referral program for Symbiostock so also people outside of stock community (not stock photographers/illustrators) will have stronger motivation to promote Symbiostock sites/network?

I actually have no idea how exactly should that Symbiostock affiliate/referral program work, because of course Symbiostock is about 100% earnings from sales going to pocket of image author, whereas affiliate/referral programs are about sharing of some % from image sales. That is contradictory at a first glance. So I don't know whether it should (or could) be similar to typical programs used by stock agencies, that are based on sharing of percentage from sales. Or whether it should be some completely different/revolutionary marketing affiliate/referral scheme that Symbiostock will establish.

I am just curious, that’s all ... whether you plan something like affiliate/referral program in future of Symbiostock , or no?

Easily! A bonus traffic program.

Easily! A bonus traffic program.

I am not sure what exactly to imagine by bonus traffic program, but I will let myself be surprised what it will be when it will be. 

If someone successfully refers people to Symbiostock, they get bonus traffic from around the network for a given amount of time.

Good ideas Leo! But as I understand it this traffic sharing in form of referral bonus that will be given to website bringing traffic will work only if person participating on this kind of referral program has Symbiostock website. But how will you to reward people that are outside of Symbiostock network? How to motivate people outside of Symbiostock or completely outside of stock photograhy field to participate on Symbiostock promotion? Or you don’t want promotion from outside? Do you want to rely only on power of network and its photographers participating on promotion? Maybe it is really enough. (I don’t know the answer, time will show.) Yes, your network is getting stronger and stronger by new sites being included, which brings new possibilities how to take advantages from that strong power Symbiostock networking brings. But I guess it would be also good if you had something that will motivate people outside of this community in promotion. (Through I am not sure what it should be, or how it should work.)

Yes, your network is getting stronger and stronger by new sites being included, which brings new possibilities how to take advantages from that strong power Symbiostock networking brings. But I guess it would be also good if you had something that will motivate people outside of this community in promotion. (Through I am not sure what it should be, or how it should work.)

The Roots of this are already starting to take shape... in the Marketer  setting.

What I would like to see is sites that curate the network.  For example if I run a site called "best nature image" and I spend the time and effort to find what I think are the best nature images on the network and publish links to them.  The problem is check-out and payments.  We need a code warrior to come up with a way to use paypal's split payment system to send percentages where they should go.

Great!