Quote from: JPSDK on July 16, 2013, 13:09

I wouldnt sign in. I wouldnt dare to pass my credit card info to such a place. And my boss would certainly not allow me, nor would the IT department.

I have a hunch that you, your boss, and your IT department are not the most likely market for SYS websites. You can stick with the big middleman agencies and their rigged markets, pricey credit packs, supplier-squeezing policies, etc.

As a small private vendor, that sometimes buy pictures online I am a very likely customer, mostly for fair trade reasons. I have worked in a huge global company that used many stock photos in their publications. They would not be a likely customer, for the reasons mentioned earlier. As a seller of photographs I would appreaciate both types of customers and I would do a lot to attract the big customers. Such as sign (with my name) the  EULA and provide detailled contact information.

I have an even stronger hunch that there are lots of small businesses and "indie buyers" out there who just want to purchase a photo or two every now and then, aren't interested in $250/month subscriptions or other pay-in-advance plans, and will be happy to use their Paypal accounts to do so. (Nobody will ever have to provide credit card info to "such a place" as one of our SYS websites.)

Quick and easy. And whoever among our network gets the sale earns 100% of the payment. Take that to your IT department!

It helps that it is paypal. But my boss would sill not allow me to buy there. He would say: Who are they? You cannot make deals with people you dont know who are, and are your sure the licence is valid when there is no name and adress on it.

And it might not be!!! Think about it.

The IT department in the large company would be reluctant to open up too many paypal accounts, for fear of abuse...

Quote from: Allsa on July 15, 2013, 08:00

It's very confusing, there are so many Symbiostock threads that I don't know where to find the basic information that I need to get started. Some links would help.

No bologna. I wast thinking they should rename this site  to the Symbiostock Group.

Quote from: JPSDK on July 16, 2013, 06:05

Isnt it amazing? Luis, Im ambitious and blunt.

Its in due time, so people dont have to redo all their work, plus getting used to how things are.

I would actually like to help, also with work, I would very much like to help with pulling symbiostock in a competitive direction. They concept is highly competitive, but it needs a couple of layers on top.

I have the following suggestions:

Form a board, that decides for the whole symbiostock platform.
register the company in a reliable country.
Elect a chairman with procura.
Buy the trademark
make sure you have the rights to the code.
redirect from all symbio, info, bizz and whatever to .com
collect all registring and paying on the front page, evt pay a progammer to do this.
standardize everything, even layout in the separate shops to a degree.
set a launch date and describe milestones on the way.
redelegate PR and SEO to members or a dedicated group
redelegate design to members or a dedicated group
make forums for workgroups or cooperate via skype multiuser.

part of why your initial posts came across as negative is that you don't seem to hae absorbed what symbiostock is about-instead, you're criticizing it for not being what you want it to be.  your helpful comments get lost ...

1. any standards, board, fixed price, etc would turn symbio into an agency, requiring rules, someone to enforce the rules, and that's not the basic design of the system.  you want to turn this into an IT development project. it isn't, and the sym owners don't want it to be.  maybe it won't work, but Beckett had it right:  �No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.�

2. many (most?) sym artists are not looking to replace the agencies by creating a co-op agency.  plus, we see that most of oiur traffic will come from search engines, not branding.  (same holds on the agencies - few people search the agencies for particular photographers).  in sym we're looking for the long tail customers -- those looking for images the agencies call LCV; these buyers don't have big budgets to pay for subscriptions; most (hopefully ) don't have IT hurdles and multiple boss-layers to hack thru.

Quote from: cascoly on July 16, 2013, 14:54

Quote from: JPSDK on July 16, 2013, 06:05

Isnt it amazing? Luis, Im ambitious and blunt.

Its in due time, so people dont have to redo all their work, plus getting used to how things are.

I would actually like to help, also with work, I would very much like to help with pulling symbiostock in a competitive direction. They concept is highly competitive, but it needs a couple of layers on top.

I have the following suggestions:

Form a board, that decides for the whole symbiostock platform.
register the company in a reliable country.
Elect a chairman with procura.
Buy the trademark
make sure you have the rights to the code.
redirect from all symbio, info, bizz and whatever to .com
collect all registring and paying on the front page, evt pay a progammer to do this.
standardize everything, even layout in the separate shops to a degree.
set a launch date and describe milestones on the way.
redelegate PR and SEO to members or a dedicated group
redelegate design to members or a dedicated group
make forums for workgroups or cooperate via skype multiuser.

part of why your initial posts came across as negative is that you don't seem to hae absorbed what symbiostock is about-instead, you're criticizing it for not being what you want it to be.  your helpful comments get lost ...

1. any standards, board, fixed price, etc would turn symbio into an agency, requiring rules, someone to enforce the rules, and that's not the basic design of the system.  you want to turn this into an IT development project. it isn't, and the sym owners don't want it to be.  maybe it won't work, but Beckett had it right:  �No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.�

2. many (most?) sym artists are not looking to replace the agencies by creating a co-op agency.  plus, we see that most of oiur traffic will come from search engines, not branding.  (same holds on the agencies - few people search the agencies for particular photographers).  in sym we're looking for the long tail customers -- those looking for images the agencies call LCV; these buyers don't have big budgets to pay for subscriptions; most (hopefully ) don't have IT hurdles and multiple boss-layers to hack thru.

What you have now is a bazar of grassroots. The salespeople shout and try to catch attention with special bargains and such the customers are confused and might not buy all they want in the bazar.
What I want is that the customers get all they need at the marketplace and do not leave with money in their pocket.

So yes, I want structure, rules and streamlining. Control even and management. Coop sort of like, not exploitation, not parasitism. I hope for an alternative to the middlemen. An alternative agency. Yes thats what I want. But If Im the only one, so be it. Grass roots are nice, and can be very powerful and produce a lot of synergy and innovation. They can also be harnessed and pushed in a direction so that they can be financial competitive. Yes, I want that.

No certainly not. Stoksy is moving out of a tangent and they move far to slow.
I want a grass root agency/ framework/ platform that can compete.

cascoly... I would if a delegation walked up and asked me to join a committee. But if Im the only one who wants oranges, then.....

ron, i didnt know the multi user feature form paypal. Everything can be done. But you cannot say that the buying experience is made easy that way. You have no idea what it takes to have a large company open a door for money to flow out of. Alone the word multi user would freak out the financial department. And for good reasons, it might influence the ISO certifications.

• Most people don't know what exactly what Symbiostock is in function or concept, or how to get started. Hence due to a request I've made a thread on it.
• Before returning to this thread, have popcorn ready.

Quote from: Leo on July 16, 2013, 16:47

   

• Before returning to this thread, have popcorn ready.

You have a good sense of humour Leo!

The IT department in the large company would be reluctant to open up too many paypal accounts, for fear of abuse. It would be  debated and likely refused because its impossible to control the money stream out of such channels. That is why big companies like subscriptions or credit packs. So provide the concept with a those options also.

I find it strange that so many of you come forewards with all kinds of arguments about not aiming at certain groups of customers.
I would never exclude any customers and I would make it as easy as possible for all of them to shop.