Author Topic: What's holding you back from joining Symbiostock? (Read 90446 times)

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #250 on:** August 01, 2013, 17:11 »

Quote from: ayzek on August 01, 2013, 16:58

Today, i just started to build mine. Uploaded only 6 images for tests. I have just some text work (EULA, mails, etc) than i will start uploading. here my site http://ayzekstock.com/

Wow - I recognize your port from the old days!!!

ayzek · « **Reply #251 on:** August 01, 2013, 17:24 »

Quote from: Leo on August 01, 2013, 17:11

Quote from: ayzek on August 01, 2013, 16:58
Today, i just started to build mine. Uploaded only 6 images for tests. I have just some text work (EULA, mails, etc) than i will start uploading. here my site http://ayzekstock.com/ [nofollow]

Wow - I recognize your port from the old days!!!

its really nice that someone recognize you

Thank you so much for your hard work on Symbiostock. I just want to be in network.

gbalex · « **Reply #252 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:14 »

Has there been a consensus regarding a compatible, reliable and affordable hosting provider. I am very interested in building a site but do not currently have a hosting provider.

I looked at a few of the threads but there does not seem to be much info about providers yet. What is your experience now that you have your sites up for a while? Are you happy or not happy with your provider?

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #253 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:24 »

Its a "best case" scenario. I think many people will tell you their experiences, so I'll leave it to that. Overall though Symbiostock seems to be doing well across most "average" choices. There are a few to avoid as well.

Travelling-light · « **Reply #254 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:47 »

Quote from: gbalex on August 01, 2013, 19:14

Has there been a consensus regarding a compatible, reliable and affordable hosting provider. I am very interested in building a site but do not currently have a hosting provider.

I looked at a few of the threads but there does not seem to be much info about providers yet. What is your experience now that you have your sites up for a while? Are you happy or not happy with your provider?

Most people on Bluehost seem reasonably happy. The base package is cheap and flexible, no memory problems, ImageMagic readily available. The downside is occasional short-lived downtime, usually because of noisy neighbours on the same box. More solid options are available at extra cost if business grows to need it. The live chat support has been good the couple of times I've used it.

Pilens · « **Reply #255 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:50 »

Bluehost works flawless for me. It's cheap, too. But pretty slow. Guess you get what you pay for

They have every option to upgrade your hosting plan, of course. I'll wait for a buying frenzy before I upgrade, though

Randomway · « **Reply #256 on:** August 01, 2013, 19:57 »

I'm just making the jump now, and am putting together my Symbiostock site at www.foodvectors.com. I'm in the setup phase. I'll admit, I don't have a full handle on Sandbox, so I may try switching to regular Paypal, to test out transactions.

So far, the setup process has been easy. The tutorials have been really helpful.

cathyslife · « **Reply #257 on:** August 01, 2013, 20:05 »

Quote from: Randomway on August 01, 2013, 19:57

I'm just making the jump now, and am putting together my Symbiostock site at www.foodvectors.com. I'm in the setup phase. I'll admit, I don't have a full handle on Sandbox, so I may try switching to regular Paypal, to test out transactions.

So far, the setup process has been easy. The tutorials have been really helpful.

I am anxious to see your site and your food vectors. I have a lot of food photos...it's my favorite thing to photograph.

I tried setting up Sandbox too, on two separate occasions, and had trouble figuring it out. I just switched to live and never had an issue.

marthamarks · « **Reply #258 on:** August 01, 2013, 20:12 »

Quote from: cclapper on August 01, 2013, 20:05

I tried setting up Sandbox too, on two separate occasions, and had trouble figuring it out. I just switched to live and never had an issue.

Cathy, did you have to do anything else to get PayPal to work, other than switch from "Sandbox" to "live"? That's all I've done, but I don't know if it's working or not. I think somewhere in the Forums I read that you have to make some additional changes inside your PP account to get it to work. Is that true or not?

Thanks!

picture5469 · « **Reply #259 on:** August 02, 2013, 02:36 »

Quote from: marthamarks on August 01, 2013, 20:12

Quote from: cclapper on August 01, 2013, 20:05

I tried setting up Sandbox too, on two separate occasions, and had trouble figuring it out. I just switched to live and never had an issue.

Cathy, did you have to do anything else to get PayPal to work, other than switch from "Sandbox" to "live"? That's all I've done, but I don't know if it's working or not. I think somewhere in the Forums I read that you have to make some additional changes inside your PP account to get it to work. Is that true or not?

Thanks!

You need to set up the pay pal IPN return. This is in your pay pal settings. I'm not technical so I called paypal and they guided me through it.

marthamarks · « **Reply #260 on:** August 02, 2013, 07:19 »

Quote from: picture5469 on August 02, 2013, 02:36

Quote from: marthamarks on August 01, 2013, 20:12
Quote from: cclapper on August 01, 2013, 20:05

I tried setting up Sandbox too, on two separate occasions, and had trouble figuring it out. I just switched to live and never had an issue.

Cathy, did you have to do anything else to get PayPal to work, other than switch from "Sandbox" to "live"? That's all I've done, but I don't know if it's working or not. I think somewhere in the Forums I read that you have to make some additional changes inside your PP account to get it to work. Is that true or not?

Thanks!

You need to set up the pay pal IPN return. This is in your pay pal settings. I'm not technical so I called paypal and they guided me through it.

Thanks so much for that. I appreciate the help!

Gadzooks, there are a lot of things to do to get this going. Fortunately, the knowledge base in this group is extensive and people are willing to share info.

Ron · « **Reply #261 on:** August 02, 2013, 07:27 »

IPN is something different than Auto Return.

All you need to do is add the return URL and activate PDT if you want to

Login into PayPal and click this link and you are done in 2 seconds

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/customerprofileweb?cmd=_profile-website-payments

marthamarks · « **Reply #262 on:** August 02, 2013, 08:03 »

Quote from: Ron on August 02, 2013, 07:27

IPN is something different than Auto Return.

All you need to do is add the return URL and activate PDT if you want to

Login into PayPal and click this link and you are done in 2 seconds

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/customerprofileweb?cmd=_profile-website-payments

Again, Ron, thanks sooo much!

I'm anxious to be done with all this setting-up stuff. Still got a slew of photos to work into my site.

cathyslife · « **Reply #263 on:** August 02, 2013, 09:54 »

Didnt mean to ignore you, martha. Just at my day job and wanted to check before answering...glad others helped you. I have a personal paypal account and i believe i just had to add the ipn SY address in a setting in my profile and of course the address in the SY site area. Everything else worked as expected from there. Not a detailed answer, i know. Sorry im not much help these days.

Randomway · « **Reply #264 on:** August 02, 2013, 11:48 »

Thank you all for your Paypal advice. After adding in the autoreturn/ipn info, I just had a full transaction work properly. I also checked my other site, and its payments are still functioning properly. Now I can start some serious image uploading.

Cathy - I'm definitely a food image fan. Every time I see a food show, on tv, my first thought is 'I could make a graphic on that!' I've got a big list of graphics I want to make specifically for this site, too.

marthamarks · « **Reply #265 on:** August 02, 2013, 12:08 »

Quote from: cclapper on August 02, 2013, 09:54

Didnt mean to ignore you, martha. Just at my day job and wanted to check before answering...glad others helped you. I have a personal paypal account and i believe i just had to add the ipn SY address in a setting in my profile and of course the address in the SY site area. Everything else worked as expected from there. Not a detailed answer, i know. Sorry im not much help these days.

Not to worry, Cathy. I'm doing okay... or would be if I could get onto my SYS site this morning!

Once I can do that again, I'll follow through with your suggestions. I already have a PP account too, so it should be easy.

I did get the Auto Response page set up, right before Bluehost went down a few hours ago. This game is never dull.

Have a good weekend!

cathyslife · « **Reply #266 on:** August 02, 2013, 12:31 »

Quote from: Randomway on August 02, 2013, 11:48

Thank you all for your Paypal advice. After adding in the autoreturn/ipn info, I just had a full transaction work properly. I also checked my other site, and its payments are still functioning properly. Now I can start some serious image uploading.

Cathy - I'm definitely a food image fan. Every time I see a food show, on tv, my first thought is 'I could make a graphic on that!' I've got a big list of graphics I want to make specifically for this site, too.

Same here! I just need to get my studio set back up and get into the groove.

cathyslife · « **Reply #267 on:** August 02, 2013, 12:32 »

Quote from: marthamarks on August 02, 2013, 12:08

Quote from: cclapper on August 02, 2013, 09:54
Didnt mean to ignore you, martha. Just at my day job and wanted to check before answering...glad others helped you. I have a personal paypal account and i believe i just had to add the ipn SY address in a setting in my profile and of course the address in the SY site area. Everything else worked as expected from there. Not a detailed answer, i know. Sorry im not much help these days.

Not to worry, Cathy. I'm doing okay... or would be if I could get onto my SYS site this morning!

Once I can do that again, I'll follow through with your suggestions. I already have a PP account too, so it should be easy.

I did get the Auto Response page set up, right before Bluehost went down a few hours ago. This game is never dull.

Have a good weekend!

I dont think you will have trouble...once bluehost is back up. I just googled what i wanted to do and it took me right to paypals instructions.

solphoto · « **Reply #268 on:** August 02, 2013, 17:21 »

New to the group here - kind of shy about posting.

What's holding me back: I've been a part time microstocker for some time, and just got a rejection notice yesterday from Stocksy (they were very nice about it and asked me to reapply in two months); the latest in a long line of rejections from larger agencies: Getty, Corbis, etc, over the years. My thinking is, my photos aren't commercially viable for significant stock photography.

I've been changing my shooting style over the last two years (much of it hasn't been published), and trying to up my game in many different ways to adjust to the ever changing marketplace.

I have the software deployed and am testing it in local environment. It seems simple and works well. I'm in talks with my (private) web host now about virtual machines vs. dedicated servers for enterprise level hosting for what I would anticipate would be a growing library of images. I have plenty of time as I'm currently unemployed from my "day job" (as a web developer). I think it comes down to being insecure about the images themselves and what I have to offer. I'd hate to invest my time and efforts on work that's not any good - if I am being brutally honest about it. I do sell on the microstock agencies but until recently it hasn't been stellar. I think I've come "on board", so to speak, too little too late.

Symbiostock is exciting and I'd love to jump onto the bandwagon, but I'm taking extra time to go through my complete library of images to cull through everything to ensure that my work is actually commercial.

fotomelange · « **Reply #269 on:** August 07, 2013, 10:52 »

Quote from: Leo on July 16, 2013, 00:24

Its amazing how fast this thread developed.

Maybe its worth stating - with all we observe and speculate - its meant to be a sandbox. Either on an individual level or a community.

Symbiostock's real strength is that it can be molded to what you want it to be. All the things you mention - positive or negative - any motivated and knowledgable people (or groups of people) can make adjustments.

There really is no "What Symbiostock is" because that differs from person to person. Its more about what it can be - an anyone is welcome to play in the sandbox

Example: People want quality control. Easy - make a closed network of trusted members with the same values. Then watch your combined quality kite you straight to the top. If you want consistent licensing and such, have a "hub site" which is little more than a few pages of terms and prices. Have your product pages reference that site.

I think the most important thing is to stop looking at limitations and start seeing a custom vehicle ready to be modded to your wishes.

So leo how do you integrate people who have or will have their own independent site but may not be connected to the symbio software approach? I have not taken the step in this direction either because it is too technical for me but would like to participate by way of linking or something. Would love your feedback or that of others.

cascoly · « **Reply #270 on:** August 07, 2013, 16:32 »

Quote from: fotomelange on August 07, 2013, 10:52

So leo how do you integrate people who have or will have their own independent site but may not be connected to the symbio software approach? I have not taken the step in this direction either because it is too technical for me but would like to participate by way of linking or something. Would love your feedback or that of others.

there really isn't a way, since the essence of symbio is the networking and that requires having a sym site -- both the site search and the global search requires there be specifically formatted files available to access

the only alternative would be the traditional link exchage

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #271 on:** August 07, 2013, 16:46 »

Sorry I've been busy - client stuff and still working on Sym versions.

A conversion could be done. If your existing site has a predictable structure or system, I could write a script that retrieves all the important info and populates the images.

That would be quite an operation and not free. I'd suggest only doing it if you are already well established and know you will make a return on investment.

Dave · « **Reply #272 on:** August 08, 2013, 00:42 »

The biggest problem with having your OWN site is promotion and getting your images higher than any other images that the end user searches for.

I also think that the high earning stock sites END users just go to their favourites site/s and do a search internally on that site, not doing a google search at all.

I think our energies can be better spent shooting, editing and uploading to stock photography sites that are well established and YES they sting us over the commission they take but they ALSO promote our images for us in much better ways that we can.

picture5469 · « **Reply #273 on:** August 08, 2013, 00:47 »

Quote from: Dave on August 08, 2013, 00:42

The biggest problem with having your OWN site is promotion and getting your images higher than any other images that the end user searches for.

I also think that the high earning stock sites END users just go to their favourites site/s and do a search internally on that site, not doing a google search at all.

I think our energies can be better spent shooting, editing and uploading to stock photography sites that are well established and YES they sting us over the commission they take but they ALSO promote our images for us in much better ways that we can.

The end user probably does that because they dont realise they have a choice. However, people are having sales on symbiostock and its early days.

Redneck · « **Reply #274 on:** August 08, 2013, 07:49 »

Quote from: Dave on August 08, 2013, 00:42

I think our energies can be better spent shooting, editing and uploading to stock photography sites that are well established and YES they sting us over the commission they take but they ALSO promote our images for us in much better ways that we can.

Staying/being with most microstock agencies is modern days slavery. They feed you just as many peanuts to stay alive and to keep you working for them.
And no, they don't promote YOUR images. They promote what they think sells. That might be very different from your perspective.

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Author Topic: What's holding you back from joining Symbiostock? (Read 90446 times)

Leo Blanchette

ayzek

gbalex

Leo Blanchette

Travelling-light

Pilens

Randomway

cathyslife

marthamarks

picture5469

marthamarks

Ron

marthamarks

cathyslife

Randomway

marthamarks

cathyslife

cathyslife

solphoto

fotomelange

cascoly

Leo Blanchette

Dave

picture5469

Redneck

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