Quote from: klsbear on August 20, 2013, 18:07

Quote from: cthoman on August 20, 2013, 16:25

Back to the original theme of what's holding me back... I've been thinking about it more, and it really doesn't make a lot of sense to start a whole new site just to experiment with. It's just a waste of time to commit to something that I'm really not going to commit to. It doesn't make much sense to convert my current site to a Symbio site. It doesn't look like much of a functional upgrade from what I have. And if I was going to put in that effort, I'd probably spend money/time on a custom built site that does everything I want. That seems to be the most logical 2.0 MyStockVectors (or is it 3.0?).

The only thing I really see as missing would be the community and networking. That seems to be the real value. So, I guess my question would be, what about a Symbio plugin for us outsiders? I'm not sure how that would work, but I figured it would be worth bringing up.

I can see the sense in keeping an existing site that is working well for you.  But what is stopping you from creating a Symbiostock site that would function as just a portal to bring more views and hopefully buyers to your existing site?  You can set it up without the purchase option and just have each image link to the same image on your current site for purchases.  That would give you the advantage of the linked network while retaining your current site functionality and SEO status.

That's a decent idea. It still would be a huge undertaking to link every image. I'm not sure how I feel about creating an entire site full of links either.

It does have it's pros and cons.  Huge undertaking for sure and it does pull people away from the network once they are on your outside site, but by the same token your Symbiostock site could bring people to the network via Google searches.  The linking I've seen was more limited, not the full site, using the Symbiostock site for most images but also showing some that were exclusive to Stocksy, linking there.

.......
The only thing I really see as missing would be the community and networking. That seems to be the real value. So, I guess my question would be, what about a Symbio plugin for us outsiders? I'm not sure how that would work, but I figured it would be worth bringing up.

the networking requires that images be in the symbio database format to enable the global searches, etc.  not sure how an outside site would be able to fit in - would probably be less work to set up the parallel symbio site for your other website

One of the earliest features in Symbiostock was the ability to create a site and link the images to the agencies for completing the sale

It just seems so mindbogglingly complicated!!!! I know very little about ....all this....!
I see you say use Blue-something for the domain (can't remember precisely). About 7$ per month. Is that right or is there more? Are there other costs?
Amanda's blog looks fairly logical though I won't say simple (speaking as somebody who until very recently thought you just unzipped zipped files but recently discovered you can also extract them!).
Even if I get a site up and running, what are the chances of anybody finding me? I don't do FB, Twitter etc and have no real desire to do so.... SEO seems to be the key - is that right? Plus getting indexed on Google - which happens automatically - I think? But there are MILLIONS of images on Google - some for sale others for...well....just right-clicking!
I love the idea of moving away from some of the agencies who clearly only pursue their own interests...but am very much a small and un-tekky fish in this vast and complicated ocean.....
Am I panicking over nothing much??
PS If I was a buyer - where would I go? Is there a Symbiostock homepage - when I Googled it, all I got was info for sellers...
Thanks for any comments in advance - I am quite tempted but need reassurance!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for that Christine - really helpful! Love the bit about SEO - I too had to look it up on Google!!!!!!
Will investigate more.
Thanks again!

I actually found a link to one of my pages from Google Webmasters on the front page of Google doing a keyword search.  I didn't get to the SEO on that file until today.  So they are getting indexed and do show up in site searches...image searches on the other hand are taking some time...for me at least.

It just seems so mindbogglingly complicated!!!! I know very little about ....all this....!

One step at a time. You can look at Symbiostock as a training project to educate yourself how to build a Wordpress site on your own. While you're doing it, you're also publishing your own images on a 100% royalty commission network. That alone should be motivation enough

I see you say use Blue-something for the domain (can't remember precisely). About 7$ per month. Is that right or is there more? Are there other costs?

I am on Hostgator and I'm very happy with their performance (speed/reliability). BlueHost was recommended here on the forums and I did have a friend sign up there and regret it now. Bluehost is just slow. No idea if my friend's site is on a slow shared server but it's no fun browsing the portfolio there.

Even if I get a site up and running, what are the chances of anybody finding me? I don't do FB, Twitter etc and have no real desire to do so.... SEO seems to be the key - is that right? Plus getting indexed on Google - which happens automatically - I think? But there are MILLIONS of images on Google - some for sale others for...well....just right-clicking!

I don't even have a Facebook account. My Twitter account that I sometimes use, rarely drives any people to my site. Forget about social networks. You need organic traffic, which means you want only those people to come to your site who actually want to purchase a particular image. Google images will be your friend in all this.

Your site will be indexed automatically - don't worry.

When people do an images search on Google and see your image there (with watermark). They click on "Visit site" and have the option to purchase it right there. It's really cool. Don't worry about the "free" images on Google. The most important part is that your images (with watermark) are indexed and searchable. People who need exactly your image will be willing to pay for it anyway.

I love the idea of moving away from some of the agencies who clearly only pursue their own interests...but am very much a small and un-tekky fish in this vast and complicated ocean.....

Don't forget that there is a huge Wordpress community out there. It's open source - "everybody's doing it". You are not alone. Installing and setting up a Wordpress site is a relatively straight forward process. Most web hosting companies offer an installation wizard that walks you through the Wordpress installation in very few steps. No biggie. Again, if you run into trouble, just post your questions here and we will try to help!!!

Am I panicking over nothing much??

Once you jump in you will understand what you were panicking over... it's less than nothing much

PS If I was a buyer - where would I go? Is there a Symbiostock homepage - when I Googled it, all I got was info for sellers...

There are a few meta search engines for the Symbiostock network like:
www.symbiostock.info
and
http://cascoly.com/symbio/symbiostock-network.asp

Thanks for any comments in advance - I am quite tempted but need reassurance!!!!!!!!!!!

It's fun, try it out!

Ok, can someone explain what's the difference and benefit between SYS and other sites like PhotoShelter etc.
The question is very simple why SYS  not PhotoShelter and why SYS is the most promising project.
Tks,

 If that's all thanks for the info.
Best,

The question is very simple why SYS  not PhotoShelter and why SYS is the most promising project.

As a developer I certainly make no promises.

To skirt tons of details I'll just use one of my usual illustrations:

Right now Symbiostock is an unusually healthy little sprout growing in the dying desert garden of microstock. When the time is right, we're going to uproot this healthy little sprout and plant it in a rainforest of emerging markets having nothing to do with the overused, badly abused world of modern day stock photo. 

I like thinking of myself as one little green shoot that ultimately will, together with all the other green SYS shoots, regenerate the dying microstock garden. Cool!

I sure (hope?) everyone realizes this is a group effort! The more we promote the Network the better it is for everyone including yourself. The problem before is everyone was their own little site with a few thousand images at most. If I were a client I would want a variety of images to choose from. Symbiostock will solve this problem. Everyone just needs to be sure to include the global search (symbiostock.info) as one of their network links. Currently there are many holes that need to be filled, but that will come with more and more artists signing on. As this grows and more artists hear of it more will sign creating the snowball effect.
The Network needs to attain a certain size (1,000,000 images and 1000 quality artists?) to be truly viable and to become a destination where clients will go to find their images they need. It will take time but it is the first site I have ever seen where this is a distinct possibility. The snowball effect is slow to start but hard to stop once it gets going. It may just be the game changer we have all been looking for. I'm sure the agencies are already aware of Symbiostock but currently are not too concerned. I wonder how that will change in a few years. Just my meager .02¢

Great post !

We are having our BME on Symbiostock. Our micro income is on target for WMY.
If that doesn't persuade you, I don't know what will