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Author Topic: Symzio is now LIVE  (Read 59886 times)

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« Reply #25 on: December 31, 2015, 17:52 »
+1
robin claims to have over 200 installs of newsym but symzio still doesn't reflect that
 
the symbstock.info search yields 50 - 100x or more images from 112 sites totaling 185,000 images  (symzio doesnt report either # of sites nor total # of images)


here are some random searches, updated from a few weeks ago


czech republic - still 0
cambodia - 2 images of 'vietnamese coriander'
new york - 2 images -- now 32 images
seattle - still 0
horse - 12  --> about 100 including many with no horse in sight, including some topless
'cowboys', a plate of tuna, etc

tiger - 0 --> 2

blue sky ---> 86 -  almost all are spam - sky being a minor element

india - only generic food including multiple images of a pepper
   now also spams with dozens of pix of american indians

paris - 30 images - mostly variations of a generic travel poster  --> 49 including multiple
images from Germany

italy - 33 images - mostly more generic posters or isolations of zucchini or pasta --> now 160
including about 30 images of a man in a venetian carnival mask

sunset - 40 - again many are spam   --> now about 250, but still mostly afternoon lighting,
snapshots, etc
 
map - 13 - only 2 are actually maps
buddha - 3
calligraphy - 3
mosaic - about 60, very few are actual mosaics

marijuana - still 0


steheap

  • Author of best selling "Get Started in Stock"

« Reply #26 on: December 31, 2015, 18:00 »
+1
Steve

The two things are totally different. You can choose to use the plugin and create your own site - great, that is one choice and I've been very happy with its performance.

Then, you can choose to put certain images into Symzio - on a one by one basis if you like. Symzio is a new venture, so of course there are not many images there. Hence the post on this forum to let people know it was starting.

Steve

« Reply #27 on: December 31, 2015, 18:39 »
+1
it will never have enough images

« Reply #28 on: December 31, 2015, 18:42 »
+4
Steve

The two things are totally different. You can choose to use the plugin and create your own site - great, that is one choice and I've been very happy with its performance.

Then, you can choose to put certain images into Symzio - on a one by one basis if you like. Symzio is a new venture, so of course there are not many images there. Hence the post on this forum to let people know it was starting.

Steve

understood, but just wanted to inject some reality to counteract the overblown promises of an unreliable narrator of an unproven system; at present there seems to be little reason for any buyer to use symzio --and why, with 200 sites are so few participating?

direct reports of results from those who have joined would led the project a lot more credibility, and converts

« Reply #29 on: December 31, 2015, 18:46 »
0
ALL you contributors will be sorry in 12 months time!!!!

« Reply #30 on: December 31, 2015, 19:35 »
+1
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?

steheap

  • Author of best selling "Get Started in Stock"

« Reply #31 on: December 31, 2015, 19:54 »
+1

« Reply #32 on: January 01, 2016, 02:55 »
+1
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?


I encourage you to read a lot of the stuff I've written about the infrastructure that is Symbiostock and Symzio, because that is where the main meat of it is. There is no magic pill to the problem we've been facing. By signing up with Symbiostock and Symzio, and launching your independent site, you're not going to suddenly start getting sales.

What you will get, however, is a strong sense of the powerful infrastructure we've created which we can use to forge long term success in this business. As you explore more and more of what we're all trying to do and how streamlined the whole process is, you'll start understanding that this is a unique opportunity.

The only thing I'm relatively certain of is that based on all the policies, infrastructure, and mechanisms we now have in place with regards to Symbiostock and Symzio, which has been almost a year in the making, if enough contributors passionately do their best to fight for independent success, a noticeable portion of our monthly revenue will permanently come from Symzio and our independent sites, providing an income stability we've long yearned for. All we need is impassioned participation.

I encourage you to read this post I made:

http://www.symbiostock.org/forums/topic/the-big-switch-the-two-responsibilities-of-every-symbiostock-contributor/

It outlines what every participating member should do to ensure that we don't lose this particularly potent opportunity. Our current members have been spectacular - extremely active in pointing out bugs, pushing the marketing, and debating important mechanisms.

And based on my experiences, if you go through the trouble of launching your independent site, it really is in your best interests to maximize the return you get on your investment. It's all about deciding, right now, if you want to join the fight or sit on the sidelines. You can easily wait for others to do all the work and join when you see revenue coming in - it is up to you to decide what path will provide you the most personal and professional fulfillment.

But just imagine how it will feel when you make your first sale on Symzio, through our own agency - you sell a medium sized image for $1.99 and see $1.80 commission in your account. Then you click over to your affiliate control panel and see an additional $0.19 cents in revenue, because that sale came directly from one of your marketing links.

That is 100% of sales revenue, directly to you. You then flip over to the agencies and see 5 full sized royalty free sales, totaling $1.65 in revenue. Then you ask yourself - "if those sales had come through Symzio, I'd have made $10!". Then look at the entire month -

Agencies: 150 royalty free, full sized images distributed to customers to use indefinitely - your compensation, $49.5.
Symzio: 150 one-time use, medium sized images, distributed to customers to use once - your compensation, $300.

Will the numbers vary? Yes. Are we going to successfully compete with agencies and get all those sales immediately? No. But as I've pointed out on the Symbiostock forums a few times, if even one sale comes to us directly rather than through third parties, we're moving forward by leaps and bounds.

I apologize about this being relatively long, but I wanted to curb any expectations that participation is just signing up - at a minimum, contributors will be encouraged to use social media to promote both their independent sites and Symzio. It's more than just uploading to agencies and sitting back, but the return is so large and valuable that it is nearly inconceivably sweet, given how bad it has been for us for so long.

Thanks for your question, and I hope additional contributors respond to it, sharing their honest thoughts as well. I also hope you are inspired to join in the fight.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2016, 03:09 by Robin@Symbiostock »

« Reply #33 on: January 01, 2016, 07:23 »
+2
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?

IF there are any success stories, they will likely be coming from those who have had a Symbiostock site for years now. I think there were a few people showing some sales, but it had more to do with their ability and opportunity to market their own sites than with the functionality of the Symbiostock software.

I would be interested in seeing actual sales data from those 200 users, too.

Marketing copy about what Symzio is SUPPOSED to do is a little bit different than actual users reporting actual sales. A few sales a week from a couple of people, in my opinion, doesnt justify the time or trouble of setting up the site. Yes, that is taking away sales from the agencies, but each person is concerned about their bottom line...and those who dont have the time to do social media marketing...or dont want to...wont benefit at all.

Once again, as with the original Symbiostock, I believe that someone is going to benefit from this venture, but it isnt going to be the individual photographer. Just my opinion.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2016, 07:32 by cathyslife »

« Reply #34 on: January 01, 2016, 07:53 »
+4
Potential contributors to Symzio should note a few key terms

And who gets to decide if the editorial tag should be there? If there are to be such draconian penalties, there need to be detailed guidelines as to what the Symzio agency's standards are for requiring an editorial tag. Vague handwaving about "appears to be editorial" just doesn't cut it.

Using "contributor controlled" as a marketing gimmick and having terms like most agencies that leave the contributor largely powerless seems to me to be contradictory.

Read the agreements very carefully to be sure you can live with them before participating.

indeed -- thanks very much @Jo Ann for pointing this out. Even if the FAQs may have been updated, this doesn't change much as of this writing.

One doesn't "clarify" stuff like that in some FAQs but one writes proper T&C in the first place! Please have this done properly, @Robin. Unless this is remedied, this is a huge red flag against using Symzio.

-- Cliff
« Last Edit: January 01, 2016, 08:07 by HiCliff(s) »

« Reply #35 on: January 01, 2016, 09:52 »
+3
if 2 sales is a success story then i am ansel adams

« Reply #36 on: January 02, 2016, 08:24 »
0
ALL you contributors will be sorry in 12 months time!!!!

I can guarantee you that you're wrong about that. Even if Symzio as central hub agency fails, contributors will still have their own website presenting their best work available for licensing.

« Reply #37 on: January 02, 2016, 08:50 »
0
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?

If you're a stock contributor anyway, and you're able and willing to set up your own Wordpress website, then it's a no-brainer really. It's like doing the work once but creating 2 sales channels, your own site with 100% revenue, and Symzio with at least 80%. And the community network tools of the Symzio system will even push your own website in a way you could never achieve on your own.

« Reply #38 on: January 02, 2016, 10:03 »
+1
Sounds pretty good, 1.99 getting 1.80 for Med 1 time use, is it clear to buyers that it's a one time use?

Non simplistiy  is istock's  downfall and advertising lots gave it its rise in the beginning and before it was sold, it's unique hi quality collection with a happy medium price was what sustained it




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« Reply #39 on: January 02, 2016, 10:07 »
+1
I have never had a problem with sharing some of my royalties with an agency as long as it was fair... To be honest if an agency is a marketing machine I would gladly take 40% ! ... That was my share in my iStock glory days as an exclusive making ave of $900 mo on 400+ portfolio  😎


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #40 on: January 02, 2016, 10:56 »
+2
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?

If you're a stock contributor anyway, and you're able and willing to set up your own Wordpress website, then it's a no-brainer really. It's like doing the work once but creating 2 sales channels, your own site with 100% revenue, and Symzio with at least 80%. And the community network tools of the Symzio system will even push your own website in a way you could never achieve on your own.

Putting together your own website is a huge amount of work, and for most people it simply won't be worth it. It wasn't for me. I could have spent that time creating content for the sites that do sell, even if I get lower royalties from them. If you have some sort of built-in customer base...say, you own a printing shop and can create images that would be printed on your items, so you can direct printing customers to your image store...or if you have a network of potential buyers who already use you for custom work, so you can suggest they also check out your library of stock images...or you're knowledgeable about "black hat" methods to drive traffic to your website...then it might be worth it.

Sadly, it sounds like Symzio still leaves it up to everyone to fend for him or herself when it comes to marketing and getting traffic. In fact, Robin expects you to help out with marketing Symzio as well. More time you could have spent creating content.

If I had it to do again (and I might) I'd create a simple portfolio site for myself with a small sample of my work and ask people to contact me directly about licensing or custom stuff. Then I could set prices depending on the usage.

For what it's worth, I guess I'm one of the "success stories," with a few sales a month. Not enough to even start to make up for all the time it took to create my site, though.

« Reply #41 on: January 02, 2016, 11:05 »
+3
Shelma1,

That's a really good assessment  😊

It's really tough Without advertising


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

« Reply #42 on: January 02, 2016, 11:57 »
0
Hey Shelma - thanks for your comments - a couple of things:

1) SEO is all about link juice. Basically, it's a type of 'democracy'. That is to say, if search engines gather that lots of different people are 'voting' for a specific site, that site gets boosted in the search engine. The interesting thing is, it is nearly impossible to buy these votes nowadays - agencies rely on big budget advertising to maintain their 'link juice' by being mentioned in blogs and what not as a result of being noticed.

As the independent contributor network is made up of so many different people, if we all did our part to 'vote' for each other and Symzio, it is highly likely that cumulatively, our organic footprint would effectively dwarf the agencies... for free. This is why it is so exciting, and why the contributors that see this potential are so driven towards its success - it's actually very attainable to create an agency that has more organic SEO power than any other agency in the world... if we work together.

2) I don't know about legacy, but the new Symbiostock is plug and play - you could literally have a basic site up and running within about 20 minutes. You should give it a quick try just to get a feel for it and let us know what you think. Designing it may take more time, but that's relatively normal when it comes to design related stuff. The only exception to this time estimate is if your web-host does not support the basic functions required for Symbiostock to run.

KimsCreativeHub: Simplicity was a huge factor in our pricing system. We wanted a reliable low-cost medium size specifically to target digital purchases. Our licenses have the 'one time use' title attached to them, from the product page to the checkout, and we remind end users of the licensing terms pretty much everywhere.

As for 40%, forget that! You deserve at least 80%. It's all your equity, your work.

--------

The average contributor that is currently not with Symbiostock can likely have an operational Symbiostock site up and running within about 1 hour, including signing up with a web-host and registering a domain name. The domain name would cost about $10, and the host would be perhaps $5-$10.

Then they could set it up basically and start uploading media, which is all done via FTP, processed automatically. Within 24 hours, it is likely they would have over one thousand images on sale on their own independent site. Then they apply to Symzio.

That's it. Within about 24 hours and $20 in costs, you can have your own independent site running and syndicated in Symzio.

Then, just mention your site, Symzio, or one of your peers every now and then in a blog, or on Twitter, or on Facebook.

If everyone did this, I believe sales on Symzio and independent sites would begin to provide a substantial revenue stream for every participating contributor.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #43 on: January 02, 2016, 12:30 »
+3
We already did all that, Robin. The SEO thing never really panned out. Signing up with a web host and registering a domain name are a teeny tiny fraction of the amount of time it takes to build a site; it's disingenuous to pretend otherwise. And from what I've heard Google frowns on reciprocal linking, which is a serious problem with this entire idea of hundreds of stock producers linking sites to one another.

But really, one of the reasons Symbiostock failed was from a lack of coordinated marketing. And Symzio offers none, but rather expects us to do it for them. It's a step in the wrong direction, IMO.

« Reply #44 on: January 02, 2016, 12:33 »
+1
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?

If you're a stock contributor anyway, and you're able and willing to set up your own Wordpress website, then it's a no-brainer really. It's like doing the work once but creating 2 sales channels, your own site with 100% revenue, and Symzio with at least 80%. And the community network tools of the Symzio system will even push your own website in a way you could never achieve on your own.

Putting together your own website is a huge amount of work, and for most people it simply won't be worth it. It wasn't for me.

We've discussed all issues the old Symbiostock had (mostly in the Facebook group). One issue was that it really was quirky, hard to handle and not easy to maintain.
These problems are gone. The new Symbiostock plugin is based on WooCommerce as selling platform. The new plugin is way easier to set up and to handle, is more performant and a lot more stable.

The second, even more important core issue was, that Leo as developer and driving force couldn't really gain anything from his efforts toward the project and eventually completely dropped the ball. This problem is gone now, too. Robin is not only a very capable developer but he's also entrepreneur enough to invest his time and work into an enterprise designed to make money at a later point.
I certainly don't agree on everything with Robin or Symzio, but at least there's a clear vision and a strong driving force. And it's one of the best stock selling options available. From a technical, sales, and revenue point of view.

« Reply #45 on: January 02, 2016, 13:20 »
+1
Would consider joining.  Any success stories from current users? Any regrets?

If you're a stock contributor anyway, and you're able and willing to set up your own Wordpress website, then it's a no-brainer really. It's like doing the work once but creating 2 sales channels, your own site with 100% revenue, and Symzio with at least 80%. And the community network tools of the Symzio system will even push your own website in a way you could never achieve on your own.

Putting together your own website is a huge amount of work, and for most people it simply won't be worth it. It wasn't for me.

We've discussed all issues the old Symbiostock had (mostly in the Facebook group). One issue was that it really was quirky, hard to handle and not easy to maintain.
These problems are gone. The new Symbiostock plugin is based on WooCommerce as selling platform. The new plugin is way easier to set up and to handle, is more performant and a lot more stable.

The second, even more important core issue was, that Leo as developer and driving force couldn't really gain anything from his efforts toward the project and eventually completely dropped the ball. This problem is gone now, too. Robin is not only a very capable developer but he's also entrepreneur enough to invest his time and work into an enterprise designed to make money at a later point.
I certainly don't agree on everything with Robin or Symzio, but at least there's a clear vision and a strong driving force. And it's one of the best stock selling options available. From a technical, sales, and revenue point of view.

Redneck is right, I agree 100%.

The chances to succeed with Symbiostock as a community push have never been better. Sure, it is betting a little money and some valuable time on something with no guaranties regarding the individual outcome and for the community as a whole. However, for me it is also a matter of self-respect: Am I willing to accept down to lousy 15% of what buyers pay from my agents without even trying to do it myself without any greedy agents? - My answer is a firm NO!!! - And currently Symbiostock/Symzio is simply the best way to act accordingly. 

marthamarks

« Reply #46 on: January 02, 2016, 13:33 »
0
I still have my original Symbiostock (SYS) site, although with a new layout of my own choosing (Elegant Themes' Divi) and Woo Commerce (using Leo's grfx setup): http://bestnaturestock.com/

When Robin came out with "new SYS," I understood I couldn't migrate the text I'd written for each image in "old SYS" and would have to redo it all. With 2,000 images/pages of text, that was a deal-breaker for me then, and it still would be.

So I'll ask now: is that still the case or is it now possible to migrate the descriptive text that accompanies each of my images?

Overall, I'm happy with the look and feel of my site, but as a sole proprietor I don't get any benefit from being part of a group. I could see switching if the text carried over.

And I appreciate the feedback from Redneck and others I got to know in the early-SYS days. It's good to hear you're happy with the new SYS.

« Reply #47 on: January 02, 2016, 13:36 »
0
Hi Shelma:

1) I just timed myself - it took me 10 minutes to setup a new Symbiostock site on a fresh server. This includes uploading an image, titling it as my store, and choosing a free WooCommerce compatible theme. WordPress already installed, however. It really is that easy.

2) Co-ordinated marketing:

http://www.symbiostock.org/forums/topic/dec2015-what-have-you-done-to-promote-symzio-this-month/

Nothing more effective than organic, random backlinks created through relevant channels. Any more co-ordination and Google would think we're trying to game it.

3) Reciprocal linking is highly effective, and very potent when it comes to SEO juice, as long as the links are relevant. The reciprocal linking myth is only based on 'link farms' - thousands of sites spawned just to generate link juice. Nothing to do with us.

I realize you may be burned out from the efforts you put forth with legacy, and am in no position to gauge your apprehension based on that. However, from a purely technical standpoint, we've got your points covered.
« Last Edit: January 02, 2016, 13:43 by Robin@Symbiostock »

« Reply #48 on: January 02, 2016, 13:50 »
0
marthamarks, i assume youra graphic designer and how are your sales using the graphic designer plugin?

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #49 on: January 02, 2016, 14:09 »
+1
Hi Shelma:

1) I just timed myself - it took me 10 minutes to setup a new Symbiostock site on a fresh server. This includes uploading an image, titling it as my store, and choosing a free WooCommerce compatible theme. WordPress already installed, however. It really is that easy.

2) Co-ordinated marketing:

http://www.symbiostock.org/forums/topic/dec2015-what-have-you-done-to-promote-symzio-this-month/

Nothing more effective than organic, random backlinks created through relevant channels. Any more co-ordination and Google would think we're trying to game it.

3) Reciprocal linking is highly effective, and very potent when it comes to SEO juice, as long as the links are relevant. The reciprocal linking myth is only based on 'link farms' - thousands of sites spawned just to generate link juice. Nothing to do with us.

I realize you may be burned out from the efforts you put forth with legacy, and am in no position to gauge your apprehension based on that. However, from a purely technical standpoint, we've got your points covered.


1) I've already said simple things like choosing a theme and a name are relatively quick and easy. And that that's the tiny tip of a huge iceberg of work.

2) You're asking everyone to do their own marketing and Symzio's as well, as I pointed out.

3) reciprocal linking did very little for most of us, as I said above.

The trick is getting eyeballs to the sites, and I don't see anything here that's any different than old Symbiostock, other than asking people to do more marketing work while giving you a cut.

Not burned out, just realistic. I make a decent hourly wage creating images for the big sites, and I lose money every hour I work on my own site. Simple mathematics. Best of luck.

« Last Edit: January 02, 2016, 14:18 by Shelma1 »


 

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