Who cares about the name?

Well, it's 50% of the business making sure you get the name right. Get it wrong and you'll pay heavily and that's well documented.

The site is looking really good.

However, looking at the content of work since the search became functional, I somewhat agree with Contakt above.

I can see that they would like a large database for the launch, but really it's quality that will draw in  the buyers and also hold them.

About the name - well! - time will tell all!!

Names don't make that much of a difference

The worlds largest online store is named after a river
The worlds largest maker of MP3 players is called after a fruit

We'll see how it pans out but I think it's no coincidence that the best selling sites all have proper sounding brand names that relate in some way to what they're selling.

Dreamstime?!

I'm not as concerned about the name as I am of the marketing due to start in June. I was hugely skeptical of Lucky Oliver's disdain for traditional marketing, and instead favored "creative" marketing that turned out to be attending a bunch of trade shows. And not much else that I could see.

Yay has also talked about non-traditional marketing (they called it "crafty" marketing) and not the typical ads running in publications that the big guys are using. I wish them well. They've done so much right to this point.

But back when I was consulting in the direct marketing area the first thing you did was look and see what the most successful competition was doing and you tried to do much the same thing only better. They have spent the big bucks finding the most successful mix. It's a great starting point in that you've spent zero of your own money finding the best places to be.

Agreed. As a designer by trade, I rely heavily on the ads in Communication Arts. I'm sure it's pricy to advertise there, but it might be a good start.

..........I signed up started to upload and then........ stopped and deleted all I did.  Part of me wants to go out there and expand...   and another growing part of me is saying,    'downsize', dump the low earners, you don't need more.

LO, busted, NLS, busted....  1/2 dozen others,  may never achieve a payout in my lifetime...  I recently dumped scanstock, crestock, (usps a while ago),   reduced my folio on FP & FT and I've essentially stopped uploading to 123, DT & BigStock, not enough return on the effort.  I'm sticking with StockXpert, SS & IS. 

I never thought I'd ever hear myself say...         ...I'm thinking exclusive, not a whole lot, but I would have never considered it before, in fact, I was quite vocal at bad-mouthing it....   .. Depends on which way the wind's blowing at IS in the future.  Although, it would be tough to give up SS.  ... 

But,  for me,  I think I'm done with upstarts.  We'll see what the future brings.  Besides, Yaymicro has  hundreds of pages of the stuff I sell already,  and a lot of it looks pretty good  (not that I fear competition, not at all.... it just that I usually don't take sand to the beach).  For the immediate future, I'm going to focus on building at Alamy and see what happens

Best to those of you that are taking the Yay plunge!!!   =tom

Curious, I love my Commarts, do you read it end-to-end  or just scan the company copy on coffee break?  They've been friendly enough to publish an article about us before. Any first-hand feedback on how you deal with the ad vs editorial content in these types of trade magazines present is appreciated.

I DO read it cover to cover but, more importantly, I look at the ads. I've been a subscriber as long as I've been in the design business (14 years +). The magazine is not only a great way to check out what my peers / competition are doing, but it's an excellent barometer on the industry (plus they even have an annual photo yearbook).
Prior to my becoming active in microstock, I would make image searches based upon the ads within. Since most of my design work is for the web, I have little interest in the high-end photogs but it is where I first discovered IS and StockXpert since they are regular advertisers. I have to believe that I'm not alone and if it wasn't paying dividends for them, I'm sure they wouldn't buy ad space there.
...hope this sheds some light.
(forgive spelling as I'm typing wayyy too fast...)