Author Topic: Is what you are currently doing working? (Read 17760 times)

GraniteCove · « **Reply #51 on:** October 10, 2017, 17:41 »

The concept makes me think of Fotosearch with a payramp for individuals. Obviously I’m skeptical, partly because the OP has yet to answer any of my questions, but also because I ‘m fully aware of the kind of resources it would take to establish a truly credible and competitive alternative to the big agencies. But his post did get me thinking about a strictly pay per play agency model and whether or not I would even consider contributing to such a beast.

My initial thought was absolutely not. Why would I? But then the wheels started turning and I’m beginning to see that maybe some kind of pay to play model might not be such a bad idea after all. A more or less collective agency something along the lines of Stocksy (but without the entrance barriers) where a nominal PER IMAGE upload fee could potentially provide considerable seed and ongoing marketing capital for the good of all. The per image fee would also in my opinion force each of us to edit more carefully and upload only the best of our best images, eliminate needless similars, and (I know I’m going to get flak for this) in short order winnow out the serious contributors from the chaf. In essence creating a high quality, self curating library with real potential for commercial traction and buyer acceptance. Like Stocksy too, image exclusivity would be mandatory but not contributor exclusivity; leaving contributors free to continue uploading their lesser images elsewhere.

As a contributor the trade off for my up-front risk would need to more than offset the cost of contributing, so one of the things I would need to see would be a “no subscriptions” model to start coupled with a prudent 70/30 or even a 60/40 split in my favor. Whenever I see “100% for you the contributor”, I just know it’s going to fail. Again, like the Stocksy model I personally don’t believe pricing needs to be as low as the big agencies to be competitive but on the other hand not quite as high as theirs either. Somewhere mid-point would still be highly competitive considering the market a site like this would be targeting. I would also need rock solid assurances that my upload fee would go directly toward ongoing marketing of the site. A tall order I know, and I don’t see this sort of thing coming any time soon necessarily, but one thing is for sure - something needs to change because the current model doesn’t seem sustainable for much longer. Not for contributors like me anyway.

sharpshot · « **Reply #54 on:** October 11, 2017, 02:39 »

I'm still unimpressed by the results from the searches I did. It took too long for the second page to load. It did seem like there was only one page of results. Then I had no idea how many pages there would be. There were still less images than on single sites, like Alamy. It was a bit quicker when I tried it just now, so maybe the speed varies through the day?

It would help if you put the total number of images found on the first page but then I suppose that makes buyers realise there isn't as much to look at as there are on some sites and your USP for them has gone?

GraniteCove · « **Reply #55 on:** October 11, 2017, 07:41 »

Thank you for trying to answer my questions JustinB, , and trust me, I did read your FAQ's before I posted. The answers to my specific questions were not there (nor were they in your most recent post) so yes, I do require further explanation.

My questions were not related to how the system handles non-conflicting queries, I understand how that works, but rather how it reconciles searches from competing advertisers on your platform. Perhaps I was not clear enough so I will reframe the question. What happens when you have say 100 photographers with photographs of lets say a pizza. Let's also assume that they are all similarly keyworded which they would naturally be. Since all the photographers are paying the same advertising rate to you how on earth does your system even begin to prioritize those images in the initial sort?

Another question was related to how your system would deal with a photographer who was not interested in selling directly necessarily, but rather leveraging your advertising platform to drive sales to a specific stock agency (something I think could be very useful). I understand how that would work in your organic vs paid scheme, but I don't quite get how that would work if the agency I wanted to direct sales to also advertised with you. Or to complicate things even further, multiple agencies with the same image. Who exactly gets priority and how does your system decide who gets dumped from the search? Either way, someone is not going to be happy.

Please go back and reread my first post.