Quote from: Shelma1 on January 10, 2015, 10:18

I disagree. The big buyers�ad agencies�are starting to see the change in quality at Shutterstock and are more likely to sign on, leading to larger sales. I think that's a reason to offer contributors another subs tier, at least. Plus, it's just nice to reward the people who are helping your success. Especially when you're a billionaire.

If you're saying big buyers are seeing a positive change in quality and more ad agencies are signing on then you're proving my point. SS is growing the buyer base without incentives to contributors so they have no reason to give a financial incentive. Could they get more big buyers by offering contributors an incentive to produce more of the right content? Maybe, but my guess is they already ran the analysis on that and determined either the payoff or risk weren't worth it or they would have done it already.

Nice? He probably didn't become a billionaire by being nice or doing things out of the kindness of his heart. I'd guess quite the opposite. He offers no incentive and people love him. He's a billionaire because he masterfully played the game of business and managed to make a fortune off of ordinary people. Bravo! Well played.

The advantage for SS is that if some of the bigger players get fed up and say "no raise, I'm done, they just don't pay enough" the impact is minuscule, if any. For every one good contributor who throws in the towel there are 10 more good ones who will keep contributing. There is simply no risk to SS to leave commissions as is. Can they afford to give a raise? Probably. But the pressure from being a publicly traded company and maximizing profits goes 100% against a raise. I personally cannot see it happening. Also, generally speaking, microstock commissions aren't meant to allow us to make a living at micro stock today, so a 'cost of living' raise is no longer valid because it's not a working wage we get paid. I am frustrated like the rest, but in my mind I have settled on 38 cents.     

One got to laugh after all these useless exchanges.

I hope you all enjoyed reading SS Blog, as informative and interesting.

I won't post on this thread anymore....there is no point.

Love and peace to ALL!
 

You need thicker skin. It's not like they can hit you with vegetables from their keyboards. Seriously, who cares what people say on a board, especially if you're anonymous? I've had to take 10 times the abuse when I said I opted back in to the Dollar Photo Club. Flames just make me warmer.

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on January 10, 2015, 10:33

Quote from: Shelma1 on January 10, 2015, 10:18

I disagree. The big buyers�ad agencies�are starting to see the change in quality at Shutterstock and are more likely to sign on, leading to larger sales. I think that's a reason to offer contributors another subs tier, at least. Plus, it's just nice to reward the people who are helping your success. Especially when you're a billionaire.

If you're saying big buyers are seeing a positive change in quality and more ad agencies are signing on then you're proving my point. SS is growing the buyer base without incentives to contributors so they have no reason to give a financial incentive. Could they get more big buyers by offering contributors an incentive to produce more of the right content? Maybe, but my guess is they already ran the analysis on that and determined either the payoff or risk weren't worth it or they would have done it already.

Nice? He probably didn't become a billionaire by being nice or doing things out of the kindness of his heart. I'd guess quite the opposite. He offers no incentive and people love him. He's a billionaire because he masterfully played the game of business and managed to make a fortune off of ordinary people. Bravo! Well played.

The advantage for SS is that if some of the bigger players get fed up and say "no raise, I'm done, they just don't pay enough" the impact is minuscule, if any. For every one good contributor who throws in the towel there are 10 more good ones who will keep contributing. There is simply no risk to SS to leave commissions as is. Can they afford to give a raise? Probably. But the pressure from being a publicly traded company and maximizing profits goes 100% against a raise. I personally cannot see it happening. Also, generally speaking, microstock commissions aren't meant to allow us to make a living at micro stock today, so a 'cost of living' raise is no longer valid because it's not a working wage we get paid. I am frustrated like the rest, but in my mind I have settled on 38 cents.   

I'm no longer settling for pennies or dollars.

A lot of very good points all around... nice discussion, guys.  I can't say I disagree with any of it.  The guy who founded Shutterstock originally stumbled upon it, because of his own need.  That's his story, at least.  The fact that it grew, and the fact that he was able to turn it into a billion dollar company, came from his own business ingenuity and ability to hire the right team along the way.  This happens all the time, in all sorts of fields worldwide.  It's just business. 

Someone in any company is always getting a shorter end of the stick... but everyone benefits.  It's all how you look at it, and what your priorities are in life.  You could say that the cashiers and baggers at all of the grocery stores are the real ones doing all the hard work, and yet they make minimum wage.  So do the burger flippers at the billion dollar McDonald's corp.  But yet, these folks are thankful to be able to earn money to make a living, and to provide for their families; however small or meager.  None of us posting on this forum are any better than those kind and honest folks.  It's just a different field.  Different buttons to push.  Some eventually decide to move on to find a better paying job, because they're tired of slaving for small wages, or because they feel that their skills have improved much past their pay grade.  Others know how to manage their finances and lifestyle enough to be able to make a career working retail, or at a restaurant.  I guess really none of us are much better than burger flippers, in the stock world. 

I'm very thankful.  Even if this microstock wave finally crashes for us independents;  I will still be appreciative for the past 8 years of stress-free working from home in my pajamas.  It's been a lot longer of a run than I ever thought it would, thus far. 

Who do YOU want to be in the grand scheme of microstock?  Someone who wants to strive to "be like Mike"?  Or someone who is okay picking up the crumbs?  I've been a successful crumb picker for a very long time now, and would love to continue the arrangement I have with all of my "middlemen".  With greater responsibility comes greater stress.  We all need to find our own place and preferences. 

I think we should all send  them a support email requesting they share the profits. http://submit.shutterstock.com/contact/

actually there is a simpler way... be a shareholder

I don't know exactly what it is. I think it's probably a combination of marketing, a professional library and a good search algorithm. Customers find what they're looking for more on Shutterstock than they do other sites so they keep coming back. 

And SALES!
SS invest in selling our media files heavily, which is expensive but crucial for this kind of growth. No life without buyers.

Always check careers to understand which direction companies heading to and where are they standing at the moment.
SS def sales/customer service force enlargement - http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings


p.s. This thread got 4660 views so far. I am glad some sensible conversation landed here after my font size 36pt shout. :-)

Quote from: SSContributor on January 11, 2015, 03:48

. No life without buyers.

No Shutterstock without our images.

That's true. But what else are you going to do with your images? Mine aren't good enough for those special sites. I certainly can't make nearly as much selling them on my own. There's no where to go with them.

Shutterstock has made me $35,000 richer just on its own. I wouldn't even being doing stock at all if it wasn't for that site.

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on January 10, 2015, 10:33

He's a billionaire because he masterfully played the game of business and managed to make a fortune off of ordinary people. Bravo! Well played.

I can't quite manage a "bravo" for this guy, who's made a ton of money as a middleman by gaining control of a market and exploiting photographers around the world, grinding their margins to dust and causing many skilled and creative people to abandon the business.  Yes there is some skill in evidence here, but also a very large component of being in the right place at the right time.

We don't have a 'buyer's market', or a 'seller's market'.  What we have today is a 'middleman's market'.    Somehow, I don't feel this represents the original dream of the internet and crowdsourcing increasing opportunities for everyone. 


I look forward to a day when the photographic community finds ways to route around Shutterstock entirely.  That will get a 'bravo' from me.

The ultimate measure of a man is what he does with power and wealth as his true worth is built upon the legacy of his deeds.

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one would never wish to live.

Greed flourishes by a thousand tiny surrenders to self seeking, selfishness, self interest.

The turning point for me is when they took away my referral Money. I referred many Big players and did rather well for a long time. then Boom ...Gone. I will never forgive that.

Quote from: robhainer on January 11, 2015, 11:13

Quote from: Semmick Photo on January 11, 2015, 05:14

Quote from: SSContributor on January 11, 2015, 03:48

. No life without buyers.

No Shutterstock without our images.

That's true. But what else are you going to do with your images? Mine aren't good enough for those special sites. I certainly can't make nearly as much selling them on my own. There's no where to go with them.

Shutterstock has made me $35,000 richer just on its own. I wouldn't even being doing stock at all if it wasn't for that site.

This is a good, sound concern for the masses. Many of us really don't have other outlets outside of micro stock. I am learning several new things this year to help me move in a new direction and that is video.  I think I am also going to not sell the below kinds of images in micro stock anymore. They are just too expensive to get and some come with a lot of risk.  I think they will all be going to RM. I am also considering yanking all of my existing underwater work even on Alamy and reuploading it as RM if I can get away with it. It will be a big hit to my port size though.  But like Paulie Walnuts I've decided to make some changes. Maybe they will work and maybe not, but at least I feel like I am doing something important to my future.  This is kinda of my middle strategy, meaning I can't get into the high end market and I am not settling for "all things micro".  As far as video, it is already getting sh!t on by some agencies like BigStock and DT and FOTOLIA's infamous BUG. But it is still somewhat a healthier pathway than images I suspect.

I want to break into RM as well, just havent figured out a strategy yet, it is hard to not upload to Shutterstock to be honest.

i spoke too soon when i said ss sales were picking up... this month half gone is sllllloow as molasses .
not sure if it's just buyers not back from xmas new year off , or just back to bad.
with many of us looking to indie sales or RM , the only thing is there is no site that sells as regular as ss , as semmick admits.
until we find another site that can do such a market whether it is 30cts or 105bucks, i too cannot see me not uploading there even though sales of new works are slow (but picking up).

i guess we sank our own potential by getting rid of istock, didn't we?