Symbiostock Vendors Is Now Available!

, , ,

Product Launch: Symbiostock Vendors

Transform your website into a multi-vendor platform.

Symbiostock Vendors is finally here! This much awaited professional plugin allows you to transform your store into a multi-vendor platform. Perfect for businesses that are comprised of multiple artists who want to work together as one entity.

How Symbiostock Vendors Works

Symbiostock Vendors allows you to set up a single Symbiostock website with multiple sub ‘Symbiostock Contributor’ accounts. There is one central administrative account (basically like the parent account) that is responsible for the overall operation of the site. And just like a normal Symbiostock website, this admin account controls Symbiostock Settings, the website’s appearance, plugins, Woocommerce settings, etc. It is from this administrative account that sub Symbiostock Contributors are created. Whilst simple to use, the system is advanced and scalable so contributor accounts can be added or removed as required.

Tools Accessible to your Symbiostock Contributors

Each of your Symbiostock Contributors has access to their own WP dashboard and their own Symbiostock FTP folder, from which they upload and manage their individual media products. Contributors cannot see the products that belong to other individuals and are unable to access the main website’s admin settings. Contributors can only upload their digital media via FTP and once uploaded and processed, contributors can edit metadata, publish and manage their products as one normally would when using Symbiostock Pro. Published products all show up in the one central website’s shop listings.

Technical insight into how to use Symbiostock Vendors can found in this user guide.

Compatible with Symbiostock Premium Plugins

Premium Symbiostock plugins including Symbiostock Video and Symbiostock Submitter are compatible with Symbiostock Vendors and these can be added through the administrative account. So if you’re using Symbiostock Video, for example, your contributors will be able to add video media to your store. And with Symbiostock Submitter,  the administrative account can submit media to third party agencies.

Symzio Integration

Symbiostock Vendors is compatible with Symzio. To have your media files included in Symzio, just like a normal Symbiostock powered website, all you need to do is meet the eligibility criteria and apply. The integration process is exactly the same as it is for regular Symbiostock sites. Once connected, your website integrates into Symzio as one business. This means the combined pool of published media is piped through only one single Symzio account.

A Unique Business Opportunity

Symbiostock Vendors is designed for business professionals or entrepreneurs who want to unite, connect and grow a unique online marketplace with other individuals as a collective. With the ability to have unlimited contributors uploading their digital media onto one central store, you have the opportunity establish a hub very much like a mini microstock agency. There is so much room for implementing inspired ideas with Symbiostock Vendors, for instance:

  • Teaming up with photographers who focus on similar niches, or radically varied subject matter, to establish a large online portfolio.
  • For digital illustrators, establishing a vector art business collaboratively.
  • Creating a collective of photographers, vector artists and videographers specializing in one theme.

Symbiostock Vendors is a commercial grade plugin that provides a new way of diversifying your revenue prospects. The cost of the plugin is $199 and as with all of our premium plugins, Symbiostock Vendors comes with lifetime updates. If you have any queries about about Symbiostock Vendors please post your questions in this forum thread.

Purchase Symbiostock Vendors >>

50% Off Symbiostock Hosting Packages

Offer available until the end of August 2017.

A reminder to anyone interested in getting on board with Symbiostock Hosting – grab a massive discount by signing up before the end of August. This special offer is only available to new users and provides 50% off the first term of hosting. This means that if you sign up for a monthly plan, your first month will be 50% off. But if you sign up on an annual plan, which is where this offer is ridiculously good, you will receive 50% off the entire first year of hosting. So for example, if you sign up annually on our ‘Economy’ plan, normally $143.99, with this offer you can get it for only $72 for the whole first year!

We made this offer to celebrate the launch of Symbiostock.org’s new look, which occurred late late month. In order to claim this special discount, please use the coupon code ‘NEWSYMBIO’.

View all Symbiostock Hosting packages here >>

This offer is only available for people who have not signed up with Symbiostock Hosting before.

/by

An Exciting New Look!

, ,

Welcome to our new site!

Symbiostock.org, home of the Symbiostock project, has had a makeover!

Over the past few months the Symbiostock team has been quietly and carefully re-designing Symbiostock.org in an effort to create a more effective, flowing and user friendly website. One of the main goals with the re-design was to make information about Symbiostock and our software more readily available and easier to understand, especially for new users. Previously we had found that it was hard for newcomers to quickly and easily access details about what Symbiostock provides and what our community is about. We are confident that the new layout presents information about the project in a more user friendly and inviting manner.

We invite you to check out our new site and we hope you love it as much as we do!

50% Symbiostock Hosting Offer

To celebrate the launch of the new Symbiostock.org, we have a special Symbiostock Hosting offer for new users. Till the end of August, new users who sign up with Symbiostock Hosting can get 50% off their first term of hosting. This is an awesome deal that offers massive savings if you sign up on an annual plan. Our most popular plan, the ‘Super’ package, which provides 50 GB of storage and 500 GB of bandwidth is usually $405.99 on an annual plan, can be purchased for only $202.99! If you sign up annually for our most budget ‘Economy’ plan, normally $143.99, with this offer you can get it for cheap as chips: only $72 for an entire year!

View all Symbiostock Hosting packages here >>

In order to receive the discount, please use the coupon code ‘NEWSYMBIO’.

This offer is only available for people who have not signed up with Symbiostock Hosting before.

Symzio Artist Directory Replaces Symbiostock Artist Network

When it comes to making improvements, it can be like changing seasons and sometimes we need to remove certain things in order to make room for new growth. The Symbiostock Artists Network was introduced when the new Symbiostock was born and whilst the goals and intentions behind it were noble and promising, over the course of time as the Symbiostock project has grown and evolved, the Artist Network hit somewhat of a standstill. And with the introduction of the Symzio Link Exchange Widget late last year, the artist network became quite redundant. As a result, we have retired the original Symbiostock Artist Network and replaced it with a new Symzio Artist Directory.

The Symzio Artist Directory runs dynamically off the Symzio Link Exchange Widget. The directory contains information and links to independent websites and portfolios of artists who proactively contribute towards raising awareness about Symzio and their fellow Symzio artists. In order to have your website and details appear on the Symzio Artist Directory, you need to be a Symzio contributor and you must endorse Symzio by one of two ways (or both!):

  1. By using the Link Exchange Widget on your Symbiostock website
  2. By using the Symzio Widget on your Symbiostock website

Seeing as the Symzio Artist Network page is created using the Symzio Link Exchange Widget, the directory auto-updates and only shows contributors who are using Symzio widgets. Therefore if someone stops displaying Symzio widgets, their site will be automatically removed from the directory. This keeps things fair so that those individuals who believe in our project enough to mention us and their fellow independent contributors on their own websites are the people who benefit from receive some extra exposure via the Symzio Artist Directory. Every page on our website links to the Symzio Artist Directory, so naturally anyone who is listed will benefit from extra organic traffic and possibly receive additional ‘link juice’ from search engines. So if you’re not already using the widget, get on board to benefit from this bonus incentive!

Learn more about the Symzio Link Exchange Widget and how to use it here.

/by

Symbiostock 4.0 Is Here

,

It’s been a little while since our core Symbiostock system received a major update. Symbiostock 4.0 is a massive update and it’s available now!

Remember, our updates are completely free, just like Symbiostock Pro, so there’s no reason to think twice about keeping your site up to date with the latest version.

There are two large developments that come with this release:

  • Symbiostock 4.0 is compatible with Woocommerce 3.0.7 – this is the very latest version of Woocommerce. Woocommerce 3.0 was released last month and was a key update that added a variety of improvements and additions to Woocommerce. Once you have updated to Symbiostock 4.0, you can update your Woocommerce install by manually uninstalling then reinstalling Woocommerce (this will not affect your products).
  • Symbiostock 4.0 is compatible with PHP 7.1.

Other practical improvements to note:

  • Max image size default increased to 200MB from 100MB
  • Downloading of original media tweaked for large files
  • Fallback resolution for unspecified licenses changed to 5000 pixels from 6000 pixels

Symbiostock 4.0 also has a variety of systemic and security improvements, adding to the robustness of the software.

Download Symbiostock Pro >>

 

Maps

Sale: Grab Symbiostock Maps for half price!

To celebrate the Symbiostock 4.0 update, we’re temporarily marking down Symbiostock Maps to $25 (normally $49).

Symbiostock Maps was released six months ago and it’s a fantastic way of sprucing up your website with an interactive element for your visitors. Symbiostock Maps reads GPS information from your images and uses the Google Maps API to create an interactive, clickable map which showcases the locations of your media products. You can also manually add GPS data to your vectors and videos by editing individual product pages, to include these media files on your map. Maps is a cool optional plugin and highly customizable in appearance to match the design of your website.

Take a look at our live demos to see Symbiostock Maps in action:

Demo 1     Demo 2     Demo 3

The sale price is only for the next week, so grab it while it’s hot!

Symbiostock Maps >>

Improvements & The Top 4 Benefits of Choosing Symbiostock Hosting

Our Symbiostock Hosting platform has undergone a number improvements over the last few months and continues to run smoothly. We have also increased email limits and the number of domains that can be hosted on all of the Professional Hosting Plans. The new limits are as follows:

Economy Plan – 5 websites (previously 1); 15 email accounts (previously 3)

Business Plan – 10 websites (previously 5); 30 email accounts (previously 15)

Super Plan – 15 websites (previously 10); 45 email accounts (previously 30)

For full details see our Hosting Plans >

Not only do these upgrades apply to new registrants, these increased limits are also applied for our existing hosting clients to benefit from.

If you are new to Symbiostock and are thinking about starting your own online digital store, here are some of the top reasons to consider jumping onto our hosting platform:

Hosting

1) PERFORMANCE – We provide higher dedicated CPU and RAM (memory) resources to to meet the processing demands for high resolution image/EPS conversions.

2) VIRTUAL SYSTEM – Experience the benefits of a virtual private server (VPS) environment within a shared hosting platform. We provide resources of a VPS without the complications.

3) 1-CLICK INSTALLS – Simplified CPanel interface with a one-click WordPress installer means you don’t need to manually install databases or configure PHP settings.

4) SCALABLE – Expand your resources as your business grows. Fully automated upgrades allows you to increase your storage space seamlessly without hassle.

When you’re ready to make the switch to Symbiostock Hosting, keep in mind that we offer a Free Migration Service to make the transition easier for you!

/0 Comments/by

February 2017: News & Updates

,

Problems Downloading Symbiostock Pro & Plugins?

We recently discovered an intermittent problem whereby some users were unable to download Symbiostock Pro and other plugins from the Symbiostock Store during December and January. This technical issue has been fixed now and everyone should be able to download our plugins without concern.

We extend our sincerest apologies to anyone, especially new users, who were inconvenienced by this problem. If you missed out on downloading our software, please visit our plugins page and grab what you need. Remember, Symbiostock Pro is packed with features specifically for selling digital media online and is completely FREE to use!

Download Symbiostock Pro >>

Legacy Importer Deadline Extended

In light of the plugin download issue, the Legacy Importer / Exporter will remain online until the end of February. The Legacy Importer is a free media transfer tool for migrating your images from the old Legacy Symbiostock system to Symbiostock as efficiently as possible. Our team will provide requested assistance with transitions up until February 28th, after which the importer will permanently be deactivated.

We encourage legacy users to make the most of this opportunity – it is significantly easier and time saving to transfer your media using the importer than to manually complete this arduous task.

Legacy Importer – Free Download >>

Symbiostock Artist Highlight

In an effort to raise awareness about the talented people who make up our Symbiostock community, we will soon be introducing various independent artists in a regular blog feature called the ‘Symbiostock Artist Highlight’.

In these feature articles we will place the spotlight on individual artists, their professional backgrounds and some of their work in an interview style format. For further information, including details on how you can become a featured artists, please read this forum post >>

Coming Soon: Symbiostock Vendors Plugin

We announced a new Symbiostock Vendors plugin at the beginning of the year. Symbiostock Vendors allows groups of artists who wish to work together as one entity, to establish a single core Symbiostock site whilst at the same time provisioning each artist with the tools needed to control their individual media products, without affecting the media of other users. This large scale plugin is still under testing & development and we hope to have it ready for release very soon!

Learn more about the Vendors Plugin here >>

/0 Comments/by

Marketing For Success: Add a Blog to your Digital Media Store

It’s an old concept, but there are many reasons behind why just about every business with an online presence does it – business blogging is an effective marketing tactic.

First of all, you may be wondering, what is business blogging? Aren’t all blogs the same? The short answer is no, business blogging is quite different from regular blogging. Regular blogging is usually a hobby venture or the blog itself is the primary business. Whereas business blogs serve to support the growth of your business. Business blogs aim to draw in new visitors and turn them into leads, or customers for your main business.

So why add a blog to your digital media store? Let’s examine some of the large reasons why a business blog is a valuable marketing strategy:

1) Blogs help to drive traffic to your website

The more content rich pages your website has, the more chances you have to rank in search engines. Sure, you create new pages every time you upload new images – which is good combined with effective keywording. But blog pages rich in quality textual content can draw in a wider pool of visitors and create stronger signals to search engines. It’s important to understand, that simply creating blog pages that lack depth and don’t provide interesting content will not do – poor quality leads to poor user experience which could actually be detrimental to your site and cause search engines to view your pages as spam. On the other hand, quality content can create opportunities for your site to rank in search results and can build a stronger audience who may in turn share your pages through social media channels.

And remember, every new blog post has the potential to work for you in the short term and the long term. In the short term you might attract existing customers back to your website, or get views through sharing your blog post on social media. In the long term, if you consistently output quality content, your blog posts can bring in visitors through ranking in search engine results – thus generating a stream of visitors over time.

blogs-humanize

2) Blogs  humanize & establish trust towards your brand

Blogging provides a means for you to demonstrate the personal side of your business, which can generate trust in your visitors towards your website and the products you offer. By sharing insight into your passions, issues of importance and your unique personality, you build trust and increase your brand’s likability. This may be especially important for independent digital stores as we are dealing with a target audience who have long established comfort with mainstream stock agencies – increasing trust in your brand serves as a way of hooking and converting these customers into YOUR customers.

3) Blog posts create opportunities for sharing

Every time you publish a blog post, you create a new opportunity for yourself and your audience to share your blog with other people. Every post is something new to tweet about, or share on Facebook, or link to from Google+. Social media is a proven powerful marketing tool and adopting the strategy of sharing not only exposes more people to your content, the inbound links generated tells search engines ‘Hey! Look here because other people are!”.

And something important to keep in mind is the powerful opportunity you have through our Symbiostock community to connect with other independent artists and work together to share each other’s blog posts. Imagine the potent search engine signals that you could produce by teaming up with other artists and working together to do something as simple as sharing each other’s blogs through social media!

Concluding Ideas:

Blogging is a low cost marketing strategy, all it takes is a little bit of time and dedication. We’ve outlined some of the major reasons why blogging makes sense and why you should start a blog, or if you already have then keep at it for your Symbiostock site. There are other benefits of blogging, some of which you can learn about in this Small Business Trends article.

Blogging Success Tip

To encourage you towards beginning, or continuing your blog, we’ve started a forum topic for brainstorming ideas on the sorts of themes you could consider blogging about:

Business Blogging Ideas – What can you blog about?

You can also look at other business blogs to develop ideas and to figure out the kind of voice you want to present in your blog. This is not to say that you should write about the same things, or the same way that other people do – it’s to help you gain insight on the possibilities that exist. As a professional and an individual with a lifetime of experiences, you can inject your knowledge and unique perspectives into your blog to create something original and reap benefits for your business.

So challenge yourself, take action now and increase your marketing potential with blogging – its a simple & proven strategy!

/0 Comments/by

Reflections, Our Next Stage & Some Announcements

Reflecting Upon Our Progress As We Look Forward to 2017

It has been said that sometimes you have to look back in order to realise how far you’ve come. Reflecting back on both 2015 – with our monumental beginning – and 2016, it’s clear that Symbiostock has come a long way and a robust foundation has been established. These last two years have encompassed a firm focus on research, development and implementation of new technology. This intense process has involved listening to and identifying the needs of our community and creating solutions to meet those important requirements. We started out in April of 2015 with only a handful of Symbiostock supporters and we’ve grown to now having over 500 active installs of the base Symbiostock plugin. Symbiostock is no longer a small device, it’s a fully-fledged engine comprising of many arms. Let’s take a quick look at the large areas of technological development that has taken place:

  • The core plugin, Symbiostock Pro, has developed into an advanced software technology unlike any other available for digital media professionals (photographers, vector artists & videographers). With so many features and plugin extensions available, we rarely receive requests for new additions. Plugin extensions include the Symbiostock Submitter, Symbiostock Video, Symbiostock Maps and Symbiostock Anytype.
  • Symbiostock Hosting was created to alleviate the server side troubles experienced by so many Symbiostock users. This solution has greatly reduced the occurrence of server related issues and simplified the process for new users to setup their independent site.
  • We launched Symzio, the first contributor centric stock agency. Symzio works in a revolutionary way by connecting directly to independent contributor websites and allows artists to set their own RF prices and retain the bulk of sales profit. We also created the free Symzio Link Exchange Widget to assist the community reach their SEO objectives.

These powerfully interconnected elements have received deep dedication from our small team of developers, to a point where we believe all the technological development made has setup a solid foundation from which we can now shift gears into the next big task for our community: marketing and promotion. Now that all the big tools we needed to be armed with as independent artists are here, we can move forward and confidently place our efforts towards jumping over the marketing hurdles that exist. There are numerous unhappy microstock contributors who are not aware that an option outside of the mainstream exists for them. The more contributors learn about Symbiostock and join the movement, the more pull we will have in attracting digital media consumers. Whilst marketing is its own beast to conquer, we’re excited and committed to this next challenging phase. Symbiostock is ready to strive into 2017 with goals of expanding our community’s footprint and influence. In other words, we’ve made a solid ship and we’re ready to set sail! From the team here at Symbiostock, we thank our wonderful community of artists for your continued support and we look forward to working alongside you towards the opportunities that lay ahead.

Coming Soon: Symbiostock Vendors Plugin

We will soon be introducing Symbiostock Vendors – a formidable new plugin designed to allow businesses that are comprised of multiple individuals to set up a single Symbiostock website with multiple sub Symbiostock contributor accounts to cater for each person. The plugin facilities a system where each individual user has with their own WP dashboard and their own Symbiostock FTP folder, from which they upload and manage their individual media products. Sub accounts are unable to access the main website’s admin settings, which only the parent admin account has access to. This advanced system is scalable and contributor accounts can be added or removed as required.

Symbiostock Vendors

Symbiostock Vendors allows groups of artists who wish to work together as one entity, to establish their core Symbiostock site whilst at the same time provisioning each artist with the tools needed to control their media products, without affecting the media of other users – you can only see and edit your own uploads through the backend. On the frontend, everyone’s media appears on the one website. The website also integrates into Symzio as one business. This means the combined pool of published media is piped through only one single Symzio account.

Symbiostock Vendors is currently in its testing phase and further information about the mechanics of the plugin will be provided closer to its release date – which we anticipate to be later this January.

Retirement of the Legacy Symbiostock Importer/Exporter

Over the last two years we have assisted and ensured that Legacy Symbiostock users who wanted to progress forward with our technology had a means of migrating to Symbiostock as efficiently as possible. Our Legacy Symbiostock Importer/ Exporter made this a significantly seamless process compared to the task of manually transitioning media over to a new system.

The volume of usage of the importer has reduced now to a point where it is not resource worthy to maintain its upkeep. As a result, the Legacy Importer/Exporter will be officially retired on the 31st of January, 2017. This gives ample time for anyone who may still be using the legacy system to migrate over to Symbiostock. Our team will provide requested assistance with transitions only up until the deadline, after which the importer will permanently be deactivated.

/0 Comments/by