Pixmac was shortlisted for Internet Effectiveness Awards 2009 in the “Business to Business” category! IEA (Internet Effectiveness Awards) is the competition of e-shops and commercial websites for the most effective internet project. The winner will be announced on June 18th 2009. We are crossing our fingers!

Pixmac is growing rapidly. Thanks to our development team and interpreters we have extended the range of language versions to be serve our growing customer base. Pixmac is now available in Czech, Russian and in beta in German, Italian and Spanish. In the near future we are going to launch French, Polish and Brasilian versions.

Also, we haven’t forgot to update our current English version of Pixmac. A lot of things were polished and enhanced for easier customer use.

Zoom pictures
Our zooming system is really cool now. The displaying of 100% quality pictures takes just split seconds.

Using PayPal to pay by credit card
We have added the possibility to pay by credit card using PayPal.

Search for similar pictures
Pixmac has a new tool which could be very helpful for searching pictures. How does it work? Choose pictures which you like and add them to the lightbox. Open the lightbox and mark images which you want to search for similar pictures. Choose “Search for similar pictures“ from “Action“ select box and Pixmac will find similar photos.

We receive many emails from you. Thanks for your comments and suggestions which will help us better serve our customers. Many customers have emailed that it would be helpful if they could upload editorial photos on Pixmac. So, listen carefully! In a few weeks it will be possible to upload editorial content to the Pixmac celebrity section.

Two months ago we started our cheapest subscription rate ever. We are very happy to report it is going very well and Pixmac is growing.

In the near future we are planning many new functions and improvements. Stay connected for further updates on how Pixmac is working to be the best site for your photo needs. Pixmac is now on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Dear photographers, thank you for selling your photos using Pixmac! We would like to tell you about a new opportunity to increase your Pixmac revenues.

We have created new special pages for all Pixmac user profiles. You can find your new public Pixmac homepage at http://www.pixmac.com/author/USERNAME (replace “USERNAME” with your own Pixmac user name).

For example, our user named “Zager” has his Pixmac home page at:
http://www.pixmac.com/author/zager
The public Pixmac user profile features the list of his/her thumbnailed photos, his/her public lightboxes and his/her bestselling photos.

You can use the link to your Pixmac user profile to promote your work on your blog, on your Facebook profile or you can share the link using Twitter.

You can earn money even from the photos authored by somebody else if you add the #USERNAME handle to any link to Pixmac

For instance, you can earn commission by linking to Pixmac homepage
(http://www.pixmac.com/#USERNAME)
or by linking to a fresh list of photos featuring some subject:
(e.g. http://www.pixmac.com/pictures/nature#USERNAME)

You can find more about our affiliate program at
http://www.pixmac.com/affiliate

We are currently preparing some new tools for our partners. If you need anything, please feel free to tell us how we can help you.

Pixmac’s February offer has just ended. Lots of you are in the game and we’re really happy about that. If you haven’t already sent your pictures to approval, please do it now (you need to have uploaded the pictures before 1st March).

We’re now reviewing what you uploaded to Pixmac and what was approved. If you have more than 500 approved pictures from February, we will send you the money via Moneybookers or PayPal this month. We just need to know where to send the money, your nickname at Pixmac and your choice ($100 now or $500 later). We will  send the money in few next weeks.

Those who were participating but haven’t sent us the information will be contacted later. If you managed to upload the pictures, but haven’t sent them for approval, please do that before 15th of March and we will include them in our count.

Once again, thank you all for your time! We’re happy to have so many of you on board, because Pixmac is here to make your life easier and sell more of your photos. Stay tuned, we’re about to launch new updated Pixmac website today!

And one reminder: The speed of approval is not good right now. We are trying to improve the relevancy of our approving process while approving pictures and that cost time. We’re sorry about that.

30^th January 2009 – Prague, Czech Republic, EU–  Pixmac is starting a unique promotion – offering all contributors an opportunity to get money for their pictures even before they’re sold.

Great Opportunity for photographers!

From 1st February 2009, all contributors who upload their pictures on Pixmac will get a $500 sales guarantee for 2 years for every 500 approved pictures. If you want to get the cash immediately, you can choose the option to get $100 for every 500 approved pictures – before having had any sales. Portfolios preferred include high quality pictures with people or isolated objects on a white background. This unique opportunity lasts until 28th  February 2009.

Detailed conditions

The contributor can choose from 2 options.

First

$500 sales guarantee for 2 years for every 500 pictures uploaded and approved on Pixmac. This means that in 2 years Pixmac will give you $500 even if your sales are 0.

Second

$100 for every 500 pictures uploaded and approved on Pixmac immediately after the 500th picture is approved. This will be an advance payment on the first $100 earned on those pictures.  Pixmac accepts the risk of selling these pictures and in the event that no sales are made, the contributor will retain the money.

One last thing. If you are uploading these days, the process will propably take longer time to publish your pictures on Pixmac. We are making our best, but the number of pictures uploaded is high.

There were some small agencies that already are not with us. Lucky Oliver is one of them. Is the field is actually getting crowded? Or those companies were not healthy? Lets dig deeper in it.

The first thing everybody should know is that the reader actually is a possible buyer. So the user interface and its feeling of speed is the crucial thing to have in mind. Then, the photographer.

The Photographer is in totally different position. He or she knows much more about the field, is curious about what’s happening inside the agency, because it’s his pictures what’s selling. And that is something what every agency should keep in mind. Pixmac, as a young alternative to big elephants, is making this true.

The other thing is the target groups. Most buyers, as we have been researching, are small companies or even individuals. Usually entrepreneurs or freelance designers who know a bit about on-line services. They know it’s easier way to get pictures than negotiate with some old-fashioned agencies. The other thing is, that these electronic pictures usually remain there between ones and zeros. Most users are putting this into website designs or as a desktop backgrounds. Some are using them for print or jut for a decoration of their home.

Pixmac tries harder

Because we already know that microstock field is getting a bit crowded we try harder. We’re paying people to do the keywording for free for our photographers. We are thinking about the user interface as a tool that should be fast and easy. No marketing “blah blah” around. And the last thing we do is listening. We reply to every email that falls into our mailboxes. And we actually do the change if there is something that is not working well for the users – usually within hours.

Pixmac is also friendly to buyers. As far as I know, we are first agency who acquires photographers and in the same time sells pictures from other agencies. That is why we already have more than a million of pictures for the buyers. For the short time we’re here its great news for the buyers.

The Microstock phenomenon

The difference between regular photo agency and a Microstock agency is price. Most of the traditional agencies depend on a small group of their photographers. Pixmac depends on a growing community of freelancers and photo enthusiasts. And the digital era brings better prices to everybody. That is why Pixmac can offer more for better price.

As everybody out there already know Facebook is a platform for not only meeting people, but much more sharing their lives. That’s why Pixmac became a “user” too.

Why we did that? It is simple. Basically we want people to know that we’re listening. So almost everything we do is for users. We want to hear them and act as they like that. We like to share how Pixmac is going, and so. For us whole online universe is an inspiration space. We can discuss usability issues, read user feedback and feel the same you feel. That is finally transformed to a better tool – better Pixmac.