I agree 'e.'  When GCU gives away free paper cards, not informing or compensating artists, it does at least costs them $1 per card which prevents them from going hog wild giving away our work.
 
The FlipEcard idea essentially costs them nothing directly, no more than an email does, making it very tempting to go hog wild with giveaways.
 
Yes, the terms and conditions do state that they can give away our work with no compensation to us if part of promotional activities, but that is a very slippery slope and made slipperier with electronic use of our work.  
 
I can tell you, had I seen or heard about 100+ FlipEcards of mine being given away during this latest promo (which could have happened had the overall response been stronger) I would have been very tempted to just pull the plug here, I swear.  My "I've been ripped-off" nerve is a bit hypersensitive!
 
It is because of this I have shut OFF my FlipEcard and Paper Card sales on Facebook until something changes in this regard.  
 
It's simply a question of respect for the artists and our trust in GCU going forward.  
 
In light of this new electronic means to use our work, I believe the Terms and Conditions need to be changed to include 3 things under our license to them to use our work:
1.  Artists will receive an email for every instance of their work sold even if sold for free.
2.  Artists will have every instance of their work sold indicated in their store report by type even if sold for free.
3.  Artists will be compensated for every instance of their work sold for promotional purposes, even if sold for free.  This compensation will be no less than 50% of the normal commission paid had the transaction not been part of a promotion.
 
I'm not trying to be a troublemaker, so I hope this is taken as constructive feedback in light of the new electronic offerings.
 
Thanks,
 
TOM

On the other hand...before all of us artists get our collective canvases in a bunch...
I agree we should have been informed before the promotion. One of my filpecards was given away for free. On the other hand, the more time my cards are clicked on or purchased, the higher up the page they go, thus the more visible they are. So I'm all for a few promotions here or there if they mean the more possible sales in the future.

Why would we go "hog wild" and give hundreds of thousands of cards for free?  How does that benefit GCU?   If we give away 100,000 FlipEcards, GCU and artists both make nothing.  We have no intention of doing that UNLESS we believe that we can convert some of the traffic into real sales and/or get some positive exposure for all GCU artists.  
 
One point of correction, when GCU gives away a free paper greeting card artists are compensated and notified.  As for notifying artists on all sales (fee or free), that's in place now for FlipEcards so it's no longer an issue.
 
We had to make this an all or nothing option due to development work required.  It's a tremendous amount of work to offer yet another filter to distinguish between free and non-free cards.  This is something we do not have plans to invest in at this point.
 
Please keep in mind that we're entering a new environment, a new frontier.  The behaviors of Facebook users are very different than traditional website users.   We need to try new things here, we need to test the waters, we need to be open minded and be willing to do things a little differently to see if this is in fact a viable arena to sell our FlipEcards and paper greeting cards.  We have 45 million Birthday Calendar users, but it's been extremely challenging for everyone to do successful commerce in this space, with exception to certain games and Facebooks own virtual gifts.   We've been giving GCU a lot of exposure on Birthday Calendar which has cost us thousand of dollars a month in opportunity cost.
 
It disappoints me that some artists may think GCU is taking advantage of them.  For the most part I think GCU's track record shows that we make decisions in the best interests of both GCU and artists, not just self serving.  GCU is certainly not trying to rip anyone off.  No one is making money on these transactions.  
 
If you don't want to participate, the option is there for artists to opt out of the GCU Facebook application.  Each artist needs to make their own decision as to what they're comfortable with and what trade-offs they are willing to make.  

Hi Norval,
 
It's been a bigger effort than we anticipated.    Not quite sure when we'll have the FlipEcards available on the GCU website.   My guess is sometime in the next 30 to 90 days.

Quote from Nasser_16 on Mar 7^th, 2010, 2:36pm:

 
Hi, Nasser,
 
Thank you for the correction and clarification.  I do remember a time when free paper cards sold here at GCU were not compensated.  If there was only one card sold, the artist made $0 in commission, and if there were more than one card sold, then the value of the free card was divided up among all of the cards in the order, which in turn lowered the commission to the artist.
 
I tried to search through the forum to find that information, but, this was some time ago, and searching through old postings is challenging and time consuming.
 
But, again, thank you for the correction. This is good news.
 
Penny

Tom, you're absolutely right.  Giving away 100,000+ FlipECards is a real possibility however extremely challenging to do based on our Facebook experience so far.  We hoped to see better response rates with this free FlipEcard campaign but it only resulted in a couple of hundred free FlipEcards.  To be honest, we're trying to figure out how to get a 1M free FlipEcards out!  Why?  That would translate into 1M email addresses that we could then market GCU cards to, 1M wall feeds that would be displayed on the recipients' FB Walls and millions of more recipient's friends' News Feeds.  On Facebook it's all about exposure, viral postings, permissions to communicate, etc.  
 
Here is why the artists' earnings policy differs on free paper greeting cards vs free FlipEcards.  Because of the real costs associated with printing paper cards (around $1) there is obviously no way we can offer a free promotion with the potential of response rates being huge, too much risk & exposure.  1M takers would result to $1M expense that we just can't afford.  FlipEcards are viturally no cost and finally afford us the opportunity to leverage them in freebie marketing promotions that to date we have not been able to take advantage of.   This would only be used a marketing tool for GCU artists and products.
 
By a new frontier, I meant the dynamics surrounding Social Networks, not digital goods in general.  The MP3 analogy is not an accurate comparison.  Once a user gets a hold of an MP3 song, they no longer have a need to purchase that song, and it can be shared with millions of others.  Our FlipEcards can not be shared or re-used by anyone.  Typically, they're a one time, one-to-one personal message.  Also, the intent is for FlipEcards to prove as advertising not only for the printed version but also for other works by that artist and GCU in general.
 
Hope that helps clear things up a bit.   Tom, if you still want to discuss this some more, let's have a quick phone conversation.

Quote from Nasser_16 on Mar 9^th, 2010, 1:40pm:

 
For "artists" who have not worked as professionals this "giving out a freebie" for potential exposure may seem just fine, but in my experience as a professional artist and illustrator, 'freebies' just continue to de-value the work of professional graphic artists.  When I raised my rates and prices I got MUCH more work than by offering free and discounted services. . . cheap clients tend to take advantage and clients with the bucks, who are are always willing and able to pay, want the BEST, even if if costs a bit more.  
 
I know that this sense of marketing doesn't exactly correspond to what kind of marketing will and does work for GCU,  I'm just trying to explain where some may be coming from.  Myself, I have chosen to opt -out of both the flip card and the "customization at no extra charge". . . neither works for me, and I am glad I do have that choice here at GCU.
 
Gcu admin should be aware, though, that it's the marketing efforts of some of the "big sellers" that have helped to put GCU on the map.  I'm certainly not one, though I've been here a while, I'm small potatoes, but for the limited number of cards on my site (I don't DO multiples) I've done alright.  
 
GCU was my first "foray" into the world of internet marketing.  There is so much in this association that has been beneficial.  But no one site site can be all things to everyone.  I understand this.  GCU will do what it needs to to grow as a business and I applaud all these efforts.  Individual artists need to decide what aspects of GCU and it's marketing system they want to participate in. . . and act accordingly.  
 
GCU does have such a large selection, and for any card site, offers the biggest selection, more categories, types of cards etc.  There is a game to be played. . . like on any site.  Design way ahead, decide what kind of exposure you want.  and all this can be decided after putting up your cards. . . and don't expect to open a store March 1, upload St. Paddy's cards and have enough sales to make the first quarter payout. . .just not going to happen.
 
Some of us may "b_tch" and and moan about the reviewers and categories, but this is how GCU works -- hard for us sometimes, but makes it's easier for the customer(of GCU), a very particular type of customer.  . . and you can't compare it to Zazzle, Cafe Press or Red Bubble -- different animals
 
So, I will continue to post on the forum, sometimes as the"devils advocate", but always with the hope and intention of making this a better site.    --'e'