Is it hard to sell non-commissioned work?

berhimwich

I have a strong portfolio of work but I can't seem to sell any of it. On Smugmug, it is very difficult to tell how many people are visiting your site; so I don't know whether it is because of low traffic or people not buying art they would a book or CD. If anybody can help me by sharing their experiences selling work online or other knowledge, it would be much appreciated.

Note: My site has been up almost two months but doesn't have a Google PageRank yet. This month I have had about 30,000 thumbnail views and about a 19% crossover ratio.

GREAPER

berhimwich wrote:

I have a strong portfolio of work but I can't seem to sell any of it. On Smugmug, it is very difficult to tell how many people are visiting your site; so I don't know whether it is because of low traffic or people not buying art they would a book or CD. If anybody can help me by sharing their experiences selling work online or other knowledge, it would be much appreciated.

Note: My site has been up almost two months but doesn't have a Google PageRank yet. This month I have had about 30,000 thumbnail views and about a 19% crossover ratio.

I am pretty new to all of this, but have some opinions or ideas about the subject. We are selling/sharing our "art" and I believe that is a hard sell without the person seeing it in person. Many people are reluctant to buy over the internet anyway. Add to that the fact that they are not sure what the quality of the print they recieve will be, or if it will really look like it does on THEIR monitor, and you have a tough sell if the internet is your only venue.

I do think that people that have seen your work and know they like it may not buy it at the time they see it, but may come to your site to buy it later.

One of the key things to selling your non-commissioned work is getting it out there. Show your work, enter contests locally, consider art fairs, photo clubs, donate photos to places like your local library. Include a card with contact info and your smugmug address for display. Include the address in all of your e-mails. Even goofy things like dropping a card in the envelope when you pay your gas bill can work. Somewhere there is a person opening that envelope.

Be open to commission requests. If someone asks you to shoot an event for them, do it free or very cheap, and put their shots on smugmug. When they come to see them, they will see the rest of your work.

I have still not sold any prints of non commissioned work from my site, but have recieved some commissioned work because they saw it.

Make sure all of your shots have descriptive captions in your galleries, this will help your google ratings.

No matter how you go about it, expecting business to bloom just from putting them on smugmug and waiting for the cash to roll in sounds like a pipe dream to me.

Posting them here is likely to generate views, but not likely to generate sales. It doesnt mean we dont like your work. It's like trying to sell eggs to a chicken farmer. We would all like to see your "eggs" but mostly so that we can improve our "eggs". We come to this forum to learn, share, and teach. You are welcome to take part in that.

I hope you take this as my simple ideas of what may and may not work. It is being said in hopes of being helpful. Good luck.

wxwax

Sounds like good advice to me, Greaps.

mercphoto

Marketing, marketing, marketing

berhimwich wrote:

I have a strong portfolio of work but I can't seem to sell any of it. On Smugmug, it is very difficult to tell how many people are visiting your site; so I don't know whether it is because of low traffic or people not buying art they would a book or CD. If anybody can help me by sharing their experiences selling work online or other knowledge, it would be much appreciated.

Note: My site has been up almost two months but doesn't have a Google PageRank yet. This month I have had about 30,000 thumbnail views and about a 19% crossover ratio.

First of all, I'm writing this while on antibiotics and in mild pain over an ear infection. I tend to get a bit "edgy" at times like this, and I hope I don't show that in this writing.

Having a strong portfolio is only part of selling something. Making a better mousetrap is not the way to riches. People need to know you have a mouse trap, and why it is better. That is called marketing. If you want to make money, at anything, you need a business and marketing plan.

Google page ranks are over-rated. In my opinion those who thought the Internet would change the way business is done were mistaken. It may be a more efficient means of spreading the word, as opposed to TV, radio, and print ads, but it still boils down to who has the best executed marketing. Hits and ranks on a search engine does not constitute marketing, unfortunately. I don't believe in "build it and they will come".

For stock photography I would use an existing stock agency, not a smugmug site. They already know how to contact people who are searching for stock photos. I plan to use my smugmug site as a means of displaying my work. If I'm working on landing a commissioned session I can point them to the site so they can get idea of the talent level I possess. I can also use the site to sell the prints to my commission customers -- smugmug is my order fulfillment agent, and little more.

I've also been told to try to get other related businesses to link to your site, and vice versa. Have available information for people to read, either on your site, or at other sites with links back to yours. Tutorials on photography, for example, or how you do your work.

Another idea is to get your work in public places. I recently had some work on display at a locally owned ice cream shop. No sales, but tons of hits, which is a start. Now I have items on display at a nature preserve here in Austin. That is generating hits, and has a reasonable shot of generating sales too. Coffee shops, locally owned restaraunts, etc. If you can get a commissioned session, use that work to market yourself to others in that same industry. I plan to do that with a session I just completed for a local custom jeweler, and hope to land other sessions with other custom jewelers as a result. Lastly I live in a large neighborhood and I'm trying a newsletter ad. Local papers are another good approach.

In short, build a network and tap its potential. It will take longer than the two months you've given so far. Don't give up yet, you've only just started.

Good luck.

ruffprints

Stock Agency vs Smugmug Site

mercphoto wrote:

First of all, I'm writing this while on antibiotics and in mild pain over an ear infection. I tend to get a bit "edgy" at times like this, and I hope I don't show that in this writing.

Having a strong portfolio is only part of selling something. Making a better mousetrap is not the way to riches. People need to know you have a mouse trap, and why it is better. That is called marketing. If you want to make money, at anything, you need a business and marketing plan.

Google page ranks are over-rated. In my opinion those who thought the Internet would change the way business is done were mistaken. It may be a more efficient means of spreading the word, as opposed to TV, radio, and print ads, but it still boils down to who has the best executed marketing. Hits and ranks on a search engine does not constitute marketing, unfortunately. I don't believe in "build it and they will come".

For stock photography I would use an existing stock agency, not a smugmug site. They already know how to contact people who are searching for stock photos. I plan to use my smugmug site as a means of displaying my work. If I'm working on landing a commissioned session I can point them to the site so they can get idea of the talent level I possess. I can also use the site to sell the prints to my commission customers -- smugmug is my order fulfillment agent, and little more.

I've also been told to try to get other related businesses to link to your site, and vice versa. Have available information for people to read, either on your site, or at other sites with links back to yours. Tutorials on photography, for example, or how you do your work.

Another idea is to get your work in public places. I recently had some work on display at a locally owned ice cream shop. No sales, but tons of hits, which is a start. Now I have items on display at a nature preserve here in Austin. That is generating hits, and has a reasonable shot of generating sales too. Coffee shops, locally owned restaraunts, etc. If you can get a commissioned session, use that work to market yourself to others in that same industry. I plan to do that with a session I just completed for a local custom jeweler, and hope to land other sessions with other custom jewelers as a result. Lastly I live in a large neighborhood and I'm trying a newsletter ad. Local papers are another good approach.

In short, build a network and tap its potential. It will take longer than the two months you've given so far. Don't give up yet, you've only just started.

Good luck.

I agree with all your suggestions. I'm grappling with how you get a stock agency to consider you. Most of the time they ask for your URL. So I would direct them to my smugmug site to view my work. However, the agency would also see (I assume) my pricing which is designated only for consumers. Do you think that would conflict with wht I could negotiate with the stock agencies? In your opinion, should I set up a different website, strictly for stock agencies to view? If so, should it be smugmug or another service?
Thanks much for your thoughts.