Sales: What to expect?

ShutterThoughts

How many sales do people typically get for non-event related photos? What works for you?

After countless hours developing my gallery (www.ShutterThoughts.com), I "opened for business" by sending an email to everyone I know, including the many people who encouraged my photography from day one. I posted Google AdWords too.

Word spread. Everyone orwarded the emails, replies came back with fabulous reviews. Hundreds of unique hits. Thousands of photo views.

And yet... minimal sales in my first 6 weeks. Why?

Is it my photos?
Is it my prices? ($5 for 5x7, $10 for 8x10, $20 for 11x14, etc.)
Is it concern with online purchasing?
Is it my site design? (I'm a web programmer, so I can add features galore!)

How do I get someone who genuinely says, "These are amazing photos" to spend a few bucks for my prints?

I'd love feedback!
www.shutterthoughts.com

Mulder32

My 2 cents
I really like your Hawaii sunrise/sunset stuff. Here's how I see the "shoot first, hope they buy" method: you have to ask yourself, "how are people going to use these pictures?" or "why should they buy a particular print"? In other words, what purpose would a picture serve for someone?

For instance, I think shot 6 of your sunset stuff is a great shot, but why should I buy it? Just to have a nice picture? I just don't know what I'd do with it, and I think a lot of people who visit our sites think along the same lines.

I used to shoot action sports, give people clear directions how to get to my site, then post galleries of some nice action shots, but...no sales. People would visit the site, but nothing. And these were people who knew the athletes in the game! I now work "by contract" only. The only way I will shoot first is so I can build up my portfolio and show I can shoot a variety of sports.

Photography is a tough game! You'll have to spend money up front to get your name out there--free samples, business cards, ads, etc, but if your shots are good, and they serve a purpose for your customers, sales should start coming in. This may be the photojournalist in me, but people like to look at people, so I try my hardest to get people in my pictures.

Sorry for the long post, but I've got time to kill this morning before work! Good luck!

thenimirra

very nicely put Mulder. I agree 100 percent.

Most of my sales have come from being paid directly for a portrait shoot or event. I've learned not to put much faith in print sales after-the-fact. While I'm finally starting to get some trinkling in from my last big event in Breckenridge, those sales still don't add up to what I was paid initially for the service contract.

Scott Crouse

In short, selling landscape work is tough. I've had my site up and running for about 8 months now and I've flogged it with business cards, sold prints at craft shows, created a blog with photos that link to smugmug and got 2 sales. Luckily those 2 sales were from a guy who came along out of the blue and bought 2 prints in rolled canvas. Basically paid for my subscription to smug for the next 3 years, so it does work. Unfortunately he didn't find me via any of the work I had done to advertise. He found me through keywords. hint hint

Every month my stats on smug go up and up and I get my name known and get more out there and in peoples faces but if you want to make a living off your site you've got some work ahead of you.

I have started concentrating more on commericial sales then someone coming along to buy a print. I get more inquires from people wanting to use my photos and they seem more willing to pay. Also playing with blurb books to see if I can drum up more interest.

All I can say is good luck, but in my case I'm not giving up my day job anytime soon

cmason

You know, I tried basically the same thing..."build it and they will come'. But I was dissapointed, and eventually downgraded my acct to Power from Pro.

In the end I looked around at my target market: I own no photos purchased from a photographer, no real artwork at all really, Neither do my friends and neighbors. Everyone appreciates and commends my images, but they don't want them on their walls.

I think the best route forward is stock, commercial, and perhaps novelty: eg. make calendars with landscapes, or other subjects, and sell them online or to a dealer.

Anyway, JMHO

claudermilk

It is tough to sell that way. I've really only sold event stuff. Not much interest in the landscape/art stuff.

Each of us is different, though. My wife and I actually used to say we needed to buy a house to support our artwork habit--so we'd have enough wall space to display it all. So much for that idea, there's still not enough space. To top it off, I haven't gotten as much of my own stuff printed & framed that I want. I basically have a standing order for family every holiday season--they have more of my stuff on the walls than I do.

Anyway, getting random people to show up & buy images is incredibly difficult. They all like to look at the images on the web, and might want to steal one here & there for desktops, but to pay for a print to hang, not so much.

ShutterThoughts

Marketing?
Thank you to everyone for your thoughts... I'm amazed at how helpful everyone is here. I checked out people's galleries who had links, and clearly everyone is also really talented.

So, if it isn't for lack of creatively or talent, then perhaps there's another marketing angle? Or perhaps designing the text and style of the site to better suggest purchasing, rather than browsing?

Has ANYONE had a lot of sales from their website with the "shoot first" approach? Don't worry, I'm not quitting my day job, I just want to be able to justify the cost of buying new toys (such as another Canon L series lens).

Finally, I'm very committed to donating money to non-profits, and wanted my photography business to do that as well. So, I've written that up on the site because I want people to think about helping the environment, even if it doesn't generate sales. Has anyone found a good way of doing philanthropic fundraising in conjunction with sales?

Scott Crouse wrote:

In short, selling landscape work is tough. I've had my site up and running for about 8 months now and I've flogged it with business cards, sold prints at craft shows, created a blog with photos that link to smugmug and got 2 sales. Luckily those 2 sales were from a guy who came along out of the blue and bought 2 prints in rolled canvas. Basically paid for my subscription to smug for the next 3 years, so it does work. Unfortunately he didn't find me via any of the work I had done to advertise. He found me through keywords. hint hint

Every month my stats on smug go up and up and I get my name known and get more out there and in peoples faces but if you want to make a living off your site you've got some work ahead of you.

I have started concentrating more on commericial sales then someone coming along to buy a print. I get more inquires from people wanting to use my photos and they seem more willing to pay. Also playing with blurb books to see if I can drum up more interest.

All I can say is good luck, but in my case I'm not giving up my day job anytime soon

urbanaries

we live in an online world....most people buy digital music files rather than plastic CDs, read the newspaper on the internet rather than deal with the paper version, bank online instead of using a teller, sell their home online instead of using a Realtor...the list goes on. Almost every industry has had to make major changes in how they do business as a result.

In addition, the wonderful and tragic thing about digital SLR revolution is that everyone now has access to fantastic equipment, and so the market is saturated with folks with products that there is virtually no demand for.

It's great that you're generating traffic, and that should be a testament to how pleasureable your work is to view. To your original question "What to expect" ---The fact that no one is buying is probably less of a reflection on the quality of your work, and more a reflection of higher expectations for the medium than it can really deliver.

I may love your work but if I don't have a room with "hawaiian decor" that has sufficient wallspace, I'm not going to buy something even if I really love the photo. The "decor" factor is totally out of your hands.

Just my .02.

FWIW, I have a very tough time selling ACTUAL PRINTS, even to clients that rave about photos of once-in-a-lifetime events they've commissioned me to take. They're totally suited to just looking at them online periodically, or buying a CD from me if I get tough and put a time limit on them.

Mulder32

Sorry--forgot my link
still figuring out the signature stuff!

denisegoldberg

There are some really good points here already.

But beyond the difficulty of selling photos on the web, I don't think you are helping yourself in the way that you have chosen to show your photos. The all thumbs style of gallery doesn't do much to showcase your shots, and the heavy-handed proof watermark across the images if the viewer clicks for a larger image was enough to send me away without looking further. I understand the need for watermarks, but a more subtle watermark that allowed the viewer to see the photo would still protect your image plus allow the photo to be reasonably viewed.

--- Denise

ShutterThoughts

Good advice
Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I changed my watermarks (I've been lazy on that one) and layout (which I've really been torn over, so I'll give the "smugmug" layout a shot instead of thumbnails).

It does seem there could be a lengthy discussion over whether digital photography has in fact made people more casual in the way they treat photography as an art form. This might be from the ease in which everyone can take pictures now (digital means more pictures, which means better chances of taking a decent one yourself) or perhaps from a skepticism of whether something has been dishonestly edited (I'm not starting THAT debate).

From a business standpoint for selling artistic shots, I believe my challenge now lies in presenting my photographs (both online and in galleries) in a way that helps people understand how much effort goes into a good photo, and how many thousands get rejected to get that one good shot, or one good session.

Of course, I'm still exploring the more proven ways that people have discussed, but the idealism in me is still alive (perhaps naively).

denisegoldberg wrote:

There are some really good points here already.

But beyond the difficulty of selling photos on the web, I don't think you are helping yourself in the way that you have chosen to show your photos. The all thumbs style of gallery doesn't do much to showcase your shots, and the heavy-handed proof watermark across the images if the viewer clicks for a larger image was enough to send me away without looking further. I understand the need for watermarks, but a more subtle watermark that allowed the viewer to see the photo would still protect your image plus allow the photo to be reasonably viewed.

--- Denise

claudermilk

urbanaries wrote:

FWIW, I have a very tough time selling ACTUAL PRINTS, even to clients that rave about photos of once-in-a-lifetime events they've commissioned me to take. They're totally suited to just looking at them online periodically, or buying a CD from me if I get tough and put a time limit on them.

That's actually a very good thought. I've started pulling galleries of events more than 6 months old. I need to make a point of that policy on my homepage to potentially generate some more sales (gee it's only there for 6 months, I'd better get my prints before the opportunity passes). it also helps keep the site from getting too cluttered.

Now, the little secret is the galleries are just set to unlisted & it's a couple of button pushes to "re-publish" the thing if the client comes around later & needs more prints.

Sam

I'm with Denise on the water marks. As for sales of fine art prints from people who wander onto your site, I would expect zero sales. (Event type sales are different)

Your on line presence adds credibility, and lets people see some of your work, but the computer screen is a very poor way to view fine art.

The real sales of fine art prints really needs to take place in the real world.

Sam

Gary Peterson Photography

My .02 cents
The questions you have raised are issues that I have been dealing with the last few years and need to be constantly re-evaluated by all photographers hoping to derive a steady and profitable income from event photography. One thing I have learned over the years is that you need to be willing and able to change the way you do business and respond quickly to the demands and expectations of your customers, and knowing what your customers want at all times, and then striving to meet those expectations.

Honestly, I have always felt that online sales from an event are ancillary to the selling that occurs at an event. There is nothing better than impulse buys at the event, where the captured moment is fresh in the potential purchaser's mind, and the existence of a secondary influence is present.

I use a multi tiered sales approach to all events to ensure my ROI is healthy from every event that I cover, be it a small sporting event or a large multi-day one. I evaluate each event, or series of events and base my sales approach based on the demographics of the participants.

I will give you a small case in point. I just shot a 44 team hockey tournament here in Spokane, one that I have shot in years past, consisting of the youngest demographic for hockey, Mites and Jr Mites. Based on the ages of the players, (5-9) I know that this very well could be the childs first tournament, and that there are a few different potential customers that come with this player to the rink. The parents, the grandparents, and the team.

So, based on that, and knowing that I have three days to make sales, (The tournament goes Friday through Sunday) I ramp up my sales approach. I offer a Team Disc for "X" dollars. This disc is sold to each team with the parents splitting the cost of the disc, and each of them receiving a copy that covers all images that we shoot, of every game that the team plays in over the sourse of the tournament. This is marketed via the tournament handouts or book, posters and pop up displays at the venue. This is the bread and butter of the sales, and the avenue that we make the greatest push for. First of all, it is very effective, and I realize at least 90% of the teams purchasing the discs.

I also offer a personalized print option and a personalized collage option only the first two days of the tournaments. Essentially, if a parent wants a "Trading Card" type poster/ or collage, they sign up the first or second day of the event, we get extra shots of this player to work with, and then prepare them the second day of the event and have them printed overnight so they are available prior to the teams leaving the venue on the final day.

As a last resort, if the teams have not purchased a team disc, then the images are put online. It is then hit or miss as to whether you see any online purchases and ussually most of it is dependant on how well you have directed people to the site, your pricing, and the speed at which you have the images online to view.

I also cover events that are of a larger scope and appeal, and typically have these images soley online. Marketing for this is totally different than the one described above where you have "face time" with your potential clients. These events though are a sure and steady source of income, as long as you are shooting with a few things in mind.

1) Who are your potential Customers

2) What are they looking for

3) When do they want them

4) How do they want them delivered

So, who are the customers for a large sporting event? The fans, the players and the families and friends of the players, the teams, the leagues, the press.

Each is looking for something completly different. The fan wants a variety of things, the action shot, the trading card shot, the tender moment shot, a little of everything. The players want the shot that makes them look great, one that puts them above everyone else, the friends and family want everything, the leagues need the trading card shot and the cool action shots that make the marketing of the team easy, the press is looking for descicive moments they can use.

Thats a lot to process for a simple event.....so knowing what your customers want before the event makes your job a bit easier. I hope that helps, if nothing else it was a good exercise in typing for me, as I am ussually a lurker, and man of little words.

glhphotos

I'd second what Gary had to offer, i.e., know your customer and offer them something that they will want that they can't take with their own camera. Having basic shots of locations in Hawaii will be challenging to market/sell. We have been on Kauai several times with the most recent being this past December. I took some friends who had not visited the island previously to Waimea Canyon and would guess that at the primary viewing station that there were at least 100 people present, many with digital cameras, taking photos. For most of them I believe that whatever image they captured was all they would ever need or want.

To set youself apart you need to have more focus and really work to make your images stand apart. As an example see
www.randyjaybraun.com/ He specializes in black & white photographs of hula dancers and does some really good work; you can see his images on postcards and prints throughout the islands. It is pretty easy to find a lot of really excellent (and average) landscape photographs that have been taken on the islands that are widely available at little cost. If you want to get an idea just look at some of the stock photography sites.

Furono

If your going to sell your photography as "art" then...

I agree totally with glhphotos on how you need to have your pictures stand out if your doing Hawaii. Your photos are excellent, I love them. However they don't grab me in a new way I haven't seen before. If I was going to put something on my wall I'd want people to see something original and fresh. Then I'd pay good money.

I'm faced with the same situation living in Japan, it's been photographed a million times. If I wanted to sell my photos online they better be something totally original and striking.

The photographer glhphotos mentioned that does BW hula dancers is the key. Thats the start of the frame of mind you need to be in if you want to sell.

bham

To me this quote says it all

"and so the market is saturated with folks with products that there is virtually no demand for."

Currently supply is so much over demand its not even funny.

Unless you are paid to take a specific shot, I would say your chance of selling a photo or digital file as "art" is about 1 in 10,000.

Why do you think the term starving artist came to be. Art is a speculative business, produce and then hope to sell. Painters have been starving for decades if not centuries, why would that suddenly change.

If you haven't noticed but from what I have seen all the successful art photographers are now having classes to teach others, etc. I don't think this is because they want to, I think its based on a need for income. IMHO. But with millions of potential customers in DSLR owners, its probably a smart move. Potential large demand, and a small supply of "name" teachers.