Ideas for selling your photos online
Oct 8, 2011 09:59:08 #
Don Grant, Selling to Stock Agencies is another good suggestion. Arnold
dongrant wrote:
Something that you may want to look into is sellin... (show quote)
Oct 8, 2011 10:00:16 #
<<<<Mattie, Thank you for your suggestions. You have good suggestions. Do you mean that I have chance of selling my prints to a local Hobby Lobby and not their Corporate location? Arnold >>>>
Arnold, I really dont know how a chain does business, but it certainly wouldnt hurt to ask. Don't bother asking someone in the framing area of a shop, you would need to ask the manager as to how they order prints and such. I used to work at a frame shop, and we could order things from the catalogs she had, or if someone came in there selling some prints. I bought 5 foil prints one time... and those pics were the most beautiful I had ever seen, and they only cost me 20 bucks for those 5. I framed them and I have had so many comments on them and people wanting to know where I got them. Another suggestion you might want to look into is have your foil pics small.. no larger than 8x10 or 5x7, (think mine are 5x7) or see if a company can make your prints into a foil, cause they have to have a picture to begin with to make them. And with the colors in some of the pics I have seen on this board, they would be beautiful, especially snow ones. Perhaps you can google foil pictures and see who makes them. You haven't lost anything but your time. Then I bet if you had some samples made up, and went around the neighborhood, you would have orders galore!!!
Someone had come by my neighborhood one time with some they were selling, but these were not as pretty as the ones I had earlier bought. The (subject) of pic is what will sell, more so than anything....but the snow ones are out of this world with a cabin some where in the distance. That foil does something to the pictures.... Trust me on this.
Try and find some online, but dont buy any of those. I had looked the other day, but in looking at them online, they dont show up the true beauty of the pic. In fact they are rather boring. But these foil pics are just beautiful. I would buy a few from you if you decide to do this.
Arnold, I really dont know how a chain does business, but it certainly wouldnt hurt to ask. Don't bother asking someone in the framing area of a shop, you would need to ask the manager as to how they order prints and such. I used to work at a frame shop, and we could order things from the catalogs she had, or if someone came in there selling some prints. I bought 5 foil prints one time... and those pics were the most beautiful I had ever seen, and they only cost me 20 bucks for those 5. I framed them and I have had so many comments on them and people wanting to know where I got them. Another suggestion you might want to look into is have your foil pics small.. no larger than 8x10 or 5x7, (think mine are 5x7) or see if a company can make your prints into a foil, cause they have to have a picture to begin with to make them. And with the colors in some of the pics I have seen on this board, they would be beautiful, especially snow ones. Perhaps you can google foil pictures and see who makes them. You haven't lost anything but your time. Then I bet if you had some samples made up, and went around the neighborhood, you would have orders galore!!!
Someone had come by my neighborhood one time with some they were selling, but these were not as pretty as the ones I had earlier bought. The (subject) of pic is what will sell, more so than anything....but the snow ones are out of this world with a cabin some where in the distance. That foil does something to the pictures.... Trust me on this.
Try and find some online, but dont buy any of those. I had looked the other day, but in looking at them online, they dont show up the true beauty of the pic. In fact they are rather boring. But these foil pics are just beautiful. I would buy a few from you if you decide to do this.
Oct 8, 2011 10:07:48 #
Sorry Arnold, Guess I didnt answer your question! If you could send some samples to Hobby Lobby's home office of your foils when you can find someone who does this type of thing. I tried to take some pics of mine the other day, but with this little camera I have and the flash on it, it was a disaster to say the least. They looked nothing like the picture I took, so pitched them.
Oct 8, 2011 10:12:37 #
Mattie, Thanks for your clarification. Arnold
Mattie wrote:
Sorry Arnold, Guess I didnt answer your question! If you could send some samples to Hobby Lobby's home office of your foils when you can find someone who does this type of thing. I tried to take some pics of mine the other day, but with this little camera I have and the flash on it, it was a disaster to say the least. They looked nothing like the picture I took, so pitched them.
Oct 8, 2011 10:18:52 #
Arnold, I just looked at your site, since you are already on smugmug why not just upgrade to their pro level?
Oct 8, 2011 10:30:19 #
Bob, I have had the Pro Level since day one, but just decided recently to try to sell my photos and was trying help from other people on the best way of doing it. Arnold
bobmcculloch wrote:
Arnold, I just looked at your site, since you are already on smugmug why not just upgrade to their pro level?
Oct 8, 2011 10:36:29 #
I thought their pro level included the ability to sell on their site. Perhaps what you need is to drive purchasers rather than lookers to your site, always a problem in selling anything.
Oct 8, 2011 10:39:31 #
Bob, Yes, the Pro version has the capability to sell your photos. Your are 100% correct that I need to drive purchasers to my website. Arnold
bobmcculloch wrote:
I thought their pro level included the ability to sell on their site. Perhaps what you need is to drive purchasers rather than lookers to your site, always a problem in selling anything.
Oct 8, 2011 11:53:07 #
WHY are you not selling from smugmug.com, people can buy from your account, unless you luck it. just put FOR SALE IN ONE OF YOUR HEADINGS.
Oct 8, 2011 12:15:20 #
Adubin wrote:
Don Grant, Thank you for your suggestion on how to... (show quote)
Looking at your work, I'd say that if photography is selling you should be able to sell. I suspect that once your find the contacts and venues that you'll be well on your way. Nice shots.
Oct 8, 2011 12:32:51 #
WHY are you not selling from smugmug.com, people can buy from your account, unless you luck it. just put FOR SALE IN ONE OF YOUR HEADINGS.
Oct 8, 2011 13:54:25 #
Arnold,
had a look at your site... some VERY nice images there! i've been playing this game for a while, and have a couple of observations...
1. offer as many sizes and formats as possible. if you're using Smugmug as the sales engine, they do all the printing and order fulfillment, so all you'd have to do would be to format the images to fit the print sizes you select. if you choose to stick with 4:5, that's okay, but it wouldn't hurt to open up your options a bit. they have a number of sizes to choose from, as well as paper options and canvas. you don't have to do anything but tick the boxes and set your prices.
2. if you're getting 10,000 hits a month, you're doing exceptionally well in that regard (how do you DO that?). put a "purchase" button on your nav bar, and that will tell visitors that they can buy directly from your site. broadcast on your FB and Twitter that you are now "open for business", and get cards printed to hand out whenever you visit galleries, art supply places, whatever. let people know they can now purchase your work, and if they're interested, they'll have a look.
3. by all means, expand your market by showing in galleries, coffee shops, etc. exposure is the name of the game, and the more you get your work out there, the more potential customers will see it. i've even done an exhibition in a columbarium, fer cryin' out loud!
4. don't expect too much. the economy has been run through a shredder, and the only people who have money are bankers and wall street swindlers. most others are either unemployed, worried about becoming unemployed, or have seen their investments and home values plummet, and they're holding on to what money they have. buying pretty pictures for the wall is pretty low on the priority list. in a good economy, things would be different, but for now, it's a very tough sell.
5. don't be too disappointed if you don't sell a lot, especially o start out. you have a ton of fabulous bird photos, but frankly, how many people do you see who have large prints of birds in their homes? it's just not a genre that generates a lot of sales. with photos, the most likely to sell (aside from weddings and portraits) are probably things like landscapes and flowers. but your bird pics are publication worthy... try contacting publishers of birding magazines, calendars, etc. if you can get your work published there, that'll boost your cred in the marketplace, and also lead to more publication offers.
6. ah, pricing! the eternal question of the emerging artist! someone mentioned doing a "peer review"... check out prices others are asking for comparable (be honest!) work, and price your images accordingly. with Smugmug, they have a base price that you just add to to set your profit margin. be wary of setting your price too high, for obvious reasons, especially in this economy. it's better to make a little less margin in the beginning in order to get the ball rolling, you can always increase your prices a little bit later, when the economy recovers (assuming that happens in our lifetimes!). but be wary too of setting prices too low. people - especially art buyers - are kinda funny... if you offer TOO good a deal, they'll think something's wrong, and will suspect that your work isn't good enough to buy. also, remember, it's the image that's worth something. i price my prints based on the size of the image, and make my money on the print itself, not on the mat or frame. i don't give those away for free, but the cost of the frame is pretty much just added in - i don't make much of a profit on it. the real value of an image is in the skill and creativity of the photographer, not the mat and frame he puts it in. price your prints accordingly.
7. try cutting down the number of prints on your site. you have some stunning work, but way too much of it. people are basically lazy, and don't like to scroll through 3 or 4 layers to get to a gallery and then wade through a hundred photos. they'll give up and go somewhere else. try to get your gallery list onto one page, so people can see all your galleries in one place. then limit each gallery to a max of 2 or 3 pages deep. put only your best stuff there, and leave the rest at home.
after all this, if you can NET anything over a couple of grand a year, congrats! that may not seem like much, but in this economy, it's not bad. as you noted, nature photos are a tough sell... every schmuck with a pocket cam or a cell phone camera thinks they can get a similar shot, so they'e less inclined to buy photography. the web is saturated with sites offering mediocre photos for a wide range of (often outlandish) prices, the trick is to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
had a look at your site... some VERY nice images there! i've been playing this game for a while, and have a couple of observations...
1. offer as many sizes and formats as possible. if you're using Smugmug as the sales engine, they do all the printing and order fulfillment, so all you'd have to do would be to format the images to fit the print sizes you select. if you choose to stick with 4:5, that's okay, but it wouldn't hurt to open up your options a bit. they have a number of sizes to choose from, as well as paper options and canvas. you don't have to do anything but tick the boxes and set your prices.
2. if you're getting 10,000 hits a month, you're doing exceptionally well in that regard (how do you DO that?). put a "purchase" button on your nav bar, and that will tell visitors that they can buy directly from your site. broadcast on your FB and Twitter that you are now "open for business", and get cards printed to hand out whenever you visit galleries, art supply places, whatever. let people know they can now purchase your work, and if they're interested, they'll have a look.
3. by all means, expand your market by showing in galleries, coffee shops, etc. exposure is the name of the game, and the more you get your work out there, the more potential customers will see it. i've even done an exhibition in a columbarium, fer cryin' out loud!
4. don't expect too much. the economy has been run through a shredder, and the only people who have money are bankers and wall street swindlers. most others are either unemployed, worried about becoming unemployed, or have seen their investments and home values plummet, and they're holding on to what money they have. buying pretty pictures for the wall is pretty low on the priority list. in a good economy, things would be different, but for now, it's a very tough sell.
5. don't be too disappointed if you don't sell a lot, especially o start out. you have a ton of fabulous bird photos, but frankly, how many people do you see who have large prints of birds in their homes? it's just not a genre that generates a lot of sales. with photos, the most likely to sell (aside from weddings and portraits) are probably things like landscapes and flowers. but your bird pics are publication worthy... try contacting publishers of birding magazines, calendars, etc. if you can get your work published there, that'll boost your cred in the marketplace, and also lead to more publication offers.
6. ah, pricing! the eternal question of the emerging artist! someone mentioned doing a "peer review"... check out prices others are asking for comparable (be honest!) work, and price your images accordingly. with Smugmug, they have a base price that you just add to to set your profit margin. be wary of setting your price too high, for obvious reasons, especially in this economy. it's better to make a little less margin in the beginning in order to get the ball rolling, you can always increase your prices a little bit later, when the economy recovers (assuming that happens in our lifetimes!). but be wary too of setting prices too low. people - especially art buyers - are kinda funny... if you offer TOO good a deal, they'll think something's wrong, and will suspect that your work isn't good enough to buy. also, remember, it's the image that's worth something. i price my prints based on the size of the image, and make my money on the print itself, not on the mat or frame. i don't give those away for free, but the cost of the frame is pretty much just added in - i don't make much of a profit on it. the real value of an image is in the skill and creativity of the photographer, not the mat and frame he puts it in. price your prints accordingly.
7. try cutting down the number of prints on your site. you have some stunning work, but way too much of it. people are basically lazy, and don't like to scroll through 3 or 4 layers to get to a gallery and then wade through a hundred photos. they'll give up and go somewhere else. try to get your gallery list onto one page, so people can see all your galleries in one place. then limit each gallery to a max of 2 or 3 pages deep. put only your best stuff there, and leave the rest at home.
after all this, if you can NET anything over a couple of grand a year, congrats! that may not seem like much, but in this economy, it's not bad. as you noted, nature photos are a tough sell... every schmuck with a pocket cam or a cell phone camera thinks they can get a similar shot, so they'e less inclined to buy photography. the web is saturated with sites offering mediocre photos for a wide range of (often outlandish) prices, the trick is to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
Oct 8, 2011 18:55:53 #
Rocky,
Thank you very much for taking your time and providing me detailed answers to my questions. I have been using my website to post photos that I have taken during nature outings, family, travel, and other misc. photo galleries. I notify my friends and family of new posting of my photo galleries. In these Emails I tell them about my experience in taking these photos and tech info about that gallery I just posted. This is where I get most of the people viewing my photos. The other areas that helps are posting keywords and captions so the search engine picks them up, handing business cards with my website link, and having other SmugMug people viewing my website. Recently posting links from various photo galleries when responding to people inquires and/or critiques on Ugly Hedgehog forum has dramatically increase my views.
As a result of people responding to this forum thread, they convince me to set up my Stock section to start trying to sell some of my bird photos. I hope to see some positive results during the next several months. As time goes on, I plan to add more photos, and promote my website through various marketing methods.
I looked at your website and I'm very impressed with your photos.
Again thanks for variable inputs. Arnold
Thank you very much for taking your time and providing me detailed answers to my questions. I have been using my website to post photos that I have taken during nature outings, family, travel, and other misc. photo galleries. I notify my friends and family of new posting of my photo galleries. In these Emails I tell them about my experience in taking these photos and tech info about that gallery I just posted. This is where I get most of the people viewing my photos. The other areas that helps are posting keywords and captions so the search engine picks them up, handing business cards with my website link, and having other SmugMug people viewing my website. Recently posting links from various photo galleries when responding to people inquires and/or critiques on Ugly Hedgehog forum has dramatically increase my views.
As a result of people responding to this forum thread, they convince me to set up my Stock section to start trying to sell some of my bird photos. I hope to see some positive results during the next several months. As time goes on, I plan to add more photos, and promote my website through various marketing methods.
I looked at your website and I'm very impressed with your photos.
Again thanks for variable inputs. Arnold
SQUIRL033 wrote:
Arnold, br br had a look at your site... some VER... (show quote)
Oct 9, 2011 08:21:13 #
Adubin wrote:
Frank, You have some very good suggestions. I ap... (show quote)
Glad to help. I have added you to my buddy list as I am interested in what you do from here.
Oct 9, 2011 18:38:59 #
i use FAA as well, and they've sold several pieces for me this year. it's really a pretty good deal... you simply upload your image files, pay $30 a year for their "print on demand" option, specify the prices you want to sell for, and sit back. they take care of printing, shipping, collecting payment, etc., and send you a check when something sells. couldn't be easier!
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