Using the Internet
In 1996, I bought my first
computer and learned how to turn it on. Soon after that I was
introduced to the internet. While
at the time, many people predicted the death of photography
(as they have every few years for more than 30 years), I saw
an opportunity on the internet to get my images in front of
more potential clients. So, after a marathon 41 hour session,
I learned Pagemill and posted my first web site. My investment
was $100 for the program and $20 a month for internet service
which included 8 mb of free web space. Most internet service
providers still offer this. I sat back and waited for the money
to roll in. After 3 months, I sold a print in Australia for
$150. Another month went by and I made a stock sale for use
on a companies intranet system for $1500 (a market that didn’t
exist before the web). The internet has been an important and
growing part of my business ever since. The first few years
the internet produce less than 5% of my in-come. But as time
has gone by the internet has been an ever more important source
of revenue. In fact today I think that the internet is an indispensable
tool to building your business
The web turned out to be not
only a great vehicle to show and sell pictures to my clients
but it also became a client itself
as more
and more people built web sites and needed images for their sites.
If
you don’t have a web site, build one or have it built.
Make it simple to navigate and easy to view. Huge, slow loading
pages are a no-no. Keyword your web pages as care-fully as possible
to make them easy for your clients to locate when they do a search.
Links from non-competing businesses and careful use of search engines
submission forms will help your visibility. A store with no windows
has few lookers! I go into a great deal of detail about this in
my seminar and my soon to be released 120 page 42,000 + word e-book
package. Your web site should also have either “galleries” divided
by subject or some sort of search ability.
Stock Agencies
As your library of images grow you may want to
consider using stock agencies to help broaden the scope of
the markets that
you can reach. There are some positives and negatives to
using agencies. The number one positive to using them, in my
opinion,
is the ability to make sales in markets you would never be
able to reach yourself. Also, of almost equal importance,
is that agencies do the marketing work for you. This comes of
course at a price. The negatives would be that they usually
charge at least 50% com-mission and in some cases 60%. With
commissions to foreign agents it is not unusual to get as
little
as 22% net. Your pictures will also be tied up with them
for at least 4-8 years. Depending on the contract you sign, you
may or may not be able to market the images yourself. Or,
you
may only be allowed to market them in a limited way. For
ex-ample, you may be able to lease rights to use them in the
book and
magazine market but not in the advertising market. (This
example is fairly common). It can be very profit-able working
with
agencies, but it needs to be something that you consider
carefully. It will probably not be the main source of your income.
Your
Future As a Photographer
I firmly believe that if you love doing
something enough, you will be willing to put enough effort
into it to be
truly good
at it. If you are truly good at it and add skillful marketing,
you can earn a living. If you are great at it and are willing
to be a great marketer, the sky is the limit!
For more information on Byron's, " Marketing Your Images" 2-Day
retreat, go to
www.naturephotocentral.com
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