Selling Your Images

The evidence of the huge need for photographs is overwhelming. Just take a look around you. You see them on packaging, calendars, CD & DVD covers, catalogues, magazines…..the list is endless. You will see hundreds of images each and every day. The thing you have to remember is that it was more than likely that a photographer took the image.

How did the photographer get their image on that particular product? And how can you get your images used.

These are some of the things that we hope to answer in this series of tips & ideas.

All these images have to be provided by someone and surprisingly, only a small percentage of them are specifically commissioned by a client for a specific purpose.

Most come from commercial photography libraries, agencies that compile thousands or even hundreds of thousands of photos ready to be used for any occasion and requirement.

Libraries are so successful because it is less expensive for a client to purchase an image from them rather than hire a photographer, pay for their outgoings for the duration of the shoot, sometimes including their travel costs & so many more incidental costs that you may not even think of.

Imagine that a client wants to use a photograph of say, Sydney Harbour Bridge but he only knows a photographer that lives in Melbourne. Just imagine the cost to the client to get that image. And that is even before the image gets to print.

USE A LIBRARY OR SELL DIRECT

There are plenty of ways that you can sell your photographs, other than using a library.

Selling your images directly to the end user is an excellent means to maximize your profit, as you don’t have to fork out at least half of your earnings to a library. Also, you are in complete control of how your image is used and you can set your own price.

Selling directly on the internet is one option. You can set up your own website or even ride on the back of a specialist site like ours. Here you can display whatever images that you would like to promote or sell. You are your own editor, marketer and sales rep, accounts manager. And then, by the time you have organized all of that, do you still have the time to go out & do what you got into photography for in the first place……..take photographs? I think not.

So it makes sense to contact a photo library & let them do all the incidental work for you at first . They have the contacts, the know how and the time to get it all done for you. Remember, that the library works for you. After all, if they didn’t look after their photographers, then they wouldn’t have a business.

Once you start getting a reputation as an accomplished photographer, then you can increase your profile by doing the things mentioned above. Once you start making a reasonable living, perhaps you could even employ someone to do the incidentals for you. That way, YOU still have complete control over your work.

TO EXHIBIT OR NOT TO EXHIBIT

Another way to sell your images is to get your work exhibited. This can be a daunting process. And can be expensive. And you have to pay the gallery a commission on any of your works sold and perhaps even a rental fee for the space. Then you have to hope that the gallery owner promotes your work in a proper manner & at the time you need that cash. You may have to book space at a gallery up to one year ahead & by then, your images are old hat and you are probably tired of looking at them and gone in a different photographic direction.

One way to have your work exhibited is at a dedicated photographic exhibition where your work is exhibited in a gallery setting where the public & photography buyers attend as well as other photographers that you can bounce ideas off & perhaps form partnerships & marketing plans together. An example of this sort of exhibition is Photofest Australia, an annual event usually held in Brisbane & open to ALL Australian photographers. It usually incorporates the exhibition, a trade show, seminars & coincides with the Australian Open Photographer of the Year Awards.

These sort of events are a great marketing tool for photographers as it gives them the opportunity to display their talents on a grand scale to an audience that have an interest in photography.

QUICK TIP

IMAGES IN ADVERTISING

Look at the images used by today’s advertisers to sell their products or services and you will see one very important factor. The visuals used to sell are rarely product shots. Advertisers today use illustrative photography that evoke emotions and desires. It is designed to show consumers how the product or service will affect their lives. Advertisers want to tell consumers what their lifestyles could & should be. Through photography, they want to show how the service or product they are promoting can improve quality of life, save time, or provide more security or excitement in their lives. They appeal not to the mind, but to the emotions. Keep that in mind when you are brainstorming your next commercial shoot.

More tips........