- PHOTO BY HOWARD MOO YOUNG
Classic car in Havana, Cuba.
Howard Moo Young, Contributor
I RECENTLY wrote about taking the opportunity to make the most of your photographic skills, in terms of saleable images. You are now satisfied with your collection including some terrific photos - now what? Can you really make some extra money selling pictures?
Getting people to buy your photographs, or even hire you to take new photographs is the desire of most serious amateur and semi-professional photographers, but it requires many skills that have little to do with photography - namely, business skills.
To begin, you need to decide what type of photographer you are and what your aspirations are. If you want to be a full-time photographer there are several options. You can apply for a job in your chosen speciality such as a photojournalist with a newspaper, or the in-house photographer for a hotel chain, or a portrait photographer at a local wedding studio. But if you prefer to freelance (full-time or part-time), you'll have to learn how to market yourself.
There are some ways you can maximise your chances of selling your photos. Think before you shoot. Look for shoot shots of new places. Find different ways to shoot the old. Look for familiar scenes and locations, and develop a specialisation to help your work stand out.
When I first began taking pictures, I shot whatever held my fancy, or those that fell into my school assignments at the time. Some of the images were good. Others weren't. When I decided to turn my love of photography into a serious part of my profession (advertising and graphic design) as well as producing winning images, I started looking through the viewfinder and thinking about sales. What markets would most likely use this image? Is this a possible cover, or should I shoot it horizontally for a calendar?
It's still sometimes a bit difficult even after many years of taking photographs, to predict what qualities a photo should have to be saleable.
PICTURES THAT SELL
There are, however, certain patterns one sees time and again in pictures that sell. Here are some:
1. People
2. Strong design
3. Sunrise and Sunset
4. Mood
5. Romance
6. Strong centre of interest
7. Cute, sweet and cuddly
8. Animals
9. Flowers
I must admit that even though I'm giving this advice, I've just begun to really pay more attention to these suggestions seriously, and this year is a new beginning, regarding my art and photography.
As you take more pictures, you will have to test the saleability of your work. If your images are immediately published, purchased or collected, you know you're probably on the right track. However, if you have trouble selling your work, perhaps you should look more closely at what you're doing. Are you submitting your work to the wrong market? Is it artistic? Are you exposing your pictures to enough potential buyers?
Excellent photography plus diligent marketing can translate into hundreds of sales over the years. You can penetrate any market with your photography if you focus first on creating beautiful and sensitive images, and then getting those pictures into the right market. You must make sure, of course, that your promotion is targeted to the right people and it's presented in a professional manner. You must aggressively market yourself - or else hire someone to do it for you.
Let's continue on some money-making tips, started a few weeks ago.
SELF-PROMOTION
10. Do self-promotion. Send out strong self-promotional pieces, and follow up with a phone call.11. Produce your own photo show. This involves producing display prints - do them professionally, and do them right; they are what you're selling! Find a place to hang them (your own patio, veranda or garage could do, but you might be able to make arrangements with a local organisation or library to hold your show in their facilities for a percentage of the profits), and publicising the event via flyers, press releases and even personal contact.12. Talk to local business owners about displaying your photos on their walls. Restaurants, banks and other businesses often use pictures - paintings and photos - to spruce up their walls. Perhaps you can work out an arrangement to display your photos, along with your name and phone number so customers who like your work can contact you about buying it.13. If you like to photograph animals, consider placing a small advertisement in the newspaper offering your services as a pet photographer. Many people have pets, and I'm sure that someone would love to have a nice portrait of their fuzzy friend, amasing bird or loveable cat. 14. Teach a photo class. If you really know your stuff, and can communicate well, you might consider starting your own photo classes, or offering your services to a community photo programme (or starting such a programme, if your community doesn't have one).15. Do community-service photography, and send it to the local publications. Volunteer your service to local charitable organisations - your published photos can bring you business.16. Consider doing photo calendars. Look at last year photo calendars, note the publishers and printers, and submit appropriate photos to one or more calendar publishers.SUBMIT WORK TO RELATIVE PUBLISHERS
17. If you have some really great greeting-card or post-card type shots, submit them to a greeting-card or post-card publisher (along with appropriate caption or message ideas for each photo).18. Consider submitting work to owners or curators of local art galleries that display and sell photography if you do fine art photography.Some other subjects you can consider are automobiles - proud owners with their classic cars, architecture - interior and exterior of buildings for architects, interior designers, and real estate companies, gardens - for landscape designers and proud gardeners, antique furniture - for antique dealers, insurance companies, just to name a few.
Consider stock agencies. These agencies stock thousands of photographs, and sell them to a variety of clients. Some stock agencies cover a wide range of topics, while others specialise in just a few areas. These agencies market the use of your photos, in return for a percentage of the rate received.
You can also put your own web page on the Internet. Most Internet service providers let you put your own webpage as part of your monthly fee. Take advantage of this to let people know about your photography. Your web page should include good examples of your photography, and a link to your email address (so potential clients can contact you easily). Since your webpage photos will be viewed on monitors, high resolution isn't necessary.
I hope that some of these suggestions will help you to determine the path you want to take concerning your future in photography. Do continue to shoot, experiment, exercise patience, and wait for that decisive moment as you anticipate that once-in-a-lifetime image.
Howard Moo Young is an advertising, graphic design and photography consultant with over 40 years of experience. Email:howardmooyoung@getcaughtmedia.com
