Selling your photos

Fact: there are many, many, many photographers out there in the real and cyber world trying to sell (and I use the term lightly) literally millions of images!

The reality is that unless buyers are looking for a specific image at a specific time and you've taken just such an image and it is actually possible for them to find it then you might, if you're lucky make a sale.

Of course you might strike gold and sell gigabytes of images simply by being in the right place at the right time with the right images. Or not!

So, do we as photographers give up? Of course not! The dilemma we must deal with is exactly the same one as that faced by car/soap/technology/etc manufacturers who all face a vast array of competitors, all selling ostensibly similar products, on a daily basis.

At this point the purists out there will argue that the points I make below fall into the category of Marketing rather than pure Sales. Well, there is some truth to that. For those who struggle with the difference between sales and marketing, the first is typically one to one (or one to a few), whilst the latter is one to many.

Regardless of semantics, if you want someone to buy your images you are going to have to sell them. In other words, what is in it for the buyer to part with his or her hard earned money to purchase your image?

So lets start at the top - the image.

Your image/photo could be exactly or close to what the buyer wants. Whether he knows it or not he wants to know about the benefits of purchasing that specific image (its beauty, its ability to help him sell product/impress his wife or boss/etc).

You could argue that he has seen the image somewhere (a microsite, your website, Flickr) and simply decided to buy it. But is the sale of one image enough? How do you get him to buy another, and another, and yet one more?

It pays off to research your audience. What are buyers looking for? And remember that, fortunately for us, what a buyer seeks changes over time. Once you know this go out and photograph appropriate images and post them in relevant locations. Say something about the image (how difficult it was to take, how long you had to wait to take it, how rare such images are to find, how may more similar inages you possess, their very competitive price, etc). Selling the image means not selling the image: rather ir means selling the short and long term benefits to the buyer of purchasing that specific image.

But I want to photograph what I want to photograph? This is good too. But art for art's sake might not make you as much money as art for the buyer's sake. If the buyer doesn't matter, or if the money doesn't matter then you're probably in the wrong blog:-)

A lot has been written about where best to display your images so I do not want to go over old ground. All I can add is that if you want to sell your photos/images read about this topic as much as you can. You can never learn too much.

Then there is you, the photographer. On you website, microsite, even at your fleamarket stall, tell the audience about your experience, your ability to shoot the images that interest them, your willingness to go our on a limb professionally, financially to capture just the right moment in time, just the right facial expression, just the right color or lighting. Start a blog. Get involve in other people's blogs. Write in appropriate forums. Connect with successful photographers you have read out. You may well be suprised how many will respond to your emails and willing they are to dispense some words of wisdom (don't harass them though:-)).

Slowly, over time, you will differentiate yourself and you may just find yourself earning more money for your images.

Go out and actually SELL your images! Sell yourself! Most importantly, focus on the benefits to the buyer because what you think is of no consequence, only the buyer's opinion matters.