How To Market Your Photography

Selling images online has become an industry of immense scale in recent years… Digital SLRs have become more affordable, and the pictures they take are getting better. Everyone around the globe has at least one camera. Due to the frequent financial crises in the past couple of years, it’s not a surprise that many camera owners are trying to sell their photos online to earn additional cash.

For professional photographers who want to earn a living by selling their photography online, the increased competition from amateur photographers has made it a bit difficult. Many websites have come up that offer photographers the chance to offer their work in exchange for a small change, and the satisfaction of making a profit. The market is flooded with low-cost images, and numerous buyers are beginning to see photographs as an item to buy for the lowest cost.

However, it’s not all negative, however. In many ways, we’ve come full circle. And an increasing number of photographers are showing new interest in features other than price only. For experienced photographers, this is an opportunity to distinguish themselves from the rest and establish an individual niche.

Specialized Content:

There’s a thing known as having too many options and professional photo buyers are tired of the enormous libraries of stock with millions of photos. A lot of photo buyers we talk to are constantly seeking new collections that cater to their passions, and are happy to search for 4-5 niche libraries rather than a single mega collection.

The majority of stock photography articles suggest applying to the four largest stock libraries to get the most exposure, but that’s just part of the picture. These sites may get the most attention however it doesn’t mean that you’ll receive a portion of it.

Instead of joining thousands of other photographers at the “big four” stock libraries, you’ll be better to locate three or four boutique stock libraries you can apply to. Select one agency for stock photos for your primary web presence, and the other to share your content (photographic as well as written) and to add value to your online presence.

Original Content:

If you browse through the web, you’ll come across many experts who will explain the fastest method of making money using microstock is to look at the images that are most popular in major libraries and then copy the images. It’s very likely that this strategy will last for a while however, you’ll need to look at the plethora of weak photos of well-known topics to know why customers are tired of it.

It is recommended to adopt an approach that is client-focused and consider your ultimate user as well as who they are and what they really need stock images to use them for… to ensure that you can start creating images that they can make use of.

The greatest benefit of this strategy is that you’ll still be able to check the libraries of the big ones to see what’s popular, but instead of just replicating what you’ve found you can pinpoint the concepts and messages that buyers want to know about the topics, and then by identifying these, you can create something unique and distinctive that you are certain the buyers will want.

Personal Service:

Within an environment where buyers were constantly trying to meet an impossible deadline and instant downloads may have been a godsend… at least for a while.

Being one of the very few photo libraries that didn’t provide instant downloads, we definitely felt the pressure when we first started to download. It was soon clear that the top priority was finding the photo’. As long as they could guarantee a prompt delivery the ‘instant’ was not an issue.

In reality, buyers of photos are creative individuals who love being in contact with other creative people. Today, we’re finding many high-end buyers who are willing to spend a bit longer and relish the process of “photo research and dealing directly with photographers, so long as they’re professional and efficient.

So, whichever way and where you decide to market images from stock, make sure you’re available to potential buyers. They will appreciate it, and, once the connection has been established, they’ll come back repeatedly.

Take pride in your work and Time

If you take the stock photography market using this approach you’re branding yourself as a premium service, which allows you to stand out even more.

Without going into the debate about rights-managed vs royalty-free There are a plethora of photographers nowadays waiting to share their work at a cost of a penny, so if you go with the crowd, you’ll face a lot of competition even for the smallest amounts of revenue.

In contrast, the rights-managed market is far less competitive and offers more. If you’re producing high-quality and original content, it is logical to establish your own niche in the market instead. Photographers who specialize have always had success and in today’s marketplace, it’s more essential than ever before to focus on doing things very effectively.

If you are able to focus your work areas and narrow your focus, you can narrow your audience and are able to understand your customers. This lets you understand their requirements and develop top-quality, unique content that helps your company stand out from other companies. If you back every lead you make with excellent personalized service you’ll quickly create a client list that will be able to count on you as a creative collaborator.