Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:25 am 1. Google is your friend
Every image in your galleries should have keywords and preferably something descriptive in the title. Do not use the IMG 01234.jpg as the title. Google will never find it! If you have many images in your galleries, insert a personal Google search within your gallery.
2. Make your galleries professional looking as possible. Get advice from the CSS gurus here. Do not specifically ask for people to vote on your images or galleries. Its not professional and its not a good look to potential buyers.
3. Keep the quality of your work as high as you can. Its not necessary (or advisable) to upload high resolution images. Buyers know that what they see is low res but what they will receive, should they part with their cash, will be a high resolution image. Watermarking images is also fine but should be removed when submitting the final image to the buyer.
4. Try to ensure your work is not the run of the mill stuff which can be found on microstock sites. If your image is unique, then buyers will pay for that uniqueness (if there is such a word!). That said, I am constantly amazed what actually sells. One of my last sales was to a UK website. It was a pic of a man with his head in a street bin but I guess it was unique. He was unidentifiable which is a plus! Which gets us to model releases!
5. Model releases should be obtained where the image is going to be used for advertising purposes. Laws differ in various countries regarding model and property releases so check out yours. If you have not obtained a model release then you must advise the potential buyer in writing that this is the case. Again, check the law in your particular country regarding this aspect. If you have any doubt at all, then don't sell the image. A year or so back, I was asked by a graphic artist for a quote on an image of a young aboriginal girl. It was going to be used for educational purposes and hence a model release was not legally required. But due to her age (she was a minor) and her aboriginality, I sought a release from her parents. The girl was happy to be published and she sent the release to them. I never received it back so I advised the graphic artist that I could not sell him the image.
6. What are stock images? This is hard to explain and I suggest you check out sites such as Alamy and you'll get the picture ('scuse the pun). Personally, I don't shoot much "stock" but a few weeks back, I spotted some school girls on a pedestrian crossing. I immediately thought that would make a good stock image. In Sydney, there has been instances of school kids getting hit by cars on crosswalks/pedestrian crossings. Photographically speaking, the image was OK. But it did the job. I have just quoted on the image for a magazine with a 1.6 million circulation.
7. Set up a credit card facility. Check with your bank regarding this. I set up a merchant account with my bank and its been priceless. Also check out PayPal facilities. Shopping carts are fine if you are selling prints but useless if you are selling to graphic artists etc. In Australia, as in Europe, direct debits are common but are more or less unheard of in the US.
8. Selling to graphic artists, web developers etc is far more lucrative than selling prints to Joe Public. Last year I sold an image of a frangipani (plumeria) to a large manufacturer of tissues in Australia and the proceeds bought me an expensive L lens - plus I had change. Pricing images is a minefield. Quote too high and you never hear from them again. Quote too low and you undervalue your work. Its the happy medium you should find. Never, ever ask them what they want to pay. Its unprofessional and makes you look like a rank amateur. I bought the photographic pricing software Fotoquote which assists me greatly. You do have to take into consideration what the competition is offering (ie cheapy microstocks etc) when you quote but sooner or later you will get the hang of it.
9. Keep a list of your successful buyers. Send them your updated galleries every so often. Also send them Christmas cards (where appropriate!). Keep in touch. Its all good marketing. I have three individual graphic artists who have used my work each year for the same publications.
10. Place your email in your gallery where it can be prominently seen. I know this may be a problem with junk mail but as I have a junk mail detector on my email address, I rarely get hit by unwanted stuff.
11. Download book-keeping software from the Web. Most are freebies but they do the job. If the buyer is local (other than overseas), send them the high res image by email AND your account. Put your terms on the invoice - 7 days, 14 days or whatever and if you want to be paid by direct debit, your banking details. I can feel the shock horror from US readers
The bank details required for direct debit purposes are the same details you have on your checks/cheques. No one worried about this in the past and I have yet to encounter any problems doing so. Paying this way is common both in Australia and Europe. My husband pays his suppliers in his business and his customers pay him using this system. I also pay for my lenses this way. But if you are uncomfortable with this, then go for the credit card option or bank cheques.
12. This may sound all too difficult but it really isn't. The Internet has been a really boon to photographers so make it work for you.
Cheers
Sheila
) then a model release would be required. Of course, I could not obtain one I'm sure. If I can, I obtain model releases. Most folk are happy to oblige especially the aboriginal buskers. Its a quid pro quo. They give me a model release and I supply them in business cards in exchange.
