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Sellphotos.com Date: February 2000
Find-A-Photo Date: June 1998
PhotoSource Website Date: July 1997

The Press Room

PhotoSource International NEWS

A companion to Rohn Engh's "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" marketing book….

sellphotos.com

If you are or want to be a stock photographer today, you are living in the best of all possible times. The Digital Age, with its new methods of communication and photo delivery, is a tremendous boost to the individual freelancer. It has brought democracy to the world of stock photography. If you have a sensitive eye for pictures and are willing to work at marketing them, you don't need to be a "name" photographer or member of an elite group, to say with happy frequency, "I just published another of my images."

No longer is it necessary to go through years of schooling, be honored with awards, recognized in the press, or have an uncle who is a publisher, to get your photos consistently in print - and get paid for it.

"Successful photography," years ago, was the domain of cameramen who owned extensive equipment, expensive studios, and a large ad in the Yellow Pages. They joined elite organizations and were showered with ribbons and awards for their work.

That age has passed. The automatic controls on cameras these days make it very possible for a person with creative visual sense to also produce fine technical quality. Coupled with direct Digital communication and delivery, the enthusiastic photographer can jump to the head of the publishing line.

This might seem upside-down. "Photographers should work their way up, pay their dues, the same way I did," a veteran photographer might say. No more.

Things are changing, and changing fast. My new book, sellphotos.com, which will be published this month, catches you up with photo publishing opportunities you might be missing out on because you thought 1.) that you couldn't compete with "the big guns," the established photo entrepreneurs; 2.) that it would take you too much time, too much effort, to get yourself prepared for professional results and the right contacts; and 3.) that you need special prerequisites to enter the world called The New Media: eCommerce, Web sites, CD-ROM catalogs, on-line galleries, Email, Photography Chat Groups, Search Engines, Portals, and more.

What if you have no track record, no history of publishing? In the new E-economy of the Digital Age a track record no longer looms as a de riguer priority. In fact, in some cases, if a commercial business nowadays boasts that it has been in business since 1975, red flags go up. "Who cares?" many art directors will say. They suspect a "generation gap" and might even be apprehensive of dealing with your company for fear you are resistant to change and not up to digital speed.

So, if the icons of the photo publishing industry are tumbling and the hierarchy of the photographic royalty have been dethroned, who or what will fill the void?

No one knows, exactly. And that's why I have written my new book. It will help you discern which way the industry is moving. The information highway has already been constructed. These recent years of its early existence, I have chosen not to travel it in my own vehicle, but to hitchhike. In the last decade I've had a good observatory post as a photographer, columnist, author, publisher, seminar giver, lecturer, and independent business owner.

As a hitchhiker I've been in a good position to hear the voices of our industry's leaders, naysayers, and decision-makers. In my book, you'll find the names of picture buyers and photographers you recognize. Like me, they are opinionated, and they've agreed to share their views with you.

If you read the weekly and monthly trade magazines in our field (which now rightly include computer/digital publications as well as photography periodicals) you'll find that not only photographers but the entire corporate world is en masse at the starting gate of E-commerce. New technology is continually being developed and implemented at such rapid speed, that many corporate decision-makers find themselves both overwhelmed and charged with excitement. The possibilities are endless, for them and also for the individual stock photographer.

The computer industry has been the flagship in this Internet revolution. All segments of the marketing communities have discovered ingenious ways to capitalize on the Internet's possibilities - not just in industries like auto, chemical, banking, but also the image industry.

Photo industry stars of the past are waning and taking self-imposed retirement, and new updates and versions of software are outpacing the tried and true systems.

In sellphotos.com, I have sorted out detours and road signs and cleared some of the fog from the highway you are traveling. Also, I've pointed out dead ends.

FOUR SEGMENTS

You can safely choose to chart four distinct photo-publishing segments in this New World of the Digital Age. Each photographer will make variations to suit his or her personal style or business aspirations. With these four segments, you'll be able to modify your travel map, accelerate or decelerate to your own choosing or even pull over to the side for a rest stop.

These four segments are powerful features included in that vast network in cyberspace we presently call the Internet. Amazingly, their democratic effect is to catapult independent photographers to the top - immediately. Why? Because the Internet works like a pyramid. At the base of the Internet triangle are the millions of choices a buyer might make. But unlike the past, where a photobuyer traditionally had to wade through hundreds of options before finding that exact photo, he or she now need only make a lightning quick Internet search of the World Wide Web for the subject area they need, and in a matter of moments (if you've listed your photos on a Web site) your name as the source of the photo they need can rise to the apex. This makes you Top Dog for the day.

The World of sellphotos.com

This is a dream come true for photobuyers. But, oddly, except for some savvy pioneers, most of them haven't yet embraced the process. It is also a dream come true for photographers who recognize the benefits. Oddly, also, most photographers are not yet aware of these benefits. Hopefully, this book will aid editorial stock photographers and photobuyers in discovering the advantages that await them in the Digital Age.

Here are the four pillars that can hold up your forge as you fire up for success in our Digital world. It's my purpose in my new book to hack away at the Internet jungle for you and clear away some of the confusion and misinterpretations you may have had.

Keep in mind that my personal recommendation is that you consider entering the world of sellphotos.com as an editorial stock photographer, and not initially as a commercial stock photographer. If you do this, you'll ease into the Digital Age seamlessly and comfortably. If you then subsequently decide to also move into the "commercial" end of stock photography, you'll have solid experience and groundwork behind you.

Basically, here are the four important photo-publishing pillars to become familiar with:
Web Launch Pads
Web Galleries
CD-ROM Catalogs
The E-mail Revolution
Good luck and good marketing!

Rohn Engh is publisher of PhotoStockNotes and author of "sellphotos.com." This newest book shows editorial stock photographers how to use the internet to apply the marketing principles outlined in Engh's original book "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" (over 98,000 copies sold and in its 4th edition). For more information about sellphotos.com: http:www//sellphotos.com/newbook

Photosource International is located at Pine Lake Farm, Osceola Wisconsin. 1 800 624 0266 etn 21 info@photosource.com Fax: 1 800 PHOTOFAX

PhotoSource International, Pine Lake Farm, Osceola WI 54020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Dan Meadows
PhotoSource International
(800) 223 3860

PHOTOSOURCE INTERNATIONAL WEB SITE

This site is the most comprehensive site on the Web for stock photobuyers and photographers. It receives 10,000 hits per day.
For traffic data about photosource International: Click here!
NEW WEB SITE MAKES IT EASIER FOR PICTURE BUYERS
AND PICTURE SUPPLIERS TO DO BUSINESS TOGETHER

For unsolicited reviews of the PhotoSource International services: Click Here!

The largest Web site for stock photographers and photobuyers, offering 57 information and service sections.

Osceola, WI. -- Whether you're a picture buyer or a picture seller, you'll find our 'general store' on the Web chock full of powerful sections to help you stay on top of the stock photo industry. The Web site gives photographers the information they need to operate their business and boost their income, and provides photobuyers with windows on the trends in the field, plus easy and speedy ways to find the photos they need.

The Web site, www.photosource.com, is the product of Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and publisher.

Engh, author of the top-selling book for stock photographers, "Sell & ReSell Your Photos," now in its 8th printing, tells stock photographers they don't have to live in a metropolitan area to sell their photos. A mailbox will do. And now, Engh adds, "so will the World Wide Web. The Web," says Engh, "when used astutely, can give photographers a vigorous new sales channel." He expresses this in his new book, "sellphotos.com."

Engh's Web site features just such a channel.

Engh's approach to marketing stock photography on the Web is different from most other photography sites. For example, a section called the "PhotoSourceBank", features no actual photographs. Instead, it provides a directory of photographers, each one providing 1,500 specific text descriptions of their photos and specialty areas. "Many photo researchers like to look for a source of certain subject matter first, when they seek a specific photo," says Engh. "Then they'll zero in and look at a selection of targeted photos. Plus, our approach with our Web site is mindful that previewing photos on the Web can be a slow process. Searching through text is quick, and we can save photobuyers a lot of time," he says.

So far, Engh's PhotoSourceBank features a growing list of more than 6,000 photographers who have each entered up to a maximum of 1,500 photo listings. Search engines on the Web allow photobuyers to locate a specific subject area in the PhotoSourceBank in seconds.

Engh's Web site also features a picture section, the PhotoSourceFolio, a place where photographers can display six representative images, available for those buyers who wish to see examples of a photographer's work. photosourcefolio.com

"A photobuyer can search our PhotoSourceBank and find who has a specific picture. Once the match is made, the buyer can phone, fax, or Email the photographer and request that he or she display some sample pictures on the PhotoSourceFolio (www.photosourcefolio.com)

Photojournalist Rick Smolan, creator of the best-selling "Day in the Life" photography series and co-founder of Against All Odds Production, says "Rohn Engh has a long history of providing creative ways for photographers to sell their photos. With the PhotoSourceBank and PhotoSourceFolio, I think he's engineered another winner!"

Engh, who has written extensively on the subject of stock photography for more than twenty years in industry columns and his newsletters, shares his wealth of how-to information with visitors to his Web site. One constantly updated section features a searchable database covering issues ranging from model release questions to pricing your pictures. In another section of the site, Engh makes sense of copyright issues. In another, he takes a humorous approach to the security issue (while being dead serious about it), by inviting visitors to "Swipe These Photos." Engh asked 24 photographers to each donate a sample picture that Web surfers can "steal." In reality, it's a come-on to lure people to the page, which reminds them that photos on the Web are not to be "borrowed" that all decent souls should expect to pay the photographer for use of pictures displayed on the Web. The photos in that section, however, can actually be taken for free if the "taker" can live with his conscience if he doesn't offer the photographer a payment.

Another light element on the PhotoSource International Web site is a cartoon that greets viewers at page 1 as they enter the site, "A Weekly Visit With Arnie in Minneapolis." "Arnie" is a chimp cartoon character who has been recruited by office workers to help with the administrative overload. Arnie's antics and predicaments make ongoing comments on office life, computers, photography, and the Web. Photographers can find a wealth of material at this Web site, which features 57 departments to help them not only start up their stock photo business, but also maintain and expand it.

Engh features advertisers' click-through buttons that complement each section. In the small-office/home-office section, for example, he features an exclusive advertiser for stationery and office supplies.

"I took a new look at the Internet when the World Wide Web and search engines were introduced in the mid-90's," says Engh. "Before that, the Internet didn't really offer much benefit for the stock photographer. Now, as more and more photobuyers take advantage of the new ways they can search for their specific photo needs on the Web, individual stock photographers will be able to sell directly from their files to the buyer. The Web will be a boon to the independent stock photographer."

-About PhotoSource International...

In 1976 Engh launched a marketletter (the PHOTOLETTER) for photographers, from his rural barn office in western Wisconsin. The PHOTOLETTER soon went international in scope, and Engh added an additional marketletter. Both are still in high gear, each aimed at specific segments of the marketplace. Engh has also added to the mix a highly regarded monthly eight-page informational newsletter for stock photographers and buyers. A photo columnist for two decades, a well-known seminar presenter, and one of the country's most published stock photographers himself, in 1988 Engh pioneered using a daily fax bulletin to send his subscriber photographers the up-to-the-minute stock photo needs of magazine and book editors. Earlier, in 1983, he was among the first to use groundbreaking on-line services to deliver his products and service to his customers.

PhotoSource International describes itself as a site that aims to be the Web’s most extensive collection of editorial stock photography information. "If you are a photo researcher, buyer, or editorial stock photographer - you’ll find the PhotoSource International Web site will be the only place you need to visit to find the information you need on the subject," says Rohn Engh, Director. The site covers a wide range of topics: copyright, marketing, sales leads and contacts, pricing, packaging, traveling photographers, and much more.

Visit our Web site at http://www.photosource.com

Photobuyers are now searching the Web. And they search by text descriptions.

THEY WILL FIND YOU FASTER.

Attention PhotoSourceFolio Photographers! FREE new feature.

Each of your six images can now have a text caption or description, which will appear directly under the image. Captions are limited to 25 words (maximum, not including your identifying photo number) and will now be considered part of the basic PhotoSourceFolio subscription fee of $4.95/month. In other words, captions are FREE!!

For an example of our new "captions" feature, click to see this month's PhotoSourceFolio Featured Page: http://www.photosourcefolio.com/FeaturedPage.htm.

WHAT TO DO:

When preparing your captions, include as many key words describing your specialty area(s) as possible, without adversely affecting you true caption. This will help photobuyers to find your site on the Web.

Here's an example: say you have a rafting picture on the Snake (WY) River. CAPTION: Outdoor Rafting Enthusiasts enjoying a quiet portion of the Snake River near Miner's Ferry. Tetons, rafting, mountain trail, high adventure, outdoor sports.

TO SEND:

E-mail the captions (indicating to which image they belong) to upload@photosourcefolio.com. Please include you PSB number and your name in the e-mail. (Captions may be edited for clarity or brevity.)

If you have any questions about this great enhancement to PhotoSourceFolio, send an e-mail to help@photosourcefolio.com.

Subject: FIND-A-PHOTO

For Immediate Release

FIND-A-PHOTO

Debuts At PhotoSource International

The stock photo market service, PhotoSource International (www.photosource.com), this week formally opens the door to a powerful new electronic marketing channel, FIND-A-PHOTO, where photobuyers and photographers can immediately connect and do business.

FIND-A-PHOTO offers art directors and photo editors free and simple entry and search, helping them to quickly find hard-to-locate photographs ranging from neon to Muhammed Ali.

More than 6,000 photographers have each listed (text) descriptions of several hundred of their photos on FIND-A-PHOTO. Photobuyers, at no charge, can search the site quickly and easily and locate highly specific pictures, along with information about the photographer who took them. The photobuyer then deals directly with the photographer via phone, fax, or Email.

Many photographers have also posted examples of their work on their own Web sites. Through FIND-A-PHOTO, photobuyers can link to these sites and request to have specific pictures displayed for them.

"Photobuyers who aren't satisfied with the generic photos found in photo catalogs and clip art discs, discover that with FIND-A-PHOTO they have another option to find a hard-to-locate photo," says Rohn Engh, director of PhotoSource International.

For more information:	To find a photo:
Dan Riley, Marketing Manager	Call up the Web site
PhotoSource International	http://www.photosource.com
Pine Lake Farm	On right-hand column
Osceola, WI 54020	Press: PhotoSourceBank
1 800 223 3860 x24	Begin search
Fax: (715) 248 7394
EDS@photosource.com

http://www.photosource.com

Limit of Liability:
The utmost of care will be exercised in the handling of any material you send to PhotoSource International and it's agents. Submitting any film, prints, or digital images to PhotoSource International's PhotoSourceFolio constitutes an agreement by you that any damage or loss by PSI or PhotoSourceFolio even though by our negligence or other fault, will entitle you only to replacement with a like amount of unexposed film & processing. Except for such replacement, the acceptance by us of your images/files is without other warranty or liability, expressed or implied. When submitting transparencies, it is recommended that you send high quality duplicate transparencies or pre-scanned, images instead of originals.

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