 Keeping Up Technology these days has wings -- sometimes rocket fuel. Both stock photobuyers and photo suppliers have learned that by paying attention they can keep up -- and by keeping up with the changes - they can survive. The good news is that the standard rules for success in our stock photo industry haven’t changed. The photography budget for a medium-size publishing house is between $20,000 and $40,000 monthly. For a major publisher, it's twice that amount. Stock photographers who have said, “ I want to sell my photos,” have learned to identify certain markets that match their own areas of interest. Once they become a "regular" at a specific publishing house, they receive a steady stream of photo requests and assignments. 
One way to succeed in our new digital era is to avoid failure. Here are some marketing mistakes you want to avoid:
CREATE FIRST THEN FIND A MARKET
This number one is probably the most oft-repeated marketing mistake. Creative people tend to produce their product first and then attempt to find a market for it. This is a recipe for disaster. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is strewn with bodies of creative people who never learned: "Find the market first, and then create for that market." This doesn’t mean just “take whatever sells.” It means identify markets that want photos in the subject areas you like to photograph.
SPREAD TOO THIN
When you try to be all things to all people in the publishing world, with a huge variety of offerings, the photobuyer's reaction is: "No one can be that good!" Discover your photographic strength areas, and go for them. Many entry-level stock photographers try to go after the whole pie rather than a piece of the pie. Become a specialist. Don't photograph everything you see. You'll burn out. Stay within a "segment" and become an expert in your area(s) of interest. This way you’ll earn recognition for your “brand.” Learn to speak the language of your interest areas. Become an expert in the area, or a select few areas, you like to focus on. You'll become a valuable resource to a specific group of photobuyers out there. If wild horses can't pull you away from your goals, you'll succeed. You'll fail or get bored if you aim for only those markets that “pay well.”
FOR SOUL NOT FOR SALE
Writers rarely can get their poetry published, and even rarer is getting paid for it. Similarly, in the stock photography field, don't expect your 'artsy' pictures to be frequent sellers. Consider them your poetry. Ask yourself next time you're taking (making) a picture, "Is this for sale or is it for soul?" Spend Sundays to take pictures that feed your soul, take nuts and bolts marketable pictures during the week to feed your family. PASSING THROUGH
Give the appearance that you are a 'permanent' resident. Creative people as a group tend to change their address once every five or six years. Photobuyers shy away from the vagabonds, the wanderers, no matter how talented they might be. Buying photos is a business and photobuyers want you to be where they expect you be and to be businesslike in your dealings with them, and that means being 'reachable' five days before deadline. Your e-mail address will keep you reachable, wherever you are or move to. Stick with it, don’t change it.
LOOKING LIKE A BEGINNER
If you appear to be ' just starting out,’ photobuyers will pass you on by. They don't have the time to hold your hand or "train" you. They'd rather spend their time with someone who is "hassle-free". You should give the appearance of looking like a pro. Build a simple but quality website. Correspond on quality stationery, labels, and envelopes. Aim to get on the photobuyer’s “white list.” If your photo specialty matches the photobuyer’s publishing theme (gardening, car care, environment, etc.) he/she will put you on their contact list.
TECHNICAL FAILINGS
The automatic controls on digital cameras today make it nearly impossible not to get a technically good photo. Photobuyers expect technical excellence from you. No matter how excellent the content of your image may be, if it does not meet the reproduction quality for the publishing industry, you'll fail. An 8 meg picture may be resolution enough for some magazine and book markets; however, a 50 meg image is often the minimum requirement of many markets. Use this as a guideline when buying your next camera.
HOMEWORKLESS
Do your homework. Know what your strengths are, and then begin photographing in the areas that you love best, where you 'speak the language' of the photobuyer. Do your homework on the web or at the reference library. You'll find scores of powerful market directories awaiting you, plus names of photobuyers who, at this moment, are searching for your specialized talent and know-how. They will recognize your mini-expertise in a subject area that matches the special interest of their magazine or publishing house audience.
A FINAL TIP:
BRAND YOURSELF. The world of publishing has now become fragmented. Readers have special interests. If one of your favorite photography subject areas matches a magazine or book publisher’s area of interest, you will avoid failure and find success. You'll also save a lot of trying, trying to find success. ROHN ENGH published a book back in 1982 called, "Sell & ReSell Your Photos.” (Writer's Digest Books.) It's now in its fifth printing and has become a bible for photographers just entering the field of stock photography. Rohn also publishes photo needs of national publications in three market letters ranging from a monthly to a daily. He answers the question, “how do I sell my photos?” He can be reached at Pine Lake Farm, PhotoSource International, 1910 35th RD, Osceola WI 54020. (715) 248-3800. info@photosource.com |