Photos Are King
You, too, have probably thought a lot about what I’m about
to say, about the downturn in the economy. I’ll be including my
observations on the impact of the times on our industry (and its
future): picture research and picture sales.
Here’s some food for thought.
Dismal forecasting. The problem with most economic downturn forecasting
is that the writers and broadcasters often make references to the
1930’s Great Depression for their statistics. But let’s look at
the facts.
If you were to read one of the most popular magazines in 1932, Ladies
Home Journal, you'd learn that an automobile cost $500; an average
laborer's wage was $85.00 per month; a new house went for $5, 000;
a loaf of bread, 7 cents; first class postage stamp, 3 cents (air
mail was 8 cents); and a gallon of gas, 10 cents.
The world of finance as everyone knows is based on trust.
Even the earliest medieval barter systems were based on trust. Paper
checks were based on trust in the last century and electronic bytes
today are based on trust.
Trust seems to be built into the human condition and some psychologists
tell us that it is instinctual. There I said it, the word, psychology.
When it comes down to it, I suppose everyone would agree that the
financial condition of a society, or a nation, or the global community,
depends on the venerable psychological phenomenon of confidence.
And “confidence” seems to be the crux of the current malaise in
the global economy today. There isn’t any real silver, gold, or
diamonds involved – only Internet bytes (0’s and 1’s) that symbolize
liquidity. All the gold in Fort Knox represents a tiny fraction
of what is known as “available credit.” Credit is priceless.
So it comes down to credit. As the expression goes, the confidence
factor has fallen like a stack of cards. In this case, they’re credit
cards.
The big question in Washington seems to be, how do we return to
the good ol’ days? Should we return to a bartering system, or hard
cash backed by a gold standard, or paper checks, or Internet bytes?
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"…In the past century, during the
Great Depression, men were riding the
rails and driving their automobiles far
and wide to find work. Today- they (and
women) use the phone, the fax, email,
and the web to publish their resumes.
On a larger scale in this century, the
Law of Probability accelerates their
chances of finding work much faster.
The same holds true for a potential swift
turnaround in the entire economy. . ."
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I refer to Washington because the answer will come from that
town, because like it or not, all foreign financial pointers find
themselves landing in D.C. Those countries are depending on us,
the USA. Not on Europe, not China, not Japan. In the end, the history
books will show the failure or success of the global financial crisis
will have emanated from decisions in Washington.
IT’S ABOUT STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
I’m not giving a pep talk here at halftime. I’m talking only about
the reality of the business you are in, - stock photography.
And that business is going to succeed in the global economical downturn.
Here’s why.
Today’s Internet, with the options and tools it offers to stock
photographers is like a strong wind at your back, that can help
you buck the headwinds of a down economy.
Number 1: Communication. We, as business people, have a worldwide
communications system that can be both good and bad –almost simultaneously.
The Internet. I’ve been communicating on the Internet since 1982
(which was a recession year, by the way) and began our initial on-line
PhotoLetter in 1984. I’ve witnessed the ups and downs for a quarter
of a century. During the ‘82 and ’91 recessions, we rode through
them smoothly. The use of stock photos did not decrease.
Number 2 Quick Answers. On the Internet, you can find out
quickly –what works, and what doesn’t work. No more struggles like
in the 1930’s when Roosevelt was trying to figure out what America
needed for a recovery. That took almost a decade.
HISTORY DOESN’T ALWAYS REPEAT ITSELF
In the past century, during the Great Depression, men were
riding the rails and driving their family cars loaded with their
belongings far and wide across the USA to find work. Today- they
(and women) use the phone, the fax, email, and the web to publish
their resumes.
On a larger scale in this century, the law of probability accelerates
their chances of finding work much faster. The same holds true for
a potential swift turnaround in the entire economy.
So those of you who are flipping through history books to
predict the future, forget it. Those actuaries don’t count. History
doesn’t always repeat itself. With the tools available to us today,
there’s a good chance the recovery could come fast. Just like the
present downturn came fast.
Number 3. A good product. You are in a good position. Stock
photography will always be a commodity to barter, rent, or sell.
And the Internet accelerates the whole process, in good economic
times or bad. We notice it here at Photosource International. Photo
need requests by photobuyers keep coming in via phone, fax or Internet.
We’ve recently signed up photobuyers that we never heard from in
the past.
Yes, some photobuyers have been laid off, but we’ve discovered many
of them have turned their knowledge and expertise into a benefit
by becoming freelance photo researchers. They now contact us directly.
If you are a stock agency, and you specialize in a certain
subject area, you’ve found that today’s Internet has been a boon
for you. Researchers can now cut through massive selections to locate
the best source of the exact picture they are looking for. On the
other hand, if you are a small ‘general’ stock agency, and haven’t
specialized, you’ve found that only a few buyers are stumbling onto
your site. It’s time to re-think your focus.
Buyers, now using the magic of search engines such as Google, prefer
to go first to the heart of a specialized collection. . Their web
search selects an independent photographer or specialized photo
agency to locate the exact picture they need to complete their assignment
swiftly.
Number 4. We are a visual society. And the ability to communicate
with picture suppliers or researchers has never been easier. As
you know, a hundred years ago, text was the champion. Flip through
old library books. You don’t see many pictures. Not because the
publisher didn’t want them – but because including them in a textbook,
or any book, was technically untenable, or too expensive, or more
importantly, the “right” pictures were not readily available.
Today, the situation is different. Thanks to the Digital Era we
live in, today in most publications, magazines and websites you’ll
find the percentage of picture-space equal to or greater than text-space.
Number 5. Photos have become king. Yes, I know, in the past,
the slogan has been “Content is King,” but wouldn’t you agree ‘content-without-pictures”
is dreary –if not boring?
If photos are king, and you are a supplier of photos or a researcher
of photos, what does that make you? It makes you important.
And it makes you in a good position, if you have the know-how, to
be a significant part of the worldwide economic recovery. Lucky
you.
You are not dealing in manufacturing, real estate, hotels, or construction,
-you are dealing in an industry that has always been around, and
thanks to the Internet, even improving in value and future worth.
Number 6. Don’t quit. We all know negative news reports can
sell newspapers, magazines and TV. But those reports, true as they
might be statistically, aren’t talking to you. When you hear of
publishers reducing their output or going out of business, it’s
because their content focus has been on fringe audiences, or obvious
excesses we were enjoying just a year ago. Those same publishers
will be back, but with renewed awareness of what will work in a
recovering economy. And most importantly, their advertisers will
return.
And thanks to the speed of Internet communication, I believe the
publishing world recovery will happen quickly. That’s why it’s important
not to quit. Surely, other stock photographers and photo researchers
who do hold firm and soldier on, will gain footholds that will be
hard to budge if you bow out and later try to re-enter the stock
photography industry after the recovery.
And not to forget: you wouldn’t want to miss out on the new
technology and innovations that will come along in your absence.
Hold firm, expect some set backs, continue to learn what the industry
will accept during these trying times, and have faith that stock
photos will always be a top commodity whether it be by barter, cash,
paper checks, Internet bytes, or some new financial process we haven’t
thought of yet. –Rohn Engh
Much better than I have tried to do, a mathematician could· probably design an algorithm (UZn
= ΨZn(x1,... xn) ) that could show us the disproportion between
the standard of living in 1933, the peak Great Depression year,
verses the quality of living of today, 2009. We may just be better
off, even with the way the present economic downturn is going. One
thing to remember, in the Great Depression of the 1930’s, 25% of
the people were jobless. That would mean 75% of the people were
on a payroll. –RE
Rohn Engh is the best-selling author of “Sell & ReSell
Your Photos” and “sellphotos.com.” He has produced a new eBook,
“How to Make the Marketable Photo.” For more information and to
receive a free eReport: “8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer,”
visit http://www.sellphotos.com