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Marketing Your Work
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I was just wondering what useful tips / advice you fellow photographers would have for advertising and marketing your work?
I would like to try and market my landscape stuff a lot more, but other than the world wide web, what other ways would you recommend?Any advice or pointers would be really appreciated.
Thanks :D
Steven
My first big sale of landscapes came from a property developer. Since then they have purchased a couple more images for use in brochures of new developments. I have managed to get a couple more sales of that style under my belt.
Perhaps contacting whatever local developers / estate agents there are in your general area, or the general area of where you photograph, either by email, or snail mail might get some attention.
Get a few postcards made up of some of your favourite shots and send them around also, local businesses, hotels, restaurants etc. They can often buy prints as corporate gifts, framed shots for their walls, or web images.
Last year I got a number of calendars made up and sent them to local businesses, made sure that my contact details were quite visible, and sent them out during November. I only got one job out of it, but it was a well paid one (though not landscape) which more than made up for the cost.
Whatever way you decide to go there is a cost involved and its not unlike applying for your first job, a few “no thanks” perhaps one or two will get back to you with a view to taking things further, but mostly no responses whatsoever !!I’m sure that there are better ways to market your photographs, but the above might be a starting point.
Regards
Kevin
Thanks for all that useful advice, I really appreciate it.
Some good points there, especially regarding contacting local restaurants / hotels – I think this is one avenue that I could begin thinking about.Steven
KPM wrote:
Last year I got a number of calendars made up…
Kevin, this is something I’ve been considering, but more as a commercial venture rather than as “marketing freebies”. The big hurdle I’m trying to get my head around is distribution. I’m now thinking of maybe doing a local landscapes calendar for a local charity and getting the charity on board to help with the distribution. They get to keep the proceeds once my costs are covered and I get my name out to the general public. I’d be interested in how you put yours together – not just the design and publishing aspects but also the printing.
The local camera club here have on occasion been labelled a calendar club because that seems to be their main focus each year. The production of a calendar is their biggest objective each year. It’s of a rather poor standard but that doesn’t stop them from selling a large number of them and making a huge profit out of it every year. Each member is given 30-50 calendars that they have to offload and that’s how they get around the distribution hurdle.
As to marketing for landscape work I’m not sure but I think the best thing is probably to try and market your website. If you can make people aware of your website then the website will surely do the rest of the work. I know a lot of people think that a website is the be-all and end-all of photographic marketing but unless it’s getting visitors, it’s useless. Another idea might be to find some reason that you should be in the newspapers and then write a press release about it and submit some images with the release. Some local papers are desperate for space fillers like this which have local interest and it gets you free advertising.
StevenHanna wrote:
…but other than the world wide web, what other ways would you recommend?
Try joining a networking group such as BNI (http://www.bni-europe.com/indexir.htm). These guys work on the basis of every member acting as a sales rep for you.
Dave
Kevin, this is something I’ve been considering, but more as a commercial venture rather than as “marketing freebies”. The big hurdle I’m trying to get my head around is distribution. I’m now thinking of maybe doing a local landscapes calendar for a local charity and getting the charity on board to help with the distribution. They get to keep the proceeds once my costs are covered and I get my name out to the general public. I’d be interested in how you put yours together – not just the design and publishing aspects but also the printing.
Thorsten, the printing of good quality calendars can be quite an expensive area. As I was still getting the business off the ground I went with the cheaper option of using photobox and printing out a small supply, it also gave me the opportunity of using different images to suit different clients (area based etc.). The quality could best be described as acceptable, despite using very hi-res images. To get a good run of calendars you would be looking at a minimum of 500 in order to make it cost effective, and even if it cost 2.50 an item its still quite a substantial outlay – and then you have to distribute & sell them. This cost would not include any design services etc. that you might require.
If anyone has other ideas on the calendar issue I would be interested in hearing htem.
Rgds
Kevin
I went looking also and it seems quite expensive for good quality calendars.
Of course the min quantities are always reasonably large if you want better prices.Aside from that, it’s the distribution thats the tough one.
I have/had it as something I’d like to do on the site this year, ie produce a calendar
for some good cause. Some members get exposure, the site gets exposure and when
it comes down to it the charity gets some money. But its distribution thats key.Anyhow this is perhaps off topic, so sorry if it is Steven.
As to marketing for landscape work I’m not sure but I think the best thing is probably to try and market your website. If you can make people aware of your website then the website will surely do the rest of the work. I know a lot of people think that a website is the be-all and end-all of photographic marketing but unless it’s getting visitors, it’s useless. Another idea might be to find some reason that you should be in the newspapers and then write a press release about it and submit some images with the release. Some local papers are desperate for space fillers like this which have local interest and it gets you free advertising.
Some good advice there. I totally agree that having a website is no good unless people know that it’s there. I’m currently working on a few ideas on how to market this.
Mark – not off topic at all. Very interested in what you have all been saying regarding the calendars.
Steven
Hi Steven,
Ever thought of an exhibition, or trying to get yourself in a local gallery, as a lead-in. An exhibition would certainly give you that chance to get into the newspapers and get your name out there. Judging by your images on PI would have thought you would sell quite a few.
I went to an exhibition in dun-laoghaire a few weekend back and was surpried to see quite how many of the images were sold.
I guess there is quite an initial outlay for this and I hope some of the other members who have done this will be able to tell you if it is a cost-effective way forward. If it proved expensive I am sure there are a few PI members who would be willing to share some wallspace?
I am sure I am not the first to think of this… has there ever been any discussion on a shared PI exhibition?
has there ever been any discussion on a shared PI exhibition?
Good idea Gary. You should post it to the Suggestions forum, see what folks reaction is.
Something I’d certainly be in favour of.Hi Steven,
Ever thought of an exhibition, or trying to get yourself in a local gallery, as a lead-in. An exhibition would certainly give you that chance to get into the newspapers and get your name out there. Judging by your images on PI would have thought you would sell quite a few.
Watch this space :lol: :D
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