Nov
4
Does Your Photography Studio Need More Sales?
Filed Under Make Money With Photography, Photography Business | 1 Comment
It’s finally here. After today, the election will have come and gone, and it will be time to move on, and focus on how to finish up 2008 with a roar. Can it still be done? Can you still meet your sales goals? You bet.
Now is traditionally one of the best times for a photographer to make money. And this year is no exception. Instead of splurging on high ticket items, more people are going to look for things of value. And what could have more value than a family portrait?
There are three ways to bring in more sales.
1. Bring in more clients.
2. Bring in the same clients again and again.
3. Sell more to each client that walks through your door.
If you’re new to this business Read more
Sep
3
Trend In Stock Photography
Filed Under Make Money With Photography | 1 Comment
I’ve been noticing a trend lately on the stock sites.
Shutterstock just announced a new subscription plan with higher payouts - meaning as a photographer you can ultimately earn more money for each time your photograph is downloaded. 
[And it's not just Shutterstock that's raising their payouts.]
According to their latest newsletter, their payout fees have gone up anywhere from 3.25 to 7.5 times over previous numbers, ultimately paying you even more for your images.
As you earn more with these stock sites, you make more for each download. For a large file once you reach the $10k plus level, you would receive $2.85 per download. Imagine how quickly that would add up if you have a following of people that like your photography, and you continually add a few photographs each month!
I know people go back and forth with the benefits of putting images onto stock sites. I always look at it for future growth. With just a little bit of work each month, your potential is huge. Just like any other business endeavor, you have to work the system.
Want to learn more about earning a healthy income from stock photography? My stock photography program was created especially for you. I’ll show you exactly how to build up your portfolio, and create an income that will continually come in month after month.
Aug
13
Do you create your own path? Do challenges excite you, or leave you shaking with fear?
Human nature says conformity is what’s best for us. We don’t want to stand out in the crowd. If a bunch of people are doing something, that must be the right thing to do. Right? Watch this video for a look at what people will do to conform.
The same thing goes with today’s professional photographer. Instead of breaking away, and creating a studio experience that is nothing like the competition, I’m willing to bet 90 percent of all studios do what everyone else does. They give the digital files because everyone else does. They charge very little for their work because everyone else does.
It’s time to change that around. Here are 5 things you can do that will help you break away from “doing what everyone else does”.
1. Make your photography an experience. If you bring them in to your studio, and stand them in front of a standard blue backdrop, you’re doing what everone else does. If you transform an entire magical room in your studio to look like like a garden, and your children are given wings and wands, and encouraged to become a fairy, that’s an experience.
2. Handing your customer a few 8×10s and 5×7s in folders is similar to what they receive at their local discount store. Handing your customer mounted and framed images in odd sizes [why not 12x12s or 10x30s] makes them look twice.
3. Walking out the door with a few photos in hand is ok. But walking out with custom designed boxes and bags in vibrant colors - making the packaging almost as exciting as the images - is an experience. [Ever received a Tiffany's box? I can guarantee you women now Tiffany's blue instantly.]
4. Heading to the local park is ok. But what about meeting at a dude ranch, with a sleigh awaiting to take you to a magical part of the forest for an incredible winter portrait experience?
5. Proofs, well it’s really not acceptable to use proofs anymore. Isn’t it much more rewarding to use projection and be in control of the entire selling process? You can show the difference between an 8×10 and a 30×30 hanging over the fireplace. I guarantee you’ll sell more large prints using this method.
Jul
21
Instead of saying, “It’s not worth my time to earn a few cents on a photo”, what if you could look at each photo as an income generating opportunity - for life.
Some people look at vacations, weekend getaways, and even the occasional Friday off for running errands as a way for taking photographs for themselves. Others (like myself) see these same events as opportunities for taking a few great photographs, and making money from them.
There are dozens of stock photo places online (I buy from them as well as sell to them regularly) that let you buy the work of other photographers. Just because you’re good at photography doesn’t necessarily mean you have access to the perfect picture whe
n you need it. If I’m doing a story that requires a photo of chicken soup, it’s a whole lot easier for me to head over and buy one for $1 then to bring out my camera and get everything in place to snap the picture.
Some people say selling to stock houses is a waste of time. They only pay you a small amount per download, so why bother?
Let’s say they pay 80 cents per download. (IStockPhoto.com pays anywhere from 20 cents to $3 per download depending on the file size, and the royalty doubles if it’s an image exclusive to IStock.)
If you sell your image once, you gain 80 cents. But if you sell it 1000 times, you can make $800. Some of the top sellers on IStock sell individual photographs thousands of times each. And if you have a portfolio of images out there that are each earning you that kind of money; well, lets just say it’s worth MY time to put a few images out there each month.
How about you?
[Want a complete guide to selling your images to stock houses? Let me show you how to easily incorporate stock photography into your business strategy.]
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