Comments on: Business Decisions: Selling photos online

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:47:36 +0000

Thanks, P.J. I’ll have a look at Imagequix. I rather like their pricing model better than SmugMug. I’ll have to do an evaluation on this one as well!

By: P.J.

P.J. — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:14:41 +0000

Guess it all depends on how you want to do things. I use Imagequix and love it. The best part is you can have it set up through a lab so they do it all (and you get your profits etc.) or you can have it so money goes to you and you deal with the prints. Check it out. I’m a big fan.

By: William

William — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:52:55 +0000

I set up a trial at smugmug a week ago. The service so far is really great and I am able to make some great customizations.

By: earl

earl — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:13:57 +0000

Paul, You may also want to take a look at Zenfolio (zenfolio.com). They seem to do a great job of presenting photo’s and have custom tools for individual photo sales.

By: Anita Jessse

Anita Jessse — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:56:11 +0000

Paul, you can’t beat the customer service at Smugmug. They would amaze you in that department. The tools for customization are powerful. I wish I were clever enough to fully exploit them at my site. You, on the other hand, would do wonders with a site there. I like their prints–they provide you with a profile–and they are constantly upgrading all the features. Uploading is a breeze. They are extremely helpful with color matching prints, etc. Good luck with the trial run.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:22:30 +0000

Thanks, Mark. After having a look at the professional version of SmugMug, which is the only place that you can do sales, I have decided to try their 14 day free trial. SmugMug looks very impressive and they have lots of clear, concise documentation as well as some cool drag and drop upload tools for files. It is 50% more expensive than Exposure Manager ($99.95/year + 15%) vs. $149.95/year + 15%, but the look is far more professional and easier to configure as well as the number of options available to customize the site.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 16:01:14 +0000

Paul – I may be mistaken, but doesn’t SmugMug offer a selling option? I have seen a few photogs with their work there with buying options. I don’t know if you are after something where you just need the vehicle to sell them, or need someone to handle selling them for you.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:32:05 +0000

John, that’s exactly what I intend to do is ‘funnel’ people my way. I plan to be a various events, like sporting events, etc. and handing out business cards like crazy. I also plan to have posters in strategic locations, as well as business cards so that everyone can get one and come to my website.

Certainly, you’d starve to death waiting for someone to find you among the billions of websites!

By: John Watts

John Watts — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:16:48 +0000

Paul,

Great post, as usual!

I’ve never had experience with the “canned” photos online systems, so I cannot comment on those…

However, there is an important axiom that needs to be mentioned here:

“If you build it, They probably won’t come…”

Unlike the movie, Field of Dreams”, If you build a website (and I suspect this may be partially true of the “canned” sites), you simply cannot rely on this as your sole marketing method – you will starve…Art online does not sell well by itself – this is backed up by statistical surveys – It is second-to-last behind buying furniture online….

In my experience, The ONLY way to use a website for selling photos, be it “canned” or one you’ve put together yourself, is to funnel potential buyers to your website…Think of your website as a “market presence” rather than as a “sales channel”…

A good example of this is the way one of my clients, Aaron Chang (A client of mine for over 20 years), sells prints… He is one of the premiere surf photographers in the world, and even has his own line of clothing…He FUNNELS people to his website after exposing them to his work at trade shows, email marketing, galleries, brochures and so on…

Here’s his gallery website – -

BTW, Aaron has it set up so he never actually sees the print that I make and send to his client – - He receives the order and payment from the client via email, sends me the order, then I make the print, drop-ship it for him, and charge him for the print, shipping and my time…

Now, granted, not everyone can afford this (I think this is where your “canned” sites would be great!), or is as “famous” as Aaron, but you can learn from the “big boys” how to make it work for you – - Funnel people to your website after initial contact at galleries, trade shows, art festivals, brochures, etc…

I hope this helps…

Thanks again, Paul, for an excellent post

Cheers,

John