"Hey, come buy my stock photos!" I used myself as a model in this social media networking image.
A Chat With An Art Director
A Chat With An Art Director
I had a nice chat with an Art Director friend of mine a
couple of days ago. She often has to search for stock and related to me how
much more difficult it is to find good material. Considering how much “material” has been uploaded in the
last few years it is very interesting to hear that. It seems that the road to success is simply figuring out
what is “good material”…and how to get it seen.
Good Material
Regarding the first part, figuring out what is “good
material”…I believe that good images, even great images, have the same criteria
they have always had. Some of the photographers that I am in regular touch with
do report good and even increasing sales. While I am not at liberty to just say
who they are and show you their work, I can tell you that the work itself can
range from remarkable to actually fairly pedestrian. Even some of my
unremarkable images sell well. What makes those images sell is that they solve
a problem for someone in need of the right image.
Getting Your Work
Seen
The second part…getting your work seen, is in my opinion is
the more challenging part of the
equation. I have to point out here
that I am totally unfamiliar with how photographers can increase their
visibility on the microstock sites, but I believe there things they can do
within the sites themselves (maybe one of you micro guys can jump in here…). I
do know that Jon Boyes has seemingly mastered the art of getting his work very
visible at Alamy, but for most traditional stock agencies about all we can do
is produce the best work we can, drive more traffic via our own outside efforts, and hope that the quality of those images carries
them higher in the search algorithms.
Web Sites And Social
Media
As I mentioned above, we can utilize our web sites and social media to
gain visibility, and to drive more traffic to our images on the agency sites
thereby moving those images up in the searches. For me, at least in
terms of my website, the question is whether my time is better spent working at
SEO and participating in social media, or in making new images. While I can only speculate,
I am guessing that in the short term I would be better off just making new
images, but am becoming ever more convinced that in the long run the benefits
of a website that truly generates traffic will prove to have been the smart
course to take. Yesterday I got a request for four images for a calendar and
today a request for an image for a mural and another request for an image for a
brochure. I also had about twenty people find my images follow the links to the
agencies that handle those images. How many will actually license the images I
don’t know, but since I have started my efforts to drive traffic to my site I
have seen a slow but steady growth in stock requests.
The Social Media
Question
Then there is that social media question. Again, I have no
doubt that social media can drive traffic to one’s site…in three weeks of
active participation the percentage of traffic to my site coming from social
media has risen from 1.2 percent to 3.3 percent. Baby steps to be sure, but steps none-the-less. Social media
can work in other ways too…such as generating assignments. But for us stock
photographers it sure seems like an uphill battle! Hey, but I forgot to
mention, I actually made a stock
sale through a facebook request a couple of days ago! Another plus for social media, a Getty photographer I know who has seen his income consistently grow attributes it in part to targeted facebook ads he is doing. Food for thought!
A Consistent
Long-Term Approach
I think part of the trick is to develop a routine such as
allotting fifteen minutes each morning to participating. Of course, it is
important to know who your audience is and which social media sites they
frequent and then focus your attention on those sites. But like everything else
in this business, success comes through a consistent, long-term approach. I
think the whole thing is a pain in the butt, but I don’t intend to wake up one
day and realize I can’t make a living with what I love to do. I always remember that
I have to be willing to do whatever it takes.
Update on Agency
Access E Mail Campaign
So I did a second email blast using Agency Access. I sent
out 4,500 emails. Six hundred and twenty were opened, nineteen went to my
website (oddly enough exactly the same number as the first time)…and it looks
like I am getting an assignment out it. Cool!
Stay tuned for more!
