10 Ways to get your photography noticed and sold
As you might be noticing if you are just now getting into selling your photos and photography services, there is a ton of competition. With high end camera’s becoming affordable to just about everyone and their mother, it is getting harder and harder to present an image that makes people say “WOW, There is no way I could have captured that photo so perfectly”.
Or you might even get something like “Incredible photo, you must have a really great camera”. In which you reply, “No I have just know how to use it.”
So how to you stand out from the crowd of photographers so that you can sell your fine art photographs, sell stock images, book more photo shoots, and get your work noticed by businesses and art collectors?
I have put together a list of the top 10 tips I have had results with that you can implement into your business so here they are:
Top 10 ways to get your photography noticed and sold.
#1 Know your market and what they want
If I could give you 1 tip this would be it. Just about everyone loves photography as a whole. There are so many different types of photography. Some people like landscape photography, some people enjoy underwater photography, others might enjoy portraits of sexy women, heck some may enjoy photographs of old naked men.
The point I am trying to make here is that you need to be different. You need to stop copying what others are doing and start embracing your individuality.
The more you drill down exactly who your target audience is then you can begin to market to them.
Some great tools you can use to research different niches are..
Google Keyword Planner – Enter in a broad keyword and find other related keywords people are searching in google and how many times per month they are searching.
Google Trends – Works similar to Keyword Planner but you can use it to see trending topics and keywords that are gaining popularity.
I recommend making a Microsoft excel spreadsheet of all the keywords that people would search to find your kind of photographic art or photography services. Remember to type in local keywords as well such as Fine Art Pet photography in South Lake Tahoe or Wedding photographer in Malibu, Los Angeles
The more specific the keyword the more targeted your visitors are going to be.
#2 Make YouTube videos featuring your photographs
YouTube has actually been my full time income for the past 2 ½ years and is my favorite traffic source for bringing highly targeted viewers to your work.
Google owns YouTube and values video over any other type of content. This means that you will have a much easier time getting targeted viewers to your website as you will be able to rank easier for the keywords they are typing into google and youtube.
I have 2 different YouTube channels, one for my fitness related videos and one for my Photography and marketing related videos.
I have had over 11 million video views between my 2 channels. There aren’t even that many people in Tahoe. SO COOL!!
#3 Get people talking
Offer people a discount on their next photoshoot or fine art photograph for referring friends. Tell them to talk about your photography and in return you will hook them up with 25% off their next purchase.
Word of mouth is one of the most viral and best converting traffic sources. People will listen to their friends and family over any ad or commercial so get people talking about your photography work.
#4 Donate your photographs and services
Donating prints of your fine art photography or offering your photography services for free at fund raiser events is a great way to not only give back to your community and do a good deed but also a great way to get your photography services out there.
Just make sure that you are getting credit for your donations. Make sure your information is clearly visible on any print you give away and include your email and website for collectors to contact you for more prints. Also make sure you get the fund raising coordinator to write you out a donation receipt for tax write-offs.
#5 Build an email list and provide value
One of the biggest mistakes I made when first starting out with my online business was not building my email list from the get go.
There are a number of companies that offer auto responder services that let you put an email opt in form on your website to collect emails onto a list that you can email all at once.
Aweber and Getresponse are the most well-known services.
This is how I like to think of building an email list. No matter how you get viewers to your business whether it be online or offline there are only two things that can happen if you don’t have an email list in place.
People can either buy your photography or photography service or they can click away from your website or leave your booth at an art show or business convention.
An email list is a way to lock in those leads so you can develop a relationship with those people by providing value. This will get them to trust you enough to buy from you or use your services.
A great way to get people to join your email list is by having a lead magnet. A lead magnet is basically anything you give away for free in exchange for their info. This can work both at trade shows/art shows by offering a discount on services/prints in exchange for their email or it can work online by offering perhaps a free guide to not posing like an awkward fool on your next photoshoot or have a competition for a chance to win a free print by entering their email.
Bottom line is… If you are not building an email list you are losing out on a lot of money!
#6 Make a Facebook Fan Page
This might be the most obvious tips of all but having a Facebook fan page is a great way to get people sharing your work. Try to post photos and tips at least 3 times a week to your Facebook page. You can also run Facebook PPC ads that show up in peoples news feeds and the sidebar on Facebook.
If you do decide to do some paid ads be sure to make a landing page with a lead magnet I was telling you about offering something for free in exchange for their name and email address. The more “ I have to have this” the lead magnet is, the better that page is going to convert.
If you don’t know how to build websites talk to Brandi, Megan or me about building you a website to market your business. Sometimes it is much better just to outsource these tasks than taking the precious time to go through the learning curve of learning how to build a high converting website that ranks on google search.
#7 Network with other business professionals in your area
If you are a fine art photographer try networking with real estate agents that are selling high end homes in your area. Nobody likes a big house with blank walls. Offer the real estate agents a commission per sale.
If you are a wedding photographer start networking with DJ’s, wedding planners, flower shops, wedding venues etc and recommend each others services.
#8 Give people cool ideas with Pinterest
Pinterest is one of my favorite websites for marketing my photography. Pinterest is a social bookmarking site where you can pin photos from websites onto a online cork board. Many brides will pin photos of wedding dress ideas, cool places to get married, different flower arrangements they like.
Models will pin things like photoshoot concepts, cool locations for their next photoshoots etc.
Art collectors will pin and share photos that might fit perfectly in a new room they are remodeling or pin photos from a favorite travel destination they wish they could live at.
Come up with great ideas in blog posts for your target market and then pin the photos in your post to pinterest. Sometimes a list of photos are all that is needed for some great viral traffic.
#9 Offer a Free Test shoot to a business owner
First get to know which business professional will be able to spread the word the best about your type of photography service. If you are a portrait photographer for instance you could go into a real estate office and offer one of the Real Estate Agents a free photoshoot. If you do a great job there is no doubt others will ask them who did their photos. This works great for video services as well.
#10 Have people stumble upon your work
When ever I look at my Google Analytics for my photography websites the social sharing site Stumbleupon always seems to be in the Top 5 traffic sources.
People love to share photography. There are so many things a photograph can do for you. They can inspire you, piss you off, make you smile, make you cry etc… People love to share great photography and stumbleupon is one of the easiest ways to get your photographs in front of a lot of people.
They too have a Paid Advertising program that offers PPC(pay per click) as low as 5 cents per click.
Make a great blog post or a video in a list format.
Top 10 scenic places to see in Lake Tahoe
15 things that make a great wedding
20 photographs of people failing badly
Etc…….
People like lists and if you are doing a paid advertising campaign you want people to share them. I have had a few paid campaigns get over 20,000 views from a $20 campaign. The campaign got it in front of a few people that shared it and it blew up.
I hope this list has helped give you a good starting point and a few great ideas to get your photography noticed. Just remember to network with people, offer value and be passionate about what you are doing. Embrace who you are and people will love you for it.
Don’t try to please everyone, it’s impossible. Instead focus on finding a unique audience and please only them.
About the Author Brad Scott
Brad Scott is a Lake Tahoe local who has been capturing the beauty of Lake Tahoe ever since middle school.
Specializing in Fine Art and Commercial Photography Brad travels the US capturing Beautiful images of Nature above and below the surface.
Brad is lucky enough to be both artistic and business minded and makes a full time income making YouTube videos and selling his Fine Art Photography.
Check out his work at:
And pick up his free YouTube marketing guide at http://videoprofitspro.com
