Thoughts on the Business of Photography
by Brad Rickerby
Take a look at the photo at right. I downloaded and paid $1.30 for the right to use this image today from istockphoto, the Getty Image microstock outlet. The genius of this image is not in the photographic skill it required (which could easily have been achieved through the camera's program mode) but rather in the business acumen it required to realize that such an image would be profitable, the logistical savvy to set the moment up for capture and the marketing know how to determine which market the picture would be profitable in and to get it posted in that market. The point here is that with today’s technology and good business sense, you do not need photographic talent to produce revenue or even make a living selling your photographs. In case you missed my writing it before, giving you the business savvy is the purpose of this website. Another important characteristic of today’s photographic market is the lack of substantial barriers to entry. Indeed, for a couple of thousand dollars (which is a minor amount relative to most other new business options) you can become a professional photographer. For many parts of the profession, such as celebrity photography, you can outfit yourself for less than $1,000. When you combine this ease of entry into the field with the perceived glamour of a photographic career and the technology that makes proficiency easy (as discussed above) you wind up with a tremendous over supply of photographers and photographs. So much so in fact, that photographic images have entered into the commodity pricing stage in their product life cycle. Every photograph that can be taken has already been taken a hundred if not a thousand times. A royalty per sale of $0.78 comes as no surprise when your product is a commodity. But there is good news! There has never been a time when more opportunities exist for the sale of your photographs! It is new technology once again that makes this so. As in so many other areas, the internet has leveled the playing field, opening up huge opportunities for the hobbyist and professional alike that did not exist even a couple of years ago. Print-on-Demand, Publish-on-Demand, Microstock photo agencies and so many other opportunities (have a look at my 12 suggestions for making money with your camera in the ReadingRoom) are all new, exciting and potentially profitable outlets if you are willing to put in the time and effort to explore them. I suspect as well that social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook will provide even more venues for your work. What all this means for you, these huge opportunities and over abundant supply of images, is that you are going to have to work like a dog (did you really want me to sugar coat it?). You are going to have to be committed to your objective (be it earning a few extra dollars part time all the way to making photography a career), to believe in yourself, not be distracted by the inevitable nay sayers and you will have to work, work, work and work. And when you have finished with all that work, be ready to work some more. Which is why the outcome had better be important to you. It can be done. The feeling of success will be wonderful. But it will take sacrifice. Just as achieving any worthwhile goal would. Finally, I want to talk about that 2% of situations where the photograph has to go beyond being just good enough. In an industry that is over saturated with supply, that is in a commodity pricing phase, the only way to break out of earning a commodity revenue of $0.78 per download, is to make your product different from all the rest. It is not enough to have an image with great color, superb composition and emotional content. Remember before when you bridled at reading that every picture that can be taken has already been taken. This is where you prove me wrong. You have to take that already taken picture and make it new, exciting, different. Some call this style, others light box presence, in business school we called it product differentiation. This concept is so important, so overwhelmingly vital to your success that I’m going to name it again, Product Differentiation! And one more time just for emphasis: Product Differentiation. If you are going to run with the photographic pack, expect to get paid what they do. Expect the same commodity price and meager revenue as the rest of them. I don’t know about you, but I value my time, my energy and my creativity a lot more than $0.78 per download. But with an undifferentiated product, that is all you or I can expect to make! I can’t tell you how to differentiate your product. That is where talent and artistry reenter the equation. It is a matter of style and passion. For me it meant putting moving objects into my creations. You will have to find out what works for yourself. My best advice is to push the shutter button as often as possible, look at other people's work and feel your way into your passion. Once you find your style, your differentiation, it will become your passion. To sum up then, given the characteristics of today's photographic market, selling your images will require, at the least, good business sense and lots of hard work. It can be done. You should be optimistic. If you really want to succeed grandly, you are going to have to find a way to set yourself apart from the competition. Good luck. As always I would appreciate feedback. Your questions, comments and ideas are welcomed at brad@thesuccessfulphotographer.com
This image is utterly boring and required no photographic skill whatsoever to create. Images like this proliferate on the internet today. Yet, despite what this image lacks in photographic quality I first found it on a list of istockphoto best sellers. Indeed, since this image was uploaded in May of 2005 it has been downloaded (sold) 4,543 times. If this photographer's average istockphoto price per download is the same as mine, $0.78, this image has earned $3,543.54 from istockphoto alone. Moreover, this is one of a series of equally boring images, all of which have made sales.
