The selling of images is hardly difficult, complicated business with high competition. Our success in it is the result of cooperation and good skilled work of DT and contributors as the team.
The collection of DT has nearly 500.000 beautiful worldwide images and more than 40.000 of them are macro.
The reasonable question is how to improve sales of the picture in this sea of photos. I would like to use this opportunity to share some ideas or just to remind few helpful approaches to the problem.
Definitely, the core of answer is good concept, quality, and keywords. First two are well discussed or still are running under discussion in many blogs.
The last topic is not so actively lighted and I would like to give some suggestion. We can make the selling area for the image wider by adding characters or “humanized” keywords as attentive, learning, lesson, smiling, crying, angry, proud, alert, surprised, brave and so on. Look on your birds, butterfly or pappy as on the possible model to illustrate scene of life, category of metaphors, human features and even business situations. But be careful. Very important is to pick up obvious but not abuse (remember about bad keywords).
Background is another powerful part of picture. Of course, it is BACK but it is GROUND! ''Active” background can take the eye of buyers or editors. Photographer can increase sales by living the free space (copy space) for the text of designers.
The natural, easy removable or blurred background can make image is more stock oriented. At the same time I agree, always there is request for particular animal(s) in particular place or condition (sick elephant, red parrot in the old cage or crocodile in the office…).
Some of images are not good enough for the stock. Do not be hurry to through the picture into the bin. In view of this I would like to give two suggestions.
The first is to shift them into the free section. It is the well tested way to link buyers with your portfolio. One day I transferred some pictures and during 24 hours around 15 $ was earned from the related sales. It is not bad for the beginner. The second way is to use image for the decoration other pictures or to make them more impressive.
ASSIGNMENT is good chance for us to participate the competition, get advanced training, launch your name, promote work, upgrade level of the images and even be winner!
I have found very helpful to listen the DT team's advises during rejection of pictures and communication via ‘’ Comment for editor’’. Definitely, rejection is not making us happy. But we should not be over sensitive in it. Business is business and just follow the friendly instructions. If your image is getting good sells DT editor is happy not less than photographer!
Finally, do not forget about creativity to produce outstanding images and I wish to the DT team, buyers, my colleagues photographers ALL SUCCESS, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
