Selling own prints on own site

[mdm]

Much left to be read between the lines. Full of good ideas too.

[David Higgs]

thanks for that QT - very interesting article

I've been in the LV gallery and the one in Noosa (Aus) - impressive places

I remember Lik from working in Cairns in the mid 1990s, he was selling post cards at the time - boy done well!

[Ken Lee]

Just read this confession from a former Peter Lik salesperson ("art consultant" is the title). It's not about selling on websites but I thought it was an interesting and unusual perspective on print sales: http://scottreither.com/blogwp/2012/...pher-my-story/

Wow - Thanks for sharing that.

There's something for everyone in this world.

[Jim Michael]

1. Get folks who visit your site to sign up for your newsletter.
2. Start writing a newsletter and send it out to your subscribers. Tell them about all the great things you are working on.
3. In your newsletter each month feature your "print of the month". Make an offer like "buy all 12 print of the month images and get a free portfolio, plus the special price".
4. Profit.

Converting a visitor to a sale is difficult, but making a sale when there is a relationship makes it easier.

[Jody_S]

Selling own prints on own site? Never tried. I rarely make prints, for that matter. My wife complains she has no idea what I photograph. I like the suggestions of doing the art show circuit, I know there are a few around here as well as the usual 'photo club' exhibitions and such.

I sold a bit back in the 90s, when I was doing tiny-format nature photography, off a website I put together myself one afternoon. But at the time, if you were looking for a picture of a great grey owl or a female caribou, for a book on native American cuisine or mythology, you didn't have that many places to go.

[ROL]

I rarely make prints, for that matter. My wife complains she has no idea what I photograph.

Boy, that's a mouthful, by itself. When I started, pre–D, if you didn't make prints (or had them made for you), there was simply no point in photography. Whatcha gonna do, show your negatives around? The "fine art" process was a complete craftsman–like enterprise, from the "taking" of a photo to the "giving" of a final print. It still is for me.

The comment about your wife's complaint seems somewhat ambiguous. Did she mean why photograph if you don't make pictures, why bother at all, or something else? By way of comparison, my wife is always after me to make more prints, but I find it harder and harder to even bother shooting at all anymore. with so much imagery easily and cheaply available, and my print files filled to overflowing.

[Jody_S]

I have something like 750GB in digital files, and I haven't scanned any of the nature photos I took in the 90s. But I haven't had a darkroom in several years now, so the only way I can print is to have a digital file printed by a lab or run one off on my Epson. I can do that whenever I want, but since I almost never show these, and when I do it's usually low-res on the 'net, I usually don't bother making a print.

[photobymike]

A lot of smut sells on ebay.... mostly original slides or negatives....

[ROL]

I have something like 750GB in digital files... I usually don't bother making a print.

I see – lots of pixels in search of meaningful expression.

[cdholden]

Selling own prints on own site? Never tried. I rarely make prints, for that matter. My wife complains she has no idea what I photograph.

Tell your other half that you're doing her a favor. If she doesn't know, it less that she has to complain about.
Up until recently, I rarely printed my work. It was more of a therapeutic way for me to relax and tune out the rest of the world. Since recently introducing my daughter the process, and seeing her positive reaction to it, I've been motivated to put my past work behind me and start fresh. I've been working with her to teach her to compose and expose, develop and print. I'm finding that teaching her to pre-visualize has helped her artwork in school.
She's even had one of her pastels shown in The Frist Center (http://fristcenter.org/calendar-exhi...hools-art-show) in a collective student show. How many 8 year olds can say that? I know professional artists that would do anything to have a piece displayed there.
So I've started to print more to encourage her artist work. Even if she chooses another medium besides photography, it's still a good thing.