John, thank you so much for chiming in. I was hoping you would. It is very interesting and informative to read about your experiences there.
That is unfortunate about your latest drop in sales. I am also interested to see if I get any after-the-fact sales. Like other festivals, I gave out lots of cards, but previously I have not had anyone contact me later.
I also need to make a website for my work. I have a business page for commercial work, but not my prints. In terms of social media, I have been playing with Instagram for a while now and am slowing building a base of followers. That is the "in" thing these days. Facebook is old news and not great from a business perspective. It's also generational so YMMV.
I definitely like getting in front of people and talking about my work and my experiences. Most of my photos have a story I tell about them when people are interested in them. I am also a very good salesman, usually.
Similar to your note cards idea, I am planning on 4x6 postcards for the future - I want to make 4x5 contact prints and use the bottom inch for wording. I'm thinking stencils using transparencies to put the city name or "Appalachian Trail" or whatever. I have used Ilford's postcard paper before to send friends and family photographs and they love them.
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement!
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