What genre sells the best?

[chauncey]

Mike's stellar website query brought this question to mind...not withstanding the local art show that involves disposable income, what genre of photography sells the best in large prints? Architecture, critters, landscapes, celestial, floral, low/high key?

[Colin Southern]

Mike's stellar website query brought this question to mind...not withstanding the local art show that involves disposable income, what genre of photography sells the best in large prints? Architecture, critters, landscapes, celestial, floral, low/high key?

Who knows. I would suggest though that what sells the most is probably more a reflection of the marketing and advertising that goes into it though; eg if it's cute babies or kittens then a partnership with a calender manufacturer would sell more.

[Mike Buckley]

I have no idea which sells the best, but my guess is that photos of glass sells the worst.

[Colin Southern]

I have no idea which sells the best, but my guess is that photos of glass sells the worst.

What would you know? Ever sold any?

[Mike Buckley]

What would you know? Ever sold any?

The answer to that question is exactly why I presume they sell the worst.

[Colin Southern]

The answer to that question is exactly why I presume they sell the worst.

Touche

Seriously though, from what I've seen, you work wouldn't look out of place for one moment framed and hung on many walls (home, hotel, corporate). Unfortunately, you've "only" done the easy bit; it's the sales and marketing that's hard.

To be honest, I'm in much the same boat; I just don't have the time nor the energy to do the sales and marketing along with everything else in my life. If you're interested, consider a partnership with someone who enjoys the marketing side. If nothing else, be sure to print & frame a few of your own just for your own enjoyment.

[Mike Buckley]

Darn. Colin just had to return the thread to serious commentary.

I have spent my entire career in sales and he simply has to be right that the genre that is marketed the most effectively will surely sell the best. I've never spent a minute marketing my stuff and don't have any immediate plans to do so other than determining prices at my Zenfolio web site.

If I were going to do that, I would probably begin by approaching interior designers for commercial properties and high-end residential properties. Doing so would probably have the most likely chance of being both personally rewarding and financially successful. I would have no interest in marketing and sales activities requiring anything beyond the minimal amount of time that don't meet both criteria and I'm very fortunate to be able to have such stringent requirements.

I plan to establish a price list for my website tomorrow. I haven't decided on specific markups but I have decided to price prints on the relatively high side considering that my name is completely unknown. My thinking about that is rooted in the idea that though most people will like my images because they aren't the typical genre seen on the Internet, they will only find them "interesting." Very few people will like the genre enough to seriously consider actually buying a photo. The relatively few that would will probably be willing to pay a relatively high price because they like the genre so much.

In summary, if there is any real business opportunity for my photos, it will surely be a relatively low-volume, high-profit margin model, not the other way around. That model would be consistent with my sales career (I always avoided trying to be the cheapest), so it might be a good fit in that regard.

[Colin Southern]

Darn. Colin just had to return the thread to serious commentary.

I have spent my entire career in sales and he simply has to be right that the genre that is marketed the most effectively will surely sell the best.

I've never spent a minute marketing my stuff and don't have any immediate plans to do so. If I were going to do that, I would probably begin by approaching interior designers for commercial properties and high-end residential properties. Doing so would probably have the most likely chance of being both personally rewarding and financially successful. I would have no interest in marketing and sales activities requiring anything beyond the minimal amount of time that don't meet both criteria and I'm very fortunate to be able to have such stringent requirements.

I plan to establish a price list for my website tomorrow. I haven't decided on specific markups but I have decided to price prints on the relatively high side considering that my name is completely unknown. My thinking about that is rooted in the idea that though most people will like my images because they aren't the typical genre seen on the Internet, they will only find them "interesting." Very few people will like the genre enough to seriously consider actually buying a photo. The relatively few that would will probably be willing to pay a relatively high price because they like the genre so much. In summary, if there is any real business opportunity for my photos, it will surely be a relatively low-volume, high-profit margin model, not the other way around.

To be honest Mike, my suspicion is that pretty much ZERO people will buy from your website ... unless you market the website.

I'm afraid that the good old days of hanging a shingle and then bracing for the mob beating a path to our door are long gone.

That's in no way a reflection of your work by the way - your work is excellent; it's just the way it works at the moment. Small galleries might be another option, but they usually command around 50% commission.

[Mike Buckley]

If nothing else, be sure to print & frame a few of your own just for your own enjoyment.

I'm sure I'll eventually do that. The problem is that I have a small home with little wall space. The photos currently hanging on my walls are signed prints by Cartier-Bresson, Kertesz, Marion Post Wolcott and some lesser known photogs including a wonderfully sharp 1858 print by Francis Frith. I have some really nice prints by others stored under my bed including a famous one by Cartier-Bresson because I don't have anywhere to hang them. Though I do have a few colorful prints of my own hanging in our very colorful, small sun room and two on the way to be hung in my bedroom, I'm having a difficult time displacing the other monochrome photographers with the likes of silly me.

[Mike Buckley]

To be honest Mike, my suspicion is that pretty much ZERO people will buy from your website ... unless you market the website.

I'm absolutely positive that you're right. If I make a sale, I'll blow the proceeds on a bottle of wine in celebration. And it probably won't require a particularly expensive bottle of wine to do that.

[Colin Southern]

I'm sure I'll eventually do that. The problem is that I have a small home with little wall space. The photos currently hanging on my walls are signed prints by Cartier-Bresson, Kertesz, Marion Post Wolcott and some lesser known photogs including a wonderfully sharp 1858 print by Francis Frith. I have some really nice prints by others stored under my bed including a famous one by Cartier-Bresson because I don't have anywhere to hang them. Though I do have a few colorful prints of my own hanging in our very colorful, small sun room and two on the way to be hung in my bedroom, I'm having a difficult time displacing the other monochrome photographers with the likes of silly me.

Meh - time to chuck out the old stuff. Heck, they're so old they're not even in colour !

[Mike Buckley]

Heck, they're so old they're not even in colour !

The paper of the 1858 print has turned surprisingly colorful over the centuries.

[Colin Southern]

Definitely time to get rid of it then ! Just send it over and I'll make it disappear for you - no charge

[Shadowman]

Touche

Seriously though, from what I've seen, you work wouldn't look out of place for one moment framed and hung on many walls (home, hotel, corporate). Unfortunately, you've "only" done the easy bit; it's the sales and marketing that's hard.

To be honest, I'm in much the same boat; I just don't have the time nor the energy to do the sales and marketing along with everything else in my life. If you're interested, consider a partnership with someone who enjoys the marketing side. If nothing else, be sure to print & frame a few of your own just for your own enjoyment.

The easiest and hardest way to get your product out there is to register for local and national art shows. Sure you spend about twelve hours in a tent with hopeful desire in your eyes, and you are never sure of what the market will bear, but at least it gets your work in front of as many eyes (and pocket books) in a short time frame and you get to learn a bit about the business as well from other artists.

[Mike Buckley]

you spend about twelve hours in a tent

Personally, I would rather be spending those 12 hours making photos or doing anything that is enjoyable. Photography for me is just like my cooking, reading, traveling, and everything else that I do for pleasure: it's a hobby. I do other things to make money so I can afford to have my hobbies.

[chauncey]

Gotta agree with Colin, the "art" of self promotion is something is antithetical and tawdry to most of us.
But, aside from the ego building strokes we get from other admired photographers on sites such as CIC,
how are we to truly judge our work if it doesn't sell?

[Shadowman]

Personally, I would rather be spending those 12 hours making photos or doing anything that is enjoyable. Photography for me is just like my cooking, reading, traveling, and everything else that I do for pleasure: it's a hobby. I do other things to make money so I can afford to have my hobbies.

You could always hire someone else to handle the art show, but at a recent local art show an artist was banned from future shows because he wasn't personally in the booth. So there are different rules for different venues. And the twelve hours included setting up and breaking down, the actual show hours are usually about eight total. You can shorten the setup time by not setting up a tent, but in summer weather every bit of shade helps.

[Mike Buckley]

how are we to truly judge our work if it doesn't sell?

By the characteristics that are important to us.

The sale of fatty, salty food is ubiquitous in the U.S. That doesn't say anything about the quality of the food. It says a lot about the consumers that crave food that so reliably decreases the quality and length of their life.