On Selling Photographs Part 2

First off, let me recommend you read the pertinent comments by Scott in commens on previous blogs about selling.

There are ways to sell your photographs - but I think that it is likely it won't be by any of the traditional methods - galleries, stock agengies, etc. Had I toughed out the Farmers Market a bit longer, had I perhaps been semi retired, it would have been perfect and might in the end have produced $15,000 a year in profit - hardly a fortune but fair for an artist.

I also sell my train photographs at a local Model Train Store, Trains N' Such. That has been fairly rewarding and has definitely generated a profit. I have some images at Glenbow Museum and that produces a very modest income, and more images in a small art/craft store in Bragg Creek which also produces modest sales of small images.

As I was winding down the Farmers Market sales, I actually had an offer to sell my images at a local truck stop - apparently truckers often spend money on scenery pictures. Perhaps we really need to think outside the box to make money from our photographs. Of course, it begs the questions as to whether you want your images sold at a truck stop, to hotels and restaurants.

Scott makes a very good point - is it better to work extremely hard to get your work sold at reasonable prices, or is it better to have it seen by the most people possible by selling at very low amounts?

Probably for the most of us it's just exciting to get our work out into the public - but it would be better if it didn't actually cost us a fortune. Every photographer should have a website of his or her images. Every photographer should have their best work on their own walls - even the bathroom.

One time I purchased a series of metal frames which I could rotate images through. It's possible to make very nice imitation matting with photoshop so images could go right into glass. Matte images can go right against the glass without any major problems.

What about offering your images to your local coffee shop for free - with your card and a price just in case.

One of the more lucrative markets would be downtown offices which spend a fortune on art and decoration - they tend to buy from dealers who specifically sell to that market but perhaps you know someone who know somebody...

I look for suggestions.