Being immersed in the world of photography has had its benefits. For example, it's helped me grow my understanding of the basics like composition, as well as more advanced editing techniques like focus stacking. It has also given me motivation to explore lesser known areas of Japan, some of which have remained among my favourite travel destinations. It's also introduced me to the works of both amazing professional and hobbyist photographers. However, one of the most important things it had left me completely unaware of is what the 'general public' wants.
Because I spent so much time consuming photography based content, I was always so focused on things that, more often than not, only avid photography lovers really seem to notice (or care about, I suppose). On top of that, I've come to realize that sometimes an 'amazing image' for a photographer may not translate to 'best selling'. That being said, I'm a nobody, relatively speaking, so keep in mind that the things I mention here come from someone with no fan base whose primary customer base is (what I assume to be) the general public, primarily found through search algorithms. Also keep in mind that my marketing has been incredibly minimal, in that my only real 'marketing' strategy is sharing my images online with links to my website easily available. Also, my website and social media are the first things that pop up when you Google my name... if you decide to do that for some reason.
As I've started selling more and more products online, I've noticed some interesting things, that may or may not apply to everyone, but I thought would be worth sharing for anyone hoping to turn their hobby into a few extra bucks, or whatever your local currency is.
I don't want to turn this into a novel, so for your reading pleasure, here is a quick rundown of my main findings.
People Like Landmarks - Of my current sales, every single one has included a landmark (or city skyline) of some sort. This may be a 'no duh' moment for many, but as someone who primarily focused on following pros, it seemed like you could take a landscape image in the middle of nowhere with some good conditions and convert it into a selling image. This might be true for an established photographer, but it turns out when no one knows who you are, they care more about recognizing the things in front of the camera than the person behind it. At the end of the day, Mount Fuji sells my pictures, not my name.
The Opinions of Other Photographers Don't Really Seem to Matter (Keep in mind, my customers are the 'general public') - I'm basing this on responses to my photos on photography websites or in photography communities. Of the images I've sold, only one of them has received high praise and two of them got a middle of the road reception. The other images I've sold are ones that I wouldn't bother sharing, because I know they'd be received poorly. As it turns out, photographers and non-photographers look at images quite differently. Just because some stinky shutterbugs think an image is bad, it doesn't mean some lovely person with impeccable taste in art living in West Virginia wouldn't love to hang it on their wall. At the end of the day, the opinion of that person means more to me, at least when it comes to the business side of things.
Your Opinion Doesn't Matter - I've mentioned in the past that I don't like referring to my own images with terms like "best". Rather, I prefer "favourite". Regardless of what term you use, it's been clear that the images that mean the most to me don't seem to connect with customers. None of the images in my personal top 5 have made a single sale. It's possible this is because of the experiences I connect to the images that the average person wouldn't consider. The vast majority of non-photographers don't think about how a photo was taken, just how the finished product looks. This is why I find it helpful to get opinions from people who don't know anything about photography, as it helps me better understand what the general public might be interested in, once you eliminate all of the personal connection and technical mumbo-jumbo.
Varieties of Images Help - This might be another 'no duh' moment for many, but I've heard people say you should stick to a single focus with photography. However, the variety of images I've sold has been quite eye-opening. Of the images I've sold, they've ranged from landscapes to city skylines to travel to lifestyle/street photography. Had I stuck only to nature photography or city photography my sales would be significantly lower. Of course, once you build a name and a brand, it's best to stick to what people best know you for. However when nobody knows you, it never hurts to be a jack-of-all trades, master of some.
Varieties of Products Help (or how I learned to stop being pretentious) - I'll admit, when I first opened up my shop back in 2019, I was a little snobby. I thought that I'd set up an art print shop, do some marketing, and the sales would start rolling in. As such, I set up my shops to only sell photography prints. Selling my images on things like postcards, t-shirts, or posters felt beneath me and my work. However, after a year of 0 sales, I finally came to my senses and expanded my offerings to things like posters, t-shirts, masks, etc. Shortly after that I sold my first item (a post card), and then another ( a poster), then another (a framed print), and now sales have remained more or less consistent from month to month. Products I've sold have varied from t-shirts to masks to framed art prints, but my best selling items are posters. It's clear to me that the 'average person' isn't willing to drop over $100 on a framed art print from some nobody on the internet, but they're more than willing to spend $15 on a poster of that same image from that same nobody. By limiting my images to framed prints and art prints, I was essentially alienating a large group of potential customers. At the end of the day, I don't really care in what form people own my art, only that they get a chance to own a piece of my art within their budget. I'd rather have someone own my image on a $2 postcard than be priced out of owning a piece of art they like.
I Still Have No Idea What People Want - Before starting to sell my photos online, I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I knew which of my pictures would be best sellers, only to find out just how little I actually knew. Years later, I wish I could tell you that I know exactly what will sell and what won't, but I honestly still have no idea. While this might just sound like I'm a clueless idiot, this revelation has actually had a rather positive effect, as it's made me much more open with my photography. I'm more willing to shoot things I'd never shot before, because I'm looking at scenes as a photographer, but also considering what potential customers might like. I'm also willing to edit and share images that would have ended up on the cutting room floor, before. This isn't to say that I only take pictures based on what I think will sell. Rather, this means that I'm enjoying taking and editing more photos than when my goal was to impress other photographers, as a result, fewer images are slipping through the cracks.
These are the main things I've noticed over my first few years of selling my prints online. I hope these help you if you're thinking of setting up a shop or have a shop but are yet to make a sale.
If you've learned something from selling your work, or selling your work to the general public has changed the way you shoot, let me know via my contact page
Thanks as always for reading.