Follow Your Theme
Advance Notes: Photobuyers at publishing houses may move on and change jobs – but the theme of the publishing house doesn’t change. If your phtography continues to match their theme, you are in good hands.
In the past ten years, has your photography had a marketing focus? In the next ten years will it have a marketing focus?
Over the years, I’ve watched hundreds of entry-level photographers find their own niche in the stock photo industry.
Those who become successful in editorial stock photography follow a path that is dead set on a chosen goal.
Do you want to make money from your photography? Millions of dollars are spent daily for photography in the publishing world.
When it comes to the sector of books and magazines alone (which is the Photosource International target market) the average publishing house spends $30,000 to $60,000 per month on photography.
Some of these publishing houses will have ten or fifteen publications and periodicals, each with their own photobuyer/researcher.
But here’s the catch. Each publishing house has a “theme” – a particular subject area – which they don’t stray from. (They can’t afford to; they’d lose their readership and their advertisers.)
To test the waters, you can check out various theme publishers using Google.
If you want to enjoy your photography and make money at it, become a resource to one or more of these ‘theme’ publishing houses that match your own select interest area, whether dog training, hang gliding or pediatrics. There are about 2,500 subject areas to choose from.
Once you get to be a recognized name with one or two of these theme publishing houses, or magazines, you’ll find that other buyers (who have the same themes) will be coming to you because you “speak their language.”
Eventually, you’ll find assignments and jobs coming your way. If you begin building a deep collection of ‘theme-related’ photos while on your assignments, you’ll also fill stock photo needs for other same-related theme publishers.
Once you gain your sea legs with one or two theme publishers, it’s time to seek out other special interest publishers within the same theme area.
Now here’s the best part. We’ve found that a photographer usually continues to work with one of these theme publishers an average of ten years.
If you multiply ten times the average revenue you receive from your client publisher in one year, you can understand that the life-long value of gaining just one publisher is well worth the effort of searching out and developing a relationship them.
Yes, personnel change in that publishing house, but the theme of the publishing house remains the same. All your efforts of establishing a foothold with that publisher are well rewarded.
It follows then, once you gain knowledge about your chosen focus area, you’ll be an asset to other similar publishing houses.
Your aim is for your name to become a ‘household word’ in the specialization area of your choice.
Do the math. Multiply what your potential income would be if you established a relationship with not one or two, but five, ten, or twenty such publishing houses.
The key, of course, is to choose a specialty area that you are comfortable with.
I’ve observed that most photographers who drop out of the industry, withdrew not for financial reasons, or quality of their work – but because they didn’t choose a specialization area that “Wild horses couldn’t pull them away
All of the above information is expanded on in my book, “Sell & ReSell Your Photos” – published back in the last century. If you have a dusty copy on your bookshelf, re-read it.
You’ll find that while the delivery methods described are outdated, if you substitute “email” wherever you read ‘mailbox,’ and “digital image” wherever you read ‘transparency,’ that the marketing insights and recommendations in the book still apply in this new century.
Your library has a copy of Sell&ReSell, and Amazon.com and eBay have it on sale for pennies. Surprise your accountant. The information will be worth the investment.
Another investment you should make is to graduate from a low-paying “beginner” marketletter like the PhotoLetter to the PhotoDaily, where the fees paid per photo are much higher. If over a year’s time you discover just one or two special interest theme publisher contacts, you’ve justified your investment.
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Publishing Photos," visit his website at PhotoSource International or call 800 624-0266.
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