Unique business plan/revenue streams?

[acjeske]

Hey all.
Just found the pro spot on the forum, so here I am, like a 10-year-old who sneaked into a PG-13 movie.

I'm in a bit of an unorthodox position, and I hope some of you might think for a moment about my situation and offer your wisdom.

I'm a writer, from the US but currently living in South Africa with my wife and two little kids. We've been doing volunteer work while here (on AIDS/poverty issues), and my writing has kinda grown and surprised me a bit. Their are two veins--adventure motorcycle travel and AIDS/poverty/justice/faith/culture stuff. The former has been the bulk of my work, but the latter feels important and I press in that direction as much as possible.

With the travel writing, I started providing images to publications, to run with my words, ramping up my gear from a Canon S1 3.2mp PnS to a 20D with Sigma 17-70, 50, and telephoto to be determined, with increments in between.

Some decent-sized (not huge) magazines in the U.S., U.K., South Africa, and maybe Oz have used my stuff. These are mostly mid-sized, on fairly tight budgets, but the pay for a 1000 words and a couple images is US$300-900 so far, which is really great as a fun/meaningful sideline to our volunteer work (for which we raise money in the US to be able to do). For the kind of things I write, I'm the only one who could have the shot I'm talking about in the piece (specific lady at the market, particular spot on the road, etc.).

So, given my circumstance--in South Africa, with writing skills, with shots satisfying but not wowing editors (though I did just get my first cover shot), connected to issues (the volunteer work), what kind of revenue streams can I open/tap? I've got a good mind for business, but don't know what's out there. Here are currents/ideas/brainstorms:

1. the bundling of my images with my words, as done now (generally included in my per-word rate)

2. begin billing my publications differently, with a per-word rate and a per-image-used rate (don't know what others do about 1. and 2.)

3. selling images only to publications (not sure how to go about this, really--they generally seem to want words. Maybe I need to start pitching "stories" that are really just a picture or two with a paragraph of explanation...)

4. a pro acquaintance here speaks hightly of Alamy, but I don't like post-processing much, nor the mindless loading/keywording/etc. Ugh.

5. sell prints from our personal website (have orders emailed to me, I upload and print from Mpix or Adorama or whomever research turns up as good and well-priced, and have it shipped to client, who has PayPaled me)

6. something keying off our current self-supporting structure--as I mentioned we raise our own funds for our work here, and thus keep in contact with donors through regular e-newsletters. Maybe make it a subscription thing, with stories from our surrounds and great images? $20/yr x 1000 subscribers = $20,000 (just as an example. Would have to work hard to get that kind of number of people...) A variation would be "The shot of the week"--a weekly email of an image with a very brief explanation of the person/situation/story in the shot, again by subscription.

7. print/matte/frame some images and try to sell in some of the galleries and cafes and stuff in touristy areas (one of which is near where we live at the moment)

Or other ideas? I'm thinking of things that seem immediately at hand and accessible, but if anyone can pass info along about breaking it with bigger publications, newspapers/news agencies, legit stock agents, other kind of photo agent (?), or anything, I am all ears. All those things still lie outside my realm of possibility/understanding, but I'm certainly interested. That's why I'm here.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Adam
acjeske at gmail dot com
jeskelife.org--there are a few pics on the site, but it's mostly for family and friends at this point and would be changed a lot to go more professional

[GPR1]

A couple of thoughts:

- Pros who do a lot of this generally sell their images separately from the text, eg. so much per word and so much per photo, depending on size. Now you've trained the publications to expect both, but you may be able to wean them off that.

- When you think of your primary fundraising, rather than trying to specifically make money from the pictures, maybe you can raise more money by using the pictures. I'm thinking of something like a blog, with regular text/picture entries that your current contributors can access, can send their friends to, and can be found by people searching your keywords on the net. You're not selling the pictures, but you're leveraging them to bring in more donors and create more donor interest.

Those are my quick thoughts.

[acjeske]

Thanks, Greg. Maybe I'll start pushing for separate rates for my words and images. They may not like it, but as I'm only part-time on this and have more projects and ideas than I can pitch/execute, I don't mind losing some publications due to that.

I do think of my primary fundraising that way--my writing and photography both add tremendously to the process and facilitate the process of raising funds (I certainly could add some more web skills, though...)

What about maybe contacting big ngo's here that might need a photographer for something? Or do any of the options laid out in the OP have any merit? Am I missing some golden egg?

Thanks!

Adam

[GPR1]

What about maybe contacting big ngo's here that might need a photographer for something? Or do any of the options laid out in the OP have any merit? Am I missing some golden egg?

Thanks!

Adam

Alamy takes a good deal of work if you're going to get anything out of it. I'm on there, but I haven't worked it enough to make it worth the effort.

Your idea of selling in tourist areas might work; you'd just have to test that and see. Find a place that will carry your prints on commission and give it a try. If you have something really unique you might get lucky.

The idea of shooting for other ngo's is a good one if you've got relationships. I'd start talking to people.

There's no harm in trying several of your ideas and seeing what prospers. Some ideas will work and others won't. Then you'll know.

[amfoto1]

Hi,

Think of this as leveraging your work.

This means not necessarily taking more photos, but finding ways for the ones you already take work harder for you.

In other words, look for alternative outlets for the same images, or for other images you can shoot quickly and easily while you are at a location and exploring a story.

When on an assignment (even if it's self-assigned), don't forget to think in terms of stock (Alamy, etc.). When shooting for stock, also think in terms of fine art (galleries, prints sales online, etc.). When heading out somewhere to shoot fine art, let your assignment customers know where you are going just in case they need some assignment photos taken while you are there. When you get an assignment, let other assignment customers know where you are heading, so you can piggyback more than one job on the same trip.

Heck, once you have established a name for yourself in your area - both in terms of physical location and photographic specialty - perhaps you can lead some tours and teach some seminars, generating additional income that way.

You get the idea. You are already widening your thinking, and that's the first step.

It's not so much a matter of working harder to generate more images and selling them for about what you are getting now, but working smarter to make multiple use of and produce higher total revenue from the shots you are already making.

Yes, stock takes work. But, it's incremental work. Doing it over time, a bit at a time, you will build up a library of your work and, if it's of high enough quality, can expect repeat, ongoing sales on into the future. There are some basics to this. One is to make "timeless" photos whenever possible. Try to avoid having things in them that will date them. Another is to get model/property releases wherever they are required. Releases are absolutely critical to take a particular photo from the $100-250 editorial category (releases not usually required) into the much more lucrative $500-$5000 commercial category (releases required).

Stock photography isn't what it used to be. It's been diluted by micro stock (which is a major ripoff, so beware of anyone selling $1 to $5 images or "royalty free"). But, it can still be a very significant portion of your business. Talking with one of the five top stock photographers in the world last month, he assured me it's still a very big part of his business "no longer 7 figures worth, but now just a little shy of that each year". Of course, he's very well established having done stock photography for 25 or 30 years (as a sideline to his assignment work, by the way) and has a huge library of images on file with five or six stock agencies around the world. But, that was built up a little at a time.
He hates the post-processing, keywording and all too (and is now in a position to hire someone to handle those aspects of his work). But once the licensing checks start arriving in the mailbox at regular intervals, the detail work done a little here, a little there, a lot over time, begins to seem worthwhile, doesn't it?

Now, most stock agencies are going to look for some exclusivity, perhaps within their country or region, and perhaps worldwide for certain of your images. And, payment terms vary from one agency to the next.

After an agency has looked at a portfolio of your work and agreed to represent you, they will likely want 200 to 500 images uploaded immediately, and another 200 fresh images added every 6 months or year. So, you need to have a pretty good body of work to start with, and must plan to generate new material on a regular basis.

Now, I'm new at this too, and in the process of looking closely at agencies, choosing who I want to work with and getting myself in the habit of always asking for model releases (in exchange for a nice 8x10, mostly, for the highly speculative stuff... but I'd hire and pay a model if I was pretty sure the images would be valuable in the commercial marketplace).

Photographic success today seems to tie in to being pretty specialized, which you are to some degree already. Think in terms of taking photos no one else can, or few others do. Work to make better images of your specialization than anyone else is producing. Then find the markets for them.

A website is important. For one, I understand more and more picture buyers are Googling the Internet looking for fresh images, and buying direct from many photographers, rather than the stock agencies. That's okay, but you had better be pretty expert at keywording, pricing and licensing, and have the desire and skills to maintain a regularly updated website, before heading down that road.

A personal website can also serve to point to your agency representative(s), so that you don't have to handle the details of fulfillment. A site can offer your gallery/fine art work globally, and at very reasonable cost. This is not to say you shouldn't find galleries and coffee shops locally to hang your work. That's a good idea, too. And, you might want to in to a charity or a similar appeal, as appropriate, considering your topics and interests.

No single outlet or revenue stream is likely to be adequate today, unless you happen to be incredibly talented and very, very fortunate. So, it's critical to leverage your work and find other outlets for it, even if it means spending an evening or two a week doing boring stuff like post-processing and keywording. In time you will find ways to be more efficient doing that, and probably learn better what images to work with, and which to not bother.

Hope this helps!

[acjeske]

Thanks, Greg and Alan. I really appreciate you taking the time to type some thoughts.

So, keep doing what I'm doing (words and images, pricing separately when possible, pressing toward better pay from current publications and always striving up the chain of big/well-paying publications, and also use my skills to really grow/serve my donor base), plus...

-print/matte/frame/hang/sell (hopefully!) at a couple of tourist spots. Gotta try it--doesn't take much time/effort to do up a couple nice big prints and see if they sell.

-once I move in a month, contact big ngo's in new area about my skills and see what they're looking for. That means I gotta get some business cards made...Anybody know what rates are like in South Africa?

-keep stepping toward Alamy. I made an account, but got stuck at the whole "resize to a 48MB tiff" and then resize again to a jpg. Can anybody point me to a site that clearly explains how to do that? Unfortunately, the software in hand is DPP/ZB and the GIMP. Don't know if either can do it!

-leverage shooting opportunities (ala Alan)--always shooting for multiple purposes with an eye toward saving time/energy and picking up pay for something that costs me very little in time and effort. Can someone point me to a standard model release form? (Good idea to start collecting these, Alan! Thanks! I assume they're still required if you're shooting out of the US/etc?)

-I'm also thinking of changing the pitches I make to magazines. As my photography has increased, and I do that anyway on a given trip, maybe I can reduce my word count (thus saving time writing) but get the same total amount for a spread of a few photos, sort of photo essays or something, with just a paragraph or less per photo.

Kinda seems like I'm thinking and the replies so far point toward, "DO ALL OF THESE IDEAS (AND ANY OTHER ONES YOU COME UP WITH)." True?

Other ideas/comments?

Thanks for helping me out.

Adam

[amfoto1]

Hi again Adam,

Regarding model releases, go to Alamy or just about any of the stock agency web sites (not micro stock, though). They have sample model releases available for you to adapt. In fact, last time I looked I think Alamy had them in about a dozen different languages even.

I Googled and found literally thousands of mentions and hundreds of examples online, narrowed that down to about a dozen I felt were good, which I then used to make up one that serves multiple purposes for me.

It really doesn't matter where in the world you shoot the photo, you need to have a model release on file to sell (license) the image for most any commercial purposes, and in this day and age the buyers can be in any country. You might need to have a release translated for local purposes, and if you work with a guide, they may need to help explain it to people you ask to photograph.

A lot of people have concerns about asking for a signature on a model release. I think it's mostly a fear that the subject will say "no", which some do (helping narrow down your shooting choices, by the way. I felt that way too, but am getting over it. The difference between what editorial buyers pay for un-released photos and what you can charge for commercial usage of a properly released photo is quite dramatic... sometimes multiples of 10X or more. It's quite an incentive to take the extra step and try to get that release signed!

A side benefit, asking for a release forces you to have more interaction with your subjects before or after photographing them, which often leads to additional and more interesting photos.

Best of luck with your efforts!

[acjeske]

Thanks for the additional info/perspective, Alan.

One advantage I have in this situation is that I do shoot a lot of people I know/interact with regularly, so I can likely get a good number of my shots "covered" by model releases. And I'll work up a general one to carry on me most of the time, and I'll get it translated into a local language (Zulu) and others here.

Feeling good. But any other comments are very welcome!

Adam