FlickR experiences-Need advice

[Bsmooth]

I have had great feedback from this site in the past,thanks to all BTW.
I have had dreams of actually doing what i enjoy for a living for a long time now, Photography .
Recently,well it was January I got laid off from manufacturing,which I've been in QC ever since High School.
I think I'm fairly good at Photography,not great,but very good. I can also do most imaging and retouching in Photoshop fairly well too.
I don't have huge amounts of images.Probably around 100 or so that I really like. I've tried the Stock Photo thing and have only sold maybe 7 or 8 images.
Bottom line is I would like to make some money at it,but don't really know how.
First thing I guess I really need to do is get my images out there for people to see,right now basically I don't exist. I don't even have a website yet,and really have to work with minimum funds.
I've heard FlickR is good but have no experience yet,Exposer Manager and Smugmug are also options.
So what do you think should be my short term goals ,and a longer look out to the future?
Mainly I do seascapes,Landscapes and my HDR shots I must say are coming along well.Also do Nature,Macro and wildlife when I can find it.I'm located in MA right along the coast.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Bsmooth]

55 people take a look already and not one response? I know its 4th of July,but I am asking for a few opinions.Usually there is no lack of those.
Is Flickr that bad ?

[DunnoWhen]

Flickr is OK as a photo sharing host but it is not considered as one suitable for business.

You might like to give people a link to your images so that they might give additional advice.

[Karl Johnston]

Flickr's great, I get plenty of sales from people looking at flickr

Like this one (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=711199&highlight=just+when)

Can't beat that..some people get the occasional email from marketing agencies on flickr. Its not a science, but based on my success with its exposure for me..cant beat it! People find me on flickr easily and send me emails to buy X print or X print or X print etc. I think thanks to flickr's exposure I've had a total of 8 successful sales from people who saw me, originally, on flickr.

The name of the game is keywording though. That said, Cam is right - its not suitable for straight business. You'll want an actual website for that. But for photo sharing, uploading and networking; flickr's one of the best in my eyes

Here's a flickr thread http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=711199&highlight=just+when

I think this is a good link to check into
http://thoughtsonphotography.com/

It's radio-style podcasts of Paul Giguere, a fine art photographer and freelancer in the USA.

I guess I'm a recent successful fine art photographer from the sub-arctic of canada..and one thing I will share with you is; you can make 0 $ one month and 7 000 the next...and then 1000 for the next 3 months. Making a living is pretty hard, and in my own personal experience it requires consistency and vigilance in terms of getting yourself out there. Finding the buyer. Going to shows and fairs; none too big or too small.

Gift shops and cafes are a great place to start. Hang out at a cafe for a bit and feel the mood, look at the customers, look at the staff, get a feel for the place. If tis a high energy latin salsa place with lots of fine drinks and pastas...will your work really fit in with that theme, or will it look out of place? Sometimes out of place is good. Will they accept your work? Some will some won't. All I can say is don't get discouraged if you don't make a sale for 3 months. It's hard work, a lot harder than my day job was. Sometimes I think about going back to it...but my recent blog entry talks about why I've discouraged that idea, you can also check out my blog and website here (http://www.synergystudiosphotography.com/blog/) (I recommend reading "Sometimes Its OKay to work for free)
Granted that has little to do with flickr, but as one emerging artist to another; that's my 2 cents.

[embdude]

I like flickr. I have been approached from time to time by ad-agencies web-designers and some of the people in certain shots. Even if you don't sell directly through flickr it is a good marketing tool.

No need to limit yourself to picking a single on-line tool. use them all!

At a minimum you need:

website !!!!! - this is your home base, everything else is done to drive customers to your website!
at a minium your website needs:
- A portfolio of your best work
- 4 sale information how to buy your photos/ or hire you
- Contact information - phone - email
A nice thing to have if you are shooting assignments is
- gallery space where you can post up assignments

once you have the home base you can market yourself, online, offline, biz-cards, mail, flyers, etc. The key is all marketing drives clients to the website!

I highly recomend the following on-line marketing venues...

Blog - super marketing tool (most are free too!) blog entries are absolutely loved by yahoo and google - if you use the right key words people will find you through a blog more than anything else

Social Network - flickr, myspace, facebook, linkedin, twiter, etc learn each one, they are free and can drive sales!

[jaykilgore]

Market, market, market.

Use eveyrthing that is free as embdude said.

Have a blog AND business site and update both regularly.

Pay to market and take advantage of word of mouth.

Attend classes, seminiars, webinars, workshops, books, podcasts, anything you can get your fingers on, learn, apply it.

Most of all, never lose the fire!