Know your Target Audience
Let’s say you want to be a pro photographer. You want to sell some of the beautiful nature photos you’ve been taking. So, you go online and start posting your photos. You get yourself some followers on Facebook and Google+ and Twitter, and you post your photos for sale. And BAM. You’re ready to go, right? It’s just not the easy.
The truth is that most of the people who are paying attention to pretty photos on social media are photographers themselves. They probably aren’t interested in buying photos to hang in their homes – they want to learn how to take their own great photos so they can hang their own work in the homes… and maybe even sell a few prints of their own. They aren’t your target market if you want to sell prints.
Start by taking a look at what you’re selling – and then think about who is most likely to buy it. If you’re selling prints – you aren’t likely to sell a lot to artists. Your target market is art buyers – collectors, interior designers, decorators… right? If you are selling coffee table books – your target market will be different than if you are selling teaching eBooks. In order to market your work effectively, you need to identify and understand your target market.
A friend of ours is thinking about selling her beautiful photographs of far-away galaxies, but didn’t know where to begin. Selling to the general public through online marketplaces probably wouldn’t net many sales, despite the quality of her work. Instead, we suggested that she contact science centers, museums, planetariums, and other public venues with gift shops. Those places would offer a targeted market for her distinct images.
Think about your target audience to make the most of the time and money you have to spend on marketing your work.
About Author Varina Patel
There is nothing more remarkable to me than the power of nature. It is both cataclysmic and subtle. Slow and continuous erosion by water and wind can create landscapes every bit as astonishing as those shaped by catastrophic events – and minuscule details can be as breathtaking as grand vistas that stretch from one horizon to the other. Nature is incredibly diverse. Burning desert sands and mossy riverbanks… Brilliant sunbeams and fading alpenglow… Silent snowfall and raging summer storms… Each offers a unique opportunity. I am irresistibly drawn to the challenge of finding my next photograph, and mastering the skills required to capture it effectively.
