Wipo Caps Ip Bei

Workshop on Management of Intellectual Property by Photographers Beijing, China, December 8 and 9, 2005

The Business of Photography Part 1 : Marketing Photography and the Role of Intellectual Property
Lien Verbauwhede
Consultant, SMEs Division
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

PART 1 INTRODUCTION

From agent to buyer
Old days :
getting photos to wide public was costly and time consuming
most photographers needed to rely on employers or agencies to do sales for them
Digital photography & Internet:
allows to produce a lot of good quality images
allows photographers to market and sell directly to the buyer

Consequence of Internet:
Getting noticed among the “noise” of images that buyers see  marketing has become leading competitive tool
Marketing itself has also changed

Type of marketing method will depend on personal business model
Assignments (travel outfitters, marriage, portraits, fashion, business, etc)
market your services
mouth-to-mouth; reputation; local market
Stock photography (licensing images for commercial use or print orders)
market your pictures - marketable pictures
reach the large public; worldwide
Combination
OnRequest Images

PART 2 10 MARKETING SECRETS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

1. First find your market, then create

Rohn Eng: The Buyers Are Waiting
But: they need to know you exist
You need to supply them what they need + at the time they need it
How to market your business? How to find your market?

Who are the buyers?
Assignments
wedding
business
fashion
travel
portraits
ad agencies
Stock
photography
book publishers & magazines
newspapers
stock photo agencies
paper product companies
ad agencies, web designers, graphic design studios, et
art photography sales

Stock Photography: Marketable pictures
Good picture is not always marketable
Difficult to market on your own
Sell only once in a while
Place in stock agenccy
What do they need?
Marketable picture
Photo illustrations
Sells and resells and resells …
Extra income at retirement
Passes over to your heirs

How to create marketable pictures?
Express single idea
simple background
Include people
involved in some activity (doing or observing something)
not posed portraits
showing enjoyment, unhappiness, fear, etc
model release
Include a symbol
brings certain idea to mind
Tractor, pilot’s uniform, fishing pole, etc
Source : Rohn Engh, Sell and Re-sell your Photos, 2003

2. Become a monopoly

Specialize
Find yourself: determine what you love
animals, adventure, fashion, sports, etc
And find buyers who need it
More chance that buyers will target their search

3. Target your audience

Cfr your specialization
Build personalized market list
Directories: Photographer’s Market
Online resources: www.photosource.com
Internet search engines
Photo newsletters
Narrow down your market list
Competition
Purchasing power, etc

4. Customize to your clients

Give what the customer exactly needs to see
Artsy images, showing your skills with camera
Images that demonstrate you know to address real-world client needs
Just showing you are out there (famous)
Understand how customer makes choices
Passions, social background, etc.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity

5. Choose your marketing model

Traditional (off-line)
You may loose business opportunities
Look unprofessional
Digital (online)
Simply as business card or portfolio
E.g. Picture of the month + contacts
Platform to sell online
Stock photography

Own website
If many marketable pictures
Create yourself?
Outsource web development: ownership?
Linking, using other’s copyright material, choosing DN, etc.
Join existing websites
No need to design website
Profit from other’s reputation
But: search engines usually do not index such sites
But: some sites do not allow to sell pictures
But: customer service in hands of others
But: fee

6. Choose a good domain name … and USE it !

Easy to remember
Associated with you
your name, unless difficult to read and spell
“ www.abcdidier.ch”
No trademark conflict

Use wherever possible
advertising, watermarks, copyright information, business cards, stationary, invoices, emails
Website should be part of your signature
Ask others to use it:
Publishers
When you license photos, request clients to link back to your website
If you participate in photo reviews

Make sure people find your website
Contact search engines
Links

7. Choose a good trademark or logo … and USE it !

A distinctive sign : distinguishes your goods or services from those of competitors
Exclusive rights : To prevent others from using identical or similar marks on identical or similar goods
Renewable indefinitely !
Registration is required in most countries
What is a trademark?

Distinctive logo or design
Common error: obvious logo
camera, tripod, etc
Adapt it to make it unique
Associated with your specialization
Simple and easy to remember
Export markets
E.g. “Windigo” (Wendy – windsurfing)

Trademark search
Register
Use it!
Indicate that it is protected: ® or TM
Can help your correspondence to start looking familiar

8. Place a copyright notice

No legal obligation
Advantages
Warning to infringers
Information who owns the rights
In some countries: requirement to get compensation for certain damages
Free advertising
Require others to include notice
Publishers, agencies, licensees, etc
Also electronically

9. If you join existing website, choose carefully

(a) Photo-forum websites
Have your images onto their website
Often for free
Generally not possible to sell
Benefit:
No need to build own website
Benefit from their goodwill
Forums: interaction with other photographers
Drawback:
Many photographers: buyers not likely to find yours
Photos.yahoo.com; photos.msn.com
www.photo.net; www.pbase.com

(b) Websites that allow sales
Upload your photos and set your own prices
Benefit:
don’t need to build a website
No part of ordering, printing an delivery
Drawback
Editing criteria: paper size, style, etc
Customer service not in your hands
Search engines rarely index such sites
www.shutterfly.com

(c) Stock agencies
Traffic number (ranking)
Entrance fees & royaltie split
Long term or short term
Royalties vary from 10 – 90% of sales price
Specialization
Big libraries: Getty Images, Corbis
Small, specialized agencies

How many photographers do they take
Competition
Where are you in the ranking
Marketing strenghts
Can they make your images more visible to a target market segment
(beware of agencies that ask fee for promotion)
Do they have royalty-free work?
Can you opt out?
Do they demand exclusivity over your work?
Length of contract

10. Provide big images online

Big images encourage longer visits, more page views, more interest …so more business
High resolution: risk of ‘stealing’
Low resolution: less attractive + risk to loose opportunity
* Big enough to see in detail,
but nothing that could be copied for print use
* If client asks higher resolution: watermark

CONCLUSIONS

A photographer’s contribution doesn’t start and end with “taking pictures”.
A good marketing strategy shows all assets: that is, photography + business sense

Thank You for your Attention. WIPO’s website for SMEs : www.wipo.int/sme

Wipo Caps Ip Bei

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