How to sell photos, or more to the point who to sell photos to

[sam_justice]

Recently I've been taking some photos of the city of Brighton in England. I want to try my luck and see if I can make a small amount of money from the time invested.
I was wondering, when you take photos of towns and cities, who are the best people to sell the exposures to?

I was thinking maybe the city council?
Has anyone done this before? How do you approach this? And what is a good selling price?

Baring in mind this might sound extremely dumb to some of you but this is the first time I'm attempting anything like it so am entirely new to this.

 

[LaFoto]

It's been my impression that towns or their councils prefer to send out one of their officials with a camera producing no matter what quality for no extra money for their town presentations, much rather than buying photos (no matter how much better) from anyone outside. So I wouldn't be too optimistic in that area.

Although there still is hope that things are all different in England?

 

[Flash Harry]

No, just the same as Germany, any plonka with a digi P&S. However you could set up a stall in the local market and try selling to the people, I'd go for the arty type shots as this town is full of mincers who will "appreciate" good art. H

 

[KmH]

Recently I've been taking some photos of the city of Brighton in England. I want to try my luck and see if I can make a small amount of money from the time invested.
I was wondering, when you take photos of towns and cities, who are the best people to sell the exposures to?

I was thinking maybe the city council?
Has anyone done this before? How do you approach this? And what is a good selling price?

Baring in mind this might sound extremely dumb to some of you but this is the first time I'm attempting anything like it so am entirely new to this.

Most successful businesses start with a business plan that identifies their target market and a plan to market to that target. Would the City of Brighton require you register/license your new business?

I would suspect there is a market of some sort for photos of readily recognisable landmarks in and around Brighton. I would expect those buyers to be tourists and local people.

Consequently, I would approach local gift shops and art galleries. Of course those business owners would expect a % of the selling price usually 50% to 60% in return for displaying your work.

As far as pricing, you would want to get as much as the traffic could bear while being certain your non-reimbursed expenses are being covered.

If the price the traffic will bear doesn't cover your non-reimbursed expenses, you won't have a business that is actually making a profit.

 

[smlblk396]

Calender companys is where i would try

 

[Morpheuss]

if they have a little place like a tourist information place I would ask them if they have an idea.

 

[JG_Coleman]

I was wondering, when you take photos of towns and cities, who are the best people to sell the exposures to?

If this question was easy to answer, the target markets would already be full to the brim with competitors... over-flowing in fact. If it were easy to answer, there would already be no room in those markets left for you to fit in.

Finding buyers, even more than taking the "best photographs ever", is what distinguishes a hobbyist from a "pro"... or, at least, a "semi-pro" in some form of the term.* It's not easy to pinpoint how to sell your photos effectively. It takes a doing a whole lot of homework... researching potential markets, assessing the probability of success in these markets, determining how to best approach these markets, determining where your photography fits into these markets, looking for fall-back or alternative markets, etc, etc, etc.

It's really tough to answer this question... at least in a way that'll be truly useful to you... in a way that avoids broad generalizations. In the end, you're really the most qualified person for figuring out how your photography can be effectively sold. If you feel like this leaves you out on a limb with no idea how to proceed... well, welcome to the wacky world of trying to sell your photography... everybody that has sold their work has found themselves there before. Whether or not you let this uncertainty deter you from undying persistence will determine whether or not you succeed or just give up after a few unsuccessful attempts.

* For individuals that feel strongly about a certain definition of "pro", I don't mean this too dictatorially... it's just the easiest way to refer to someone that sells photos as distinct from someone that exclusively takes photos for the love of it and has no interest in making money.