Methods to selling sports photos?

[happyf33tz]

Hey all,

I have been photographing sports for over a year now, and I have recently tried to promote myself and sell photos to parents at a high school a have full access to right now. I have passed out countless business cards, set up a table with my business banner in front for everyone to see while my iPad has my sports portfolio playing in a slideshow with package options to view and select, announced to the crowd that photos of the game are available for purchase afterwards upon request, and so on. I personally believe that my portfolio is strong enough to gain the average parents attention, but everything I have tried just doesn't seem to get them interested.

Am I expecting too much from high school parents? Am I doing something wrong? I work for The Californian Newspaper as well as Max Preps and I advertise that at my table so parents can see my background history.

I'm not asking for a bunch of parents to start hiring me personally or anything, but I would think at least 1 would be interested and hire. The most I have gotten out of a parent was "Where can I get the games photos at?" And I respond with, "They will be available to view on my website, from there you can select which photos you would like for $3 per digital copy" and I hand them my business card but never hear back from them.

if any of you are curious to see my work, you can check it out at Seth Jordan Sanchez Photography

thanks in advanced towards anyone who responds

 

[TonysTouch]

First of all, I think your website has a nice design and you do quality work. Though your website has a nice design, as a parent it would be nearly impossible to spot my kid in most of your photos. I think the first thing you should do is make it easier to identify the players. A couple of ways you can do this is by grouping the photos by event including team, game and date; you can also list the first name of the player so parents can see who is who.

Another thing you should keep in mind is how many players' photos you post. Looking at the Rams game, there is only a handful of players you can identify that are the subject of the photo. By my count, I could only find 6 players that are completely identifiable and are the subject. So out of a team of 30-50 players, you have material for 12-20% of the parents. This means you have a small chance of the right parent visiting your booth. And naturally, only a small percentage of those will actually buy a photo.

Another thing to remember is the lag between when the game ends and when they can view the photos. Even if you post the photos as soon as the game is over, you are allowing a lot of time for them to get back home and look up your website. When I played HS football, it could take a few hours to get back home. The more time it takes for them to view the content, the more time they have to forget about it. One way you can minimize this time is to upload your photos directly to your iPad so the parents can see the image right after the game. You can also benefit from have a list of the kids names you got a decent photo on your table for the parents to see as they are leaving. Nothing grabs someone's attention like seeing their or their family members' names.

 

[happyf33tz]

Thank you for the response Tony,

When they contact me, I upload the games photos on my site through a seperate section.

Here is a link to a game I uploaded on the Rams final Varsity soccer game which also had a celebration for the seniors before the game started. If it asks for a password, it is "gomesago"

500px / Seth Sanchez / Mesa Varsity Soccer

I had about 5 parents ask to view the images from this game via email and I sent them this link and told them it is $3 per photo digital copy and prints vary depending on the size they would like. After telling one of the parents that, they replied back with "Is there a way for me to save the ones I want from your website to my computer?" Because with 500px if you try to right click to save the photo, it won't allow you to do that.

-_- Every parent I have ran into just thinks it's all a free handout.

 

[TonysTouch]

Of course they do, everyone always does. In this case, you may want to target the students themselves. I can't think of many teens that would pass on a photo of themselves for $3. Plus everyone knows that the way into a parents wallet is through their kids. (If you need proof of that just walk into your local Babies R' Us, lol.) You might want to contact the school and see if you can set up your table in the cafeteria during lunchtime. The high schoolers will probably be with their friends and their ego will be much easier to sell to than their parents' penny pinching habits.

 

[curtyoungblood]

When they contact me, I upload the games photos on my site through a seperate section.

This is probably part of the problem. You should make it as easy as possible on the customer, there's no way I would ever contact you to get you to upload photos. If there were photos on the page that I could just order, that may be a different story.

 

[imagemaker46]

First of all if you are asking only $3 for a photo you have undervalued your work, you may as well be giving the photos to the parent s free. You can set up all the tables you want, pass out cards and keep doing all the "right" things to try and generate interest, but it is my experience that people like to look at pictures of themselves online, but very few are willing to pay for them. I haven't figured out why it's like this. Doesn't seem to matter how amazing the photos are either. You can keep trying, but it will probably just end up in more frustration. Looking at your photos, there is nothing wrong with them, you are offering a quality product.

 

[imagemaker46]

I see on your web site that you specialize in everything and that you have been shooting sports for a year. What kind of rate would you charge to shoot a sporting event or wedding if you are charging only $3 for a download file?

I noticed that you are shooting with high end gear as well. You're using close to $30k worth of gear and you're concerned about trying to sell a a photo for $3

 

[KmH]

If you want to do business, you have to apply business principles - marketing, salesmanship, promotion, etc.
Since a digital file can be printed/copied electronically many times and at a variety of sizes they should cost way more than $3. More like $50 each.
Think of your photographs as unique luxury items, and not like a mass produced commodity.

Most action sports shooters make money by printing and selling on site. Most people buy on impulse and emotion. It really helps to have product available right there, right then.
Even better is to have samples of mounted and/or framed desk and wall size prints.

The money is in doing league T&I - team and individual.

 

[imagemaker46]

If you want to do business, you have to apply business principles - marketing, salesmanship, promotion, etc.
Since a digital file can be printed/copied electronically many times and at a variety of sizes they should cost way more than $3. More like $50 each.
Think of your photographs as unique luxury items, and not like a mass produced commodity.

Most action sports shooters make money by printing and selling on site. Most people buy on impulse and emotion. It really helps to have product available right there, right then.
Even better is to have samples of mounted and/or framed desk and wall size prints.

The money is in doing league T&I - team and individual.

Selling files are only worth what the market will stand. Trying to sell a sports image for $50 is pointless when he can't even sell them for $3. People do buy when they are presented with the images on site, the cost for setting this up doesn't always pay off. I shot for a group a couple of years ago that sold on site, the photos offered were great, the price was right, and on most days they just broke even, after paying the photographers they had to hire, and staff for the booth, they rarely made any money. They worked 12 hour days, almost as volunteers. The Op is using a 1Dx and a 400 2.8, I assume probably a 70-200 2.8 and a spare body as well. I don't know any 22 year old kids that are walking around with this kind of gear and are on a forum trying to find out how to sell a $3 file.

 

[happyf33tz]

Well originally I tried selling my images $10 per digital copy, but they would not buy. Ever since the beginning on the school year in 2012 I have been working really hard at creating a strong portfolio with plenty of experience to be able to sell my skill to parents.

Also, the website is an "Awesome" account by 500px. You pay $50 and they give you your own domain, but the catch is you can't fully customize the website, they have pre-made themes that you can choose from. I am on a tight budget right now, because I literally just purchased the 1DX after months of saving up and sold my 7D, so currently, creating a legit website is not an option for me.

Well, I guess I'm the first kid with this gear on a forum asking for help form veterans that have the experience. I have been doing photography for about 2 years now, but with sports photography, I have just had this problem since day one. Just trying to see if my work isn't as good as I think it is, or I am just missing something obvious here. Judging by the replies on this thread, it seems that this is just the harsh reality of it: parents aren't all that interested in purchasing action photos of their kid, or I should consider a new strategy on how to promote myself and get parents to purchase the photos RIGHT there and then.

And if a parent was to hire me to cover a high school game, I would charge $200. you would get all the images I captured after taking out out of focused//etc shots, and get 4 wallets, 3 5x7 and 2 8x10 prints, I have the parents choose which shots they would like prints of.

Thank you guys for giving me help, I appreciate it.

 

[TonysTouch]

One way I have seen it done successfully is to show the parents the RAW files immediately after the game and have them fill out an order form on spot. It has a more professional feel to it. Then when you are done processing them, mail the prints directly to the parent or have them ready at the next game.

 

[happyf33tz]

One way I have seen it done successfully is to show the parents the RAW files immediately after the game and have them fill out an order form on spot. It has a more professional feel to it. Then when you are done processing them, mail the prints directly to the parent or have them ready at the next game.

That's one idea that I can give a shot, I edit most game photos right away on my laptop anyway.

I may try to have a friend help me out one day by having a booth set up like I have before, but when halftime hits, I can run up to the booth and edit the shots I got so far and then have them on display via iPad.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Big watermark and a "suchandsuchphotography" facebook page are key, too

 

[TonysTouch]

I personally would use Lightroom on a laptop so you can import them with a preset. It would be faster and give the parents a general feel of how the photos will look.

 

[imagemaker46]

Can I ask a personal question. How is that a 22 year kid still in school can afford to upgrade from a 7D to an $8000 1Dx and a $12,000 400 2.8, I assume that you also have other lenses. Just curious. Especially when you seem to be having trouble generating any kind of income from photography.

Selling to parents is always a tough sell. I shot NHL hockey for over 10 years, and then last year shot a few kids games on a weekend after a friend asked if I could get a few of his kids. My web site is geared for high res direct downloads, all very simple. The hockey pictures I uploaded were the best that these parents were ever going to see of their kids, I couldn't sell a single image at $15. These pictures were poster material, and the parents all thought they were amazing pictures, but still didn't want any. It is a frustrating business, especially when you can't figure out why pictures don't sell.