My experiment in using Google AdWords is over, at least for now. After using AdWords to drive traffic to my site for about 5 months, I have not seen an increase in sales whatsoever.
I’m not down on AdWords. You have to take into account that I had a very low budget of $1 per day which generated about 400-500 visitors to my online gallery every month. That is a lot of potential customers and I assume now that I am discontinuing my ad campaign, I will see my visitor count drop by 60-70%. So in the sense of being able to target advertising to customers and driving clicks to my website, AdWords definitely works. Getting people to purchase a print once they get there is a totally separate matter.
I’m now very curious about the potential for success in selling prints online. I am going to wager that most photographers are too proud to say if they are not meeting their expectations in sales and will cover it up with vague statements and fake smiles. So let me come clean. I’ve made a little over $30 in revenue selling online photos in the past 8 months. So in fact, calculating the cost of hosting and advertising has put me in the hole by $150. Now that’s not a huge loss by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact of the matter is it should only take 2-3 sales per month to break even and I have not even managed that.
I think I’m a pretty decent photographer. I think my subject matter is fairly unique. I believe my pricing is competitive. I have done everything I know how to do to promote my products online.
So frankly, I have no idea why I can’t sell a print online unless the whole idea of selling prints online is just a pipe dream. Perhaps it is a market with a very long tail where the very best photographers are making money while the rest of us are fortunate to sell a few prints a year.
And yes, I have thought about the stock photography market, but that market is unfortunately becoming diluted by deals like the one Getty Images has made with Flickr. I cringe at the idea of selling what I consider a minor piece of art for a $1.50 in royalties. It just makes me feel icky, like I’m pimping out my images for pocket change.
I have no idea where I might go from here. A friend suggested I explore the potential of an art and wine festival booth where he claims even an average photographer can make a living selling prints.
For now, I’m just going to do the only thing I know how to do - keep shooting. I’ll keep adding images to my gallery and however small my customer base is, hopefully someone will see something they like and buy a print or two. Photography, in many ways, is a parallel to life. There are some times where you just have to muddle through.
Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 12:31PM 
