Many of us we are passionate about photography and would love to see our images selling to a wide audience, but like anyone setting up a business, we have to give it time, along with a massive push to get the business going.
Like anyone who starts up a business the first thing we must do is promote it properly. You can waste a lot of money advertising in local magazines and newspapers; the best way to show off your landscape images is through the following means - setting up a website, selling your work in local gift shops, and holding regular galleries.
Your own website: This is a very important way of promoting and selling your photography. Creating your own website should be at the top of your list of things to do. Your site is a portfolio of your best images. It should also contain information about you, and if possible feedback from different customers. Your own website should have a credit card facility for customers to buy your images.
Putting your images in local shops: If you have a good range of images from a selected area try to get local tourist and gift shops to sell them. Most gift shops are always looking for a new range of product and many will be delighted to deal with a local artist. All you have to do is frame four or five images and place them in one shop. If they sell put them in another, and so forth.
Don’t be afraid to put large format framed prints into gift stores. There are plenty of customers out there if your photography is up to standard. For tourist shops, mounted images will work better. People travelling a great distant will not want to buy framed pictures.
Local galleries: Contact your local art gallery and find out if its possible to show your work. Most galleries are glad to help, but will charge a fee on images sold. Make sure that you have plenty of promotional material ready so that people can contact you in the future. If the gallery goes
well there are no reason why you can’t hold one in different areas each month.
Invite as many people as possible and try to get a local politician to open the gallery. This may get you free exposure in the local newspapers, and draws more attention to your work. If you do have a website advertise it well in the gallery. People may not buy through the gallery but may buy at a later date.
You can also place images on other online galleries. Online galleries will charge a fee but will open up your photography business to a larger audience.
There are many other ways to sell your prints but these are some of the best. Don’t be afraid to give it a go. The key to any business is good exposure and to get it as cheaply as possible. Landscape photographers must do the same as any other professional and run their business correctly.
