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10/14/2006 06:48:12 AM · #1 |
Earlier this summer I mentioned that I was taking a second look at getting a SmugMug account, but I still haven't been able to find the information I'm most looking for to help me decide.
So I figured I'd come back to all of you and see if you guys could help me out.
My main issue with DPCPrints is the traffic. Its very low if you aren't actively advertising, so I'm looking at places where traffic (and thus sales) may increase.
Now when I posted before some folks shared their traffic information and that was pretty encouraging, what I'm wondering though is how much of that traffic actually translated into non-advertised sales?
With the $150/yr fee for SmugMug being a bit steep for me already, I also can't afford much in the way of advertising, so if the increased traffic doesn't come with an increase in sales (granted this depends greatly on what's being offered) then I can't see the price jump from $25/yr to $150/yr being justified.
Does anyone have examples of whether their random traffic translates into print sales?
If you're referring people to your site I wouldn't count that as random, just as an idea on criteria.
Also, for those of you who use MySpace for photography promotion - something that terrifies me btw - do you get good results from that? Both traffic and sales-wise?
Would it be worthwhile to set up an account there to direct people to my DPCPrint page (or SmugMug if that ends up being a worthwhile option) or would you say it'll probably just generate hits and no sales since the MySpace realm *seems* to be geared towards the younger set who aren't as likely to be spending money on wall art.
Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated, I did search through other threads but none of them really touched on my particular issue.
Thanks in advance!
- Sia
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10/14/2006 10:36:30 AM · #2 |
Hi Sia,
I'll try to help. I may not be the best person, since I don't advertise at all and work by referrals exclusively since it's a side thing for me.
Originally posted by LucidLotus:
...what I'm wondering though is how much of that traffic actually translated into non-advertised sales?
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I personally don't get much of this as far as actual random people coming from somewhere on the Internet and going "Oh, how amazing - let me buy this image right now!" I've received *some* comments like that from people all over the world with no idea how they found me, but since I mostly do portraits and there's not a lot for general audiences that's never really surprised me. What does happen - albeit in the background, is that I'll do a portrait shoot for someone and they send the link to their private gallery to their friends and family, and their friends and family tend to buy prints. Again, most of my sales like that are of images that aren't even in public galleries, but I think that counts as a non-advertised sale for your purposes? I only ever send the link to the client, yet I'm constantly amazed at how that seems to make it's way around the world.
Originally posted by LucidLotus:
...Also, for those of you who use MySpace for photography promotion - something that terrifies me btw - do you get good results from that? Both traffic and sales-wise? |
Again, I don't use MySpace really for promotion. I do have an account that I'm very lax with, and mostly just keep so I can check out what my brother is up to, etc. What I found here was that I'd take pix for practice and fun of my pals, and then all their friends would be like "Great shot! Who took it?" and then my friends would mention my Smugmug or whatever, and that has resulted in one or two referrals. Like I said, I've not really explored this option but I can tell you that I've met people at cocktail parties etc. and been really surprised that they've been to my site and know what's on there. Can't say it's really resulted in sales, though. Mostly it results in buzz.
As to whether you should cough up the $150/year for Smugmug, well, that's a tough call. With regard to random traffic, I know that if you keyword your photos correctly it will pop up in search engines with a higher rank. In large part, how many non-advertised sales you get with a Smugmug site will depend on the quality of your work and the pricing of it.
The pro account will definitely allow you to customize to your heart's content, and Smugmug support is just outstanding. What I'd recommend is that you contact them and ask them if you can upgrade at the old pricing of $100/year instead of $150 since you have been an existing customer since the old pricing was in effect. Who knows? They might do it - it won't hurt to ask, and as you probably know already you'll likely get an answer from Customer Service on a help question in a couple of hours.
For Fine Art stuff, I'm not sure how much I'd rely on the MySpace community, but it's free and couldn't hurt to give it a whirl. I'd tend to agree that it's a younger crowd and not likely your target customer base for Fine Art photography. However, as an experiment, you can't beat the price, right?
One thing off the top of my head - if you aren't getting a lot of traffic and inquiries right now, upgrading your Smugmug is not going to result in more just by virtue of having a pro account vs. standard account. Random Internet surfers aren't going to be able to tell the difference (unless you customize it to look more "professional". The only thing they'd notice is the prices in the shopping cart - since with a pro account you could charge more.
At the risk of being long-winded (too late! lol) what you might do is get a domain name and build a site somewhere else, then link the photo's in your front end site to the Smugmug one. Right now you can get a free domain name + hosting + design tools from Office Live Beta. It's not a perfect solution, but it's free. The offer is free both during and after the beta, and comes with some great traffic analysis tools that might help you decide what to do within a few months. At the least, you'd get your domain name for free (as long as you don't transfer it to another hosting provider within 60 days) and that in itself is a $10 value. See this thread for details.
Good luck to you!
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