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Author Topic: Selling From A Personal Site  (Read 3389 times)

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« on: January 21, 2015, 12:22 »
0
Has anyone built their own personal site to sell from and if so how do the earrings weigh up against your portfolios on the mainstream microstock sites?

I'm thinking of starting one myself but would like to get some experienced input first.

Thanks


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« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2015, 12:49 »
+1
I sell from my personal site: www.elenaphoto.com
This makes more money than many "low earners" agencies. I don't advertise at all though, so if you do you can do much better.

« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2015, 12:58 »
+1
I sell from my personal site: www.elenaphoto.com
This makes more money than many "low earners" agencies. I don't advertise at all though, so if you do you can do much better.


What are you using for your site? I know there are some wordpress add ons or sites from KTools and a few others. Are you using one of these? Looks decent.

« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2015, 13:06 »
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I am thinking to build-up a website too but I feel kinda lost in this chaos of offers.... I am actually trying Photodeck free trial but I don't feel it's "the one"...

« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2015, 14:48 »
+3
I have a website for a couple of years.  It does not even pay for itself.  When I got my yearly hosting charge on my credit card yesterday I wondered is it still worth it to keep the site. 

Maybe I need to put more efforts into it. 

« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2015, 15:47 »
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I sell from my personal site: www.elenaphoto.com
This makes more money than many "low earners" agencies. I don't advertise at all though, so if you do you can do much better.


What are you using for your site? I know there are some wordpress add ons or sites from KTools and a few others. Are you using one of these? Looks decent.


It's older version of Ktools on steroids:) Works fine for me, but there are quite a few improvements/customizations there. My site more than pays for itself, no problem at all, even without any advertising.

« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2015, 16:32 »
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Thanks for the replies I think I'm going to look into it.

Hopefully there's a Wordpress theme available that can make it easier.


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« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2015, 17:12 »
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Thanks for the replies I think I'm going to look into it.

Hopefully there's a Wordpress theme available that can make it easier.


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Symbiostock works still but, I've been strongly considering going to a true e-commerce software. Wordpress isn't really ... built for e-commerce. http://www.symbiostock.com/

« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2015, 18:45 »
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I had an SY site for two years and sold one image. Then i changed to the GraphPaperPress Sell Media plugin added on to a photocrati wp photography theme and it worked great. I managed to make enough to cover the hosting fees, but just barely. but i didnt do any advertising or social media either. You might check those out, they are wordpress based. And graphpaperpress has some themes now, too. Support from them was always excellent.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2015, 10:29 by cathyslife »

« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2015, 00:07 »
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I just set up a site using Wix (www.wix.com), which was free apart from the Paypal functionality and the domain name. It has galleries, shopping cart and so on. Wix has a bunch of different photography website themes, so you just start with one that is close to what you want, and modify it as needed. VERY, very easy.

My site is www.nickwphotos.com

HTH
HB

« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2015, 01:35 »
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I have also my site www.amzstock.com but, like others says, i don't know if is worth.
I want  to switch for somthing like intra https://graphpaperpress.com/themes/intra/. Can anybody  tell me what do I need ? I believe Intra (of course), WP and other plugin for payments option ? I want to use paypal and credit card option.


What about this: http://themeforest.net/item/stocky-a-stock-photography-marketplace-theme/8087525


Thanks !
« Last Edit: January 22, 2015, 01:39 by Sebalos »

PaulieWalnuts

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« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2015, 06:20 »
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I have three personal sites. Photodeck, Photoshelter and GPP Sell Media.

I'm GI/IS Exclusive so it's hard to say what revenue I would actually make if I wasn't locked in to Getty. But, I do get contacted regularly from the Photodeck site and occasionally from the Photoshelter site and both way more than pay for themselves. The Photodeck site does very well. The GPP site surprisingly gets almost no traffic and I'm pretty handy with Wordpress. Google doesn't seem to like the GPP Sell Media catalog.

The key difference I've found is that while volume is lower if you have the right content buyers are willing to pay more. Meaning, in micro you may get 100 downloads at $1 each where on your personal site you may get 1 download for $100. If your content is generic micro then you may not be able to get $100. If you have stuff like military or other unique/rare work you may be able to get $1000 a download. All depends on your work.

The really important part is Search Engine Optimization and marketing. If you put up a site and do little or no marketing or SEO then you can expect little or no sales. I've put a ton of work into my sites SEO. Working on it right now in fact.

And part of the problem is picking the right technology. Some website systems Google just doesn't like and no matter how much SEO you do you get no traffic. An example for me being the GPP Sell Media. Google loves Wordpress so I figured I'd get a ton of traffic using the WP/GPP Sell Media combo. Nope. It may be cheap but if I get no sales it's useless.

The bottom like is if you want results as good or better than agency sites you're going to need to treat it like a serious business and put the marketing effort in. Otherwise you probably won't even cover the costs of the website.

« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2015, 06:53 »
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I think you need a very good SEO.. Because if no one knows about your site, you will have no earnings.

« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2015, 07:12 »
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Hi There,

I'm using Squarespace for files and prints, it is simplified sale to my friends and their friends.

http://www.kalevitamm.com


 

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