Posted by John Zinn on January 29, 2007 at 11:58 AM
So there are all these success stories posted about Photoportfolios.net, but I wondered what has been your experiences with it? I know many of you have portfolios and Lori and Alice have even had featured portfolios. Do you get any business from your galleries there? Do people find your images when they do searches? Thanks.
John
Posted by Richard Wong on January 29, 2007 at 12:43 PM
The two print sales were straight-forward sales like any other - at my listed print prices. Christmas gifts, I would guess.
I have recieved other image-right requests but they didn't seem very serious. Prospective buyers contact you directly through PhotoPortfolios.net via your email address that you provide.
John, Can I ask why you are hesitant or unsure about it? If you are an NPN member, it's free. Nothing to lose by uploading some images, really. Go ahead and see what happens.
Posted by Bill Chambers on January 29, 2007 at 4:04 PM
John, no sales for me either, but I get 2-4 visits a week to my website as a direct result of Photoportfolios so it's still worthwhile.
Posted by Richard Wong on January 29, 2007 at 5:27 PM
I'd be really interested if the google page rank were higher than zero for my profile that way the links to my website would actually be of benefit.
Posted by Lori Kincaid on January 29, 2007 at 9:19 PM
John,
I've had one image request that I thought was valid (and few to no invalid requests), but it didn't result in a sale. I don't know if the buyer didn't like my price or she opted for a different look, as she said. Buyers do post site-wide image rquests occasionally, but they're very rare. On the positive side, as Richard B. said, if you're a member of NPN, why not? Even though I haven't made any sales, it has to mean increased exposure, however large or small. I say go for it.
I have not had any requests, either. Maybe folks don't like my photography...or it hasn't been found. I would not hope to make a living there! However, I think it does work in other ways. I can tell folks I have my own website (which I do) and my photographs can also be found in Photoportfolios.net, an International Portfolio site. While anyone who is a member of NPN can post images, it seems to help give a professional appearance ABOUT your work to non-photographers (ie. buyers). If nothing else, it may make you look at your work more critically when you decide to spend the time uploading. I did it and I know it is there! Once you have spent the time uploading, you have no more work to do other than take better photos to replace the iffy ones you uploaded the first time! Hope this helps!
Posted by John Zinn on January 30, 2007 at 5:42 PM
The results are very interesting. So here's a quickie compilation of statistics. To date Richard Bernabe has ~1000 portfolio views with an average image view of around 30, and he sold 2 shots. Alice and Lori each have portfolio views above 30,000 with average pageviews above 500 and some pageviews in the 1000's and have sold nothing. Both were featured portfolios in 2006.
I will eventually put some stuff up there, just because it exists. But it's pretty clear to me that photoportfolios.net is not an ideal way to market my work, though it is a nice option if you haven't built a webpage yet. Having my own webpage, I believe it still provides the best means of promoting my work apart from joining a stock agency.
The picture painted here is in stark contrast with the "testimonials." I suspect that the Photoportfolios.net is only lightly used by those searching for images and is mostly used by NPN members checking out others work. I enjoy the community, but have generally realized that photographers don't often buy work from others. Heck, when doing an art show I still get Joe Shmoo's responding to a once in a lifetime shot saying, "I've been there" or "I already have a picture of that."
John, were you referring to me or Leann? I was thinking perhaps it was due to the fact that many of my images on photoportfolios were shot with my old D70, and therefore I had to note that the images were 6mp or less. But Lori shoots 4X5, so I guess that's not it. Anyway, my goal is not to market my images, as much as I would like to make some extra $. The main reason I put my images up is because I don't have my own website. It certainly does not seem to be the way to get recognition!
Posted by John Zinn on January 30, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Sorry Alice, yes I meant you and corrected my post above.
I would say that 30,000 views is a considerable amount of recognition, but I've come to accept that fellow photographers probably aren't that interested in buying any of my work. Partially because any of you can go to Tremont yourselves and get something close to my shot.
Discussion
13 repliesJohn
periodically they will post a request though.
Alice, did you even get some bites or just nothing?!?
Thanks
The two print sales were straight-forward sales like any other - at my listed print prices. Christmas gifts, I would guess.
I have recieved other image-right requests but they didn't seem very serious. Prospective buyers contact you directly through PhotoPortfolios.net via your email address that you provide.
John, Can I ask why you are hesitant or unsure about it? If you are an NPN member, it's free. Nothing to lose by uploading some images, really. Go ahead and see what happens.
I've had one image request that I thought was valid (and few to no invalid requests), but it didn't result in a sale. I don't know if the buyer didn't like my price or she opted for a different look, as she said. Buyers do post site-wide image rquests occasionally, but they're very rare. On the positive side, as Richard B. said, if you're a member of NPN, why not? Even though I haven't made any sales, it has to mean increased exposure, however large or small. I say go for it.
Lori
I have not had any requests, either. Maybe folks don't like my photography...or it hasn't been found. I would not hope to make a living there! However, I think it does work in other ways. I can tell folks I have my own website (which I do) and my photographs can also be found in Photoportfolios.net, an International Portfolio site. While anyone who is a member of NPN can post images, it seems to help give a professional appearance ABOUT your work to non-photographers (ie. buyers). If nothing else, it may make you look at your work more critically when you decide to spend the time uploading. I did it and I know it is there! Once you have spent the time uploading, you have no more work to do other than take better photos to replace the iffy ones you uploaded the first time! Hope this helps!
I will eventually put some stuff up there, just because it exists. But it's pretty clear to me that photoportfolios.net is not an ideal way to market my work, though it is a nice option if you haven't built a webpage yet. Having my own webpage, I believe it still provides the best means of promoting my work apart from joining a stock agency.
The picture painted here is in stark contrast with the "testimonials." I suspect that the Photoportfolios.net is only lightly used by those searching for images and is mostly used by NPN members checking out others work. I enjoy the community, but have generally realized that photographers don't often buy work from others. Heck, when doing an art show I still get Joe Shmoo's responding to a once in a lifetime shot saying, "I've been there" or "I already have a picture of that."
I would say that 30,000 views is a considerable amount of recognition, but I've come to accept that fellow photographers probably aren't that interested in buying any of my work. Partially because any of you can go to Tremont yourselves and get something close to my shot.