Ed Cordes
07-28-2008, 10:37 AM
Well, several of you know that I was preparing for a major Art Festival here in Corning. This is why I have been less active lately - preparatinfor this event.
It was my first juried show and I was pretty nervous about it. I am pleased to report that it was very successful. I made enough sales to cover all my up front expenses, like buying a tent, buying extra metal racks to hang prints from and small print stands, as well as the enterance fees, etc.
The following are some impressions I have from the learning curve. First take credit cards. 1/2 my sales were via credit card. On other threads I have discussed ProPay. - It works and works well. Cell phone access to charge cards without a computer or swipe machine is a dream come true and the fees are reasonable.
Second about 20% of my sales were note cards. It could be said that people might have bought larger prints in place of the cards, but I found that if they didn't buy the cards they would have left without buying anything. I also got 2 orders for 50 or more cards to be filled later and also a contract to photograph a local scene to be made into a custom card for a local business. So, note cards provide some cash flow and generate awareness of me and my style.
Third is that everything needs to be tied down. Do not trust that the metal print racks can withstand any breeze. Tie them to your tent top. While I didn't have a problem, I could have if it weren't tied down I would have.
Finally, interact with the browsers and lookers. Tell them about the images they are looking at. Answer questions re cameras and processing. If you act like a teacher the public will respect you and your sales will increase. If you teach about the location of the images and the story behind them it will make the image more valuable to the public. This is actually a fun part of the experience -talking about photography and nature with new people.
So, I hope anyone who is considering getting into this part of photography takes the plunge and has fun and success.
It was my first juried show and I was pretty nervous about it. I am pleased to report that it was very successful. I made enough sales to cover all my up front expenses, like buying a tent, buying extra metal racks to hang prints from and small print stands, as well as the enterance fees, etc.
The following are some impressions I have from the learning curve. First take credit cards. 1/2 my sales were via credit card. On other threads I have discussed ProPay. - It works and works well. Cell phone access to charge cards without a computer or swipe machine is a dream come true and the fees are reasonable.
Second about 20% of my sales were note cards. It could be said that people might have bought larger prints in place of the cards, but I found that if they didn't buy the cards they would have left without buying anything. I also got 2 orders for 50 or more cards to be filled later and also a contract to photograph a local scene to be made into a custom card for a local business. So, note cards provide some cash flow and generate awareness of me and my style.
Third is that everything needs to be tied down. Do not trust that the metal print racks can withstand any breeze. Tie them to your tent top. While I didn't have a problem, I could have if it weren't tied down I would have.
Finally, interact with the browsers and lookers. Tell them about the images they are looking at. Answer questions re cameras and processing. If you act like a teacher the public will respect you and your sales will increase. If you teach about the location of the images and the story behind them it will make the image more valuable to the public. This is actually a fun part of the experience -talking about photography and nature with new people.
So, I hope anyone who is considering getting into this part of photography takes the plunge and has fun and success.