[Clicker]

Okay it's 2010 and i still haven't committed to a full fledge personal site (commercial/non-commercial use) I've started a couple of Blogs but killed those because 1. I wasn't getting traffic 2. It was shitty, most likely why i wasn't getting traffic

On a serious note i've been looking at wix.com and photobiz.com or probably zenfolio and wordpress. I'm still undecide whether i should try and make some LBA pocket change or a fullfledge themed Blog?

So i turn to you guys as 1. i'm getting desperate. 2. I'm not getting any younger and this is somewhat of a "bucket list" thing for me

So my last word here and i'll sit back and absorb ALL the advice i can get...
HELP


Thank you.

[Rupert]

About how many million blogs are there out there? Personal photo sites? I hear there are even so many porn sites that they are having trouble making a dime.....so it is a tough world to make a buck from your photographs the way I see it. Everyone seems to think they can make money in this...but just like being a starting QB in the NFL....few actually get there. Once I saw the reality of this, and saw that the internet is covered with photos...most much better than mine...I decided to just enjoy my shooting and see if I could make a few people in my life happy with my shots.....and me too!
Anyhow, that is my take on it....others may be more optimistic, but I would like to compare their bank accounts to mine and see if they are truly setting the world on fire or just making a lot of smoke.
There are some interesting ways to make money with your photos..if you want to work hard, have the right equipment and personality...and it is not just weddings. Speciality Greeting Cards is one market that is a possibility...just look a the space devoted to them in Chain Stores.....that says their profits are huge. Of course, so is competition for that space...so you would have to come up with a unique marketing strategy. There is always a way to make money....the hard part is finding out what it is that will work for you.
Regards!

[justinr]

A hell of a lot of sense there Rupert. As I pointed out to General Benson, a website should have a clearly defined purpose, simply sticking a few pictures up and trusting that the world will soon be beating a path to your door is bound to end in disappointment, especially when it is estimated that 5m sites join the web each week!

I do a bit of website building for others (only basic stuff using mainly MS Expression) and I point out to my customers that they have to go out and sell the site and not rely on search engines to find them and generate sales leads. Those days are long, long gone.

Websites can work if this approach is taken to heart. One example here-

www.cattlelattin.com

The customer had some cattle to sell and asked me to do a simple website on which he could display them. I did so and by including the website address in his printed classified advert he sold all his stock far quicker than he would of otherwise mainly because potential purchasers could view the animals beforehand.

On the other hand I was looking to buy some camera kit and was so annoyed by the time wasted in chasing the red herrings suggested by Google that I went out and bought a copy of Amateur Photography and found what I was looking for within minutes amongst the dealers adverts.

So if you want a site then be clear that it will not make you rich by itself, it's just another sales tool and is to be used as such. Last year I came across a website designer who quietly confessed that most of his work came by word of mouth rather than his own site (which is the situation for me as well). Say's it all really

[Parallax]

.............I hear there are even so many porn sites that they are having trouble making a dime.....

__________

[Rupert]

__________

Well, I read that in a MSN article regarding profitability of websites.......if they had to depend on me, they would all be broke. Boring and repetetive trash but I guess there is a certain market for it?
Over all the internet is overwhelming in information, and I still subscriobe to several print magazines like SHutterbug and PopPhoto just to enjoy a nice sit and relax read.
Regards!

[justinr]

The US porn industry is in dire straits (didn't they ask for federal assistance or tax breaks from the government last year?), too much cheap competition from Eastern Europe and amateur/low cost material, With it's proliferation came the lowering of taboos which meant it had to get ever more hardcore leading to tiresome displays of anatomical circus acts and so on.

Apple would no doubt contend that in the wonderful new world of the Ipad then the printed page is surely a thing of the past. Yeah yeah yeah, we've heard it all before and it's just as much BS now as it was before. Give me printed photo over an electronic one any day. At least we will all be looking at the same thing rather than depending upon the vagaries of monitors to interpret and present what they think we should be looking at.