Your Photos Aren’t Selling? This Could Be a Problem

You took some amazing photos, took the time to edit them and upload them to multiple agencies… However, they aren’t selling very well, or at all. What could be the problem?

Well, the fact that your image is good doesn't mean that it’s marketable. Marketable photos are those that clients are looking for, and those that will make you money. You might be wondering what are the key problems that make images less marketable, and you’re in luck, because we’ll cover some of them and show you how to avoid them in the future.

Problem 1: Wrong Photo Orientation

Not every client is looking for a landscape or vertical orientation exclusively. Landscape orientation is generally more used, especially online. However, if you decide to take images vertically, you should also do a few shots horizontally. The reason is simple - they have a better chance of selling. 

Post both versions to all agencies, you never know where a potential client will look for different orientations of the image.

Problem 2: Overused Topic

It’s really important that you do your research before starting a shoot. Some markets are just too saturated, and it’s extremely hard to break through the competition. Let’s take as an example images of dogs, or cats - there are tens of thousands of these images. If you want to stand out, you should take a unique approach to it.

Research the agencies and mark down what types of specific photos are missing, this way you’ll increase your chances for making more sales.

Problem 3: Poor Quality

Technical details are extremely important when you’re uploading images to various agencies. They usually won’t accept noisy or blurry photos. Our recommendation is that you shoot in RAW, and take the time to set up the luminosity, colors and contrast. Once you get to the editing process, make sure you edit the photo while it’s at 100%, and then zoom in as close as you can to look for any imperfections you could correct.

Be mindful not to over edit the photos, and forget about strong effects and filters. Making sure that your camera settings are good, and adding a bit of editing to the image will make it look more neutral, while you’ll still be able to keep the high quality.

Problem 4: Outdated Props

This is especially important when it comes to technology props that you have in the photos. If you aren’t able to use recent phones, laptops, or other equipment maybe it’s best you don’t use them. Imagine that you take a photo of a beautiful interior, but there’s an old TV somewhere in the corner. This image won’t look like it was taken this year, not will it be appealing to the potential customer.

Even if this TV isn’t the main subject of the image, it will still catch everyone’s eye. So, make sure you pay great attention to the details, especially when working with tech. 

Problem 5: Wrong Models

Wrong or non-trained models are a huge issue when it comes to industry-specific photoshoots. If you want to take photos of a hairdresser, try finding a model with these skills, or have a hairdresser on set who can help the model pose as one.

Overly posed and fake images can be spotted from a mile away, and most clients will turn away from them. While it won’t be easy finding a model with the skills you need, you should at least try to get a professional that can help them fake it. And don’t forget about diversity!

Problem 6: Bad Timing

Bad timing images are usually tied to major holidays. Keep a calendar of major events or holidays you’d like to cover in your images and make sure you have the photo shoots on time. Getting your Christmas photos uploaded on 25th of December won’t get you very far.

It will take you quite some time to edit the photos and upload them, and still you’ll have to wait for them to be checked and approved by the agency.

Problem 7: You’re Putting Your Eggs in One Basket

Or in this case - you’re uploading your images only to one agency. If you aren’t exclusive with them, then it really doesn’t make any sense to do this. Yes, uploading images to 5 different agencies, adding keywords and titles to each of them can be a tiresome task. However, you’ll get a bigger exposure, and definitely increase your sales this way.

Pro tip: Use StockStudio to make this process quicker. With it, you can store, keyword and upload images from one dashboard. You can also manage model releases, and track sales.

Problem 8: Poor Choice of Keywords

Keywords and titles can really make or break your sales, so you must learn how to do them the right way. Each time you’re thinking about a title start by answering the five basic questions: who, where, when, what and why. When it comes to keywords, write down what you see. Then go over the image again and add more emotional or descriptive keywords.

We’ve covered more on the topic in our post The Art of Keywording, so make sure you check it out.

Problem 9: Bad Background

Your background is just as important as your subject. A clean backdrop that doesn’t pull attention away from the main subject is what all clients want. Some of them might want to add text to it for the purpose of the ad, or their blog post, and a clean background is necessary in this case. 

Whatever you do, try to use backgrounds that go well with the subject and aren’t overpowering it. 

Final Thoughts

As we said in the beginning, there is a big difference between a good and a marketable photo, and if you’re looking to make money selling stock - you must know how to spot this difference. With the tips we’ve shared that shouldn’t be an issue.