Here's the mantra he keeps repeating: "The damage has been done."

What damage? Everything bad that happened occurred in his own mind. In the real world, not a blip of damage anywhere.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Wow... 20,000 views , 4 likes - & no sales.

I think some of us are doing alright here.

I read every word and find it hard to care. If you post an image on the Internet, it can and will be nicked. Know that going in.

I just mentioned this very thing in another post here. Years ago somebody posted one of my photographs from Flickr on Reddit and it went viral...to date it's received 141,534 views. I got very little for it afterwards because it was all over the internet by then. Going viral isn't necessarily a good thing, IMO.

I found the most interesting fact of this rather long article to be that he made more of an impression (i.e. more sales) when he switched from a digital portfolio on his iPad to printed samples of his work. He says:

"It has made me greatly question the value of digital portfolios, however. I used to carry my portfolio on an iPad when visiting restaurants or bars with the intention of selling wall art, and had my heart sink as they idly swipe past each image without really looking. Luckily, however, I switched to a printed portfolio which ensures the audience gives each image reverence – and I made two sales from this method."

Peggy, this has long since plagued my mind....
I know Frank is a big fan of Flckr. But I question the value of an image after it has been so widely shared.
Catch 22 , I realize. But once its out there - & gone... Who needs to buy it ?

Very good point. I used to post a fair amount on flickr and now hardy ever do. I actually pulled most stuff off. I even put watermarks on some even though flickr says not to. (Don't tell on me.) :)

I stopped posting to Flickr a year and a half ago although I've recently been considering going back to it. It was good in some ways but truly, if an image goes viral I really don't believe it's a good thing at all.

@HW ~ I didn't know that Flickr says not to put watermarks on your photographs. I wonder why they'd care about that.

@Valerie -- That's exactly why I carry an 8x10 or 11x14 portfolio everywhere I go.

I frequently make on-the-spot sales directly from my 'books'. There's just something about buyers getting up close and personal to a hanging-sized piece of artwork that sparks conversation and opens doors of opportunity.

For years, i've been recommending that every artist carry an old-school, hard copy portfolio.

I joined Flickr ages ago, but having one image swiped and added to another Flickr member's page just irked the heck out of me. Though Flickr did remove the image, they didn't kick the infringer off the site. So I put everything on private and that's been that ever since. I like to cruise around there now and then and see what's what ... plus I'm in a great Real Estate Photography group that I like. But image protection there seems iffy at best. Can the members at least control the "download" function now? They do have beautiful image resolution. I'll give them that.

.. by the way ... WOW Wendy ... how cool!!!!! Great idea!!!

"But I question the value of an image after it has been so widely shared."

The value of having your images "out there" lies in demonstrating your abilities to potential clients. That's what a portfolio is. It gets your foot in the door, your name bookmarked and generates referrals. Clients can't use what you've done for others, they want something done for them, and they will pay you to create it.

Since this site is moving away from fine art and becoming ever more commercial, that's the commercial explanation, so let's go there.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Definitely having to rethink strategy.

I think it just shows that Reddit users are not fine art buyers. That's not surprising considering that the median age of Reddit users is 22, and they tend to be technophile males in low income tax brackets. Most probably still live with their parents.

A lot of views and no sales, hm I know that feel :D

What is "a lot of views"? I think people grossly underestimate how many people have to see something before it finds a buyer.

I think April nailed it: "I think it just shows that Reddit users are not fine art buyers. That's not surprising considering that the median age of Reddit users is 22, and they tend to be technophile males in low income tax brackets."

As for Flickr, I had a pretty big collection there, but I, too, removed all my images...way back in 2008 or so.

I think this applies to where we post, as for real estate - Location Location Location!

I read the article and a few things come to mind.

- It's not a good picture in my opinion and, I know I certainly would not purchase it.

- I do not know the demographics of Reddit users but, assuming they are in the 20-25 age range, if someone were posting an image with the pretense of selling it they would have better luck knowing their targeted audiences' general likes/dislikes. I do not see a 25-and-under person getting exciting enough to purchase (what I consider) a substandard picture of Mt. Fuji. Now, a smokin' red hot Ferrari - that's another story. Know your audience, comes to mind.

- It only takes one person to buy your images. Targeting is the golden key.

I think the opportunity to reign in public perception about photography copyrights is all but over. In a sad way, it's a moot point now.

The best you can do is create so much incentive for people to participate in the legitimate economy, that the efforts to pirate become less interesting and less profitable, yielding a progressively smaller proportion of that industry’s total economy.

Seems Yahoo / Flickr / Tumblr had made a recent change towards sharing with atribution. They have dropped Wordpress / Blogger / Live Journal sharing support ( though sharing with HTML code is still possible ). It seems this includes sharing with Facebook and Pinterest also carries attribution.

FYI, I found that since I turned sharing *on* in Flickr, enabling sharing to Tumblr especially, the number of improperly-posted photos of mine on Tumblr has plummeted. Everything I find there now is properly sourced and linked from Flickr.

I have heard of Reddit but know nothing about it.