We are looking for additional PhotoLicensingOptions.com contributors who have industry experience, a talent for communicating their ideas in print, and an expertise in something that relates to the business of producing, marketing or selling still images, illustration or video. Our site will provide photographers and those who represent them with useful information regardless of their level of experience. Not all stories will be of interest to everyone, but every photographer will be able to find something that will help them operate their photographic businesses more successfully.

The site will deal with all aspects of the process involved in selling photos from marketing, data management, pricing, support services, legal issues, customer relations, etc. in all fields of photography. We’re looking for success stories as well as examples of strategies that might have worked well in the past, but don’t seem as productive now.

We will be more interested in stories that provide a timeless perspective on a particular segment of the market, or particular marketing options, than in the latest breaking news.

Articles should focus on things photographers need to know to earn money from their pictures. We’re not trying to teach how to take better pictures, as much as how photographers can sell the best of what they produce. There will be articles for part-timers who have no interest in becoming fulltime professionals, but simply want to earn a few bucks from the images they produce.

Writers with experience in reporting on the industry are also encouraged to apply, even if they have little personal practical experience in image production. Previously published articles that still might have value for new entrants in the business, or those who missed them when they were first published, are more than welcome. This site is designed to be a one stop site for anyone – full-time professional or part-timer -- interested in earning money from the pictures they produce.

Our goal is not to turn every photographer into a professional, or to make them better photographers, but to help each photographer maximize earnings based on the quality of their work and the commitment they are prepared to make to the trade.

Contributors should keep in mind that many photographers who are expert in one field of photography may be looking to re-invent themselves, or test other areas of the market. In such cases they often need basic information from those with long experience in the segment of the market they want to explore.

Authors interested in participating must be approved. They should submit a biography of 500 words or less, related to what they will be writing about, along with a sample story, or link to where a story they’ve written can be found. Once approved contributors will be provided with a password that allows them to upload stories directly to the site. They are then free to publish as few or as many stories as they please as often as they want.

Our Primary Goals are:

To help photographers maximize their earnings from their pictures.

  • To become a trusted, credible source of information and analysis on all aspects of the photography business including weddings, portraits, advertising, photo-journalism, multimedia, industrial, stock, microstock, video, fine art, etc.
  • To provide authors with a way to reach a wider audience, re-purpose articles they have already written and promote their other writings or activities.
  • To make archived information easier to find by bringing the work of the best authors and commentators together in one place and indexing it more extensively.
  • To determine if photographers are willing to pay small amounts for quality information, organized so it saves them time when searching for information on a particular subject. Readers only pay for the articles they actually read.
  • To determine if a site funded by reader fees, not advertising, can become a profitable venture for all involved. There is no plan for paid advertising on the site. However, authors will be encouraged to promote their own products and services at the end of their articles.
  • To provide authors with statistics that will help them identify the subjects of greatest interest based on actual purchases, not just comments.

Compensation:

Articles will be priced using a “credit system” similar to that used by microstock sites.

The basic price of a credit will be $1.25 and discounts will be available for volume purchases. Each author will set the price (in terms of number of credits) for each of the articles they post. Prices may vary from article to article and be adjusted by the author at any time. Authors will receive 75% of the gross collected for each post read. (See contract)

We are interested in creating a network of knowledgeable authors with strong points of view who can express themselves clearly and concisely. Their points of view don’t have to agree with mine. Hopefully we will offer a variety of points of view on every issue enabling readers to make their own decisions about what is best for them. Biographical information on each contributor will be available enabling readers to have a better understanding of each author’s biases and follow the commentators they trust.

Book authors are encouraged to post chapters, or a short article about an issue discussed in more detail in their book, as a way of reaching more customers for their book. (Careful pricing of the chapters may enable authors to earn more from selling several chapters than from selling an entire book. Many book readers buy books just to get access to information in small sections of it. This may be a more cost efficient way for them to get the information they need and still provide authors with a significant revenue stream.)  Those planning to write a book may find it useful to test chapters on this site to determine interest before including them in the book.

In some cases authors will charge customers to read stories on this site when they have already given the information away for free on their own or other sites. (Many PhotoLicensingOptions.com readers may not be aware of your blog, or may not be able to easily find a particular archived story on a topic that interests them. A Google search may get them too much unrelated and unedited information on the topic. Readers may gladly pay for the convenience of going to one site for everything they need to know about the various ways to sell photos.)

Author Information

The author’s bio will be easily available to anyone who enters the site and may be updated by the author at any time. (No one other than someone using the author’s password will be able to edit the bio.) We believe that knowing something about an author, his experiences and the biases he/she brings to the topic being discussed can often be useful in evaluating commentary.

At the end of each story authors are free to promote other information and web sites (free or paid) where information about other services they offer can be found. Authors of books may make chapters of their books available on the site for much less than the cost of buying the book. They may also charge to read stories on this site that they will away for free on their blog. The theory is that some readers of this site will not be aware of the author or his/her blog and thus will make their first contact with the PhotoLicensingOptions.com. If the reader then chooses to go directly to the author’s blog in the future and get the information for free rather than paying that is fine with PSO.

Associations may find it useful to publish some of the information they distribute to their member on this site as a way of making non-members aware of the resources they offer and recruiting new members.

Is Free Information the Only Way?

Conventional wisdom says that all information on the Internet must be free and the only way to earn money from supplying such information is through advertising. This site will test that theory. We believe consumers will be willing to pay small amounts to read stories when: (a) they only pay for what they read, (b) the payment process is easy and (c) the information is well organized, easy to find and specifically targeted to their needs at the moment.

Readers will be able to view for FREE a one or two paragraph summary of every story so they can quickly identify stories of interest. They are only charged for those they open. Readers will have the option to receive a weekly email linking them to all the new story summaries posted that week.

Want to know more?

Send an email to jim@scphotos.com or call 301-251-0720. Get on the list to be notified as soon as the beta version of the site is active.

* Authors are subject to the terms of the Author Agreement, click here to read.