| Web Site Management for Photographers: Marketing V by Crimson Star |
Is a Web site worth it? The Internet's popularity is exploding. The only thing growing faster than the Internet itself, is the media hype about the Internet. Many businesses have found that not having a Web site is almost as bad as not having a phone or fax! By now, you realize that a Web site is merely a marketing tool. Your Web site has objectives to meet, and you know how to manage its progress towards those objectives. (If you just subscribed to PhotoStockNotes, read my last 24 columns at the PSI Web site. You have a little catching-up to do!) You can only answer this question by determining if your Web site is the most cost-effective tool available for meeting those same objectives. Let's look at some likely examples. Suppose your objective was to reach new photobuyers through your Web site, to increase your sales. You spent $25,000 developing a professional site and $8,000 promoting it in traditional media. It costs you $500 per month to run and maintain. Your Web site is a hit. You are being contacted by an average of 10 new photobuyers each month. Your sales to these new photobuyers average $3,000 per month. Do you think your Web site is worth it? Compared to what? What else could you have done? You could have conducted a marketing trip to major cities in the US. You could have introduced yourself and shown your portfolio to 50 new photobuyers. For $5,000 in expenses, you might get sales of $10,000 during the next year, from 20 of those photobuyers. Which is better? Only you can say. Both do a good job. Your Web site requires a lot of work, a little at a time. It reaches everybody, everywhere. It requires more money to get going, but remains effective for a long time. The personal marketing campaign requires only a little work, all at once. You contact only the photobuyers that are most likely to need your photos. It does not cost very much, but in order to get new clients next year, you have to do it all over again. Two different tools, two different results, both profitable. In these examples, meeting photobuyers is more cost-effective. It results in a greater Return On Investment (ROI). Selling in person is almost always more effective than selling through media promotion. However, your sales are limited to the few photobuyers you have time to meet. The Web site example is not as cost-effective, but it is not limited in its exposure. By reaching more photobuyers, it generates increased sales and greater profits. It continues to work, even when you don't. If your objective was to increase sales by at least $15,000 per year then the direct marketing approach failed, even though it was profitable and showed a great ROI. The Web site met the challenge with room to spare. Remember, there are many marketing tools available to you. The Web is only one of them. Use the right tool for the right job, then make sure the results measure up! Graduation Day I can't believe I've written 25 columns for PhotoStockNotes. Some of you probably feel it was more like a zillion by now. If you have followed along faithfully, you now have a better understanding of Web site design, development and management than 99.9% of the other photographers out there wondering why they don't get results. Congratulate yourself for a long job, well done! A lot of you are asking me about printers and scanners. Next month, I will examine printers in more depth.
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