Luminous Landscape Forum
Site & Board Matters => About This Site => Topic started by: photoartman on March 12, 2014, 01:31:46 pm
-
Is it just me or is anyone else getting tired of sales pitches masquerading as informational articles. They go like this - "I know something about this topic but to get the real story buy my whatever." There are plenty of advertisers on this site I suggest more people pay for advertising instead of writing a feature article that is little more than a press release.
-
Its called infomercial.
Cheers
~Chris
-
Someone once told me (and this applies to many fields not just Photography)
"If you can't be successful in your field, then make a living telling people how they can be"
Photography has been flooded with this in recent years. It's by no means easy to make a living "out in the field" it depends greatly on what you do.
You can be the best undiscovered photographer out there, but nobody will know. Or a mediocre one who is good at marketing.
In today's climate marketing is the key.
-
Or as our friend Rob once told me: "It's all about the bullshitting...'
Cheers
~Chris
-
Oh, I don't know, that story was somewhat romantic...
-
The few photo forums I visit are full of this 'sales disguised under articles' stuff. About every 4-6 months I get my fill of it and leave the forum then come back another 3-6 months later. Some of what irritates me is the art selling experts that show the same work or similar looking work in about all their articles. Talk about beating a horse to death! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE looking, but NOT at the same stuff stuck into another article basically spouting the same BS. I have always said, I would NEVER mind paying a membership fee to rid of these pesty advertisers!
-
Is it just me or is anyone else getting tired of sales pitches masquerading as informational articles. They go like this - "I know something about this topic but to get the real story buy my whatever." There are plenty of advertisers on this site I suggest more people pay for advertising instead of writing a feature article that is little more than a press release.
Yes, I noticed the trend too. A few years ago, Alain's articles were much more inspiring and instructional, these days they read as a sales pitch and marketing. Which is fine by me. I still like his photos...
-
I think its fair to note, that the announcement of the article on the main page as well
as the article itself were very clear about the intention to promote Alains book.
Reading any further after this announcement, imo is in everybodies (or is is everybodys? I never know ... ) own responsibility.
Alain has written a bunch of great and informative articles for us free to read,
so for me it's totally okay to drop a bit of advertising especially since it is explicitly noted.
Its all a game of give and take and I think he has given enough to take a little now so to say.
And he's not someone sneaking in and trying to fool us to buy useless stuff.
So - lets not get overly excited here ...
Also: "How Fine Art Photographs Are Shown" is wrong.
It's: "How Fine Art Photographs Are Sold".
And: Subscription: Yes, okay, but: This would close the doors for many long time lurkers - I am not sure if this would be a good idea.
But a small subscription to get rid of all the ads - well ... that could be interesting ...
Cheers
~Chris
-
Alain's photography is excellent and he has been very successful in this field. He is also an educator. There is nothing wrong with this model. It's your choice to read the article or not. If you think everything with the name, Alain, is going to be a pitch for a book sale, just stop clicking on them. Vote with your mouse if that's the way you feel.
-
everybodies (or is is everybodys? I never know ... )
everybody's
-
everybody's
Thanks for clearing that up.
I always had the strange idea, that words with a "y" at the end sort of magically transform into plural forms "...ies" when using possessive forms.
Cheers
~Chris
-
Regardless of whether there is a trend or not towards advertorials the fact remains
that we're here free of charge
What I find distasteful,and I suppose it is a reflection of our times and consumer culture,
is the increasing number of 'star' landscape photographers who have become very financially
successful and who's success has spawned huge egos and massive machines to support,promote
produce and distribute their work complete with phony, 'spontaneous' video moments documenting
their successes.
As my father,a former award winning creative director says, "bullshit baffles brains"
Mark
-
Regardless of whether there is a trend or not towards advertorials the fact remains
that we're here free of charge
What I find distasteful,and I suppose it is a reflection of our times and consumer culture,
is the increasing number of 'star' landscape photographers who have become very financially
successful and who's success has spawned huge egos and massive machines to support,promote
produce and distribute their work complete with phony, 'spontaneous' video moments documenting
their successes.
As my father,a former award winning creative director says, "bullshit baffles brains"
Mark
But it gets bigger: do you remember the African artist who, in London, managed to get a gallery to exhibit 'artworks' made from elephant poop?
Now, I have nothing against the medium: being grass and sundry greens eaters, one might safely assume that elephant poop isn't all that different to cow poop, a relatively benign product not excessively accompanied by malodorous gasses which, such as they are, waft up into the skies and promote the faster travel of jets, all the while bearing the added benefit of, when sun-dried, providing fine material for fires and cooking upon. (It also provides a medicinal service when applied to a range of ills as a plaster - a sort of homeopathic appliqué.) But, as a medium for artistic self-expression, perhaps it says more than the galleristas understood. Or, they were in it, up to their eyes.
Rob C
As a footnote: I have just discovered that a banana, split lengthwise and squashed along the length of a piece of toasted baguette, then covered lightly with Spanish marmalade, makes for a decidedly pleasant snack. And it's cheap!
-
...
As a footnote: I have just discovered that a banana, split lengthwise and squashed along the length of a piece of toasted baguette, then covered lightly with Spanish marmalade, makes for a decidedly pleasant snack. And it's cheap!
If you roast the banana beforehand it gets even better ...
Cheers
~Chris
-
If you roast the banana beforehand it gets even better ...
Cheers
~Chris
Undoubtedly true, but that means powering up the grill, and that in turn means getting the oven into gear, which defeats the desired element of speed! Worse, it implies that at some stage of the game, possibly in a year or two, the entire oven may need cleaning, a fate worse than death. I have also decided (as of last week) to abandon weekend cooking too, and now eat out 7/7 in the hope of cutting down electricity bills and keeping up my morale. As I only eat a light, uncooked breakfast, and lunch, that's not difficult.
I used to enjoy using a small cooker that I had in my studio - one hot plate and a tiny oven: it sat on a table and I used it to make the occasional toasted cheese sandwich, but when my wife decided she wanted to go back to the world of work, she took it away to the laboratory where she worked... fortunately, she decided within a year that no, motherhood had not damaged her intelligence, and that she really didn't need to prove it to anyone. So home she returned, and the little oven with her. I understand that she and it were sorely missed: she cooked a chicken in/on it for the celebratory pre-Christmas holiday lab-lunch. It eventually found a home with my son when he rented his first flat... I think he abandoned it when he moved on. I could never have done that, even if it no longer worked; I have stored it until I 'got around to changing the wires...'
Rob C
-
Undoubtedly true, but that means powering up the grill, and that in turn means getting the oven into gear, which defeats the desired element of speed! Worse, it implies that at some stage of the game, possibly in a year or two, the entire oven may need cleaning, a fate worse than death. I have also decided (as of last week) to abandon weekend cooking too, and now eat out 7/7 in the hope of cutting down electricity bills and keeping up my morale. As I only eat a light, uncooked breakfast, and lunch, that's not difficult.
I used to enjoy using a small cooker that I had in my studio - one hot plate and a tiny oven: it sat on a table and I used it to make the occasional toasted cheese sandwich, but when my wife decided she wanted to go back to the world of work, she took it away to the laboratory where she worked... fortunately, she decided within a year that no, motherhood had not damaged her intelligence, and that she really didn't need to prove it to anyone. So home she returned, and the little oven with her. I understand that she and it were sorely missed: she cooked a chicken in/on it for the celebratory pre-Christmas holiday lab-lunch. It eventually found a home with my son when he rented his first flat... I think he abandoned it when he moved on. I could never have done that, even if it no longer worked; I have stored it until I 'got around to changing the wires...'
Rob C
Could it be you're getting lazy?
Or you have always been lazy?
Especially for you: 99 easy dinner receipes (http://www.latimes.com/features/food/dailydish/la-dd-easy-dinner-recipes-from-the-la-times-test-kitchen-20130619,0,2761637.photogallery?index=la-dd-easy-dinner-recipes-from-the-la-times-te-076)
Cheers
~Chris
-
Years ago when he wrote his first book, I bought it. Then asked him a simple question citing him from his book and he wouldn't answer the question. Instead he wanted me to buy into one of his courses, stating that there he would answer this question. I did not. I told him that I find this ridiculous, I bought his book and had a question, and he tried to sell me his courses.
Long ago, but that's what happened. And yes, I skip all his articles here, not worth my time really, very wordy, with very little real substance.
YMMV
-
If you roast the banana beforehand it gets even better ...
Cheers
~Chris
you guys should try banana with "queijo da serra", a specialty cheese that we have in Portugal, sort of creamy, made of cow's and sheep's milk (no elephant poop I promise).
-
I think its fair to note, that the announcement of the article on the main page as well
as the article itself were very clear about the intention to promote Alains book.
Reading any further after this announcement, imo is in everybodies (or is is everybodys? I never know ... ) own responsibility.
Alain has written a bunch of great and informative articles for us free to read,
so for me it's totally okay to drop a bit of advertising especially since it is explicitly noted.
Its all a game of give and take and I think he has given enough to take a little now so to say.
And he's not someone sneaking in and trying to fool us to buy useless stuff.
So - lets not get overly excited here ...
Also: "How Fine Art Photographs Are Shown" is wrong.
It's: "How Fine Art Photographs Are Sold".
And: Subscription: Yes, okay, but: This would close the doors for many long time lurkers - I am not sure if this would be a good idea.
But a small subscription to get rid of all the ads - well ... that could be interesting ...
Cheers
~Chris
This is what is stated on the front page:
"Alain Briot a Luminous-Landscape regular contributor offers a new essay today How Photographs Are Sold: Stories and Examples Of How Fine Art Photographers Sell Their Work. This article serves as an introduction to his new book that consists of stories told by Alain and by seven guest photographers. The stories come from Alain’s experience selling his photographs for twenty years. Alain’s books as well as his knowledge on fine art photography make this a must have addition to your library."
When you read the article, it reads as pure advertisement of the type: if you want to do this you buy my book... it is not an introduction to the new book, it is plain advertisement as one would read in amazon for instance... that is my take.
-
This is what is stated on the front page:
"Alain Briot a Luminous-Landscape regular contributor offers a new essay today How Photographs Are Sold: Stories and Examples Of How Fine Art Photographers Sell Their Work. This article serves as an introduction to his new book that consists of stories told by Alain and by seven guest photographers. The stories come from Alain’s experience selling his photographs for twenty years. Alain’s books as well as his knowledge on fine art photography make this a must have addition to your library."
When you read the article, it reads as pure advertisement of the type: if you want to do this you buy my book... it is not an introduction to the new book, it is plain advertisement as one would read in amazon for instance... that is my take.
I didn't expect anything overly informative from this article going any further than a teaser.
That's why I called it an "infomercial" further up the thread - maybe even more "..mercial" than "info.." in this special case.
Its a different category of writeup than what Alain has written before.
I generally do not respond to any sort of cliffhanger situation and tend not to buy if I identify these.
Cheers
~Chris
-
Hello everyone,
The goal of this essay is to introduce my new book How Photographs are Sold. This purpose is clearly indicated at the start of the essay to prevent any possible confusion. My goal in writing this book is to help photographers sell their work successfully and profitably by avoiding having to attend 'the school of hard knocks.' I went to this 'institution' and I did not care much for the 'classes' I had to take. By sharing what I learned I hope to make it easier for others to be successful.
My two marketing books are extremely popular with photographers. This is why I decided to feature this announcement in an essay. This is the first time I use an essay for this purpose. I publish a new book every 2 to 4 years, so this is far from being a regular practice.
As evidence of how popular these books are, as of today, March 15th 2014, they are ranked number 1 and 2 on Amazon's Best Sellers list of Professional Photography books. A screenshot taken minutes ago is featured below. Amazon's Professional Photography section is very competitive however few authors, if any, write with authority on the subject of selling fine art photography.
Of particular importance is the fact that my books outsell the 2014 Photographer's Market which has traditionally been a best selling book because it lists an extensive number of outlets where one can sell photographs.
Both books have 5 star rankings, further evidence of how useful readers find them to be.
Finally, I selected the story in this essay 'Telling Stories to sell your work' because this technique helped me close thousands of sales. Rather than being 'just a teaser,' as someone said on the forum, it is one of the most powerful salesmanship techniques used to sell fine art photographs. It is provided to you free of charge in this essay. You can order the book if you want to learn more, or you can just say 'Thank you very much' and apply what is taught in this story to sell your work. There is no obligation to buy anything.
For the record I sold millions of dollars worth of fine art photographs in my career, nearly all through direct sales between myself and customers. I am far from being only a teacher and a writer.
Best regards,
Alain Briot
(http://beautiful-landscape.com/OPP/Amazon%20Book%20rankings%203-15-14.jpg)
-
... Rather than being 'just a teaser,' as someone said on the forum, it is one of the most powerful salesmanship techniques used to sell fine art photographs ...
Actually I wrote: "I didn't expect anything overly informative from this article going any further than a teaser.", which should express I didn't expect more than a teaser from the announcement.
I didn't mean to say your article was just a teaser.
Actually I think it was more, though I personally find your series about vision, color harmonies and the many others much more interesting and informative.
But that might be, because I am not in the world of photography business.
Cheers
~Chris
-
...one of the most powerful salesmanship techniques used to sell fine art photographs. It is provided to you free of charge in this essay...
...I sold millions of dollars worth of fine art photographs in my career...
.. I am far from being only a teacher and a writer....
You couldn't make it up... roflmao
-
You couldn't make it up... roflmao
?
-
With all the art photographers there are today, I would imagine a book that claims to show how others have successfully made money selling their photography would rise to the top of the heap, kinda like a magic bullet. It use to be you had a much better chance of going to art/photography school to become a pro shooting commercial jobs, but today, everybody is a photographer, and everybody wants to know how to sell their work. With Getty Images changing the playing field recently with: The world's largest photo service just made its pictures free to use (http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/5/5475202/getty-images-made-its-pictures-free-to-use), I would wait and see what is on the horizon before I put my hard earned cash into a marketing strategy that may be affected by this recent economic indicator.
-
With all the art photographers there are today, I would imagine a book that claims to show how others have successfully made money selling their photography would rise to the top of the heap, kinda like a magic bullet. It use to be you had a much better chance of going to art/photography school to become a pro shooting commercial jobs, but today, everybody is a photographer, and everybody wants to know how to sell their work. With Getty Images changing the playing field recently with: The world's largest photo service just made its pictures free to use (http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/5/5475202/getty-images-made-its-pictures-free-to-use), I would wait and see what is on the horizon before I put my hard earned cash into a marketing strategy that may be affected by this recent economic indicator.
Getty's move is interesting I'm just not sure if it will affect fine art photography print sales. I haven't seen any decline in my print sales since Getty's decision to give their photographer's work away for free.
-
Getty is taking a back-handed swing at rights holders after their recent spectacular loss in court.
-
Anything that lowers the bar for pricing photography, or makes the availability of it for free, will change the way it is valued.