Making & Selling Photographic
Cards
Jeremy Webb
A few years ago I reached a point in my professional
life when I felt a little unsettled, as if there was an itch somewhere that
needed scratching. It was difficult to put a finger on it - work was coming
in, commissions were steady and there were opportunities round every corner.
The thing was, I'd spent so long producing work for other people that I'd
forgotten how to please myself anymore, having left behind the joy and passion
of photography in the servicing of other peoples needs. Inside every commercial
photographer is a fine art photographer just bursting to get out.
Naturally, any photographer strives to be paid
for his/her work but sometimes we can lose sight of the spark which ignites
our passion for this wonderful medium because our creative freedom is
compromised when our creative output is determined by our paymasters.
I am honoured and grateful to be using my talents for people who re-affirm
my own sense of self-worth by giving me money for what I choose to do,
but sometimes we have to put our working lives under the microscope when
life seems a little stale and work loses its gloss. Like many photographers
who succumb to this jaded state I decided to head for the wilderness -
primitive man returning to nature and all that. With black & white
film loaded, I found myself taking pictures spontaneously, with a lightness
and excitement which was surprising. Things were starting to happen. Back
in the hustle and bustle of city life, I spent a weekend printing the
results of my pilgrimage to the hills. Images started to pick themselves
from the contact sheets and better still, the reaction they received from
other people astounded me. My images were never intended to record ultra-fine
detail renditions of the scenes I visited, but to reflect my own feelings
and responses, to engage fully with the landscape and nature in all its
forms.
Out of curiosity I decided to stick a few pictures
onto card and responses from the recipients surprised me even more. It
wasn't long before the business plan started to write itself. Hand-printed,
fine art, natural world cards for any occasion. This was a real tonic
- a product which not only friends, family, and complete strangers wanted
to buy, but an enterprise which also gave me so much enjoyment in their
conception and production. After trying out a few more dummies I did some
calculations based on how long it would take to produce 100 finished cards
and what was the material cost per hundred cards and how much did think
they would sell for. For the time being at least, my hand-made cards are
made in much the same way as when I first started making them - images
are hand-printed in batch-processed quantities of 20 or so at a size of
12cm x 8.5cm (this can vary according to the image used). They are then
toned using a variety of cold, warm and selenium toners before being trimmed
and individually mounted onto pre-cut and pre-folded recycled card mounts.
Each card is signed with a stylishly discreet signature (I hope!) then
my hand-made cards logo is stamped onto the reverse of each card before
being packed with a fax back/order form/blurb insert and a brown envelope
(in keeping with the earthy feel of the card) inside a clear cellophane
packet. To my continuing delight and surprise these cards began to sell.
First to nearest friends and family, then through craft fairs, and ultimately
through gift shops, galleries and independent retailers who I approached.
Better still, my vital extra ingredient - the fax back & order form,
offered the purchaser the opportunity of ordering further copies, a gift
set of 6 different designs, or a limited edition print. The cards became
not only products in their own right, but promotional tools for further
sales.
When launching into a venture such as this it
pays to plan carefully and think strategically. Given below are some of
the major considerations I had to face when deciding whether my own product
was viable considering the limited amount of time I'd be able to give
it. In business terms it helps to focus thinking by using what the marketing
professionals call the Product Price Promotion Place People and since
this is the commercial section of the Creative Lens site I'll make
no apologies for providing you with a commercially-minded evaluation of
some of the key issues and considerations which arise from this project.
My system isn't perfect. I'm sure there are all manner of flaws and imperfections
to my little venture, but it is still a very enjoyable labour of love
which fits in well with my other activities.
Product
This has already been described above. Each component of my entire finished
package is there for a reason. The whole package consists of: Hand-printed
b&w image mounted on a pre-folded card, the signature is an essential
part of the whole package, to emphasise the unique, individually-made,
hand-crafted nature of the whole item. A Rubber stamped logo on reverse
of card asserts my authorship as creator and provides simple information
such as my contact details A recycled brown envelope which signals 'natural',
'environmentally-friendly' Fax back sheet/order form/blurb encourages
customers to feel part of a 'club' and enables further, more profitable
sales, and means I can communicate details of further designs or offers
to my discerning customers.
Embossed 'seal' on envelope flap is a simple tag
of quality. Clear cellophane packet for protection, presentation, touchability,
and visibility. A small white name & address label to seal outer packet
- why waste a further opportunity of reminding people of my name? There
really is no such thing as being backward about coming forward when it
comes to selling! As well as being a shop window to other work, I found
that some people bought the cards not to send but to mount in frames for
their bathrooms, and with the current high street shops bursting with
cheap frames, this adds value to the cards in the eyes of some customers,
as does the notion of Black & White as a 'higher' art form, and its
perceived 'timeless' quality.
Price
After purchasing my materials in bulk, each packaged card could be made
for less than 15p in raw materials (which not only included those items
listed above but photographic paper, developer, stop bath, fixer, and
spraymount) provided that my suppliers were chosen wisely and the cards
were produced in volume, in batches of 100 - 200 at a time. How much should
I sell them for? Initial market research was very encouraging. It was
no good simply taking the well-meant comments and suggestions of Auntie
Eileen or knowledgeable friends, I'd have to talk to the people who run
the establishments which might be selling them. Advice from several galleries
suggested that a price of between £2.50 and £4.95 was the
market rate for hand-made cards within my area. People naturally expect
to pay a higher price for hand-made cards because they are 'craft' items
and as such can be sold at a higher premium.
Promotion
This is an area I've yet to tackle seriously since selling my cards has
never been a full-time occupation - it's always had to fit-in around my
freelance and teaching commitments. Gallery exhibitions would be ideal,
with large, mounted and framed prints on sale. The bulk of my customers
are affluent 40 - 55-yr olds who appreciate fine arts, good food and travel,
and others were young (predominantly) females in their twenties who are
less affluent but more concerned with environmental issues. Any promotional
activity I undertake in the future will have to target these customers
specifically and directly. When I first started selling my cards, the
whole notion of the 'Natural World' was reaching a peak of interest (since
passed) and consumer media which reach this particular stream of interest
could prove very useful
Place
Namely, where your product is sold - be it mail order, door-to-door, website
or retail outlet. Ideally, I'd try to sell direct to the public, but table
rents at craft fairs and petrol costs and travelling time at weekends
etc ruled this out. From the half dozen or so fairs I did participate
in selling directly to the public, I made notes on which designs were
most popular, and noticed also that there were quite distinguishable 'male'
and 'female' cards, and a few no-hopers as well. Armed with this new information
I started to sell my cards to carefully targeted galleries and gift shops
along the Norfolk Coast for between £1.20 - £1.65 per card,
sold in multiples of 25. The mark-up which was then applied to that price
by each gallery or shop was almost always 100% in order for the outlet
to make their money. I also managed to get some sale racks from a saleroom
of second-hand shop equipment which I spruced-up and offered free to some
of my outlets as an inducement to take on more stock.
People
Refers to all those individuals involved in the production and selling
of the product which, in this case, amounts to just one - me. I am Market
Researcher, Manufacturer, Production Manager, Distributor, Sales Manager
AND Head of Research & Development all rolled into one. So there it
is. This venture was never intended to make me rich, but to put something
of my own interests back into my photography, to be artistic and commercially-minded
without having to compromise too much, to create and manage my own project
from beginning to end - only now, the end might be nearer than I'd imagined
since I have a nasty feeling that I've just gone and given all my secrets
away!
