Introducing PhotoShelter’s School of Stock and Shoot! The Day

There is a pretty simple formula for selling anything: Give the buyers what they want.

It seems pretty obvious, but knowing what buyers want requires actually talking to buyers. Knowing isn’t built on assumption or anecdote.

Selling stock imagery is no different, and it should come as no surprise that most stock sales are lost because the buyer simply can’t find the image they are looking for. Selling stock photography is speculative in nature, yet seasoned stock shooters approach the market with certain trends and topics in mind to optimize their chance of success.

We’ve had the privilege of speaking with thousands of photographers and buyers to learn what’s on their mind. We think there’s a major disconnect between these groups, and we’re resolved to close this loop so that photographers make more sales and buyers get what they want.

A few weeks ago, we launched the first phase of our efforts by creating our Research Request System (RRS). Our photo research team received several hundred research requests per month from top advertising agencies, publications and graphic design firms, and we publish them to you. We figured that photographers have a lot more images in their archive, which they might not have considered as stock. The RRS allows photographers to use the Personal Archive to submit images into the PhotoShelter Collection, and the best part is that it’s all free.

To gain more intelligence, we conducted a survey amongst photo buyers of all different types about a month ago. We asked them a slew of questions, and tabulated the data for you. The good news is there is a huge opportunity to create a whole new generation of stock photos. Here’s an exerpt:

“We asked our buyers how they felt about the following statement: “When
it comes to the images I search for most often, I think I’ve seen all
of the content available within the major stock houses.”

Three-quarters of the buying population (399 of 536 people) agreed with this statement.“

Armed with all of this information, we decided that we were going to push education even harder than we have in the past. But rather than try to teach people about photography in general, we thought we focus specifically on stock photography. And rather than compile information about how a few photographers shoot stock, we decided to talk to the people that do the buying to understand where the opportunities lie. The result, our newly launched School of Stock.

The School of Stock is an ever-growing repository of information, quotes, tear sheets, and visual examples designed to help photographers create better stock and increase their sales. We threw together a pretty kick-ass group of experts, and we’re really excited to see how it will grow.

But the Research Request System and the School of Stock weren’t enough. Reading stuff on a web page is cool and all, but photography happens offline. And for pros and amateurs alike, photography can be an intensely social endeavor. We all seek to get feedback from others about our photography. We enjoy the camraderie of like-minded artists. So we made a few phone calls some friends like Nikon, Adorama, Shoot Digital Studios, and this cool computer company whose name is a fruit, and they all got really excited.

The result? On July 20th, thousands of photographers around the world are going to change the stock photo industry for good. And not only can you create imagery that could sell, but you could also win a cool prize for doing so. We’re calling it “Shoot! The Day“

In the next few weeks, we’re going to be posting a lot more information on this very cool event. A bunch of really awesome photographers, like David Hobby from Strobist, have consented to lead groups on that day. Get the word out, but more importantly, sign up and take some great photos.