Cheap Shots!
When I read the quote for my new website, I got a fright. It said something like ‘pictures not included’*.
Last time I worked in a creative studio, clients were charged up to $150 per picture (pic). I needed nine.
Fortunately, much has changed in recent years.
On Sunday I found and bought the pics I needed for only $15 each – a tenth of what I feared. My relief mirrored that of clients tracking this project with a view to doing their own sites.
Maybe you’ll benefit too.
Above is one of the pics I bought. You don’t see a lot of cuneiform on today’s corporate websites; it’s my WaPIUSP^! This medium-sized pic is perfect for my purposes.
The price licences me to use it on my website and this blog. Legally (and technically) I can’t plaster it on a jet or a skyscraper, but if I’m that successful, I’ll happily fork out an extra tenner.
I got the pic from iStockphoto. All the art directors I consulted recommended this site. Some also mentioned Shutterstock and Dreamstime but I didn’t find these as easy to use. You may.
In addition to being cheap and easy, iStockphoto had all the pics I sought. I added them to my ‘lightbox’, bought ‘credits’ on my credit card, downloaded the files to my PC and spent two hours trying to email them to my IT Guy.
Once he got them, it was on. Just look at the development site!
I’m thrilled. And glad not to be dealing with a full-service advertising agency from last decade. In those days, CDs costing around $450 held themed sets of around 80 pics (e.g. Ancient Scripts in the Workplace).
Once a client approved a creative concept, the agency bought the necessary CD (if it didn’t own it already). It then charged the client up to $150 per pic!
Thus, after recouping the cost in as few as three pic sales, the agency reaped pure profit from subsequent sales for the life of the CD. So long as cuneiform stayed in vogue, the CD was a money machine.
Next time you get a quote for a job with pics, ask how much they are. You may save quite a few shekels (and get exactly what you want) by sourcing them yourself.
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com
* Images … will need to be provided or … sourced and the licensing fees paid … licensing fees are not included …
^ Weird and Possibly Ineffective Unique Selling Proposition.
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I love iStockphoto too Paul. I’m not sure if you get my Revive email on a Monday morning but all of those gorgeous images come from there.
When I first did my website I paid over $400 each for four images. It was a huge expense for a startup so image libraries like iStock are great for small business.
Your website looks fantastic by the way!
Dude! Andrew’s done a great job…the new site looks excellent!
More later…gotta go.
Cheers
Stephen G
PS Good to see you back and ok…hope you had an ‘actual’ weekend :- )
PPSS Heard from the bank yesterday. APPROVED! YAY! Strap ‘ya-selves’ in folks…noSh-it! Wood-Fired Pizza is about to hit the fan! :- )
I’ve used Shutterstock and iStock, they’re both fantastic. Professional pics make such a difference!
thanks for this invaluable advice
Just got back from three days off. Wonderful time, but much catching up to do. Technically, today is still a holiday. Therefore, sorry if these responses are brief:
I do receive and love your Revive email, Kate, and I heartily commend it to all. The images you use are very beautiful.
Glad you like the new site, Stephen. Andrew has been incredible and I MUST carve out time this week to give him the content he’s been patiently waiting for.
Thanks for your endorsement, Megan; this has been a really valuable learning from the web development project.
Margaret, I’m glad you got something out of this post. Thank you for saying so! Best regards, P.
Great photos and senational site – very professional and refreshingly original, well done.
Although if you read the cuneiform backwards, omitting every second word it says ‘Feisty is the demon prince’ Beats the hell out of Led Zeplin’s efforts!
Sorry, Stephen; in my haste I neglected to congratulate you on your business funding. Well done! I sincerely hope this venture brings you all you seek.
Thanks very much, Malcolm! As a CEO and insanely-well-read Marketing Guru, I particularly appreciate your feedback. And, as always, your power of perception has bared a new layer of meaning for us.
Hi Folks,
Suddenly, I seem a tad busier as well…wonder why? :- P
Paul – thanks for your good wishes mate (& no need for apologies).
And yep! Good to see the ‘Success Surfer’ take a breath. Can we ‘psycho-analyse’ him please…pleeeaase! ? :- )
I just want to know what motivates a ‘Marketing Guru’ to learn to ‘backward-mask’ Cunieform? :- )
You’re not gunna run for Pope are you Malcolm? :- )
Hey! I’m still on topic! – ‘Cheap Shots’
Cheers
Stephen G
PS I’m off to order my brand new mobile pizza oven…finally…YAY!
Hi Folks,
Busy week? Where is everyone? :- P
I admit, that this topic with all it’s fun innuendo, does, at least for me, bring up my ‘righteous’ indignation…or perhaps it’s just envy…but my years of ‘My Three Sons’ & ‘Happy Days’ conditioning kicks-in and my inner ‘bleeding heart whining tree-hugger’ screams “How, can these people sleep at night?”. And then I remember prescription drugs…
It’s funny, but even when I was a Content Manager with 9 websites representing 9 top-selling magazines, I only ever paid for 1 image…and that was from a digital photographer who staunchly defended his ‘copy right’…I don’t think it mattered to him that I had to buy an image from him to put in an article about him, that was written for him by our editors…but that’s another story.
Yes, admittedly we had many of our own images archived in-house and our own team of in-house photographers, but there we a great number of images I used that were not ours (& I’m talking 1000s).
When looking for images, the first place I go (and have done for years), is Google Images. If I find something I like, I check the sources; I go to their website, find the copyright information (in both the website and I check the image metadata), and if the image is ‘copyrighted’, I ask the owner.
It’s funny, but most people, so long as they are respected (i.e. asked), are happy to provide their images for free …& even funnier (or ‘ironicer’
), is that I have found that photographers themselves are often the most severe when it comes to charging for the use of images…forget the free publicity they get from an accredited image on a high-traffic site.
On the rare occasion when I couldn’t get a response from the image owner in time for publication, I would use the image anyway…but importantly I would properly accredit it and leave the owner a message with a URL, letting them know & that if they wish, I will take it down…never had to take one down (oh except for the photographers). Geez, sometimes I had to strip entire articles even we we owned them, because the photographers would say the copyright only applies to print, not to web publication! ???? Like I said, I don’t think they quite grasped the ‘publicity’ thang…
Cheers
Stephen G
That is absolutely fascinating, Stephen. So much stuff I’ve never thought of. Thanks for your ripping yarns!
A bit more security for users:
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/internet/20090917-istockphoto-guarantees-users-protection-from-copyright-disputes.html
Interesting conversation. All in all most folks don’t care if there photos are used with or without permission, but its always nice to ask. Photographers who lease their photos for high amounts are right on the ball when photos are used without paying. That’s how they make a living, and some photos are worth some bucks. Take underwater photography of a certain kind of fish or coral … and the need for a great picture. The thing is all of the pictures on Wikipedia are free to use, many on Flickr are free to use, and I can’t remember others off hand. Wiki is great! ~ Hope that might help!!!
Susie Lehto
Thanks so much, Susie! I never knew that about Wikipedia or Flickr. It was most kind of you to stop by. Best regards, P.