mangiaphoto

I already wrote about Featurepics and their unique vision about micro/macro stock business, but now is the time to go step forward. Few days ago, I spent some time on Gtalk with Elena from Featurepics and my idea was to make a small interview. In this post, you can find some interesting things about Featurepics, their vision, ideas and few interesting thoughts. Please enjoy.

Q: Why did you start Featurepics? Did you try to sell your photos on other sites before you started your Featurepics project? Why didn’t you like them?

Elena: FeaturePics was started as a fun project. The idea was to let photographers be photographers and let them express themselves, not just sell images online. I never tried to sell my photos. The reason is that I am not a photographer/artist and I took pictures only for myself. On the other hand, I liked the idea of browsing the Internet finding images I needed for web design work.

Looking at some other sites, the “profit-sharing” idea did not seem right. In my life there are a lot of artists as well as technically oriented people. I always admired the skills of an artist as much as the skills of an Engineer. It definitely works better for everyone when the artist can tell what his work is really worth. That is why we have created an environment where Artists own their work product and are free to manage their sales.

The stock photography business can often be mistaken for the place where artists are only interested in monetary rewards. FeaturePics is a clear example of a service that also accommodates people’s higher needs for creation, participation, identity, and freedom and, of course, the feeling of a reward.

Q: I’m impressed by the professionalism and beauty of the Featurepics website. How long did it take to create the website? Did you do it yourself or work with a team?

Elena: FeaturePics is run by a small yet efficient crew that is reflective upon the dedication and time we put in into the design and overall feel for the service.

Within our team everyone happens to wear all of the hats at one time or another. A stock photography site works on a daily basis and for the long term at the same time.

No matter what the tasks are, they are all take preparation, intuition and an open mind. There is more to it than just creating a site - it is absolutely a “team product”.

We look at input from our Artists and our Clients as well. FeaturePics works with some of the best professional artists in the digital industry who are very supportive of the environment. We get a lot of very useful input through our forum and it makes it a lot more fun to see that people really care.

FeaturePics is a never-ending venture that seems to change on a daily basis - we are always improving, adding and expanding upon the capability of the Internet. This is hard work that shows itself through traffic, sales and other positive data - all part of our own reward.

Q: Last time we spoke, you told me that now it is almost two years since you started with Featurepics. Where do you see the business going over the next 6 months to a year?

Elena: FeaturePics was created as part of an idea for a free market. The Artist is responsible for a product and supervises its price, and a Buyer completes this market by buying the Art. We are simply a tool that helps our artist to try new ideas, set their own fees and promote their services efficiently.

Our business model expands with that in mind. What we are realizing is that there are artists who do care to see their work in good hands and there are some who abuse the system. Our effort has been concentrated with helping to promote the artists and eradicate the abusers. Part of the process is a careful task of hand-selecting images - something that few stock sites do as carefully as we do.

We feel like very good about the quality of the product we sell and make that part of our image on the Internet.

Q: What has been the most effective marketing strategy that you’ve used so far?

Elena: FeaturePics is a marketplace - we offer space and visibility. Our Artists are the key to marketing. The business model works as the market decides what to sell and for how much. In a nutshell FeaturePics is in the business of creating sales traffic and you can see the results at http://siteanalytics.compete.com/featurepics.com/?metric=uv

Q: Do you have any offline marketing strategies such as advertising or attending trade shows?

Elena: We are planning to create a new “print” addition to the site and it will certainly require attending trade shows. Most of our exposure is through the Internet, however.

Q: What kind of work are you looking for? Corporate, isolated images, illustrations… ?

Elena: Our reviewing strategy is to check the quality, possibility of any copyright infringements and if an image violates any laws. Our authors submit everything that they feel deserves a price.

Most contributors who actively promote themselves through our forums and other features turn out to be most successful. This is probably due to the fact that those who sell a superior product feel that it is worth speaking about. Our sales data is available through various tools that may suggest good topics and searches that
customers are looking for.

Q: Can you give three marketing tips for photographers selling their work through Featurepics?

Elena: Be actively involved, be practical about the image value and have fun!

Q: Tell us about your own photography. What is your experience and what do you like to take photos of?

Elena: It is not enough to have a camera - one needs to have a passion to take good pictures. I see a lot of good photographers succeed and I cannot name one who is not passionate about his/her work.

My passion lies with providing this great tool for people to use and to see it grow.

Q: I believe you like this job but what are the pros and what are the cons from your point of view?

Elena: As any business - you have to love what you do. There are routine tasks, but it all takes an open mind.

All of us are trying to choose not only the “fun” part of the job, but to do the “maintenance” stuff to “feed” the creative side.

Amazingly, most of the routine tasks become routine when dealing with people who see their work as routine as well. I try to catch myself there.

Q: What are the hardest parts in this job and what will happen with stock photography in the next several years?

Elena: I should quote Rick Smolan “The ability to shoot and then instantly share images is going to dramatically change the way humanity sees itself and how each of us tells our own stories.”

I don’t want to add anything more at this point. I think this subject is too big and MangiaPhoto.com and FeaturePics.com should organize a contest.

Q: Can you give me your opinion about prices and percentage for photographers? You are unique in this field. You have the highest commission rates for photographers. It is an amazing 70%, but how can you run this site when you take only 30%?

Elena: Yes we do. However, there is a hidden fee. We add 1000% satisfaction to 30% of all sales. As the market expands, however, we will adjust our business vision to achieve better results.

Q: At the end, do you have any messages for new photographers and subscribers?

Elena: FeaturePics is a company that is looking to expand its ideas throughout the Internet, and we are always looking for people with the same outlook. All it takes to become part of our community is be a good person with a great eye for light - we will do the rest.

Best regards
FeaturePics Crew
www.featurepics.com

More info about Featurepics can be found HERE and you can see my gallery on Featurepics HERE.

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