Pickerell, Jim

Articles by Jim Pickerell

Photographers vs. Publishers

By Jim Pickerell | 446 Words | Posted 12/30/2009 | Comments (3)

For much of the past decade, textbook publishers have licensed rights to print a minimum number of copies of the books they published and proceeded to greatly exceed the authorized press run, without informing the content creators. Only recently have photographers become aware of this problem, which we covered last month. Here is a summary of the settled and pending actions.

Is There a Best Way To Sell Stock?

By Jim Pickerell | 925 Words | Posted 12/28/2009 | Comments

Getty photographer Carlos Sanchez Pereyra recently asked on Linkedin what others thought was the "best way to sell stock." There is no question that Getty Images makes more gross sales than any other brand, but it may not be the best place for most photographers.

Advertising Mindset: From 'Most People' to 'Right People'

By Jim Pickerell | 793 Words | Posted 12/22/2009 | Comments

Adapting to Changing Business Models

By Jim Pickerell | 921 Words | Posted 12/17/2009 | Comments

Should a photographer license his work as royalty-free (RF) for a 20% royalty or rights-managed (RM) for a 40% to 50% royalty? The answer seems simple, but maybe not. In a previous article I pointed out that there is absolutely no justification for a distributor paying only a royalty of only 20% when an images is licensed as RF and 40% when it is licensed as RM. It doesn't cost the distributor any more to license an image as RF than as RM. In fact, if anything, because negotiating time is involved in making some RM sales it may actually cost the distributor more to license rights to an RM image than to an RF one. Thus, if we were basing the royalty share solely on the relative contributions of the distributor and the creator to the sale, the RF royalty should be higher, not lower, than the royalty for RM.

pacaSearch to Launch to Buyers in January 2010

By Jim Pickerell | 741 Words | Posted 12/17/2009 | Comments

In January2010, pacaSearch will roll out a major marketing campaign to picture buyers to promote its new pacaSearch software. At a recent demonstration at PictureHouse in New York, Lee Horton, Multimedia Editor of K12 Inc. said, “Learning about the functionality and usefulness of [pacaSearch] put a big smile on my face. As a photo editor and art buyer, I search multiple sites daily. This tool puts more control in my hands. I can keep the results pages in tabs with fewer keystrokes, page toggles and site crashes. The relative percentages, predictive text and term definitions create a tight, clean search environment. With the launch of pacaSearch, I can successfully and accurately find imagery in less time, with less hassle, while having more agency resources at my fingertips. Thank you, PACA.”

Price Cutting for Market Share Unlikely to Succeed

By Jim Pickerell | 979 Words | Posted 12/17/2009 | Comments (5)

According to Paul Melcher, Getty Images is now offering publishers "new low prices in exchange for being the sole provider." Assuming that is true, it could easily backfire on Getty, and may point to a need for photographers to revise their marketing strategies.

Adapting in 2010

By Jim Pickerell | 774 Words | Posted 12/16/2009 | Comments (2)

In looking ahead to 2010, photographers should focus on how they will adapt to the new realities of the photography business.

Becker-Leckrone Comments on Blend Success

By Jim Pickerell | 695 Words | Posted 12/14/2009 | Comments

One of the leading thinkers in today's stock photo industry is Rick Becker-Leckrone, the chief executive officer, principle founder and chief architect of Blend Images, one of the world's more successful stock production companies. In April 2009, photographer John Lund conducted an in-depth interview with Becker-Leckrone.

Basic Principles For Pricing Stock Photo Uses

By Jim Pickerell | 2105 Words | Posted 12/13/2009 | Comments

The following are some principles that apply all types of stock photo sales. The base numbers on the pricing schedules on this site are average rates for one-time, non-exclusive use of a single image by the smallest of companies, and assuming that the image has no unique factors that would make it more valuable. These numbers are equal to U.S. dollars and are reasonable rates for commercial use of the average professionally produced stock image. Other currencies should adjust accordingly. Photographer should be aware of the existence of similar microstock images that might fulfill the customer's requirements if exclusivity is not an issue for the customer. In such cases the photographer may find it necessary to negotiate a lower fee.

Experts Project 2010 Ad Spending and Future Trends

By Jim Pickerell | 481 Words | Posted 12/11/2009 | Comments (3)

ZenithOptimedia (Publicis) says that global ad spend for 2009 will be 10.2% lower than 2008, but that in 2010 it is expected to be up 0.9% compared to 2009. Group M (WPP) thinks 2009 spending will only be down about 6.6% from 2008 levels and expects 2010 to be 0.8% above 2009. There is no expectation that ad spending will get back to 2008 levels anytime soon.

About Jim Pickerell

Jim began his career in 1963 as a freelance photojournalist in the Far East. His first major sale, a Life Magazine cover, was a stock photo of the overthrow of the Ngo Dinh Diem government in Saigon, Vietnam.

He spent the next ten to fifteen years focusing on assignment work, first as an editorial photographer, and later in the corporate area. He regularly filed his outtakes with several stock agencies around the world.

As the stock side of his income grew, Jim studied the needs of the stock photo market, and began to devote more of his shooting time producing stock images. At about this time the 1976 change in the copyright law went into effect, and the industry began to see rapidly growing demand by commercial and advertising users for stock images.

In the early 80's he helped establish the Mid-Atlantic chapter of American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and served as Vice President, President and Program Chairman over a period of six years. He served on the national board of ASMP for two years, was on the committee that produced the ASMP Stock Handbook in 1983, and was active in the fight to reverse the IRS rules that required capitalization of all expenses of stock photo production.

In 1989 he published the first edition of Negotiating Stock Photo Prices, a guide to pricing hundreds of stock photo uses. The fifth edition was published in 2001. In 1990, he began publishing Selling-Stock, a bi-monthly newsletter dealing with issues of interest to stock photographers and stock photo sellers, with particular focus on issues related to marketing stock images. Selling-Stock is recognized worldwide as the leading source of in-depth analysis of the stock photo industry. As a result of his many years in the industry and his work with Selling-Stock, Jim has an expert understanding of the stock photo industry, its standard practices and developing trends. He frequently provides consulting services on stock industry issues to photographers, stock agents and individuals in the investment community.

In 1993, his daughter, Cheryl, joined him in the business. Together they established Stock Connection, an agency designed to provide photographers with greater control over the promotion and marketing of their work than most other stock agencies were offering. The company currently represents selected images from more than 400 photographers.

At age 76, Jim continues to follow stock photo industry developments on a day to day basis and expects to continue to do so far into the future.