How Digital Downloads Can (and Should) Work For You
Earlier this week, USA Today talked to SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill at WPPI about the importance of digital downloads. Take a look at the article and watch the interview here:
If you haven’t yet discovered how digital downloads can rock your business, then keep reading. This blog’s for you.
Why Downloads are Awesome
Pros can sell up to 6 different digital download types and make bank on each one:
Offer three sizes for flexibility. The Low-Res 1 MP download is roughly 816×1224 pixels, about big enough to print as an 8×12 . The Hi-Res 4 MP version is twice the size, weighing in at around 1632×2448. It’s big enough to make a 30×40 print, or most of our largest catalog offerings. View our minimum requirements chart to see how we came up with those numbers.
Originals are just that: If you upload a 23 MB file, that’s what your customer will receive when they buy it. Note that we never upsize and just offer the resolutions that we can make.
Example: If your original file is 3 MP, we’ll only show the 1 MP and Original options for sale.
They’re quick and convenient. Downloads are a great way to offer easy, reusable, unwatermarked files to your clients. They can use them for Facebook, blogs, Craigslist ads, digital scrapbooks, Wanted Posters and tons of other creative places. No muss, no fuss and no stalking the mailman. They’re available immediately after checkout (and won’t expire if you forget).
Direct links for download are included in your order confirmation emails as well as on the online order page. Best of all, folks who buy four pics or more can retrieve them bundled in a zip file.
Sell them by the piece or by the pound. If all photos in a gallery are priced for downloads, your clients can add one of everything to their cart by hitting “All Digital Downloads” in the Buy button. Of course, they can just buy individuals by looking for the blue “Downloads” tab in the shopping cart.
Finally, remember that downloads are available immediately after purchase, so they don’t qualify for Proof Delay. Keep this in mind as you tweak your workflow.
We hope you Pros learned something new or picked up a couple of tidbits to perk your sales.
Vive la revolución digital!
The SmugMug Family
Leave a Reply
What is SmugMug?
Gorgeous, unlimited photo sharing for everyone. Grab your own website on SmugMug and be ready to archive, share and print the photos you love. From unlimited photo and video uploads to e-commerce tools for Pros, we have it all. Learn more.
Are pros able to specify their own license terms for downloads or are we required to use whatever licensing language SmugMug has chosen?
Hi Aaron, sorry but at this time you can only use our pre-loaded personal and commercial licenses. But feel free to check out the wording here: http://www.smugmug.com/help/sell-digital-downloads
Bummer. I’d be all over this feature if I could specify my own license text.
Unfortunately the lack of proof delay on digital files makes this feature useless to me, and many other photographers
For prep sports the ability to print the 1MB files to 8×10 makes it almost impossible to price them realistically, when what I need is Facebook or similar size files I can move for a $1 or $2 and a resolution that prints in the 4×6 to 5×7 range at WalMart. I need to price digital at least 3x over print prices for it to make sense or just consider prints a sideline effort. MaxPreps has done this for years and it is a niche product that makes sense, but obviously a volume play.
Ditto on the above. That’s one of the things that Photoshelter brings to the table, integration with FotoQuote and all the licensing options inherent in that product.
So close and yet so far away!
Seems that each time I attempt to make use of the digital downloads feature, I am forced to abandon it. Here’s what I need in order to use it;
- A small size(s) appropriate for Facebook/blogs and for prints no larger than 5×7.
- Ability to write my on license terms, per gallery, for commercial AND personal downloads. Note: commercial terms frequently fill several printed pages so there needs to be enough space to to to save it all or a way for the photographer to upload the terms as a text or PDF file.
- Proof delay (so That I can put the final touches on that 1 out of 1000 shots from the event without having to touch-up every one).
I love SmugMug and the overall development and direction that has occurred. The digital download feature is the only thing that disappoints me.
This is some of the best ideas I have heard in some time. Many complain but it is still easier than creating a disk or giving a flash drive with the photos.
Count me in for smaller downloadables for use in social media. Anything bigger and I would either want to negotiate the price or put my own licensing terms to it. I am guessing feedback here will be heard and considered for future pricing.
I would love to sell editorial stock from SmugMug directly AND social media sizes for the events I cover.
Thank you for the new web sized downloads!
Am I right in thinking that we are still unable to change the license wording?
Oops, sorry, already asked
Soo ready for a lower resolution download option. Please say it is coming soon or that we could specify download size.
Hi Mike, since this post was originally published, we’ve added Web-Sized downloads. This means you can sell very small photos that are up to 640×480 pixels, or 0.3 megapixels: http://www.smugmug.com/prints/catalog/ABC#Downloads