140 MacDirectory
PROFILE
It is said a picture is worth a thousand
words, but as those in advertising will tell
you, it has to be the right picture. The
good news (for them and us) is that with
PhotoSpin , the right
picture is just a click away.
CEO and co-founder Val Gelineau
explained, "We sell photos, illustrations,
audio, video and fonts to advertising and
marketing professionals. (Our premise is
that) customers can pay once and use
whatever they want."
It is a premise that works. Gelineau told
MacDirectory that PhotoSpin's current
renewal rate is at 70 percent a year, with
new customers joining all the time.
It all started in 1995, Gelineau told
MacDirectory. "When we started Photo-
Spin there were only three companies in
the industry. But the other two (were
large) and we could not compete. So,
necessity being the mother of invention,
we launched a subscription service."
The initial subscriptions were for discs,
that is, a CD-ROM with a selection of
photos for users to copy and download. It
soon became apparent, however, that that
model was not practical, as customers
were only using about a dozen of the 100
or so images loaded onto the disc.
So, PhotoSpin went to a model in which,
for a flat fee of $299 for a regular sub-
scription, $499 for a super-subscription,
customers could directly download
images off of the company's Web site.
Before long, Gelineau said, "Customers
were downloading hundreds, and in some
cases thousands, of images a year."
PhotoSpin obtains images from
photographers all over the world. The
images are then downloaded and used by
customers in everything from advertising
to in-house presentations. It is a formula
that has worked well and continues to do
so, helped in large part by PhotoSpin's
ongoing commitment to their customer
base. "We try to satisfy as many
customers as we can. We have over 70
percent that renew every year, and our
goal is 100 percent," Gelineau said.
It is this spirit of continuing commitment
to their customers that has prompted
PhotoSpin to begin working on a new
service – music. As of March 2008,
PhotoSpin will offer a subscription for low-
resolution music clips, the kind that are
"perfect for…a demo track." Also available
will be instructions on how users can buy
entire pieces directly from the publisher
for publication or reproduction.
Another arena PhotoSpin is planning to
enter is that of community. But before
visions of YouTube start dancing in your
head, the space Gelineau wants to provide
is strictly professional.
"We want to create a community where
creatives will be able to go in and interact
with one another – so if you're a
commercial artist that needs a copyright
attorney there will be a list there. (This
community) will (also) let you interact with
advertisers, artists, anyone who supports
the commercial arts." The site will be
monitored so that spam and "undesirable
content" cannot be posted.
Considering PhotoSpin had over a million
visitors to their site in the last year alone,
PhotoSpin's community has the potential
to become very large very quickly.
"If you are a customer and you need an
image and you come to PhotoSpin and we
don't have it, wouldn't it be great to go to
a forum and have 200 photographers
saying 'I have that, go to my Web site.' I
do not think there is anything like that on
the Web, and we have enough people to
make it happen."
PICTURE THIS! > PHOTOSPIN PROVIDES A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR
IMAGING NEEDS
WORDS BY JONE DEVLIN > IMAGES PROVIDED BY PHOTOSPIN.COM
