How do you find success as a real estate photographer?
I'd suggest that there are 7 areas you really need to work on, and in this video I'll show you what those 7 areas are, and how to maximize them in your business.
This will give you clarity and confidence regarding the things you need to do, but what's important is that you actually get things done.
If you need some help with implementing this roadmap in your business then you might like to take a look at my coaching program for real estate and architectural photographers.
Video transcript:
The Roadmap To Real Estate Photography Success
How do you become successful as a real estate photographer? I’ve got 7 concepts in what I call the roadmap for real estate photography because if you do all 7 of these things, preferably at maximum capacity, you will be successful. So here they are:
We start off with your skills, and that’s going to cover all areas of your business. So of course you need to work on your photography, but you’ll also want to get really good at video and other add-on services so you have more options to sell. I don't think you want to rely solely on still photography when you could be selling other services as well. It just makes sense to diversify your services and client base.
But beyond that you also need to advance your skills in things like customer service so you can delight your clients … and also your business management skills so you know how to operate a business, and not just have a job.
Now we also want to remember that when we’re talking about skill development we’re actually talking about the organization as a whole, so bring in other people to fill the gaps. You don’t have to do everything yourself, so if there are some skills in your business or in your services, like video or floorplans that you aren’t good at or that you don't like to do, then pay other people to fulfill those roles. It’s not just up to you to get things done, so bring others in as a fast and efficient way to bring diversity to your organisation.
The next step in our roadmap is your online presence, and you want to make sure your website and your social media channels align with your brand. That’s what it’s all about, because it’s online where your prospects will probably first see what you do, and therefore it has a big impact on how they perceive you.
So if someone was to just see your website or your Instagram, do you look professional, or do you look like someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing? That sounds harsh, but that’s the impression some photographers give with their online presence.
You also need to work on your site so it ranks well in local search results, because there’s no point having an awesome website if it doesn’t get any traffic.
And finally, you’ll want to share content on social media so you get more followers. I know a lot of photographers fall short with this, and I get it – it’s hard work. But if you want to be successful you need to be active on the platforms where your clients and prospects are active, or else you’ll be left behind.
The next thing to work on is your numbers, and by that I mean you need to know your revenue and expense numbers inside out so you can charge appropriately. Ok, you need to obsess over your numbers, and when you do that then you can set your pricing at a level where you cover all costs and have a generous profit margin, and that’s important. You could get super busy and be doing 20 jobs per week but if you’re not generating any profit because your prices are too low then you’ll always be struggling.
Another tip regarding your numbers is that you monitor your revenue and expenses so you have an objective measure of the health of your business week by week. Look, I know it’s easy to feel like things are busy, but your feelings aren’t always the best indicator – you want to rely on something more objective, so track those numbers.
Alright, next up is growth, so here I’m talking about marketing and good marketing is where you connect with the right people in the right way over the long-term. A lot of photographers seem to rely on word of mouth and just hoping that people find them, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, you want to get good at building new connections with dream prospects. Then build marketing sequences that convert prospects to long-term clients, and finally, establish systems so you stay in touch with prospects, current clients and lost clients.
We tend to get really scared about marketing but that’s really all you want to be doing – connect, convert and stay in touch.
The fifth step in our roadmap is upselling, and that's where you promote your add-on services so you convert small bookings into large bookings, and that's how you maximize the profit for every shoot. So instead of just taking a photo shoot booking, you upsell them to also get a video and a custom website, or whatever it is you do. Again, this is something you want to be very deliberate about because this is where you really take your business to the next level. This is where you move from an average of $200 per property to $400 per property, and just doing that will of course double your revenue.
Step number 6 is time management, and this is all about taking control of your time so you have the energy and the time to get things done, and typically that’s going to involve having other people deliver non-essential activities.
This is really important because if you don’t manage your time carefully, and if you don’t charge appropriately for your time when providing services to your clients, then you can wear yourself out pretty quickly. So part of time management will involve charging appropriately for your time. So if you’re doing a photo shoot, and if it will take you two hours, then make sure the rate you charge adequately covers you for two hours.
When it comes to time management you also want to build systems so the business runs smoothly without you working excessively long days, and that might include some automation and other systems in your business to help things run as efficiently as they can.
Finally, it may help you to bring in the right people so you don’t have to do everything. Now this doesn’t mean you have to become a large company – you just might find that bringing in one person, even part time, could help. Or maybe you do need a large team, and that’s okay too – just make sure you get the right people in, because if you get the wrong people then the time management piece gets worse not better because you have to deal with them, and there's all the headaches around training them, how many hours they work, and it can get really messy if it's not done right ... but when it is done right then it's great, and your team runs really well.
The final stage, number 7 in this roadmap, is to develop your brand so you deliver experiences that match how you want to be perceived.
So if you want to be a luxury brand and charge higher fees then one thing you could do is to both create amazing content and also connect with the right people to position yourself as a thought leader in your local market. Now the creation of content can really help show your clients and prospects that, firstly, you know your stuff, and secondly, it says that you’re here to help, and that resonates really well with a lot of people.
Another part of elevating your brand means making sure every part of the journey for every client is a high-class experience. For example, you don’t want to be offering amazing photos but be left with disappointed clients because maybe your photo delivery process confused them, or they couldn’t find what they needed, or you were super slow to reply or whatever … because then that’s the memory they are left with. Instead, the whole experience your clients have with you needs to match up with the type of brand you want to be.
Summary
So there’s our 7 stages in the roadmap to real estate photography success: Skills, online presence, numbers, growth, upselling, time management and brand.
So from that list of 7, what do you need to work on? What are the areas that maybe aren't yet at 100% for you?
Drop a comment and let me know which ones you need to work on.
Now if I look at a lot of photographers, they focus on the photography part of skill development, and some are doing really good things with their online presence, but I think you need to work on each of those 7 areas.
That’s going to give you the absolute best chance at success, and in fact I’d suggest it’s pretty bullet proof. If you can excel in all 7 areas then you’re going to be a success in any market, without a doubt.