If you’re about to enter your quiet season as a real estate photographer, are you going to make the most of that time, or are you going to waste it?
If you want to use the quiet season to finally do the things you keep putting off, then here’s what you might like to do (and I’d start on this ASAP so you can get as much done as possible in the time that you have):
1. Copy and paste the set of questions below into a document that you can edit.
2. Answer each question so you’re clear on what you need to do.
3. Implement your plan during the quiet season so you’re ready for a big year ahead!
Sound good? Alright, let’s get started. 🙂
Quiet Season Review:
Here are the questions you might like to copy into a document and answer for yourself:
Marketing:
Q. Who is your target market? What industries are they in?
Q. What’s your online marketing plan? Define the step by step process you’ll use to take someone from online connection to client.
Q. How frequently will you post on social media, and what will you post? A lot of photographers aren’t posting frequently enough, or struggle with content, so create a content marketing plan that you can use throughout 2023.
Q. What’s your offline marketing plan? Define the step by step process you’ll use to take someone from offline connection to client.
Pricing:
Q. What will your prices be for your real estate services in 2023?
Q. If you are introducing a price change, how and when will you communicate that change to your clients and prospects?
Q. What will your prices be for commercial services in 2023? This might simply be a base rate or a formula that you use, as each project will be unique, but you still need to define your prices.
Skills:
Q. What new skills will you seek to develop over the quiet season?
Q. How will you learn those skills? You may need to take a class or search online, or you may simply need to practise, practise, practise! Get clear on how or where you will learn.
Time management:
Q. What are the areas in your business where you need to be more efficient with your time?
Q. What can you implement over the quiet season to improve those areas of inefficiency?
Team:
Q. Do you anticipate adding any new team members in the next 12 months?
If you aren’t sure whether you will need a new team member or not, then at least define the ‘trigger’ that will initiate the need for a new team member, for example, when you reach a certain revenue level.
Q. What do you need them to do? Create a job description for each potential team member that you’re thinking of hiring so you’re clear on their role.
Q. Who could you hire? Create a list of people you know that might be a good fit so you know who to reach out to next year when you’re ready to grow.
Business sytems:
Q. What are the systems in your business that could be improved?
Q. Go through the list of systems that you need to work on, and develop a plan for optimising each system based on:
- What needs to be made better?
- Why does it need to be better?
- What are the options for making it better? There’s usually more than one way to do things, so take time to do some research and identify the various options.
- Which option(s) will you implement? From that list, find the option or options that you think works best.
- Who will implement each step in the process? Identify the people in your organisation who will be responsible for each step. It might be you, but it could also be someone else.
- What’s the due date for each activity? Don’t let things drag on, but set dates for completion and follow-up on them if steps are not finished on time.
Support:
Q. Do you think you will get more out of this quiet season on your own … or with the help of a business coach?
I will note that the quiet season is THE perfect time to get started with a business coach because you’ll have the time to get stuff done before you get busy again. Much like pre-season training for an athlete, use this quiet season to setup your business for the year ahead and you’ll make a rapid and significant difference to your business.
But what difference could a business coach make?
- You’ll have the confidence that you’re doing the right thing.
- You’ll gain new ideas and know exactly what to do when it comes to marketing, business operations and more.
- You’ll have accountability so you’ll make more changes and get more done.
And ultimately, you’re going to get more done because you’ll know what to do, and you’ll have someone to help you.
Send me a message if you would like to know more about coaching.
Next step:
Now that you’ve reviewed each area of your business and identified what you need to do, now it’s time to implement your plan.
You might find it helpful to set deadlines for each step you need to take, and make sure you make the most of this quiet season to set your business up for a productive and highly successful year ahead.