Real estate photography is a competitive industry with no shortage of opportunities for creative and forward-thinking businesses. If you’re ready to take your real estate photography business to the next level, it’s time to think about scaling your business. Scaling a real estate photography business involves taking proven strategies and techniques from your local market and implementing them in other markets. It’s essentially about making your business bigger than just being local so that you can grow it into something much bigger. To scale your real estate photography business, you need a strategic plan that also has measurable goals. You might think that scaling a business means having numerous employees who work as independent contractors, but that’s not necessarily true in the world of real estate photography. To scale effectively, here are five tips:
Create a powerful brand
If you want to scale your real estate photography business, you need a brand that clients can trust. A powerful brand will help you to attract the right type of clients and close more deals. You can create a distinctive and memorable brand by incorporating your company name, logo, and color scheme into your overall design. You might also want to consider investing in a brand name audit to make sure that your company name isn’t too similar to other names in your industry. A real estate photographer brand doesn’t need to be complicated — it just needs to be memorable. Your brand should be evident in everything that you do, including your website and social media accounts. Your website should be easy to navigate and provide useful information for potential clients. Your brand and marketing efforts should be consistent across all of your social media accounts so that clients can easily find you and follow you on multiple platforms.
I don’t want to leave you hanging on this, so here are 7 things you can do to create a good brand for your real estate photography business.
- Define your brand strategy
- Create a professional portfolio
- Start Networking with The Who’s Who
- Collateral Marketing Materials
- Video introduction about you and your business
- Revamp website and responsive designs
- Paid advertising
1. Define Your Brand Strategy
Photography is a creative industry, so you are in a unique position to build a brand that truly reflects your creative vision. How will your brand be different than the other photographers out there? Think about the following key points before you get started. You’ll need to keep these points in mind as you create your branding strategy.
- Who is your target audience?
- What do they care about?
- What do they need?
- What is your competitive advantage?
- What separates you from the rest of the pack? How do you set yourself apart?
- Why should someone choose you?
- How will your brand be represented visually?
- What is your brand personality?
- How do you want people to feel when they interact with your brand?
Branding will noticeably improve your business standing in your local area. Instead of having to go out to search for new leads, overtime as your brand gets more popular, people come to you. Because you put out there clearly who you are and what you offer, it makes the process much simpler for people in need.
2. Create a Pro Photographer Portfolio
Your website is the number one place for people to find out more information about who you are and what your business does. Your website is your virtual storefront, and you want it to stand out among all of the other options available. A photography portfolio website is a great place to start when thinking about branding, marketing, and building your photography business. A site like this will include information about your business, your pricing, and your services. It will also include samples of work and testimonials from past clients. Your photography portfolio website is a great place to start when thinking about branding, marketing, and building your photography business. A site like this will include information about your business, your pricing, and your services. It will also include samples of work and testimonials from past clients.
3. Start Networking and Find Out Who’s Who in the Industry
There are tons of photography industry forums and groups out there that you can join and utilize to promote your photography business. You’ll want to make connections with people who are in the industry or who have a passion for photography. You’ll also want to reach out to photographers and ask to be put in touch with their clients. If you can offer to do some free work for them, that’s even better! You can also attend industry events in your area. There is nothing better than meeting in person with others in the industry. You can easily start networking online through social media as well. Facebook groups, Twitter chats, and LinkedIn groups all provide great opportunities to meet other like-minded individuals.
4. Collateral Marketing Materials
If you’re not already doing this, you should consider creating some collateral marketing materials for your business like business cards, brochures, or special offers. This will help you to stand out and make a good first impression with potential clients. You can offer free photography services to a first-time client, such as a family portrait session or a newborn photo shoot. This can help you to get new clients and also help you to build your photography brand. If you already have these items in place, you can also consider revamping them or creating new ones. Branding is a constant process, so it’s important to keep up with it.
As you continue to grow your business you will have access to better project. Try to keep a fresh updates of your work as your projects move up in scale.
5. Video is a must-have in 2022
You might be wondering why video marketing is such a big deal right now. Well, there are a lot of reasons why video has become so important, so let’s go over a few of the main ones. First off, video is a great way to show off your skills and your brand if you are in the photography industry. It’s a great way to let people know who you are and what you do without having to say a single word. It’s also a great way to show off your personality and connect with your potential customers. People want to feel like they know you and like you so that they will want to do more business with you. Video is a great way to do this since you can show your emotions, your interests, and what you like to do in your free time.
Consider this your 30s elevator pitch for your business that will run 24/7, whenever someone is curious about what you do and most importantly, how can you fix their problems?
Check out this tutorial on how to create a video intro for your business.
6. Revamped Website with Responsive Design
A website is the most important element in your marketing strategy. Without a website, it’s almost impossible to get new clients. You may have one already, but if you don’t, or if it’s not set up correctly, you’re missing out on a lot of clients. So make sure that your website is up to date with the latest industry trends and designs. These days, most websites are built with a responsive design. This means that the same website can be viewed on any device, so it doesn’t matter if you’re on a computer, laptop, or phone; it will look the same. This makes it easier for people visiting your site on their phones since everything will be easier to navigate.
As business become more and more competitive, it seems when the cameras, post-production quality, delivery time and prices are neck-to-neck. It is the customer experience that can be the deciding factor for returning and new clients.
7. Paid Advertising to Grow Your Audience and Brand
You can also use paid advertising to boost your brand and get more eyes on your photography business. Paid advertising is a great way to reach a wider audience that you may not have been able to reach before. One of the best ways to get started with paid advertising is with Facebook Ads. Facebook ads are super easy to set up, and they’re very affordable. You can target a very specific audience, and it will cost you very little to do so. This is a great way to promote your photography business at a low cost.
If you are new to paid advertising, check out this post to learn the basics of using paid ads.
Establish effective marketing practices
Real estate photography marketing is an essential part of any successful business, but scaling your business means taking extra steps to reach a wider audience. If your business is primarily local, you need to start thinking about expanding your reach to other markets. This might seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Start by getting to know your local market better. What magazines publish real estate photography in your area? What publications and websites feature real estate photography? What are the common real estate photography trends in your market? Once you have a better understanding of your local market, you can start to branch out. Consider attending real estate conventions and trade shows to network with potential clients and partners. Find out which publications and websites are frequented by real estate agents in your area. Learn about the most effective online marketing strategies for real estate photography businesses. You might want to consider hiring a marketing consultant to help you get started.
We strongly recommend you trying out content marketing for your business.
1. Content Marketing Is More Than Just Blogging
Blogging is just one part of a broader content marketing strategy. It’s the content system that sits at the heart of your business. No matter how you choose to distribute that content – through social media, email marketing, video, or any other platform – the aim is the same: to provide value to your customers. You can think of blogging as the source of your river. You can use that flow of content to build an amazing lake that irrigates your entire business. From that lake, you can pump out a steady stream of water to feed your whole ecosystem. Your customers don’t care how you get the water to them. They just want to be sure that it’s there when they need it.
2. Content Marketing Is Long-Term Marketing
Traditional marketing is short-term marketing. It’s sales on steroids; a noisy, high-pressure approach that scolds customers into buying. You’ve probably felt the long-term effects of bad marketing before. You get pestered by salespeople and junk mail until one day you snap and decide to do something about it. You might even take drastic action, like buying a DMA or opting out of sales calls. Content marketing grows your customer base with long-term strategies that steadily increase the number of people interested in your product. It aims to build trust, loyalty, and brand awareness over a long period of time.
3. Content Marketing Is About Relationships
Traditional marketing focuses on short-term results, but its tactics can cause long-term damage. Think about how many people have been turned off by marketing in their lives. For some, it’s getting a sales call when they’re trying to relax. Others might have had a knock-on effect from marketing gone wrong. Think about the times you’ve been duped by a scam, only to find the culprit was some fly-by-night operation that has since packed up and disappeared. Content marketing isn’t about the quick buck. It’s about building relationships with your customers so that they trust you and choose to buy from you again and again.
4. Content Marketing Defines Who To Talk To
Traditional marketing focuses on a broad audience, hoping to catch as many people as possible. You might hear an ad on the radio or see a billboard and wonder why on earth it’s relevant to you. Most marketing campaigns try to catch as many people as possible. They want to get their ads on TV, in magazines, in newspapers, and on the radio. They try to shout louder than competitors and hit you on every possible platform. Content marketing is focused on the people who want to hear from you. It helps you cut through the noise of modern life and deliver your message to the customers you want to reach.
5. Content Marketing Shows How To Talk To People
Traditional marketing shows you what not to do. It tells you what not to say, how not to act, and gives you a detailed guide to what not to do. It’s a list of dos and don’ts with very little helpful advice on how to do it better, or how to fit your brand into the world. Content marketing tells you what to do. It helps you understand the best way to talk to the people you want to reach. It shows you how to fit your brand into the world and how to use the latest marketing trends to your advantage. Content marketing shows you how to build a better long-term marketing strategy. It helps you find your voice and connect with your customers. It teaches you how to use tools like blogging, social media, email marketing, and video to reach new people and keep existing customers interested in your business.
Develop a strong online presence
To scale your real estate photography business, you need to become an authority in your industry. One of the best ways to do this is by creating and maintaining an effective website. Your website should have information about your company, your services, your team, and any certifications or awards that you’ve received. Additionally, your website should have the ability for clients to book photo shoots, find pricing information, and sign up for your email list. You should also create an online presence on social media platforms. You can use social media to engage with potential clients and partners and to drive traffic to your website. As you build your online presence, you should be thoughtful about the types of posts you publish. Aim to create high-quality posts that will help educate your readers and boost your authority. Most importantly, your website and social media posts should be consistent. You don’t want your readers and followers to see a variety of different types of posts — it’s confusing and unprofessional. Consistency also helps you to rank better in search engines and reach a wider audience.
Train your employees and contractors
If you’re hiring temporary or full-time employees, you can help to scale your business by training them to work more efficientlydfsd. You can also help your employees to better understand your brand and the types of clients that you want to work with. When you hire photographers or other contractors, you can train them to work more efficiently and effectively using the same strategies that you’ve learned during your career. You can also train your contractors to understand your brand and the types of clients that you want to work with. You should also create a quality control plan that outlines exactly how you want your business to run. A quality control plan will help you to monitor your employees and contractors to make sure that they’re meeting your standards and working efficiently. It’s important to regularly review quality control plans to make sure that your business is running smoothly, and you’re getting the most out of your employees and contractors.
1. Networking
If you know people in your field, there is a good chance they will have connections to other employees who might be looking for work. This can be a very cost-effective way to find the people you need. You can also use online networking to find people. Join social media sites that are relevant to your field or join online forums related to your job. Be sure to participate appropriately, and don’t spam people.
2. Employment Advertisements
There are a few different types of advertisements that small businesses can use to find new employees. One is newspaper advertisements. These are often cost-effective because they are cheap to place, and they can be seen by many people at once. However, they are less likely to attract the best candidates because newspapers are often used by companies with which people do not want to be associated, since they are inexpensive. Another type of employment advertisement that is less likely to turn off good candidates is online advertisements. You can include information about your company, what positions are available, and your contact information. Online advertisements are useful because they can be seen by people all over the world. Be sure to include a way for people to apply for jobs, such as an email address or a link to a website form.
3. Internships
Some industries require new employees to earn a degree before they are hired. For example, teaching, engineering, and law are all professions that require degrees. If you need employees with degrees but can only afford employees without them, you might consider hiring college students who are doing internships in the field you need. Employees who are compensated with the experience they earn can be a cost-effective solution to your hiring needs. Just remember that they are not paid employees, so they may not have the skills you need. However, if you hire them for a period of time and help them learn the skills they need, they can become cost-effective employees who are worth more than they are paid.
4. Temp Agencies
Many small businesses use temp agencies to hire skilled workers for jobs that require specific skills. Temp agencies hire workers who are already trained in the skills their clients need, so the businesses don’t have to spend their money training new employees. Temp agencies are often more expensive than hiring employees directly. However, if you need workers with very specific skills, it is sometimes worth the extra money to hire them from a temp agency. It’s also useful to hire from a temp agency if you need workers for a short period of time.
Plan for the future
As you scale your real estate photography business, you have to start thinking about the future. You might have short-term goals that you want to reach in the coming years, but you should also have long-term goals and plans. For example, you might want to open a second branch of your business in another state. You might want to switch to digital photography for all of your shoots. You might want to hire more employees. No matter what your long-term goals are, you should have a plan to make them happen. As you scale your real estate photography business, you need to be ready for new challenges. You’ll probably face new and unexpected problems along the way, so you need to be flexible. You’ll also need to be ready to invest some money in growing your business, such as hiring branding consultants or marketing agencies. But in the end, scaling your real estate photography business can help you to achieve your financial and career goals.
As your business scales up, consider preparing extra hands in your business to handle the workload. We offer comprehensive post-production services to help photography companies. Check out our services.
