Top 4 Ways to Get Your First Real Estate Photography Clients?
So you are wanting to start your real estate photography business but you are wondering, “how do I get agents to book me?” “I don’t have a real estate photography portfolio yet, how do I prove I’m good?” In this article, we will discuss the Top 4 Ways to find new clients.
Chicken Or The Egg
In the beginning, you might find yourself stuck in the old saying, which comes first the chicken or the egg. If you don’t have any professional real estate photos yet, how are you going to get any clients? It’s not like you can just walk up to an agent and say, “Hi there! I take really good pictures of animals. Can I be your real estate photographer?” No. You need something to display your skills.
Build A Portfolio – FAST
There are a couple of ways we suggest building a professional real estate photography portfolio. The first one is to simply find someone that will let you take pictures of their house. Maybe this is a friend or family member. Maybe it’s even your own house or apartment. Make sure things are clean and tidy. The more it looks like a house that is staged to sell the better. The next 2 ideas could end up winning you some business!
The first one is to contact agents in your area and offer to take pictures of one of their current listings for free. Be honest with them and let them know you are an experienced photographer but new to real estate photography and that you are trying to build your portfolio. You may get some No’s but most people like free and so somebody will say Yes!!.
If you don’t want to make calls, you can research for upcoming open houses in your area. At each open house, there will be an agent there that is trying to sell the house. Again, be honest and direct with them. Offer to take pictures for free so you can build your portfolio. Most likely they will let you. Whichever way you choose to find the houses, once you have the images you need, make sure you get the agent’s contact info. Later, email them the images and let them know how they can schedule a tour with you online. If your images are good, then you may have just won your first client!
What you need
Now that you have a portfolio, you need some basic marketing material so you can get some more clients. Hopefully, you already have your name and branding down. (If not check out this article). Now you’ll need the 4 basics: website, email address, business cards, and leave-behinds. It’s the twenty-first century, you have to have a website but not just a site, you have to make sure it’s built to be mobile friendly. We still run into real estate photographers in our market that have out of date websites that do not even function on a mobile device. If you have not heard, everything is moving to mobile. If you do not follow the trends, you will lose clients simply because it’s easier to book on someone else’s site.
You’ll also need a business card and some leave-behinds. The easiest and most affordable leave-behinds are the size of a postcard. Pick your best images to put on the leave-behind. On one side should be an image with your business name and logo and on the other should be pricing, contact info, and website. This gives the agent a clear example of your work but also provides them with the information they need to book you. Now let’s get into how you can find agents.
1. Yard Signs
One of the best ways, that we still utilize to grow our company, is calling yard signs. All agents put a sign in the yard of their listings. Obviously, they are using these to market that home, but you can use this as a way to connect with a potential client. It can be a little difficult at first, but once you develop a short phone script it becomes easier and easier. simply introduce yourself and tell the agent why you called. Something like, “Hello. This is So-n-so with ABC Photography. I am a local real estate photographer. I’d like to get you some of our info. Is now a good time for you?” The goal is to leave a good impression, tell them about your features and to get their email so you can send them your portfolio and a link to your online scheduling. This way you can put their info in a CRM and follow up with them in the future.
2. Networking Events
Real Estate as a whole is a hands-on industry. For agents to be successful they have to build a strong network. You NEED to be a part of this network. In every major city, there are events that agents attend to build their own businesses. You need to be at these events! Better yet, you should be a vendor at these events. If you can set yourself up as “the premiere photographer” for your area then you will win a lot of business. Make sure you have a way to display your work, give people your contact info and most importantly a way to collect agent’s contact info. They are extremely busy so if you leave it up to them to contact you then you have already lost…bigly.
3. Broker Offices
Like networking events, there is nothing like a face-to-face connection to build trust. Another way you can get face-to-face with agents is to stop by their office. A simple Google search will help you find all the broker offices in your immediate area. Dress to impress and just drop in. Typically, there is a front office admin or office manager. Leave your info with them and ask if there are any agents in the office that you could meet. Also, ask them if there are any upcoming events that you could attend. Often times brokers will host in-office events and invite guest speakers to come and educate agents about various real estate related topics. See if you can get on the guest speaker list.
4. Shoot Headshot
If you don’t know how to take headshots, LEARN! Every new agent has to get a headshot and every veteran agent has to eventually update theirs. Look at headshots as an “on-ramp” to getting agents to using you for their listings. You can offer them a steep discount so you are sure to beat out any other headshot photographers. This way you can work with them in person, build their trust and win their business. Now make sure your real estate photography pricing and structure are simple and understandable.
