Pricing & Packaging Your Real Estate Photography & Videography

The Spiro Podcast: Managing your Real Estate Photography & Videography Business

One of the most often asked questions we see is "How should I price my real estate photography?" Closely related to that is: "How do I package my services?" In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, we tackle both of those questions!

Show Summary:

0:00-3:52 Intro

3:53-14:35 Should I package by the number of photos I deliver or by the home's square footage?

• Keep it simple
• You know what you offer and what your packages mean; your Realtors don’t
• Put yourself in their shoes- they are busy and want easy marketing
• What do they need? What do they value?
• Schedule coffee meetings to connect with Realtors and find out what they need
• Brokerage meetings can also be helpful
• Price and package based on what your client needs, not based on your competition
• Wow has found that Realtors classify listings by average, above-average, and below-average and will want to market accordingly
• They will want to see packages based on how they think- for example, “Luxury”, “Premiere”, or “Gold” for their above-average listings
• They may be limited by how many photos they can post on the MLS, but they may want to use extra photos for other purposes
• Shooting by number of photos is also more difficult

14:36-23:18 How do I determine package pricing and discounts?

• • Discounting can be a slippery slope- decide what your company’s mission is (to be the cheapest, best, most efficient, or something else)
  • Discount cautiously
  • Discounting may get you business in the beginning, but the Realtors who want the cheapest products are also likely to be the ones who complain the most and expect favors

• Todd recommends reading The Pumpkin Plan, a book by Mike Michalowicz

• You are selling to a salesperson who is used to negotiating- expect them to ask for discounts and sell them your value; show why you are worth what you charge and do not waver
• Realtors see photography as a commodity and will seek the cheapest photography they can find, but you are their marketing consultant and represent them to their clients; when they see you that way, they will pay you to help them build their brand
• Remind agents they will make money from you because you will help them grow
• Sometimes you have to fire your clients
• Set clear expectations with discounts- let them know it is a one-time discount, not the standard price
• Do not feel bad for giving them good value in your services and products

23:19-28:31 Times Wow will discount

• Clients in Wow’s social media management program receive a discount on social media video products; this is a win-win because add-ons have a higher profit margin for Wow and it benefits their marketing when the social media team posts the videos
• Wow generally discounts on brokerage plans
• Craig discounted based on the number of memberships (the client pays a fee for access to discounted pricing) a brokerage signed up for or referrals from clients and brokerages
• Most companies have moved away from memberships; it can be beneficial in keeping clients’ business

28:32-32:18 What about offering mini-packages?

• Make decisions based on metrics
• Are you trying to entice new clients to order a full package from you? Or are you booked already and would have to trade a full shoot for a mini-shoot? Do you have a loyal VIP who needs one every once in awhile? Will you be able to use these to target a different market, such as builders?

32:19-35:48 How do you price and package? Let us know in the comments or by emailing us!

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