5 Best Practices for Entrepreneurs in the Real Estate Industry

• Architecture Photography, Business, Marketing, Online Courses

by Tina Marten

With so many businesses in the real estate space, it can be tough to distinguish your own
company and ensure that you stand head and shoulders above your competition. Whether
you’re a corporate employee, a broker, or a real estate agent, you’re trying to get your
business ahead of the curve. Today, Great Photography Courses suggests these best
practices to help you advance in the real estate industry.


Form an LLC
While you can run a real estate business as a sole proprietor, you’ll be able to secure more
benefits as an LLC, or limited liability company. Plus, forming your LLC can help you stay
organized in terms of your finances. With LLC status, you’ll get tax breaks that can help you
save money, and your personal assets will be protected if you run into economic
challenges. If you haven’t already registered your business with your state, you can use an
online formation service for this process.

Research Your Competition
How can you learn about your competitors and apply their own techniques to the way you
run your business? Staying current with your research is essential! This is where
networking comes into play. In addition to conducting market research in your area,
making a consistent effort to meet other people in the real estate industry can help you pick
up on your competitors’ strategies. RealTrends recommends improving your social media
presence, joining local organizations for real estate professionals, and building strong
vendor relationships with other companies in your industry.


Open Client Communications
When someone is house hunting, they’re trying to make a major financial decision on a
relatively short timeline, and they want to know that their real estate agent is looking out
for their best interests. Effective communication is crucial, and if your clients feel that you
aren’t responding quickly enough, they may be tempted to work with someone else. Make
every effort to respond to your clients promptly over different communication channels,
including phone calls, emails, and texts.


You can also engage your clients – and potential future ones – through social media. Keep
your followers abreast of new listings, changes in the market, and policy updates that might
affect their choices. You can also use memes as a fun way to convey this information. You
can use a free tool like this one to put together pictures or videos along with text and sound
to share this content. If you want to take better pictures to share instead of relying on stock
photography and basic techniques, look into Great Photography Courses online. The quality
of your pictures can greatly affect your clients’ impressions of available real estate.


Manage Client Emotions
Buying property isn’t just a financial decision – it’s also an emotional decision. Your clients
are trying to make smart choices for themselves and their families, and they might have
highly specific visions of their future that they need you to help them achieve. This means
that you’re not just a real estate professional – you’ve also got to provide emotional
support!


What can you do to help your clients alleviate stress and feel calm during the house-
hunting process? Inman recommends clarifying each step they’ll need to take to purchase a
home, listening with empathy, and encouraging clients to get involved with the process by
attending inspections.

Stay Up to Date With Software
Running your business is easy when you have the right software! A customer relationship
management system is a smart investment for real estate professionals. This will help you
keep track of all of your customer leads and keep your sales and marketing data organized.
You won’t have to worry about letting a potential sales opportunity pass you by! Look for a
CRM system that was specifically designed with real estate professionals in mind. It will
have all of the features you need to run your business efficiently.


Connect with Your Clients
In a crowded industry, you need to go the extra mile to win clients and grow your business.
Steps like consistent communication and great photography can make the difference
between you and your competition. With these tips, you’ll feel confident in your real estate
business strategy.

Photo via Pexels

The Ins and Outs of Hiring a Professional Photographer

• Architecture Photography, Art, Business, Lifestyle Photography, Marketing, Online Courses, Photography, Portrait Photography

by Tina Martin

Source – Unsplash

 

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so it is important to take the best photos possible. While many of us envision ourselves as good photographers when we snap shots with our cell phones, there is nothing quite like having a great picture that was taken by a professional. Here at Great Photography Courses, we pride ourselves on taking outstanding images of events and outstanding portraits, so we have some reasons why you should hire a professional photographer for your next important event.

Why Do You Need a Pro?

Yes, we all have cameras on our phones and they get more advanced with every new smartphone that is released, but that still doesn’t compare to the shots taken by photographers.

One of the reasons for this is that professionals have the best equipment that puts most phones to shame and they know how to use it. The fact is that if you take every single picture with the same lens, you are not going to get the quality images that you are hoping for. Photographers understand this, which is why they have a large selection of lenses and filters that they can use for any given application. That way you are sure to get the best photo.

Professional photographers also understand the science of shadow, light, and angles. They know that they have to stand in a certain spot to get the best picture and they also know where their subject should be so they can be seen in the best light. Basically, photographers know all of the tricks that lead to the most awe-inspiring photos. If you cannot do that yourself, then you should spend the money on a professional.

When You Need a Photographer

There are some instances where you absolutely need a professional to take the best photo. One example is when it comes to taking pictures of your newborn baby or younger child. We all know the struggles of trying to take photos of a baby. It can be near impossible to get them to stay still for long enough to get the shot, and even if you do, you may not be using the best filter or lens to get the most high-quality image possible. A professional photographer knows exactly what to do to make this process a piece of cake.

You should also consider hiring a professional photographer when you are taking product pictures for your business for advertisements and promotional materials, especially if you intend to create a Facebook ad and want to make the best impression possible on your potential customers. A professional photographer understands the balance of lighting, subject, angle, and proportion that can ensure your commercial images are beautiful and captivating the first time. Commercial photos are often unique because they focus on a particular feature of the product and you will need that to be perfect.

Professional photographers are also best when taking photos of your home when you place it on the market. After you have made updates to get the house ready for sale, like upping your curb appeal and removing clutter both inside and out, hire a pro to get great shots of your home in pristine condition. They will know tricks to get the best perspective on a room when space is limited, and they will get the lighting just right to make your home look warm and inviting.

Considerations When Finding a Photographer

When it comes time to find a professional photographer, you will need to find the best person for the job. Go online and do your research as you look for photographers in your area and look at the reviews from previous customers to ensure that it is a reputable company. You should also ask for a price quote to ensure that you are getting a deal that fits within your budget.

When you talk to the photographer, mention the type of event that you need them for. It is important because the complexity of the pictures will determine how involved the production may be. So, real estate photos may take less legwork than a full family photo shoot. If you are still unable to find the best photographer, then ask for referrals from family and friends.

As you can see, there are some important factors that go into hiring a professional photographer. It can all seem a little overwhelming at first, but with a little research, you will find the perfect fit.

Great Photography Courses can teach you how to light an interior without the scene looking lit, how to find a storytelling angle, how to deal with poor light, how to fix bad color, how to work fast to be more profitable, and a whole lot more. Let us know if you have any questions!

An Historic Post-Processing Look for a Ghost Town Photo

• Architecture Photography, Software Techniques, Special Effects, travels

I have thing for photographing through windows of old west ghost towns and taking pictures through the old glass. I get my lens as close as I can to the glass without risking damage, then shade the lens as best I can to remove external reflections , and bracket exposures like crazy.

Here is the barbershop in Randsburg, CA shot a few weeks ago. You can see some of the outside reflections around the left side and that is due to my hands not blocking all the glare. I shot a two image pano: left and right side as vertical images, then let Photoshop stitch them. Next I went into Photomatix and gave it a medium HDR grunge look. Then opened in Topaz B&W Effects and used the filter: Flavescent which added the yellowed newspaper look I wanted. I finished with another layer using the Blueprint effect and set that to 30% opacity to add a dark edginess.

ca_randsburg_MG_6394-7_pano_tonemapped-

When I like what I created, I abandon it for the next image. 

Join my mail list, get my ebook, or see my online photo courses, all here on this page.

 

Vegas Baby!

• Architecture Photography, Image Processing, Software Techniques

As I pass through Las Vegas on my way to Arizona for the warm winter months, I cant help but stop in Vegas and do a little shooting. This image is from the Fremont Street area, which has been totally revitalized since my first visit to Las Vegas in 1985. 

One of the cool things they have been doing here is preserving the old neon signs from hotels and motels that are no longer standing. So right outside the Fremont Experience areas are these awesome old signs and symbols. 

nv_vegas_fremont_st_MG_4968

So I shot the old sign, hand held by the way, and opened in ACR where I added a little contrast, lightened shadows, tiny bit of Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation. Then I opened in Photoshop and added several luminosity masks for shadows and highlights. 

This allowed me to darken a few areas, lighten specific areas, and then selectively saturate more specifics. Then I straightened the angles and removed a light pole that was in the shots and Voila!

Hey, by the way, think about joining my mail list, getting my eBook, or signing up for an online course. All that info is on this page. 

All the best!

Wigwam Motel on Route 66

• Architecture Photography, Image Processing, Software Techniques, Special Effects

Oh this was so fun! Drove through Holbrook AZ on our way to New Mexico. Stopped in Holbrook to shoot Petrified Forest and when driving through town we saw the Wigwam Motel. OMG–gotta shoot!

Came back at dusk and it started pouring down rain. Perfect! LOL. I did get pretty wet but who cares? I did a non-grungy HDR, then accentuated lighter areas by painting highlights in Photoshop, added a vignette, and a little more burning and dodging for effect. A teeny weeny bit sharpening. And I am done…for today that is.

Architecture Shot of Route 66 Casino

• Architecture Photography

I was on Route 66 last week when I stopped at the casino outside Albuquerque and captured this with my iPhone. The file did not have the dynamic range as a RAW file so I had to do some work on it and also remove a section of car on the right that was parked there and clean the cracks and such on the pavement.

Take my class on Architecture and Real Estate Photography here.

An Image from an Architecture Shoot

• Architecture Photography

I recently had an architecture shoot in Washington State to shoot a beautiful custom home. Here is one image from the shoot. I was asked to get 10-12 scenes of the home, which is a lot but also pretty common these days.

I have determined the best way to do this is using selective lighting and Photoshop, which is lighting specific areas and then compositing a lot of images for the final result. This image had 20 layers.

Copyright (c) 2013 Charlie Borland

I teach these techniques in my class on Architecture photography here.

12 Tips for Getting Started in Professional Photography

• Architecture Photography, Corporate Photography, Flash & Strobe Lighting, Lifestyle Photography, Outdoor Adventure Photography, Portrait Photography, Seminars & Workshops, Special Effects, Strobe Lighting

You love photography and want to photograph full time by launching a photography business. Maybe you are unemployed or wish to supplement your retirement income or simply wanting to earn money doing what you love.

For those with jobs you may not want to quit the day job until your business is launched and earning you an income and enough income allowing you can quit that day job. Maybe you are unemployed and if so you can get started right away but be careful if your financial resources are limited.

So how do you get started? I have compiled these ideas into the 12 most important steps I believe are crucial to finding success as a professional photographer in today’s markets.

The Magic of Discovery

• Architecture Photography, travels

I was on a walk, with camera in hand of course, when I discovered this door and entryway. It stands out very well and obviously I had to shoot it. I love the color contrasts that the painters chose. Everything snaps!

I tried various angles really skewing the lines and perspective and I like those, but keep coming back to this one-the first frame I shot.

This is the way of my ‘artists mind’ in that I like symmetrical and angles as they should be with everything in order. The skewed perspectives are cool and I will process those later, but am drawn to the straight looking down angle.

Maybe that will change later!