Home › Start here › 82 lessons
Tips and tricks, the agent’s version
82 lessons from the other side of the table.
I sold real estate for ten years before I shot a listing for money. I hired photographers, rebooked some, and stopped calling others, and I never told any of them why. These are the lessons, one line each, from the agent’s side. Every one links to the full answer.
Pricing & packages
- You’re not underpriced, you’re unpackaged.My standard package is [your middle price], and it includes [three things].
- A raise asks her for more. A menu asks her to choose.I put my shoots on one page so you’re not texting me what’s included. Pick whichever fits the listing.
- Your pricing model decides which agents you keep.
- Stop adding it up. Price it the way she reads it.
- In a small market the cheapest guy isn’t your competition. The commission is.
- One of the best things we ever did was raise our prices. We got better clients.
- "Too expensive" from a two-listing agent isn’t a verdict on your price. It’s a description of her business.Expensive next to what?
- Stop handing her more choices. Hand her the obvious pick.
- The page answers. You sell.
- A mansion isn’t a bigger shoot. It’s a different line on the sheet.
- The client isn’t loyal to the photographer. She’s loyal to the reliability.Happy to. Exclusive means you’re buying the calendar, so it’s a monthly number, [your monthly number], and it covers every listing you take.
- Agents pay for less to think about. Better photos win once booking you is the easy part.Have you thought about social as a way to generate leads?
- "Extra" is a decision she can skip. A package is a decision she already made.Does this property make sense for drone?
- A price with nothing next to it gets compared. A price with options gets chosen.
- Lead with what she already trusts you for. Sell the rest after yes.We’re killing it in the photos. We just added video. First-time clients get 50% off.
- A discount on the core isn’t generosity. It’s a confession about your price.Expensive next to what?
- A retainer sells your calendar, not a discount.Happy to. I added a Reserved column to my sheet: two mornings a week, $999 where the listing needs it, billed on the 1st, three months. Hold Tuesdays?
Getting agents
- Most "outreach doesn’t work" is "not enough sent."Saw the Maple Ave listing go up with phone photos. You shooting those yourself, or is that the brokerage’s guy?
- Silence isn’t a no. It’s homework she never got to.I’ll take the silence to mean it’s not a priority right now, no worries.
- Volume doesn’t fix a message nobody wants to answer.Saw the Oak Street listing went up with phone photos. You shooting those yourself, or is that the brokerage’s guy?
- You’re an addition or an upgrade. Never a replacement.Good, you’ve got someone. What happens when they’re booked or on vacation and a listing drops?
- You don’t need more agents. You need the right 20.
- Your first message has one job: get a four-word reply.Looks like Zillow’s compressing your images and making them a little dark. That house deserves to look its best. Have you thought about bringing somebody in?
- The channel matters less than the rhythm.Hey, did you get the email we sent you?
- Silence isn’t a no. It’s a queue.I’ll take the silence to mean it isn’t a priority right now, no worries.
- The portfolio is a weekend, not a permission slip.I’m practicing video, can I use your model home? If you like it, share it and tag me.
- Walk in as the media partner, not the guy in the lobby.Who do I talk to about becoming a media partner here?
- Be in the room with a camera, not in their inbox.
- You’re not competing with forty photographers. You’re competing with "good enough."
- Agents don’t pay for what you’re allowed to do. They pay for how the listing looks.Saw Elm Street took a price cut, no aerial yet. Anyone shooting drone on it?
- Agents don’t hire the best feed. They hire the photographer who noticed their listing.Looks like Zillow might be compressing your images a little dark. Have you thought about bringing in a professional?
- A blank Monday isn’t a skill problem. It’s a list you haven’t built yet.Saw the Maple Ave listing go up with phone photos. You shooting those yourself, or is that the brokerage’s guy?
- Agents hire the person who texted them, not the one still getting ready.I’m practicing. Can I use your model home? If you like it, share it and tag me.
- Agents don’t hire the reel. They hire the person they liked in the room.Before you do any crazy reductions, I’ll shoot a video for free. If you like it, you pay.
- A room of agents buys what the listing will do, never how you shot it.What do your agents need most?
- The list does more work than the pitch.
- Realtors are the loudest customer. Loud isn’t the same as only.
- Professional isn’t a word you put in the message. It’s what she notices when you don’t.Saw the Maple Ave listing go up with phone photos. You shooting those yourself, or is that the brokerage’s guy?
Keeping agents & delivery
- Silence isn’t a verdict on your photos. It’s a question you haven’t asked yet.Did you slow down, or did you switch?
- She didn’t need better photos. She needed an easier Thursday.Checking my calendar, back to you by five.
- Speed isn’t what she’s buying. Knowing exactly when is.Does yours deliver by 9 a.m., or the photos are free?
- The delivery is the last thing she sees before she decides whether to book you again.
- The file isn’t done when it looks good on your screen. It’s done when she can upload it without thinking.
- Being her secret is the compliment. The referral is how she pays it.How did the listing go? Mind if I grab one sentence I can use? And who else in your office should I meet?
- A discount keeps her until the next discount. The product is what keeps her.I won’t match him on photos. I’ll throw in video at half on this one so you see the difference in showings.
- Don’t sell the video you like shooting. Sell the one she can post from a driveway.Have you considered social media as a tool to generate leads?
- You don’t win her back after shoot one. You keep her during it.Are you doing these ten things to get the most out of your listing?
- She isn’t paying for photos. She’s paying for what’s in her inbox at 9 a.m.By 9 a.m. next morning or it’s free.
- You can’t out-price the cheap guy. You can out-boring him.Totally get it, good luck with him. Quick one: is he getting them to you by 9 a.m. next day?
- A regular isn’t lost. She’s a habit that broke. Give her a date, not a question.Hey [name]. Saw the Maple listing go up. Vertical clips come with every package now, first one’s on me. Tuesday still your day?
Running the business
- A living isn’t built on shoots. It’s built on second bookings.
- The quit date comes from your price, not your hustle.
- You don’t pick the date. The two numbers pick it.When either number hits the line, we set the date.
- The job you skip is the one that fills next month.
- Your midnight costs more than fifty cents a photo.
- A VA runs your decisions. They can’t make them for you.
- Pay for the work. Never pay for the client.
- Agents don’t notice who shot it. They notice when it looks different.
- Order beats speed. The camera is the last thing you hand off.
- A partner adds a name to the logo. It doesn’t send one message to an agent.No split. I’ll pay a flat rate per shoot under my brand, or I’ll shoot under yours.
- Paperwork follows the business. It doesn’t start it.
- Buy what the list asks for, not what the internet argues about.What does your vendor form require, and at what limits?
- You don’t collect after the download. You collect before it.
- Write the rule before you need it. A line in the checkout beats an argument later.Saw Oak Street came back on. I can re-license the set for [your price] today, or reshoot it fresh with a twilight.
- "Do you do drone?" is a question about your package, not your license.
- The website closes the deal your text opened. It can’t open one.
- The shoots aren’t drowning you. The texts about the shoots are.
- Editing isn’t the job. It’s the part you can buy back for ten dollars.
- Google doesn’t rank the best photographer. It ranks the one the MLS links to.
- An empty week is information. A discount is panic.Anything coming up before the end of the month? Tuesdays are open next week.
- The offer is a compliment. Answer it with a retainer. Own the work.I can’t take the job, but I can give you what you’re after. A retainer: model homes and progress shoots on a set calendar, [your number] a month, 90-day term.
Bold takes
- Never discount the core.I’ll shoot it, but introduce me to two or three people in your office.
- You don’t win a race to free. You leave it.If you work with me, you’re going to get more business. I don’t care if that guy is free.
- If the app owns the agent, you don’t own a business. You own a shift.
- The word you pick is the list she puts you on.Are you trying to establish yourself as a brand, or get new leads off this listing?
- 44 with a camera in a market full of $99 guys is fine. None of them are your competition.
- Gear that matches the ads makes you one of them. Gear that fills the gap makes you the call.
- The agent hires the photographer who can do Thursday, not the one with the best body.
- Nobody hired a photographer for the pixels. They hired the person in the driveway.
- Nobody makes ’the going rate.’ They make their price times their weeks.
- A collections process is what you build after you decided to get paid last. Get paid first and you never need one.Preview above. Full files release when the invoice is paid.
- The group says never because they priced it like a favor. Price it like a product and it’s why busy agents pick you.Yes. Nothing today. It goes on the closing statement at the pay-at-close price, due if the listing comes off the market.
Where you actually are
Five questions, sixty seconds, and your roadmap loads on the next screen.
Get my roadmap