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

Brokerage Deals - A Deeper Dive

The Spiro Podcast started with an episode about Brokerage deals (find it here: https://youtu.be/5NWcfnWkjvE ) - we wanted to revisit the topic and dive a bit deeper to help you land brokerage deals and grow your business in 2023. Join Todd & Craig as they discuss landing those deals, and being able to get them set up in your Spiro portal!
 
0:00-1:02 Sneak Peek
1:03-4:08 Intro
4:09-11:20 How the brokerage deal began (for Wow Video Tours) 
Todd’s initial idea: a monthly plan for his largest clients
The broker liked it and gave him backing by selling it to her agents
Selling from the top down- speaking the broker’s language and selling what they want, partnering with them
Not many brokers will guarantee you a number of listings per year because their agents are subcontractors; a broker can not tell their agents what to do unless they pay for it
Most brokers do not pay the entire bill because it is the agents’ responsibility to market their listing
Instead of looking for a guarantee, make the brokerage responsible for fronting the bill
11:21-17:25 Agent and Company Pay
Spiro allows you to split payment between companies and agents
Suggestion: Don’t sell photos only; start at photos and video
Put the products into a bundle on an order page just for that brokerage
Put in your custom pricing for that deal
Discounting is up to you; a frequent user will like a discount, however, it can be worth it to make brokerages feel good about using you
Custom pricing and order page can help your image as a high-end company
Company pricing means you know you will get paid 
You can also ask them to write a check so you can avoid merchant fees
When the company agrees to front the bill, you can invoice the company, get paid, and the broker and agent work out repayment on their own terms
Broker bill: The agent’s tab with the company (office fees, commissions, etc.)
Most brokers don’t mind fronting the money because they see the value of having their agents use you
Agents will be able to pay the broker bill after closing
17:26-20:17 Companies can make money from your deal by adding an upcharge for their agents
Use the Advanced toggle in the Bundle setup window
Put Agent Pay as $0, Company Pay as the bundle price, and Display price as the bundle price + the upcharge
Agent will see the upcharged price and know what they will have to pay the company (Company receives display price, has already paid you the bundle price, and profits the upcharge amount)
If the broker does not want their agents to know what they pay, put $0 as the display price to hide what the broker pays
Contact us for help
20:18-28:38 How do I approach a broker?
You usually will not be in touch with the broker directly
Todd’s strategy: get in with many of their agents, especially top agents, and make their agents happy
Brokers want to work with vendors who make their agents happy
Suggest to agents- “Wouldn’t it be great if…” - often they will agree
Ask for a warm introduction or an appointment with them and the broker
Once you have the meeting: research them and their metrics- number of agents, offices
You want to show your desire to partner with them
Bring up what you know and show that you’ve done your research
Then talk about what is important to them: market share 
Market share: the percentage of the total volume of sales in the market that they do (if your city has 10,000 listings/year, and a company does 2,000 of those, they have a 20% market share)
You don’t have to know their market share
Can grow in market share by getting current agents to sell more or recruiting more agents
A broker is looking for tools to enable them to do those two things so they can grow in market share
Get soft closes and get them to say yes - ask: “Do you think that if your agents could market consistently with photos and video that your brand value/image would increase? Do you see how your agents could use these tools to be more effective at a listing presentation?”
This raises their marketing floor (their bottom level of marketing)
“What if we could put together a process to make this easy for you?” - a custom order page, an easy process for your agents to order, easy access to your media for your marketing department, easy to pay (all features in Spiro)
“Do you think having a media program like this would help you recruit more agents?” - when recruiting, the broker is trying to present tools that other brokers don’t have
A brokerage deal is both a sales tool and a recruitment tool for brokers
28:39-30:46 How formal should the contract be?
It depends on your comfort level with the broker
Contracts protect both parties; people can also get leery because they may not want to be locked in
Make sure it’s a win-win
As long as I am bringing value, keeping the agents happy, and helping the broker grow their market share, I am earning trust and showing my value to the broker
If you’re planning on writing a contract, enlist the help of an attorney
30:47-32:47 How often should I check back with the broker?
Todd likes to sit with them once a year; sometimes it may need to be less
No news is good news
Make strong connections with their office managers and try to go to their office meetings and events as often as you can
Just because you have the deal doesn’t mean you have the business
Build relationships 
The more appearances you make, the more they will view you as their marketing department and part of their business versus an outside contract or vendor
32:48-35:27 
Contact us with more questions; we would be happy to help
Much more efficient to sell top-down
 
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

Budgeting for the New Year

Welcome to 2023! Todd & Craig welcome WOW Video Tours CFO, Derek Mayer, to discuss setting up your company budget for the new year. What really IS a budget? Why should you use one? How do you create one? Derek shares some easy to understand advice and direction to help you get your company started off on the right foot financially as you manage and grow your business another year.
 
Show Summary:
0:00-0:18 Sneak peek
0:19-4:18 Intro to Derek Mayer
4:19-13:34 What is a budget?
Budgeting is about being proactive and trying to hit your goals
It’s about looking at every aspect of your business - revenue, products, expenses, staffing, investments
Step 1: What are your goals? What do you want to achieve? 
Set your budget around profit goals
Personal goals are important as well - do they affect your business? 
You want your business goals to work with your family goals instead of fight with them
Step 2: “External Considerations” - What is happening outside that would impact your business or goals? What is the market like?
Most boards of Realtors have Market Updates you can view
External considerations
Step 3: Project revenue - How much revenue do you think you will get in the next year?
Based on economic considerations, current Average Sale Price (ASP: total revenue/total number of jobs), and number of jobs 
What is a realistic amount of growth? What has been your pattern of growth in the past?
Keep your goals as realistic as possible; unrealistic goals can cause overhiring or underhiring and wreck your profit
13:35-24:17 Know (from the past year):
Gross revenue - How much you receive from the client; all of your sales
The more data you have, the better (Derek usually looks at the past three years of data)
Total number of jobs
Your ASP (gross revenue/total number of jobs)
The fun part (according to Derek) - Step 4: Expenses
Revenue and growth do not equal profit
Wow’s lean budget strategy: Every expense should be reviewed to determine if it is helping the company grow and/or costing the company money
Ask: Why did we spend this? 
Do we need to spend this? 
How is this helping the company grow? 
If we remove the expense, what would happen? 
Are there tools or automations that would eliminate this expense? 
Will this expense change at any point during the year? - Ask vendors if their prices will change or if they have discounts
Step 5: Bottom line - After combining projected revenue and expenses, does the resulting number align with your goals and make sense for you?
If they don’t, you will need to increase revenue or cut expenses
What is your action plan to do that?
Ask your clients what would help them
Step 6: Review your budget monthly and make changes as needed
The most important part of creating a budget is taking the first step
24:18-28:52 Contact Derek by email at derek@wowvideotours or by phone at 937.505.0444
Use Google - search “small business budgeting”; Derek prefers Google drive
You have to make the time to do it
January is a great time to start but it’s never too late
Accounting software can be helpful; Spiro is helpful in tracking data
For those who don’t enjoy numbers, a budget plan allows you to lay the foundation to dream and create a vision
 
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

Owner Spotlight Series: Satish Samiappan & Pixel Dawg Interactive

On this episode of the Spiro Podcast, we highlight a relatively new business in our Owner Spotlight Series.  We want to introduce to you, Pixel Dawg Interactive and owner Sathish Samiappan of Starkville, Mississippi.  Todd and Craig met Sathish at the PMRE Conferrence in November 2022, when Sathish expressed interest in learning more about Spiro Software.
 
You can learn more about Pixel Dawg Interactive by emailing Sathish at:  sathish@pixeldawgms.com or following him on Instagrarm at:  @ PixelDawgMS
 
Products, Services & Conferences mentioned in the podcast include:
iGuide:  https://goiguide.com/
PMRE:  https://www.pmreconference.com/
FAA Part 107 License:  https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/become_a_drone_pilot
FAA Part 107 Study Course:  https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/CourseLanding.aspx?cID=451
FAA Party 107 Recurrent Study Course:  https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/CourseLanding.aspx?cID=677
Show Summary Notes:
0:00-1:04 Preview
1:05-3:57 Intro 
3:58-12:37 Intro to Sathish and Pixel Dawg Interactive
12:38-21:21 Best piece of business advice: focus on the customer
With a coffee shop, customers care more about how the coffee tastes and how quick the drive-thru is than how much skill it took to make the coffee
Focus on improving your photography, but more importantly, focus on whether your customers are happy
Agents in smaller areas, such as Pixel Dawg’s and Wow’s markets, are very connected and give referrals
Strategy for growth: continuing to do good work and marketing
For Craig, taking care of clients represented them well during the appointment and positioned him as part of their team
They appreciate when you help sell them to the clients and will help you build your business in return
Sathish is interested in Spiro because one of his pain points is scheduling; he would like to streamline the experience for both himself and his clients
You can’t shoot thousands of listings a year and give good customer service without systems and technology 
21:22-24:30 Biggest takeaway from PMRE: the community
24:31-29:30 Set yourself up for success and enjoy the learning process
Contact Sathish at sathish@pixeldawgms.com or on Instagram @pixeldawgms 
Share the podcast with others who would find it helpful
Let us know what you would like to hear about by contacting us at hello@spiro.media
Now is a good time to start thinking about systems for your business- Spiro can help you optimize whether you are a team of one or twenty-one
Thanks to our new subscribers, Daniel L, Tara Costello, and Francisco Lopez
You can listen on YouTube, any major podcast platform, or on Podbean 
 
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

Hiring an Employee - Jess Paxson

Growth of your real estate media company is an exciting thing! Most likely you've started as a sole employee/owner business, but it's come time to hire someone to help you manage and grow the business. What is a good, consistent way to approach hiring the right people to help you grow and scale?
Jess Paxson, the Operations Manager for WOW Video Tours joins us on this episode of the Spiro Podcast. She shares WOW's process of hiring, and some important things to consider when bringing someone on to your team.
Resources mentioned on the podcast (no paid mentions):
http://Indeed.com
Crystal Knows (DISC and enneagram tests) - https://www.crystalknows.com/
“The Road Back to You” - Suzanne Stabile & Ian Morgan Cron - https://a.co/d/5Vz4L2M
“The Path Between Us” - Suzanne Stabile - https://a.co/d/3SAWWWz
“The Five Love Languages” - Dr. Gary Chapman - https://5lovelanguages.com/
“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” - Patrick Lencioni - https://a.co/d/6LPF4B4
Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee? - https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee
 
Show Summary:
0:00-1:02 Sneak Peek
1:03-2:04 Intro 
2:05-3:19 Craig’s story with Spiro
Craig was the first Spiro beta-tester
His business grew to shooting over 1,000 listings/year in about four years
3:20-4:40 Please like, share, and subscribe if you have found the podcast valuable, and let us know what you want to hear on the podcast
4:41-10:11 Intro to Jess Paxson
10:12-12:50 When is the right time to hire an employee?
Ask yourself how many hours/day you are willing to dedicate to the job
Someone usually pays the price, whether it’s you, your family, or your clients
Can I scale my business alone? Usually not
Determine what your time is worth
If you set hours when you can’t work, you likely can’t scale
If you can’t afford to hire an employee, you may need to raise your prices
Having an employee or a team can improve your customer service
12:51-19:39 Wow’s hiring process
Assess what position is needed and list the title, responsibilities, and hours
Post job and application on indeed.com (Indeed features job assessments and allows you to see a candidate’s resume)
Sometimes post on job boards for local trade schools or Ohio Means Jobs 
Screening process: How professional does their resume look? How are their communication skills? What is their past work history? (How long have they worked at each job?)
19:40-30:12 How to find the right fit for the company’s culture
Culture is important
Phone screening, then first interview, then second interview
Second interview: same questions as first interview, but with different employees running the interview + a DISC personality test (Jess loves the enneagram as well)
Personality tests help you understand how people work and communicate
Recommended books: The Road Back to You, The Path Between Us, The Five Love Languages, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
All employees who interviewed candidate meet in a room
One of the biggest concerns is how a candidate will mesh with the current team
Hire slow, fire fast- the wrong hire can sometimes do more damage than having an unfilled position
Virtual assistants- hire a pool, contract for a few weeks, and then keep the one who does really well
30:13-32:21 Is it more important to hire the right personality or the right set of skills?
Personality is super important, and skills can be taught
A great personality with drive and determination can be molded and taught
Taking the time to invest in an employee can build loyalty
32:22-36:44 What does a good onboarding program look like?
What do they need on their first day?
Have a solid training plan in place- Wow uses Basecamp or Trello to track and gain feedback
Have the ability to track progress
Set goals for them to work for and clear expectations
Having procedures allows a manager to delegate training
36:45-39:12 Best piece of hiring advice: Just do it.
Recognize you can’t do it all 
Don’t be afraid to hire someone who is better at you than the job; you are not threatened by them
Learn from each other
39:13-41:49 Closing 
 
For information on the differences between a 1098 contractor and a W-2 employee, look at the U.S. Department of Labor and your state laws.
 
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

When to Hire an Editor

At some point in your business, if you haven't already: you're going to make a decision on whether to maintain your current size and volume, or try to expand. If you are doing your own editing, one of the key decisions you'll make related to that decision to maintain your current size or grow is: whether to hire an editor to help you edit your photos and videos.
What do you need to consider in making this decision? What is the cost of hiring an editor? What is the cost of NOT hiring an editor? How do you find someone? How do you communicate? How do you determine workflow.
Let's dive into these questions on hiring an editor as you consider the implications on your real estate media business.
 
0:00-0:36 Preview
0:37-3:42 Intro 
Thanks to our new subscribers
What would you like to hear about on the podcast? Let us know by reaching out to hello@spiro.media or leaving a comment
3:43-10:05 When do I need an editor? Should I hire an editor?
Are you looking to scale?
You’re probably asking this question because you’re feeling some kind of pain- ask yourself why it’s coming up right now and what you want to accomplish by finding an editor or by continuing to edit yourself
Consider the cost of bringing on an editor or continuing to edit yourself
Craig’s story: wanted a higher number of jobs, realized he would rather pay someone to do the time-consuming work at a higher quality than he could so he could focus on bringing in more jobs
Concerns about maintaining creative control: challenge yourself to find a high-quality editor
If you do niche work and you’re high-end, find a high-end editor- they will do it more cost-effectively than you can
One hour of outsourced work to the right editors could be one hour for you to build your business or one hour for you to recharge
10:05-11:56 Are you conforming your business to their editing style, or are you giving them direction?
Wow gives the direction they want for a defined look
They also give creative space by asking how the product can be better
Quality-control their work
Make sure they are delivering what you sell but use what they know
11:57-21:30 How does outsourcing work?
Find an editor- upwork.com, fiverr.com, onlinejobs.ph, pixlmob.com
If you have a resource, share it with us and we will share it!
Make sure you can communicate with your editor- can they speak or type in English?
You need a system- ours is integrated with Dropbox
Our system creates Dropbox folders for the team to upload to 
Wow assigns editors based on volume and quality
Let the editor know they have a job
Make sure the editor understands how to do the job- how should they edit windows?
The editor should upload them back to the folders
You should have a quality-control process
Get them out to your clients
Using editors from other countries is helpful because they can edit during what is night-time in the U.S., meaning you will get your photos back the next morning
Price range: anything from $0.30-$5.00 per image- range depends on quality and how much detail they are editing
Most basic: single exposure, probably shooting in a RAW format, one photo, only so much you can edit
HDR: taking multiple (3 or 5) images in each location, bright to dark, editor blends them and edits tone
Flambient: similar- multiple images from same location but uses flash to highlight different parts of the room
Approach will differ according to your market and business goals
21:31-24:10 Cautions when choosing an editor
They will have a level of access to your systems- interview them 
Do you know the individual editors if you hire a team? Will you know which editor did which job?
Are you able to pay them? Some countries are harder to reach
Who tracks how much they work? How do you determine whether you pay for images you are not satisfied with them? Talk about these issues
24:11-28:18 Conclusion
What will hiring an editor do for your business? This will help you decide what kind of editor you need to hire
Develop relationships with your editors
Growth isn’t easy, but it’s good
 
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

What to Do During the Slow Season

The Winter Season can be a concerning time for a Real Estate Media Company. Business typically slows way down. Sometimes it can get so slow you wonder if you should be doing other types of photography, or if you'll even survive. Todd and Craig discuss things to do to strengthen your business in the "slow season". Be sure to check out these past episodes for ideas on how to strengthen the relationships you already have with clients, and how to find new clients during the winter season:
Networking with Realtors One on One - Part 1 
Networking with Realtors One on One - Part 2
How to Sell to the Needs of Realtors
Brokerage Deals
How to Increase Your Average Sales Price
 
Episode Summary:
0:00-0:58 Preview and intro
0:59-7:05 Don’t panic during slow season; take a breath
Develop a plan for decreased revenue during slow season
Don’t pay yourself everything you make during the busy season
One tip: pay yourself a salary so you can spread it out over the year
Sit with an accountant and asked them to help you figure it out
A business is a profitable enterprise that works for you; it should suit your needs
7:06-19:13 What do I do with all my free time?
You have to decide what you feel the most comfortable with
If you’re excited about the amount of work you have now and want to sustain that, it’s time to take care of your clients or work on your business
Take care of your top 20% clients- ask what they need, send Christmas gifts
If you’re okay with not growing, put the time back into yourself- you’ve earned it
If you want to grow, ask yourself: Where are your gaps? What was painful last busy season?
Your business is in a shell- as you grow, the shell will crack; identify and record those cracks, then work on them during the off-season
Get the right people together and start brainstorming with a whiteboard, then evaluate your ideas and figure out what you need
Assign people to collect data and schedule a follow-up meeting to look at the data and find the solution
You will need to write procedures- what to do when this thing happens/when we do this thing
Slow season is a great time to look at pricing changes so you can roll them out at the beginning of the next year
It’s also a great time to evaluate your current software and decided whether it’s doing what you need it to or if you need to implement new software (like Spiro!) and plan for that change
Look at your marketing materials and decide if you’re going to change or update any of your materials
Write personal thank you notes and Christmas cards to your clients to thank them for their business
Wow’s gaps to work on during the busy season: unify communication, improve culture, organize the CRM, educate clients about home readiness, work on new products, create a method for photographer feedback
19:14-25:55 Working with current clients 
Slow season is a great time to re-establish and develop relationships with clients
Go over the year, thank them for their business, ask them about goals
Pick the five you get along with best if a meeting scares you
Start with a phone call; the way Realtors do business is face-to-face
Ask if you can treat them to coffee
Ask what went well and what can improve, how many listings do they want this year, what growth percentage do they want to see, what is their traditional marketing
Ask about their social media marketing- what platforms and content do they want to use? What are their needs for personal branding? What products do you have that will help them reach these goals?
You are part of their marketing team
This is not a selling meeting; you are asking how you can better serve them
Ask if you can take notes and write- don’t use your phone or computer
25:56-28:25 What should I do to prospect and establish new relationships?
Ask (usually toward the end), “Do you know any other Realtors that we can serve? Is there anyone in your office you can refer me to?”
Realtors ask for referrals all the time
The worst thing that can happen: they say no
If you’re talking with a broker, be more specific- “Do you know _____ broker in ____ city (that’s thirty or forty minutes away)?”
28:26-30:20 How do you get an introduction to a broker you don’t know?
Ask your current clients to introduce you- “I would love to put together a package for your company”
Brokers listen to and serve their Realtors
Find one of your biggest fans and best clients who’s a high-volume producer- brokers want to keep their Realtors happy
30:21-33:38 A full-color catalog or brochure to put in Realtors’ hands is still valuable
There’s something about the physical marketing material 
33:39-38:07 
Agents are more available during slow season
Craig took the slow season to get in front of as many agents as possible and increased the number of listings he shot during the next year by over fifteen times
 
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

PMRE Recap: Emily Olman - The Metaverse and NFTs

We wanted to bring you another recap episode of the PMRE Conference. This time, conference speaker Emily Olman joins Todd & Craig to talk about her topic of The Metaverse and NFTs.  What's coming for imaging for spaces?  We have 3D Tours like Matterport and iGuide now, but what else is coming?  And how else can you profit from your work besides copyright and licensing?  Listen in to learn more about some cutting edge information on developing technology.
Episode Summary Notes:
0:00-1:00 Preview
1:00-9:24 Intro to Emily
9:25-17:30 Advice to entrepreneurs
You are always working for someone- your client is now your boss
Imagine you’re a big company from the beginning and build systems that will grow with you
Know your market and figure out if you want to differentiate from everyone else- you can try a lot but at some point, you will have to choose what you are
Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t go how you think it should; keep trying
17:31-38:24 The Metaverse 
A virtual showroom can prevent expensive mistakes
Augmented and virtual reality are becoming more common
The Metaverse may not be an oversight success
The S Curve and the Gartner Hype Cycle
People will reach for whatever’s next
38:25-49:20 NFTs
Making something an NFT (“minting”) makes it traceable and “copyrights” it as yours
Non-fungible Token- singular, can not be traded one to one
Virtual reality could upend the industry
49:21-53:59 Reach Emily on YouTube (Hopscotch Interactive), Instagram (@hopscotchinteractive), LinkedIn (Hopscotch Interactive), and email emily@hopscotchinteractive.com 
Agents are always looking for something new
Use the information you’ve learned and give it to your agents
Continue to learn- you have to start somewhere
Have questions? Email hello@spiro.media. Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Spiro on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/spiro.media
Spiro on Instagram:  @spiro.media
Spiro on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiro-media
You can find out more about Spiro at spiro.media.

PMRE Recap - Featured Speaker: Devon Pastorius

In case you missed the PMRE Conference, here's a wrap up episode!  Todd & Craig welcome PMRE Featured Speaker, Devon Pastorius on to the podcast to review his presentation in Las Vegas. "Professional Photos Sell More Houses, and Other Lies we Tell Ourselves and Our Clients." What do we as Real Estate Media Professionals REALLY do for our clients?