Real estate photo editing has come into higher demand in recent years. In America alone, the demand for housing has soared by more than a third of the normal rates and has surprisingly happened in the middle of the pandemic. Real estate businesses scramble to be able to take advantage of a period where selling is hot in order to make the most out of the situation. Alongside the increase in demand is an effect down the chain of business for photographers. A rise in housing demand dictates a rise in support services such as real estate photo editing.
Now ask yourself, as a photographer do I see this as a good thing? The answer is a resounding yes. Despite a potential overflow in work, there are ways to execute real estate photo editing. You might wonder how you can now spend the time performing all the other tasks for your business when editing alone eats up most of the day. The solution to this predicament is contracting a real estate photo editing company or in short, outsource post-processing!
Why Outsourcing is the Key
As most real estate photo editing turnaround times go, people normally expect the output after 2-3 working days. This might already consider the workload at 80% capacity on your end so you can still enjoy the other 20% with your family, your personal time, taking care of your health, and pursuing other facets of your business that requires attention. Outsourcing enables you to free up a lot of capacity and yet be able to accept orders to grow your business. It is essentially a way to expand without investing in so many assets, fixed, and variable costs at the same time. Once you’ve decided that you are taking the outsourcing route for real estate photo editing, it’s time to determine how to strike an agreement with the one you’re most comfortable with. Take note that it might take time and effort to sift through the numerous services out there, but once you find one that you can trust, the returns will surely be rewarding.
Finding the Best Real Estate Photo Editing Company
Now you’re ready to find one, go out there and make some inquiries.
Find out how much their rates are
Of course, when outsourcing to real estate photo editing companies there is a cost incurred to have the service done and you have to put a margin on that so you can earn a profit from your client. Outsourced real estate photo editing shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. This is because these companies can find the scale and the number of clients to spread out their costs. Don’t hesitate to ask them for packages, group rates, volume discounts and the like. Chances are, they can get you the cost you are willing to pay for.
Understand their capacity for a high volume of orders
Expanding your real estate photo editing business requires increasing your intake of clients. The rise in volume of photos must be met with the same speed and rigor to deliver them on time. Finding a real estate photo editing company that is able to take in tons of photos to meet your demands on a consistent basis should be a good contender for a long-term partnership.
Get to know the company (and why not?)
Forging good relationships with real estate photo editing companies begin with building rapport. One of the things that you can start of with is speaking to their client liaison or perhaps the owner of the business. You may be able to talk about your passions on the topic of real estate photo editing and in the process share your stories with each other. This not only builds the foundation of a trusting partnership but also the confidence that they will do the work for you. This is especially helpful in times where you are stuck in a rut and the only way to solve it is asking them for help to expedite your photos.
Put quality at the forefront of decision making
Let’s face facts. Once the photos hit your client’s screens, they will associate it with no one else but you. Whether the real estate photo editing was performed by a company or in-house through yours truly, the attention will still be pointed to you. This is why making sure that the real estate photo editing company can deliver excellent output is just as important as securing the trust of your client. Along the lines of quality is their ability to meet your editing standards. Sure, there is a risk that the company may go astray over some details, but making the requirements clear to them and writing it down on something both parties can agree on will help ensure the best quality and standards of the enhancement.
They are reputable within the photography community
Reputation is important. It spurs confidence in you that the company is good, and people can definitely vouch for them. You can go around asking colleagues on what they think of a certain real estate photo editing company. This will surely help you make a more accurately informed decision as getting the vote of confidence from your peers can make you sleep better at night knowing our photos are in good hands.
Conclusion
There might be more than one winning set of criteria for you to be able to select the best real estate photo editing company to take on the task. Looking at this list already gives you an idea what to look for and developing the list further is more than welcome. Do not be afraid to venture into outsourcing as this business model is now geared towards the future. It exists to serve photographers who are seeking additional capacity and its nature of being low cost is highly attractive. Imagine being able to keep your money and use it for other facets of the business rather than investing in more computers and hiring people yourself. Let these guys take care of the work for you so you can do the things that you need to take care of.
