Why is it so important to invest in a professional photographer? In today’s episode, I’m honored to introduce you to brand and real estate photographer, Megan Williamson. We’re chatting about how crucial it is for brands to visually stand out and hire their local photographer. Plus, we’re diving into photography education, branding advice, and opportunities that all business owners can apply to their marketing strategies today. 

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Today’s episode is brought to you by the FREE Book More Weddings guide. Learn how to easily capture behind the scenes video for organic referrals, local followers, and increased brand awareness. You want to make sure you have this before your next wedding! 

Review The Show Notes: 

From Family And Wedding Photography To Real Estate (3:06)

Letting Go Of Something That’s Working (5:57)

The Gear Needed For Real Estate Photography (10:04)

Understanding Branding (15:10)

Letting Go Of Your Editing Style (18:17)

Income Opportunities In Branding (20:51)

Group Coaching And A Real Estate Freebie (25:27)

Investing In A Professional Photographer (28:34)

How Often To Hire Real Estate Photographers (34:28)

Elevating Your Online Presence (39:52)

Key Tip For Photographers (43:42)

Key Tip For Realtors (48:22)

Connect With Megan:

Free Guide 

Instagram

Website

Mentioned In This Episode:

Aryeo Referral code: OXX70Q

CubiCasa Floor Plans

Kayla Milam

Review the Transcript:

Quianna Marie
One of the reasons why I started this podcast was to share encouragement, education and empowerment that I wish existed. 15 years ago when I started this journey of entrepreneurship, I’ve been lucky to find key mentors and coaches along the way. But there are so many different ways to run your business and cool job opportunities that I didn’t even know were a thing.

It’s important to me to share with you different business models introduce you to my real life friends that are making an impact and spark ideas for you to take what you need, and to help build strong roots and truly live the life of your dreams. Today I have the honor of introducing you to Megan Williamson.

Megan is a fully booked brand and real estate photographer with a growing associate team. Whether you’re a real estate professional who needs listing photos, a custom home builder, who is pitching to publications of vacation rental host who desires more bookings, or a small business owner who is ready to showcase the personality behind your work.

You need your work to visually stand out. This is where Meghan shines. I literally titled this episode, the gift of branding and real estate photography to introduce another revenue stream for photographers and sharing the significance of investing in real estate photography and video. Yes, this combo will tap into lots of photography education, but if you’re a realtor, Airbnb host home builder or designer, this two episode worthy conversation is crammed into one juicy conversation.

Maybe you don’t identify as a photographer or a realtor. Stay tuned because Megan will be dropping lots of branding advice and opportunities that all business owners and dreamers can apply to their marketing strategies today. Nestled on her 10 acre farm in South Bend, Indiana, Megan homeschools her two teams and loves building lasting friendships and connections. I’m thrilled to introduce you to Megan Williamson. Let’s get this chat rolling.

Welcome to Quianna Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast.

Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Loves though. Hey, hey, welcome to the party. Megan, I’m so so grateful you can be here today.

Megan Williamson
Hey, thanks for having me. I’m so excited.

Quianna Marie
Yes, well, let’s dive right into these questions. I feel like this episode is gonna be super juicy. Whether you are a photographer looking to expand your horizons and tap into different niches and offers, or maybe you’re tuning in as a realtor. And as a Home Designer, wanting to elevate your brand and your business. This is the conversation for us. I’m so excited.

Megan Williamson
Definitely.

Quianna Marie
Let’s just get into it. Megan making the shift from family and wedding photography to real estate. You know, I feel like that was a very natural and very easy transition for you. But I would love for you to walk us through that pivot and what made you decide to just run full force towards more real estate and home design photography.

Megan Williamson
So you know, I’ve been a photographer for around 20 years, and I started out in wedding photography. And it was it was perfect at the time because I had little kids and my best friend and I shot together so it was my adult time it was me, my me time on the weekend. So we would go and you know, it was like girl time. And then we had made a move to Indiana about five years ago and I did a workshop on wedding photography and I was like okay, I’m full fledge going into wedding photography.

Maybe after that we live on 10 acres in the country and after that initial Okay, I’m going to I’m going to start branching out back in Indiana and build that business and that first summer of living on 10 acres and having horses and chickens and being gone every weekend shooting weddings.

I was like this is this is not the life that I’m wanting for my family like I want to be home with them I want to be doing yard work I want to enjoy this time and then honestly someone had reached out to me about they’d started up a business coaching group and I guess not maybe not so much a budget missus coaching. But we had it was just local people who had different businesses, and we would get together and and chat and he knew I was a photographer.

During COVID their real estate photographer quit. He was like, Hey, have you ever considered this which I had done a couple like, I’d done my listing photos and stuff, but I didn’t really know how to branch into it. And I said sure. That was three and a half years ago and it’s been didn’t like the most awesome transformation in the last three and a half years, that one stepping stone from one person to what, where I’m at now and completely only doing real estate photography as well as branding photography, which I actually consider the same like when I’m doing real estate, I’m doing branding as well.

Quianna Marie
That’s amazing. So tell us more if we can dig a little bit deeper into what did that actually look like for you kind of closing the door, because I know for a lot of us and I am actually selfishly asking for myself as I’m going through this like identity shift, right? Like this Like, almost feels like a death and a rebirth right with us with this business.

It can be really hard closing down something that’s working, right. And I feel like and I can totally relate to you where you like want your weekends back or at least more consistent weekends with your family. And you don’t want to be gone during sunset, like that’s literally dinnertime during the week when you would be shooting engagement sessions and stuff. So what did that look like with that transition, like what made you feel good about running towards these branding and real estate photography photos, instead of holding on to simply because it’s worked for you.

Megan Williamson
I will say that moving helped, because I kind of had to rebuild my business at that point in time. So I had not gotten back up to where I had been prior and I didn’t want the other where I lived before and Illinois was I was able to travel there. But it wasn’t, it’s not what I wanted to do every weekend. And to be honest, it all kind of happened during COVID. So we all know in the wedding industry that was a nightmare in itself.

So that actually helped the breakup, really, because I didn’t want to go through another one. And so I had other friends who were wedding photographers, so I think to ease that cut, I second shot for a while. So I didn’t have all the responsibilities, but I was still making some money doing that. So doing it actually kind of, you know, each one wedding that I went to, I was like, No, this is not what I’m supposed to be doing anymore. Like I just had lost that joy for it. And I do remember specifically the last wedding that I took on, she knew I was phasing out and she said to me, I really hope that you’ll you’ll do my wedding because I really want you as my wedding photographer.

I remember thinking when I got off the phone, and I did take it thinking as much excitement as she has to use me I don’t have that I feel bad like that. That hurt a little bit because I wanted to have that much excitement for her. And it was just it was gone. It also helps that my husband at the time was working a full time normal job.

It wasn’t like we weren’t going to eat or be able to put a roof over our house if I transitioned. So it actually last year. I think it was last year I shot my very last wedding even as a second shooter. I’ve told myself, you know, if you’re gonna get married in some exotic place, I’ll still probably do it for you. Because I love to travel so much. Yeah, but I don’t know, it has been so easy not to do that. Because I seriously love my weekend so much. And you mentioned like sunset time I live in Indiana in the summer sunsets 930 At night, and that’s when we would be you know, we’re shooting at eight o’clock for Golden Hour. So it was actually pretty easy for me. Yes.

Quianna Marie
Well, I love that you you recognize that? Right? Whether it was you kind of dwindling that flame waiting at you know, during the first look or you know, I can just see I can feel that energy during the reception, right? We were like, this is just not where I need to be. And in recognizing that for your clients. I think that is such a beautiful thing to say, hey, like, I don’t feel the joy for this.

It’s not fair to you, as the client as the bride of the groom to experience this like I would rather and I love how you mentioned the transition of second shooting. So this is great. I always tell anyone that’s trying to kind of take that leap into full time as a photographer, like whether you are it’s like the perfect like bookend, right, like either getting started with wedding photography, I highly suggest that you second shoot as much as you can.

Then during that transition of kind of exiting the wedding scene, what a beautiful kind of incap to supporting your friends. And then also too, I love how you mentioned that you had a lot of friends that you could refer right where you’re like, and maybe, maybe you didn’t say that I think I’m just kind of like getting that download.

Megan Williamson
Oh, but that’s so true. No, no, that’s exactly. Yeah,

Quianna Marie
cuz you can bless your other other friends saying, hey, look like I’m no longer doing this. And even as a business, you don’t want to just say nope, sorry, good luck, like, you know, XOXO like you want to be able to bless another business and then as well still provide excellent service and a great referral. So I love that you did that. Yeah, definitely. Yes. So let’s keep rolling into the moment you decided, okay, like that.

One guy asked you, hey, you take pictures of houses and you’re like, yes. Sign me up. And then it just started snowballing. Right. So can we chat a little bit more about the gear needed for custom homes vacation rentals and any of the real estate, like listing photos that you would need and let’s start there with what type of gear maybe different than just a family portrait photographer or wedding photographer,

Megan Williamson
definitely. So I jumped in full fledge with not necessarily everything, but within like two weeks, I had it all. So you have to have a tripod, because you’re shooting typically, for real estate, you’re either shooting like an HDR photo, or you’re shooting like a single image with a pop with flash pops. That’s for real estate.

Quianna Marie
Can you define what an HDR is?

Megan Williamson
What does that mean? A bracket of three photos, so you’re capturing your shadows, your highlights and your mid tones, and they’re all being overlaid. So for it, it’s different from real estate to vacation homes, to custom homes as to how I shoot. But I will say anyone wanting to step into real estate photography, the best way to go is to start with HDR. And then you can grow your skills from there.

To be honest, like real estate photography, they want those window polls where you can see outside, a little bit more of the fake, I would consider pictures and there’s a balance there. And that’s a whole, I shoot a little bit different than the box stores that we have around here because I’m trying to stay true to myself as a photographer, and not go that fake route. But that’s that’s a whole nother whole nother conversation.

Quianna Marie
I can see that being so challenging, because I know even just as like a wedding or portrait photographer, like I don’t care if the windows are blown out, I don’t care, I can’t see the sky for some things. And I can see how realtors and homeowners would be like, no, like, I want them to see the view and not just expose for this like luxurious bed, I want them to see the window view as well.

Megan Williamson
And that’s exactly it. So like I always tell people are like, well, that doesn’t look real. But I’m like it does because when I walk into a room I can see outside. It’s the balance between when it is so crisp and clear and the fake blue sky that I feel like it goes overboard where I keep mine a little bit more, I guess you’d say diffused. So it’s like you can see outside. But it’s not like in your face when when you look at that picture that that’s where your eyes take you to because you want your eyes to take you to the room.

That’s the goal. But so I already shot at the time Honestly, when I started real estate photography three and a half years ago, I still start with a shot with the Canon mark two, I hit shot with it for years just didn’t upgrade I had had two of them. I was like, Well, if I upgrade, you know, that whole dilemma. So I started with that. And then I had to purchase the 16 to 35 millimeter lens, because I tried with the 24. It’s just not wide enough. I highly recommend the 16 some people shoot with a 14 but I think it gives too much of a fisheye look at too much distortion 16 You can, you have to be a little bit careful with certain things, but you can get the whole room and it doesn’t look so fake.

It’s not where people walk into a house afterwards, after they see the picture and go this is not what it looks like size wise. So that was it. Then I already had my off camera flash that I use for window poll. And so really it’s flash camera tripod to get started. And then it goes crazy after that, but then I upgraded to the mark for a few years ago. I also have the AR six now but I shoot real estate with the mark four you’ll hear different people say different things there i To me, there’s no difference. I figure save my AR six like don’t the wear and tear of it for my branding and people pictures and use the mark for for real estate.

Quianna Marie
That’s so helpful. And I feel like that’s really encouraging to that. Most of us already have that in our bag, right? So if you’re a wedding photographer, or very seasoned lifestyle and portrait photographer, we may have tripods, for cell phones, you may need to invest into an actual tripod for our DSLR. Like most of us have that in our bag already. So that’s really encouraging. Yeah,

Megan Williamson
and the thing I say about tripods get a sturdy one, you don’t want one that’s super heavy because you’re carrying it all over the place. But it needs to be sturdy. And I use the one thing that’s really nice about the mark four versus what the mark two and I don’t know where it is on the market if it mark three has it or not. And this is canon for anyone who’s naked is that there’s a level in the back of my camera. So that’s how I level pictures. When I had the mark two I had to have levels on my stand. Oh, good to

Quianna Marie
know. Okay, that’s really helpful. Yeah, so Okay, so I feel like once you get started you’re gonna start like opening up this like Mary Poppins bag of all the gear that you need. But let’s say that like we have the camera, the tripod, the external flashes, all this stuff. Now, I would love to kind of tap into the editing style, because I know as a personal wedding photographer, brand photographer or lifestyle portrait mini session photographer like anywhere that you kind of like land on that gamut of Family photography.

We are so I dented, like we identify with our editing style, right? Like that’s like who we are and what we provide. And so I would love for you to kind of walk through what type of branding style Are these real estate like real estate agents, these these homeowners, like, what type of style works? And why is it like a universal thing, like, let’s tap into the style and like how we can identify our own new identity with edits, but also be open to what they’re looking for, like, I want to chat

Megan Williamson
about that. I think that I have felt like I’ve had to walk real tours through branding. You know, maybe someone was a stay at home mom for a long time, and I was a stay at home mom, I was a stay at home mom too. And then they decided that real estate is a good, you know, avenue for them to go into and maybe just don’t have all the business sense. So like, I feel like as a real estate photographer, I’m also teaching them branding and what, like, if you take a picture with your cell phone, that’s who you’re representing yourself as a photographer, I mean, as a real tour.

In terms of the editing, I will say that that is probably my weakest point as a photographer, and it has always been, I am not a strong editor. And so I did maybe two weeks of editing with real estate, and then I outsourced it. And part of that is because the turnaround time is the next day, like it’s 24 hours. So I knew that if I was going to have the life that I wanted that I was not going to be sitting in my bed until two o’clock in the morning editing pictures.

So I work with two different editors, depending on what shoot I’m doing my high end stuff, I have someone in Georgia who is amazing, and we can put her information and if you want, She’s incredible. And she also does real estate as well. But my volume became so high that I outsourced overseas for that because I’m I think we’re on par to do 600 shoots this year. And so that was just for one person is way too much. I have found I think that the people who use me, it’s not just because they like my pictures, it’s because they’re choosing me. And that’s honestly so much in wedding photography.

I mean, as photographers, we know that the average person doesn’t know what a good picture is. And so it’s so much about that relationship and what I give them, whether it’s in, you know, when they reach out to me or that in real estate that I offer absolutely everything that you would possibly need. When you’re listing a home, whether it’s $100,000 home, or whether it’s a $3 million home.

Quianna Marie
Wow, amazing!! And I love how you mentioned to you how you usually are teaching these realtors, and these home owners and designers like oh, wait, hold on like this, not just about looking pretty. Like these are the type of images you need. And I love that you have that knowledge to walk them through like basically a packet or checklist for everything that they would need for their shoot. And I would love to talk a little bit more. Let’s dig a little bit deeper. I’m like, wait, I want to go deeper about the edits.

So I love that you’re outsourcing because I’m all I’m a huge fan of get it done, get it done well and express it especially as you are booking so many of these shoots weekly. Oh my gosh. And so I guess my question is on the gamut of light and airy versus dark and moody like that style, like because I feel like I said like we hold an identity like we are the best, right? So no matter what you are, you know that it’s the best version of what you offer. So like, how do brand photographers and real estate photographers kind of release that identity as they’re moving forward? Right? Like, is it life like, right, so let’s talk about style. So

Megan Williamson
for real estate photography, true to life, like I as a wedding photographer, I would consider myself bright and airy for branding, I edit for the brand. So I have a huge questionnaire that they answer whether I you know, I’m following them on Instagram and can kind of see sometimes they don’t know what it is. So sometimes I’m I’m learning what their style is. But there’s, I edit for them. And so it’s you know, something I had a client maybe six months ago, dark and moody, totally not my style, love the shoot, the shoot was amazing. And it fits perfectly with her and then the next person is bright and airy. So yeah, that is one area that I feel like I had to let go on. Because it’s not about me, it’s about their brand. That

Quianna Marie
is so good. And we absolutely have to kind of like put our egos like in our camera bags, and just kind of like walk into these situations. And I love that you mentioned for any type of real estate photography, like we have to stay true to life, right? Like you don’t want to walk into a room after something that you’ve just seen listed on Zillow or realtor.com and think oh my gosh, this is beige. I told I thought it was gray online. Like you can’t confuse people, right? Like it has to be just like with clothing, right?

If you see a photograph that up online, the color matching may be a little off, but like not enough to be wrong, right? So I love that. Exactly. So good. So good. Megan, oh, my gosh, well, let’s continue the chat about this transition for you. And I would love if you could share some more of these income opportunities, right? Because I feel like especially for photographers in this kind of day and age, right? Like you mentioned, COVID kind of like flipped us upside down, buried some of us as photographers, some of us just had to put our cameras down, unfortunately, I think now as we’re kind of wrapping up, 2023 and rolling into this new year, we’re kind of reevaluating, like, who are we what are we doing, we’re having this whole, like rebirth like this Phoenix Rising is happening for a lot of US businesses.

So minus the fact that this was a great transition for you in this season of your life to run towards these branding shoots and these real estate, photography opportunities, because of your schedule, right? Like, I feel like that should sometimes it’s just enough to get us to go there. But I would really love for you. And I’m sorry, if it feels like bragging, I don’t care. I feel like people need to hear this. What type of income opportunities are we really looking at, in transition as you are stepping into branding, because I just, I just love the fact that you can do this during the week. So

Megan Williamson
I will say that as a wedding photographer, I was never what you would consider full time at the time my kids were pretty young, we homeschool our kids. Now they they’re high school, so they do their own thing. But like at the time, I was very much involved in their schooling and stuff. And so it was just it. Like I said earlier, it was something I loved doing. I loved getting out of the house, I loved being me again. But it was never full time income.

To be honest, I didn’t necessarily have these aspirations of what my photography business would look like. I mean, I’ve known that I would never go back to a normal job. That’s not me. I love owning my own business. But I don’t know if it was just a shift in my kids getting older that I just have this passion for small business and growing a business. And that’s not just in mine, like I love seeing other people succeed.

I think that’s where the branding comes in is that I want everyone to do well I don’t want to look at this person is a competitor or this person isn’t as a competitor, I just want to see people do well. So with that being said, when I jumped into real estate, I wasn’t like, Oh, I gotta make this much money. But in three and a half years of doing real estate photography, I went from low $20,000 to over six figures and just real estate photography. That’s not even my branding side of things. And so it has been the biggest blessing. I also have three different people that work for me now.

That’s how we’re able to do as many shoots as we do. And I have hopes that this next year, I’ll bring on another a couple other photographers as well. So it’s, it’s needed. It’s so needed. I mean, get online, and look at houses on Zillow and you will see how many people are not using professional photographers. It’s awful. And I know that even if I train people in my area and they start their own business, there are a net even with the market the way it is and not enough listings in our area, there is still enough work that I could not do at all. That

Quianna Marie
is so encouraging. Yeah, no, that is so encouraging. And I love that because you also have that heart just like I do where, like I really don’t even ever see competition. Like I am not naive to think that my clients are my clients, your clients or your clients. And I can’t serve everybody. And you can serve everybody, right? Like there’s always a need. And I just I love that you were very transparent to share that you weren’t leaving on the table a whole full time, right, like seven year wedding videography business.

I love your truth and transparency with that. So maybe you are a photographer that has gotten started with weddings. And maybe you love them. Maybe this is exactly the season you’re supposed to be in. And we are cheering for you. Because at one point, that’s how we felt too. Like this is exactly where I’m supposed to be. And so with this podcast, I love introducing new income opportunities, new job opportunities, because there there are some things Megan where I wish I had known about this a decade ago, like I wish I would have known that this was actually a job. Oh, absolutely. That’s crazy. Yeah.

Megan Williamson
Yeah. And I mean, and I say over and over again, it, it came at the perfect time because this is not if you have little ones at home unless you hire a babysitter. You can’t just leave and do because I’m in and out all day like after the podcast. I’m going to shoot a couple homes and I don’t, but I have kids that can be at home by themselves. So it’s not. This is not something I could have done even 10 years ago because I had a little ones at home.

I don’t know I love I absolutely love what I do like I find, again, when I was in wedding, I loved it at the time, but I did not have the passion that I had for wedding photography that I do now. And people will say, Oh, but shooting home seems so boring. I don’t know. Now I’m not in all amazing homes. I’m in some pretty bad homes, too. But for the most part, I don’t know. I love it.

Quianna Marie
Yes, well, you are such a wealth of knowledge, I would love for you to share a little bit more about some offerings and some education because not only are you yourself, or you or your associate team popping into these homes, basically daily. You guys have such an incredible team, and you have such a full calendar. But I would love for you to share a little bit more about your offers that are coming up and how if anyone is interested in stepping into this new niche, like where can I get information on this? Yeah.

Megan Williamson
So I’ve kind of joke all the time that when I was a wedding photographer that no one ever I think they thought like the job that I did was, you know, fun. I don’t know what they thought, I don’t know what they thought, or if they didn’t really consider a job. I’m not really sure. But like, since I’ve gotten into real estate photography, I get more people, whether I know them or don’t know them who reached out and like, are super interested in becoming a real estate photographer, which I think is so funny. So I don’t know, I don’t know what it is.

It seems more obtainable. I’m not sure. But I for a while I just had to keep telling people, you know, I would have conversations with them. But I just did this as much as I want to see other people succeed. Like I didn’t have the time like to just be on phone calls or Zoom calls or whatever, all the time. But I also have truly enjoyed teaching people like my one photographer, Becky, she went from never picking up a camera in her life before to being a real estate photographer.

So I know that you can you can do it, whether you have experienced or you don’t have experience. And so the one thing I have found is that when you’re looking for information to learn about real estate photography, there’s not a ton out there and that what is out there is a lot of men, which that’s fine. But I think that I get hired because not that I’m a woman, but because my personality. And I think that’s why people like me. And so I was like, what if I created a course for that. So for about six to seven months, that’s been in the works of creating that course that I’m hopefully launching in early spring. But before I launch that I’m going to be doing group coaching, because I love the the actual interaction with people. And so that’s probably something I’m not going to be doing all the time maybe once or twice a year. But I’m starting my first one at the end of January.

So I’m super excited about that. And I haven’t discounted right now because it’s my first one. And it’ll be in the show notes. But I’m offering a freebie that basically it’s not only how to prepare yourself for the shoe, because the last thing you want to do when you walk into a shoe is be standing there while the homeowners clean up. But it’s how to prepare the real tour to prepare the clients for the shoot, like what needs to be done ahead of time, as also as well as the go to shot list for real estate photography.

Quianna Marie
Oh, that’s juicy. I feel like everybody needs that. And that’s incredible, too, that you are already been so proactive with this photography and this shoot, right so we can absolutely learn from that. So make sure to check out the show notes for that freebie. Thank you, Megan. You’re welcome. Yeah, well, I was love. So not all of my listeners are photographers, right? And many of us are dreamers. And, you know, we may be getting into real estate and just all the things we’re not just in this photography bubble, a lot of us are just business owners and creatives.

I just I would love to kind of chat more about what homeowners Airbnb markets, and realtors can learn about investing in a professional photographer. We kind of giggled earlier about looking at those, those photos on Zillow and realtor and Redfin and just kind of laughing thinking what the heck In fact, I think I even follow account on Tik Tok where they post like the most ridiculous like home designs Right? Like, like how did somebody just it’s like what like what’s going on? Like, not just that they’re crappy photos, but why is this in someone’s home? Right like carpet in the bathroom? Like, like just weird doors that go nowhere? Yep. So I would love if you can share, like why is it so important to invest in a in a professional for these listing?

Megan Williamson
We’ll start with real estate. There’s a lot if you’re a real store, you know, there’s the whole fair housing market and what you can and cannot do with a listing words you can use can’t use and how you have to treat clients. And one thing that I cannot understand is why it’s not required for professional pictures. Because you’ll have some realtors who just go in and take cell phone pictures of it. Every listing they have, and that’s, that’s their brand, that’s what they do. Still not okay with it, but whatever. But then you’ll have other realtors who will choose the price point of when they hire a photographer to come in.

I feel so strongly that what you’re saying to that client who has a lower income home is they’re not worthy of professional pictures. And to be honest, I live in the Midwest, prices are not that high. If you go out to California, probably even Phoenix or you know, other areas of the country, hiring a real estate photographer is going to be a lot more money here, it is not that much money. And I would guess even out there, it’s not that much. It’s such a small portion of what you’re paying to put your best foot forward and market a property.

People you get more clients in the future is to how you treat past clients, and what you show that you’re going to do for their listing. So I mean, I’m always saying it’s not just a real estate shoot, it’s a branding strategy when you hire a photographer to do those pictures of a house. And I think one of the things that people need to look at is that don’t quote me on this, it’s gonna be quoting on a post podcast, but I think it’s like 20%, and you can correct me if I’m wrong is supposed to be put back into marketing, when you’re selling something, when you have a small business, it’s a pretty high number.

Yeah, yeah, when you’re spending a couple $100 on a real estate listing, that is, that’s your marketing, that really is your marketing. And so for not very much, definitely not 20% of what you’re gonna make off of that house, even if it’s a lower income home, and all of the other things that go into what you bring home, it’s so small to do it. So that’s my, like, how do you want to be seen to future clients? It’s not just that house, you’re selling it your your yourself to other your future clients? As for Airbnbs, I’m not gonna stay in house as bad picture.

Quianna Marie
Hey, no, you’re right. Absolutely.

Megan Williamson
If you won’t, because that is a higher price point. Because for me, as a photographer, that ongoing marketing, it’s going to be, I might reach out in two years and say, Hey, have you done any updates to the property? Do you need updated photography, but if they haven’t done anything, they don’t need any new pictures. It’s not something that you’re doing on a regular basis. So it’s going to be a higher price point, because you’re taking these beautiful pictures, and you’re going to be making income after income after income on that. And if people are not going to spend money on a professional photographer, what else? Are they skipping corners on for a vacation rental? Like, are they not cleaning the house? Or then like there’s so many things that come to mind? When there’s that professional for an Airbnb,

Quianna Marie
you’re right. No, you’re absolutely right. Because you’re thinking, Wait a minute, are you actually cleaning these things like if you’re willing to skip corners on literally like you said before, like putting your best foot forward like this is easily your marketing and people are making such fast decisions when it comes to swiping through Airbnb or VRBO.

All these different platforms, like you want your stuff to not just shine and, and I love how you mentioned that because I’ve actually stayed like Mike and I and the dogs have stayed at these cabins that do not have the most luxurious, you know, furniture or has like the top of the line appliances. But the photography sold us because it looks safe, it looks clean. And it’s just a cute little cabin in the woods, like and you know, like that’s what we’re going for. But your photography is worth the investment.

Megan Williamson
Yes, yes. Then I shoot for custom home builders as well and obviously, that’s their marketing for future future clients. So they want to show the work that they did, they’ve spent all this time and money and building these amazing homes on the coast or Lake Michigan and, and so they don’t want subpar pictures, they want to show the best of the best. And a lot of times there’s designers involved, there’s a lot lot going on. So I look, it’s definitely marketing for all of them. But it’s like ongoing marketing, for your vacation rentals and your custom home. So that’s just a little bit different. And then we offer video and all kinds of other things to go with it. That’s

Quianna Marie
amazing. So you really are this one stop marketing, brand real estate, just all the things I love that. So how often do you think Realtors should be hiring photographers? Is it something that they come at you only when they have a new listing? Or do you do updated branding and headshot photos often like what does that look like for your business?

Megan Williamson
Okay, for real estate, obviously when they have a new listing. Sometimes if a house isn’t selling, then that would be the time to do like a realtor spotlight video just to get some more footage and have something else to put out there. Or if you’re going to do a major price reduction, something like that. That would be when you would put They have us come back in or a social media real. As for pictures, what they typically do is if they want to catch people’s eyes again, they’ll change some pictures out or change the front. They don’t need me to come back out.

As for headshots update your headshots yearly. If you’re not going to do yearly, at least every other year, we as photographers, and real tours, anyone who’s in the service industry can not hide behind a picture. I don’t always love exactly what I look like or where I’m at, in my appearance, but I can’t hide like you see me, I’m out and about all the time. So yeah, I can show a picture from 10 years ago, but that’s not what I look like now. And so it is my like, this, like, secret goal of bringing real tours out of the 90s. Yeah,

Quianna Marie
no, seriously, take them away from the gray backdrops. Yeah,

Megan Williamson
yes, yes. And even if you’re going to do a traditional backdrop, I update the picture, just update the picture. So I mean, I love it, I shoot for a magazine every month. That’s a real estate magazine. And my I love when we’re in a house and we’re shooting because that’s what they do. Like it’s obvious. That’s what they do. Now, it doesn’t always work because maybe they don’t live in the perfect house. It’s fast turnaround. So we can’t always do an Airbnb. But maybe they don’t live in the perfect house for pictures and they don’t have a listing. So we have other options.

But I love when realtors are in houses because that’s what they do. It doesn’t have to be the million dollar home. It can be I mean, who is your ideal client? When it comes to real tours, then I always ask them in the questionnaire who’s their ideal client, and it’s always 18 to 100. And I’m like, Yeah, I know that you’ll serve anyone I’ll serve anyone to. But who do you find yourself working the most with? Like our shout out to my husband. My husband is an incredible first time homebuyer because he explains things so well. So yeah, well, he lists a million dollar home or buy a million dollar home was absolutely, he’s not going to push those people away. And he’ll do a great job at it. But he also attracts people who are younger, and is probably first time buying maybe first time selling because they want all the information. And he’s going to explain that. So who is it that you’re attracting or want to attract?

Quianna Marie
Oh, I love that so much. And I’m literally getting the chills right now I just recently did a brand shoot, it was one of my lucky 13 shoots. For a realtor Her name is Rosie Oh, and like she’s just so cute. I was asking her because it’s funny, you mentioned that we’re kind of like coaching these brands through these content shoots, right? And I asked her, who were you selling to. First she said everyone write for her. She was like, oh, anyone who is looking to buy a home in this Phoenix Scottsdale area, like whatever. And I’m like, okay, but like, who really lights you up who really is someone that you want to sell to. And she kind of paused for a second.

She’s like, I really, really want to try to target women who are in their late 20s, early 30s. Someone who may not have found their person yet, but is successful in their own right and just needs a nest just needs maybe you know, their first home. And as she was describing this woman, I literally got this flood of all these ideas. And I was just thinking, okay, and so maybe this woman has children, right? Maybe maybe she has young kids, maybe she’s single or maybe it is a first time home for a young family.

But I was literally running through all these ideas like this, what happens on my idea, like how it just starts flooding in and I was like, Okay, great. So we’re taking these headshots today. But next time, let’s go to a local park, let’s go to a local location where, you know, like these, like, let’s highlight some local schools that you love to that are safe, and that are really great schools in the neighborhood, right?

There were so many other things that we can photograph that resemble so much more than just you looking pretty and looking capable to sell their house. So I love that you’ve mentioned that where it’s like, there’s so many people that are like, Oh, I’ll work with anybody and we will but when we target Wait a second, this is the exact soul and the family that I’m trying to help. Wow. Like everything changes and it makes it actually easier to come up with content. Yeah.

Megan Williamson
And I think to like as real tours, like stop and think who fulfills you like when you when you worked with all of these different clients, where do you feel that you’re making a difference then it’s not just buying and selling a house but like your you know, they’re investing in their future and you know, is it again the first time homebuyer who you know, these are huge steps for their future and it just you help guide them that way versus just renting and throwing money away. I mean, there’s just think about what fulfills you?

Quianna Marie
Yes. Oh my gosh, I love this. So can you share a little bit more? Let’s say that as a realtor or an Airbnb, I know we’re kind of like talk One of the things about home. But what are some ways that you and your team help elevate their online presence? So like I said, like, it’s not just making them look pretty and making sure that if you go meet them for a walkthrough that you’re not going out with the person who was their body image from 1994, like what they really look like today, right? So alongside keeping them up to date, what are some ways that we can elevate their presence online.

Megan Williamson
Because it’s kind of all over the place, real estate, you know, I live by Notre Dame. And so a lot of stuff goes, whether it’s vacation rentals, or homes around Notre Dame, so featuring their stuff online, real estate can go pretty quickly. So it’s, especially in the last couple of years, it’s been really hard to give shout outs to listings because it’s like, post and it’s gone. And I’m like, Okay, well, I barely see the picture. But I love featuring different realtors that I’ve taken pictures of and showing them and I mean, the Airbnbs if they have Instagram and stuff, I’ll definitely always tag them vacation or custom homes, stuff like that, showing videos.

One of the newest things we started offering are these realtor spotlights. That’s where a realtor goes in. They talk where it’s all video. And so they go in, and they’re talking about whether it’s the house or what it’s near, or features or, or whatever that makes this house stand out. Then it’s also kind of a walkthrough of the home as well, with the realtor talking about it. And this is what I tell. And then we post them on Instagram and obviously share about it as well.

So it’s double marketing. And then other the other thing is that like then other real tours see it and I mean, it’s a huge cycle. But like that is exactly where I tell my clients that yes, this is to help sell this house. But it also could make a huge difference when you go in for your next listing appointment as to whether or not they choose you for their house because they know that you’re going to pull out all the stops for their home.

Quianna Marie
Oh yes, totally. And you’re right. It is it’s marketing in like seven different ways. Right. So it’s not just good marketing and like basically PR for the home that they’re selling. But it’s proving that they may be the best candidate for the next customer. The next plant.

Megan Williamson
Yeah. And I think one of the really nice things that I’ve found living in the Midwest is that like, we’re behind the times. And so you like see all of this already on the on the east and west coast. And it’s just trickling in here. It’s fun being on the front edge of that, and stepping into it with my clients, because it’s not something they’ve seen around here before.

I don’t know, it’s just fun watching it spread and the excitement, like my husband did one. And it was, I mean, really not a super expensive home. And obviously everyone’s like Jeremy always gets everything because it’s wife step tog refer the benefits of being married to the diver. But like we did one, it wasn’t this super special home. The feedback he got from people was like that was such an awesome video that you did. And so it just goes to show that it’s not just again, the million dollar homes, this was like $140,000 home, maybe. And he went in and he talked about it, and it was people loved it. It’s under contract now.

Quianna Marie
And love that. Well that right there is the power of literally community, right? So you have a realtor who like he or she knows what they’re doing. And the photographer, the videographer, team, all of this comes together so beautifully. So we’re all winning, right? Like, I just think it’s such a cool concept. And I’m just so excited for you, I love that you took this leap of faith, and you are truly paving the way for others. In closing, what key tip would you love to share with photographers? In fact, actually, let’s break this up into two because we were all over the place in this conversation, we kind of do a little end cap for us.

So what key tip would you love to share with photographers today who are interested in this new venture, they’re nervous about kind of releasing something that they’ve done for years, or maybe Gosh of three and seven questions that you started making. Or maybe for someone that is just wanting to jump into this right away. Like you said, your one associate, she’s never picked up a camera before and she’s thriving. So what key tip would you like to share with photographers today?

Megan Williamson
I had the opportunity presented to me and it was a blessing. Obviously not everyone’s going to have that opportunity where someone was like, hey, we need this. Where are you willing to do it? They said here and it was for an entire brokerage team. So that was huge. And to this day, they’re still my biggest client because it’s for multiple real tours. But what I would say is start taking pictures in your home. You can take spaces anywhere to practice so start practicing those pictures, sign up for my group coaching. Just get it watch YouTube videos, do lots of that it wasn’t like the day that I stepped into a home that I knew what I was doing, and it has proved aggressively gotten better and better. And I learned new techniques and I shoot differently for different styles of property, but just start shooting.

You can even you don’t have to go out and buy the wide angle lens, use what you have, because you can still get the HDR, the lighting, everything, it’s just not going to be as wide of an angle. So you don’t have to go out and make these purchases right now. And then the next thing I would say, is get involved. So whether it’s finding out that there’s local meetups for real tours, or I mean anything that you can go to, to get in front of people, and is it’s going to be huge, fine. If you have a real everyone, there’s tons of Realtors, if you have a real tour friend, say, Hey, can I do this for free, you know, that type of thing.

Sometimes it’s just getting in with the right person, and then your name spreading. And then you’ve people, they love you. Then they say your name and then reds and it’s crazy. Don’t feel like you have to offer everything off the bat that will come and you will need to do that because they don’t want to have to go to five different people to get everything that they need. But I didn’t offer anything more than pictures for the probably the first year. And then now I offer everything from pictures to video to floor plans to Matterport and Zillow 3d, like anything you would need for real estate I offer but it took me time to get there. So you don’t have to have it all in the beginning. So that’s for real estate. I

Quianna Marie
love that so much. That’s like that’s really encouraging to be just kind of like bootstrapping things, getting things going from the ground up, like you can start today. And I love that because I used to remember, even when I coach wedding photographers today, it’s like, you don’t need to have an actual wedding day to literally take off your ring and start photographing it to practice or you know, ask a friend or ask a couple, like, put yourself in these rooms where these people are.

Don’t be afraid to offer them something for free or to just get your name out there. So I love that you mentioned that and, and taking these baby steps like you don’t have to just overnight, start offering these services that you don’t even know how to deliver. Right, right.

Megan Williamson
Yeah, I mean, that’s the thing, like in the beginning, I used Cloud spot to send my galleries, and each brokerage would have a different one. would do that, well, a year ago, just a year ago, I switched to a platform called Aereo, which is made for real estate photographers, and it’s invalid because I would invoice before I would like send an invoice through honey book.

Then I would send the galleries through cloud spot and Dropbox to the editor will now area which is made for that is an all in one. And so they’re placing their order through there.

Whereas I was using Calendly before it was just like it comes but everything comes with a cost too. So I would never recommend someone who’s starting to go out and purchase all these things if they already have gallery hosting and all the other things that they’re paying for until they their business grows like don’t go in debt to become a real estate photographer. You can you can get there beforehand. You can rent lenses. I mean, there’s just so many so many options. Yes,

Quianna Marie
I love this. And it’s so encouraging. This is something that is going to take time, but it’s worth it you’re going to perfect your your craft are to sharpen your tools with every project. So just get started. Yes. Okay. And then in closing, because I love all these key tips. Would you please share with us today? Megan, a key tip for realtors. What something that they need to know today?

Megan Williamson
floorplans order floor plans with pictures. That is the number two thing next to pictures that homeowners or people buying want to see. Because I can take pictures of every corner of a room and try to show openings. But you can’t completely see it until you have that floor plan. It’s not. I’ll go on also. Yeah, right now, what most realtors are using in our area are a twilight picture to sell a property a fake Twilight picture, I should say. I don’t know if it’s a big thing around you. But it’s a huge thing around here and it is. As a photographer. It’s embarrassing to see. We

Quianna Marie
can explain what a twilight is. I don’t know maybe I just don’t know what it’s called. Yeah,

Megan Williamson
so a twilight picture is at right after sunset. A true Twilight picture is right after sunset, where you see all the lights on in the home and the glowing and it’s beautiful and typically meant for high end homes or lots of windows. It’s not it’s supposed to be a wow factor. That is not something that you do want to ever have. So I do offer that as an additional cost and I only do a handful year, which I’m happy with because again like I said sunsets at 930 So I’m out late doing those. I’m a fake Twilight is where it’s all superimposed. So they take it It’s called feta.

Well, they call it data desk where they take a day picture. And they bring it to look like it’s dusk. And they put these you can always tell, well, there’s lots of reasons you can tell. But you can’t see in the windows because it’s these fake windows they put in. They’ll do it on like, the lowest of the low income homes. And you’re like, What is going on here? I can’t tell you how many people come up to me whether they’re a photographer or not a photographer, and I’m like, why are they doing this? Why am I seeing this online? Like, this is awful. Like people are hating it.

They just keep doing keep sharing their pictures that way. That’s not what people are wanting, they want floorplans invest that extra money in a floor plan, floor plan where people can look at the images and go, Oh, okay, this is where you know, the house is, or this is where this room is at. Because we know that real tours, a lot of times are showing homes in the evenings and Saturdays.

If a client can ahead of time go, I don’t want the master on this side of the house and my kids bedrooms here or whatever, it rolls it out right off the bat, and you’re not wasting your time, showing houses that they aren’t even interested in because it doesn’t even remotely meet the requirements that they have.

Quianna Marie
I love that so much. So can I ask you because I have a million questions. How are you actually doing that? Like, is it like a program that you use to do this? Or is it literally just like an AutoCAD sketch that you guys throw together? Like, what does that look like?

Megan Williamson
It’s an app on my phone. And it’s called QB casa. And I’m not an affiliate or anything, I don’t know if they have an affiliate. I’m sure it’s AI. It’s crazy. And it takes me about three and a half minutes to do. I mean, I did probably a 7000 square foot home, and maybe took me five minutes to do it super fast. And it does measurements and everything.

So it’s just think of like a blueprint that has just the outlines of the rooms with the door opening with dimensions. That’s what it creates. And I do it, I send it and I get it the next day to include with the listing, and then you can do other things like 3d and stuff that costs cost more money, but just a basic floor plan enhances that listing so much.

Quianna Marie
Wow, that’s so amazing, Megan, and I like kind of want that just for me when I start looking. Right? Yeah, I was like, Wait a second, because that’s my thing, right? Because Mike and I were looking for a home. And same thing, like we are so obsessed with the layouts. And we want to know, like, where it like you said, like, where are the bedrooms? Like, where’s the kitchen located to the backyard? And how is this going to work with our dogs and all the different things and you’re already disqualifying, or qualifying people before leave even have to get in your car and meet them somewhere. Like, I love that.

Megan Williamson
Well, and like what you’re saying too, is that like the other day, I went and did one for a house that was already under contract, because the people buying the house wanted a floor plan. So it’s not even not even just for getting into like seeing it ahead of time. Sometimes you’re only in that house once or twice before you make that offer. And you don’t get to be in it a lot more before you close.

You have the floor plan in front of you that you know dimensions for sizes, if you need to buy furniture, if this is going to fit, do I move this or not move this because it’s not going to work. I can’t tell you how many times a floor plan has not been ordered. And I’ve scanned the house because I like to lay out of it. Because we’re doing an addition right now in our house. And then we’re changing out things and making a new master bedroom and I’m like, oh, maybe this will work in that space. And I just scan it for dimensions and layout for myself.

Quianna Marie
That’s amazing. Oh my gosh, you know, like all of the little tricks and all of this really, really great education on this seriously, Megan? So how can we work with you whether we want to hire you for a real estate photos? Or we want to learn more information about your courses and all this really good education coming up? How can we connect with you?

Megan Williamson
So I’m Meghan Williamson, and I am located in South Bend, Indiana, but I travel all over the country for vacation homes and custom homes not so much for real estate. You can find me on Instagram I’m on there a lot so you can always DM me and that’s Meg Williamson photography. And then you can also connect with me through my website, which is mag Williamson photography.com. And you’ll find my phone number if you want to call or text but I I love meeting new people. I always answer my phone. If you’re wanting to get into real estate photography, shoot me a DM and I can send you the information for group coaching. Or if you’re interested in having me do pictures for your listing. You can message me and we’ll talk

Quianna Marie
amazing. Thank you so much Megan. And before we close, I just want to share that our connection happened because this was part of the podcast right as these I call these the connection calls and I love introducing my real life friends to the podcast. And I just want to share that I actually met you recently just last year at the spark which is a united event for photographers signers and just all the web, all things websites.

Then our friendship has grown really quickly with connection to our friend Tara. And so I just I just think that is so fun. And I just kind of want to hit home before we wrap up today about like, that’s the power of showing up to these events. Like you never know it. We are always one friendship away from changing our entire life. Like, this is crazy.

Megan Williamson
It’s true. And you know, I had a friend recently say to me, like, I don’t understand it. You have friends all over the country. And I’m like, going to these differently. They’re whether I’m in masterminds, or I’ve gone to different events across the country like has there and I feel like, I’ve met so many people, and I feel like they’re truly friends. Like, I can call up and say, Hey, I’m going to be in town. Can we connect? Can I stay with you? Like, it’s crazy? Yeah. And I absolutely love it. I love watching everyone’s businesses thrive and seeing what steps they’re taking and just the connections that are being made and learning from each other.

Quianna Marie
Absolutely amazing. Well, we cannot wait to have you come out to Phoenix, come out to Arizona. Come hang out with us. We would love to host and go get some food and go take some fun photos in the desert. Like all the things so

Megan Williamson
I know I need desert pictures. I told Tara next time I’m out there. I need desert picture. Yes.

Quianna Marie
Oh, my goodness. Well, thank you for your time, your wisdom and all of your attention to detail today. I feel like you dropped so many golden nuggets for us. And we’re just so encouraging for maybe tapping into this next income strategy. So thank you so much, Megan. You’re welcome. Thanks

Megan Williamson
for having me.

Quianna Marie
I could talk to Megan for hours and hours about Brigantine education for photographers and real estate. Wasn’t that one gold. Please reference the show notes for any of the links and freebies listed it’s just stay connected with Megan. Don’t forget to follow along with more posts and behind the scene moments on her instagram at Meg Williamson photography.

Your Megan is out there babe, but she’s busy photographing homes in your neighborhood sipping on white chocolate mocha is gardening and tending to her animals on the weekend with family and traveling the country for a luxury real estate shoots. Remember, we’re always just one connection and friendship away from a whole new life. I told you from the beginning, when we hang out. Be careful.

This is your warning. You may just walk away wanting to start a business and have an entirely new life. As always, I’m cheering for you. This episode touches from Arizona to Indiana. Please grab a screenshot of what you’re doing while you’re listening and tag your state on social media to share where you’re tuning in from to we can’t wait to share it and celebrate you for listening. Hope you have a wonderful day and a Magical Christmas season.

We are praying for you and love you always may your business be blessed beyond measure. All right. Okay, love you. Bye.

That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie Weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing!