Best Virtual Staging Services For Real Estate Photographers

Scheduling is a fundamental part of your business and deserves to be well thought out. You want to find a system that serves your clients well, while also giving you a way to efficiently handle this repetitive admin task. Many photographers believe they need to fully automate the booking process, but this isn’t always the case! It highly depends on your current and future goals as a photographer.

So… What type of photographer are you? Are you looking to grow your business by expanding your team or consistently raising your prices as a solopreneur? Do you want to move into industries outside of residential real estate such as architecture, design, and construction?

If you plan to stay in the residential real estate industry and hope to expand your team of photographers, then an automated scheduling system makes A LOT of sense. In short, this business strategy lends itself more to automation and efficiency. With this model, you will most likely have a concise set of productized services that are easily selectable with a few add-on options. For example, you may have a “25 photo package” with the option to add aerial photos, a floor plan, or 360 virtual tour.

However, if you want to focus on your craft as a solopreneur – consistently raising your prices, and possibly pushing towards other industries with larger budgets – then a scheduling system most likely isn’t needed! This business strategy lends itself more to service and quality. If this is the case for you, I would stick with the classics: email, text, and phone calls. This can help foster better relationships with your clients by encouraging one-on-one conversations about their goals for each shoot.

For photographers just starting out, I would highly recommend taking the advice of the great Michael Scott: keep it simple, stupid. Don’t worry about finding the perfect booking system, just place a simple contact form on your website and be available for calls whenever you can. This is by far the cheapest and simplest solution for both you AND your clients. Many real estate agents are always on the go and simply want to text something like, “new shoot for you downtown, photos and video asap, when can you do it?”… From here it’s a simple couple of texts and the shoot is scheduled.

So when does this simple solution start to fail? If you are so busy that it takes 1-2 days to reply to a text, it’s time to look for a more automated system. See our list of recommended systems below, categorized as simple, partially automated, and fully automated.

QUICK LINKS

The simple solution…

This simplest solution for scheduling your real estate photography shoots is taking calls, texts, and emails, then organizing your projects with a digital calendar. Simple.

As mentioned above, this solution is great for those wanting to emphasize personal service to their clients, as you’ll be communicating with your clients more often to discuss their vision for each project and the services they need to accomplish their goals. This simple scheduling solution is also great for photographers who are just starting out, as it’s the easiest solution to set up and it minimizes costs.

Google Forms Logo

workspace.google.com – Starts at $6/mo

Google Workspace is a great option for your business email, and of course it comes with Google Calendar.

Google Forms Logo

voice.google.com – Starts at $10/mo

Google Voice is helpful to keep business calls and texts separate from your personal number. A nice benefit of using Google Voice is that it conveniently sends voicemails, missed calls, and texts to your email, allowing your business email to be the one place to manage all communication. You can use your personal phone number and a free email account, but separating your personal and business activity is worth the extra few dollars a month, even if you are just starting out.

The partially automated solution…

If you are looking for more than the simple solution, but think the fully automated scheduling solutions are a bit much, then a custom form builder might be the best option for you! It’s in the name, “custom”. You can achieve a lot with these systems, but it may take some additional effort to get them set up just the way you want.

Google Forms Logo

forms.google.com – FREE

Google forms is great if you are already a Google workspace user! It’s one of the easiest form builders available. The main weakness is that it lacks a calendar integration, but its strength is that it’s free with any Gmail or Google workspace account.

🔴 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🔴 Booking reminders
🔴 Fully whitelabeled
🔴 Stripe integration
🔴 Quickbooks integration
🔴 Customer portals
🔴 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

paperform logo

paperform.co – Starts at $20/mo

Paperform provides near endless customization possibilities and it cleanly integrates with Google Calendar. Paperform’s greatest strength is that you can accomplish nearly anything you want! Their form builder is very intuitive and simple to use, but it will take some work to build it up from scratch.

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🔴 Booking reminders
🟢 Fully whitelabeled
🟢 Stripe integration
🟢 Quickbooks integration
🔴 Customer portals
🔴 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

Learn how to set up Paperform from a fellow real estate photographer...

The fully automated solution…

The following systems are built to maximize automation and efficiency. Many of these solutions are especially great if you are trying to manage a team. You’ll notice two types of systems below, “scheduling systems” and “field service management systems”. The first set of scheduling systems will likely work best for most photographers, however the field service management systems are for those wanting deeper project, team, and client management.

acuityscheduling.com – Starts at $14/mo – Scheduling System

Acuity scheduling is probably the most popular option among real estate photographers, which is a good sign when looking for a new system that will work with your business. This is the only system on our list that checks all the boxes!

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🟢 Fully whitelabeled
🟢 Stripe integration
🟢 Quickbooks integration
🟢 Customer portals
🟢 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

remark.re – Free to start – Scheduling System

Remark’s booking system includes all the fundamentals, but with one great advantage: traffic aware booking. This means customers only see availability if you have time to make the drive to and from their location. You can also add fees for long drives, take same-day bookings, set a max travel radius, scale service times based on property size or service combo and more…

SPECIAL OFFER >>  Get a 30 day free trial by going to https://remark.re/?ref=showandtour

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🟡 Fully whitelabeled (enterprise)
🟢 Stripe integration
🔴 Quickbooks integration
🟢 Customer portals
🔴 Social media integration
🟡 Support for multiple staff (enterprise + api)
🟢 Support for service areas

Unique Features

🔵 Traffic aware booking
🔵 Customizatoin via API

Watch to learn more about Remark's traffic aware scheduling system...

setmore.com – Free to start – Scheduling System

Setmore gives you a feature packed booking system at an unbeatable price. The Premium version is just $5/mo per user when you sign up for an annual subscription. While they don’t have a Quickbooks integration, they work with Stripe, Square, and Paypal.

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🔴 Fully whitelabeled
🟢 Stripe integration
🔴 Quickbooks integration
🟢 Customer portals
🟢 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

Learn about another real estate photographer's experience with Setmore...

simplybook.me – Free to start – Scheduling System

SimplyBook.me has a lot to offer! If you are not a Quickbooks user, they check all the boxes. Make sure to review their extensive list of features on their website and see below for a video on how to set up a booking page for photographers.

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🟢 Fully whitelabeled
🟢 Stripe integration
🔴 Quickbooks integration
🟢 Customer portals
🟢 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

Learn how to set up a booking page for Photographers with SimplyBook.me...

squareup.com/appointments – Free to start – Scheduling System

Square is a large company with many other business solutions, so if you are already in their ecosystem this option makes a lot of sense! See the video below for some of the options available with Square appointments.

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🔴 Fully whitelabeled
🔴 Stripe integration
🟢 Quickbooks integration
🟢 Customer portals
🟢 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

Learn how to set up online booking with Square Appointments...

fieldd.co – Starts at $49/mo – Field Service Management System

Fieldd is an incredible option for teams small and large, and comes highly recommended by other real estate photographers. Their system smartly takes into account travel times, service areas, and shoot durations to ensure your team’s schedule is optimized. If you are looking to stand out, their booking widget is also one of the most unique and best looking!

SPECIAL OFFER >>  Use the code “howdy23” to get 50% off your first month. 💪

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🟢 Fully whitelabeled
🟢 Stripe integration
🟡 Quickbooks integration (via Zapier)
🟢 Customer portals
🔴 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

Unique Features

🔵 Branded app for your business
🔵 Powerful team management

getjobber.com – Starts at $49/mo – Field Service Management System

Jobber is another great field service management solution with everything you might need to manage your team and efficiently schedule projects. From custom reporting, client messaging, auto reminders, and invoicing follow ups; you’ll be able to efficiently run your real estate photographer business.

🟢 Google Calendar integration
🟢 Embed on your website
🟢 Booking reminders
🟢 Fully whitelabeled
🟢 Stripe integration
🟢 Quickbooks integration
🟢 Customer portals
🔴 Social media integration
🟢 Support for multiple staff
🟢 Support for service areas

Unique Features

🔵 Bookings directly from Google Search
🔵 Powerful team management
🔵 Email and postcard marketing