Module 6

The Systems

The systems that make the work repeatable: scheduling, delivery, files and the back office.

9 lessons · 21 minutes

These lessons were recorded in 2023 and reviewed in 2026. The method holds up; specific gear, prices and software menus have moved on since. Where a lesson names a camera body or a price, treat it as an example rather than a current recommendation.

1. Introduction — The SystemsAn overview of the systems and processes you need to run a smooth RE photography business.
   1 min
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   Transcript of the recorded lesson. Recorded 2023, reviewed 2026.

   In this section of the course I'm going to go over the systems you'll need to get your real estate photography business up and running. The basic systems you'll need will include a website, an order form, a free Gmail account, a system for scheduling, and systems for delivering invoices and payment processing. When you're just starting out it's important to keep things basic and as cheap as possible so that you can retain as much revenue as you can to use for business growth. It's also important to make it easy for your customers to do business with you and having the right systems will help you accomplish just that. I'm excited to share the systems with you. Let's get started.

2. SchedulingSetting up a scheduling system that works for you and your clients.2 min
3. Delivering PhotosHow to deliver photos professionally and efficiently to your clients.
   2 min
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   Transcript of the recorded lesson. Recorded 2023, reviewed 2026.

   In this video I'm going to talk about product delivery. The last thing you want to do is type out a delivery email for each and every order. Automating as much as possible is going to free up your time and allow you to do more. We currently have a custom back in where we add links to products and emails are automatically sent to our customers with SendGrid. This isn't practical for most so I'm going to share how we deliver products to our customers for many years that is simple and efficient. First you'll want to create a template for each product you offer. You can do this by enabling templates in G Suite, using CanResponse's and Streak CRM for

   Gmail or using templates and the Chrome extension for HubSpot CRM. HubSpot is a customer relationship management tool with a ton of free features like templates. What's nice about Streak and HubSpot is that you can see if your customers viewed your delivery emails. Sometimes our emails go to the spam folder so this is a nice feature to have. Regarding the product templates you can check out the ones that we use in the course bonus section. Your templates are likely going to be different but this is an excellent place to start. We have a template for each product and depending on what the customer ordered we choose the appropriate template and add product links.

   We also send customer surveys with every delivery email. We get a lot of great feedback from our customers with our surveys. It allows us to know how the customer experience was and coach and recognize our team members. The survey system we currently use is Nice Reply. We like Nice Reply because it easily integrates with Zapier and we get instant notifications for each new survey. These notifications allow us to respond extremely fast should a follow up with a customer be necessary. So these are the elements of our delivery emails. Having templates set up with customer surveys will go a long way with providing a great customer experience. If you guys have any additional questions feel free to reach out. We'll see you guys on the next one.

4. Invoicing & Payment ProcessingSetting up invoicing, payment collection, and billing systems for your photography business.3 min
5. TaxesWhat you need to know about taxes as a real estate photography business.2 min
6. Building Your WebsiteCreating a professional website that showcases your work and converts visitors into clients.
   2 min
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   Transcript of the recorded lesson. Recorded 2023, reviewed 2026.

   In this video I'm going to talk about building your website. Now when I started Lister Pros in 2013, WordPress was a common website builder. It was simple, easy to use, and didn't cost an arm and a leg. So we used WordPress and a plugin called Gravity Forms. Now if I was starting a real estate media business today, I would keep it simple at the beginning. All you need is a simple website and an order form to start taking orders. I would recommend Wix or Squarespace today if you don't know a whole lot about building websites or don't have a lot of technical know-how. If you're more tech savvy and are familiar with building websites, then feel free to venture

   off from these. Wix does have a real estate photography specific template that you can use which makes it really easy to get up and running fast. All you need to do is swap out some photos, update the information, and create an order form and you'll be in business. You'll pay between $20 and $30 a month which is a great deal because that includes your domain, hosting, and other features that Wix offers. Now the website should be pretty straight forward to setup. Most order forms should be able to handle pricing variables, so if you decide to price based on square footage, you'll have to add these variables.

   Some of you may decide not to deal with these variables and go with flat rate pricing based on number of photos instead of square footage. If you go this route, it makes the order form setup process a little bit easier as you're not dealing with so many variables. Once you get your site and order form up and running, it'll be a little inefficient initially but in spending time setting up additional tools like Zapier, the process will get easier. I wouldn't worry too much about efficiency until you start getting a good amount of orders. Your time is better spent initially building relationships with potential customers. That's going to do it for this video. Reach out if you have any questions. We'll see you guys on the next one.

7. Business Mileage & TrackingTracking and deducting business mileage for tax savings using Mile IQ and similar tools.
   2 min
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   Transcript of the recorded lesson. Recorded 2023, reviewed 2026.

   In this video I'm going to talk about tracking your business mileage.

   When you're first starting your business you typically are using your personal vehicle for business purposes so it's important to track your business mileage because depending on how much driving you're doing this can be one of the most significant tax deductions for your business. Now this would depend on where you live and your business structure so make sure to look into business mileage reimbursement rates and rules for the area in which you live. One of the hardest things is tracking your drives individually for personal and business use while using the same vehicle. There are a lot of tools out there that can make this process quite simple. The app that we've used for years and that we recommend is MylIQ. Microsoft owns

   MylIQ and what this app does is it tracks your drives automatically. You swipe left or right depending on whether the drive was for business or personal use. So if you're using a personal vehicle for both business and personal use this is the application that we recommend. There are alternatives as well that you can check out on the app store or just google MylIQ alternatives. Now using an application like MylIQ will likely require additional documentation for tax purposes. It's important to keep track of all your appointments and calendar events to ensure that you have all your bases covered if you ever get audited. You want to consult your

   tax advisor or CPA to ensure that you're following all the proper guidelines in your area before using an application like MylIQ. That's going to do it for this video. Reach out if you have any questions. We'll see you guys on the next one.

8. Systems & Software We UseA complete overview of every system and tool we use at ListerPros — from startup through growth stages.6 min
9. Summary — The SystemsKey takeaways from the systems module and your next steps.
   1 min
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   Transcript of the recorded lesson. Recorded 2023, reviewed 2026.

   Guys in this section we went over the systems you'll need to get your real estate photography business up and running. Your homework for this section is to set up the basic systems you'll need to start taking orders. This includes a basic website, order form, cloud storage, a gmail account, and an invoice and payment processing system. If you guys have any additional questions as you set up your systems, don't hesitate to reach out and we'll see you guys on the next one.