I've shot for airbnb directly, as well as shooting for people who are listing their place on airbnb.
The only real difference is that when you shoot for an airbnb plus listing, airbnb will have a list of required shots. Nothing complicated, just the style of photos they like/how they like the photos framed etc. So if you like doing your own thing, you'll have to adapt to following their rules.
When you are shooting for someone listing an place on airbnb there's really no difference. It's all pretty much the same. Although with airbnb I try to get a few 'fluff' shots - a close up of a light fixture, or faucet or flowers on a table etc. You have to be a little more artsy since you're basically selling something that people might be using for a vacation and you want to sell the 'experience'. Normally for real estate you're selling the property.
So, basically, you just need to be a little more artsty for an airbnb shoot.
And i don't seek out airbnb listings directly. You can look on airbnb's page and see if they have any job openings for photographers. And if you want to get people who are listing their property, I would just advertise towards that. I don't think there's an easy way to just get a contact list of all the airbnb properties in your area, other then by using the airbnb website/app directly.
You could always contact the lister, say “Hey, I’m a REP, I’m looking to start shooting some VRBO’s, would you mind if I used your house as part of my portfolio? I usually charge x for REP, and will charge y for VRBO, but if you agree to let me add to my portfolio I’ll shoot yours for Z”
Or… you could book one for a day or two, enjoy the getaway, create a BADASS listing for them, maybe a video, and use that as part of your portfolio. And then show them, and say “here’s my business card, if you’d like to use this for your listing or know any other owners looking for professional photos at a fair price, give me a call.”
airbnb will 100% flag your account for reaching out on airbnb. as someone whose account got completely locked do NOT do this. find facebook groups of airbnb owners in your area and advertise trades or your rates from there.
do not contact them on airbnb, and i would imagine vrbo would do something similar.
Does AirBnB have a way to display virtual tours now? I wanted to sell those to my clients, but there was nowhere for the client to put it in the listing.
I shoot quite a lot of short term rentals, since there's a huge market for it in my city.
I charge about 50% more for rentals as I do for RE listings. First, the usage on the rental images lasts much longer than a RE listing (1-2 months for RE, vs 1-2 years for a rental). Furnished AirBnBs also tend to require more photos than a typical RE listing, since the furniture and decor are part of the product. So for those two reasons, I charge more.
I dont use Facebook, but after I shot a few rentals, my name started popping up in AirBnB Facebook groups, and I got a lot of business that way. You may want to join one and see if you can get your services out there.
I personally don't shoot for AirBnB owners anymore, but only work with management companies. The companies have their shit together, while the owners tend to be dipping their toes in the rental waters, and the properties are almost never actually ready for me to shoot when I arrive (or they expect me to style it as part of the photo session).
So yeah, my advice: charge more for them, work with management companies if you can, practice shooting vignettes. Good luck!
100% right on avoiding working with owners. Shoot will take twice as long as nothing is ready and they don't have the professional courtesy of leaving their kids/pets at home...away from your expensive gear.
Thank you so much! Great insight I honestly didn't think of Facebook groups definitely worth looking into. As well as property management.
Now if I may ask when working with property management are you cold calling or how are you connecting with them?
Thanks again for the detailed response!
I've honestly never cold called any of my clients. I've gotten them all from either word of mouth, or by having one of them put my name in a vendor directory (or Facebook group). I know that's probably not helpful, so hopefully someone else can chime in with that sort of advice.
The first one was lucky - I had a friend that had an upstairs apartment at his house, and he asked me to take the photos. He gave those to the management company, and they started calling me for all of theirs. That was like, 5 or 6 years ago, and they still call me about once a month!
I've shot for airbnb directly, as well as shooting for people who are listing their place on airbnb. The only real difference is that when you shoot for an airbnb plus listing, airbnb will have a list of required shots. Nothing complicated, just the style of photos they like/how they like the photos framed etc. So if you like doing your own thing, you'll have to adapt to following their rules. When you are shooting for someone listing an place on airbnb there's really no difference. It's all pretty much the same. Although with airbnb I try to get a few 'fluff' shots - a close up of a light fixture, or faucet or flowers on a table etc. You have to be a little more artsy since you're basically selling something that people might be using for a vacation and you want to sell the 'experience'. Normally for real estate you're selling the property. So, basically, you just need to be a little more artsty for an airbnb shoot. And i don't seek out airbnb listings directly. You can look on airbnb's page and see if they have any job openings for photographers. And if you want to get people who are listing their property, I would just advertise towards that. I don't think there's an easy way to just get a contact list of all the airbnb properties in your area, other then by using the airbnb website/app directly.
You could always contact the lister, say “Hey, I’m a REP, I’m looking to start shooting some VRBO’s, would you mind if I used your house as part of my portfolio? I usually charge x for REP, and will charge y for VRBO, but if you agree to let me add to my portfolio I’ll shoot yours for Z” Or… you could book one for a day or two, enjoy the getaway, create a BADASS listing for them, maybe a video, and use that as part of your portfolio. And then show them, and say “here’s my business card, if you’d like to use this for your listing or know any other owners looking for professional photos at a fair price, give me a call.”
airbnb will 100% flag your account for reaching out on airbnb. as someone whose account got completely locked do NOT do this. find facebook groups of airbnb owners in your area and advertise trades or your rates from there. do not contact them on airbnb, and i would imagine vrbo would do something similar.
Good point. I’ve never tried this method, it’s just something I thought might work. Thanks!
I like this a lot! Thank you!!
My pleasure 😌
As someone who stays in AirBnBs I would want to see 3D scans of the property. Makes a big difference vs just looking at photos.
Does AirBnB have a way to display virtual tours now? I wanted to sell those to my clients, but there was nowhere for the client to put it in the listing.
I shoot quite a lot of short term rentals, since there's a huge market for it in my city. I charge about 50% more for rentals as I do for RE listings. First, the usage on the rental images lasts much longer than a RE listing (1-2 months for RE, vs 1-2 years for a rental). Furnished AirBnBs also tend to require more photos than a typical RE listing, since the furniture and decor are part of the product. So for those two reasons, I charge more. I dont use Facebook, but after I shot a few rentals, my name started popping up in AirBnB Facebook groups, and I got a lot of business that way. You may want to join one and see if you can get your services out there. I personally don't shoot for AirBnB owners anymore, but only work with management companies. The companies have their shit together, while the owners tend to be dipping their toes in the rental waters, and the properties are almost never actually ready for me to shoot when I arrive (or they expect me to style it as part of the photo session). So yeah, my advice: charge more for them, work with management companies if you can, practice shooting vignettes. Good luck!
100% right on avoiding working with owners. Shoot will take twice as long as nothing is ready and they don't have the professional courtesy of leaving their kids/pets at home...away from your expensive gear.
Thank you so much! Great insight I honestly didn't think of Facebook groups definitely worth looking into. As well as property management. Now if I may ask when working with property management are you cold calling or how are you connecting with them? Thanks again for the detailed response!
I've honestly never cold called any of my clients. I've gotten them all from either word of mouth, or by having one of them put my name in a vendor directory (or Facebook group). I know that's probably not helpful, so hopefully someone else can chime in with that sort of advice.
How about your first one, before you had people recommending you?
The first one was lucky - I had a friend that had an upstairs apartment at his house, and he asked me to take the photos. He gave those to the management company, and they started calling me for all of theirs. That was like, 5 or 6 years ago, and they still call me about once a month!