Why Professional Photography is Critical for Growing Your Interior Design Business
The question I am asked most often:
“WHAT’S THE ONE THING I CAN DO TO BOOK BETTER PROJECTS?”
The answer to this question is the same every time. It's also the one thing my million-dollar clients all did right from the start before they hit the seven-figure mark.
Professionally photograph your projects & share your work online where your ideal clients hang out.
Okay, so technically this is two things:
01 | Professionally photograph your projects.
02 | Share your work where your ideal clients hang out.
But they absolutely go hand in hand. If you have a beautiful portfolio, but you're too busy to add images to your website or too nervous to share on Instagram because you don't know what caption to write, then no one is going to see the power of your work.
And if you rarely photograph your projects, then you have to be really selective about the photos you do share online to ensure they attract the high-end clients you want (you know, the clients with big budgets who are ready to trust you with their home).
PROFESSIONALLY PHOTOGRAPH YOUR PROJECTS
Before you can invest in professional photography, you’ll want to make sure you have a contract term in your design contract that allows photos. Check out my full service interior design contract here.
Then, invest in professional photography. This is an absolute must. You are selling a transformation, an idea, and usually something a client can’t visualize. When you have a body of work to show what you can do, THEN your clients begin to understand how you can help them and why they need you.
Next, how can you expect a client to invest $10,000, $20,000, $100,000 in your company when you won’t? HOW can a client feel good about giving you large sums of money if they don’t know what the end result might be?
For example, if I’m going to commission an artist to paint a piece of art for my home, and someone wants to charge me $10,000 for a piece of art but has no professional photos showing me any of their finished work, I’m going to have some major reservations. But if another artist wants to charge me $10,000 and has a beautiful portfolio of the art they’ve painted for clients, I’m going to feel so much more confident in investing in a piece with them because I know I’ll receive the high-quality I’m looking for.
This same thing applies to your projects: if you want clients to trust the process and give you carte blanche, you have to show them all the amazing things you can do with that trust.
So find a few local photographers whose work you love, gather information on their pricing, minimums, copyright and usage policies, and schedule a time to chat with them.
Some photographers charge a half day or a full day rate. Some photographers will do hourly. Some photographers have stylists they will bring along (some will include that in their fee, some will charge extra).
Make sure you fully understand how many photos you’ll receive, what kind of edits they’ll do (just a light refresh and brighten, or will they remove outlet covers, grates, cords, etc.), and how you can use the photos. If a certain amount of edits are included, be sure to understand what the charge is beyond that if you need revisions beyond the included amount.
The photos will belong to your photographer, not you, so you want to make sure you understand how you can use them. On the flip side, if someone ever uses your photos without your permission, your photographer will handle it. Confrontation diverted.
While it’s good to have a few photographers in your arsenal of resources, I recommend doing most of your shoots with the same photographer so your portfolio has the same look and feel, even if your projects are completely different in style. And if you have more than one photographer you work with, make sure they both have similar editing styles so your finished photos have the same vibe.
In addition, maybe you have a photographer who will also send the pictures out to different publications because they want to get published too. In this case, they’ll likely charge more than other photographers. Be sure to allocate your photography budget properly and pull out the “big dog” for those really amazing whole home projects you hope will get published.
Save your photography budget for the projects you LOVED and want more just like. The projects that really showcase your style. The projects that have a high likeliness of being published.
WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY GOOD PROJECTS TO PHOTOGRAPH?
However, if you don't have any good projects to photograph, or if you never want to do projects like the ones you've been doing, then DEFINITELY don't invest in photographing those. Because what you put on your site and share with the world is what you’ll attract, so only photograph the projects you love and want more of.
If you don’t have any dreamy projects to photograph, or are new and don’t have a completed project yet, up I recommend investing in a branding photo session/styled shoot. You can get some gorgeous pro photos of you and some lifestyle photos of you in action. You design the backdrop! Some ideas for what you can do in the styled shoot:
Create flat lays of dream rooms that are on brand for you.
Show yourself getting inspired for a client project (looking through magazines, browsing fabrics).
Show yourself at your desk.
Show yourself setting up for a design presentation.
Show yourself sketching plans for your client.
Create vignettes in your own home and do tight shots.
Take photos of yourself styling your bookshelves or a coffee table.
Style your kitchen island and show yourself walking through it (or do this at a showroom).
Create a beautiful tablescape.
SHARE YOUR PHOTOS WHERE YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS HANG OUT
The second part of this, sharing where your ideal clients are, is easy to identify if you're tracking your lead source and have a full understanding of your ideal clients.
Tip: track your lead source on your contact form on your website. Make it a drop down option with a list of platforms you market on so potential clients can check how they heard about you. Your referral source list could include Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Linked In, Client Referral, Vendor Referral, as well as any specific places where you advertise.
Review your inquiries and see where the ideal leads are coming from. Then double down on that platform. So if you are getting a TON of inquiries from Instagram, and they are great, then invest time/energy/money into that platform so you can bring more of those great inquiries in. You get the idea.
When you share your photos, tell the story of the transformation. Give potential clients a peek behind the scenes at what inspired you, what the client wanted, and any snafus that happened along the way. Full service design often comes across as unattainable, so sharing these glimpses into the process will make you and your company feel more approachable (it’s not all perfection over here, right!?).
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS (A POST-PHOTO SHOOT PROCESS)
So you’ve found a photographer, you’ve styled the space, and you’ve done the shoot. And you get the email from your photographer saying your photos are ready.
Now what? Let’s run through your Post Photo Shoot Process (don’t have a Post-Photo Shoot process? Check out the processes every interior designer needs in the Designed to Scale® Business Blueprint for Interior designers):
Review the photos and have them remove any eyesores like cords, faceplates, recessed lights, grates, stickers, etc. Some of these edits will be easy and may already be done in post-processing. Some of them may be an additional fee. Again, it all comes back to the contract and what’s included in revisions.
Once you get your final photos back, save them all to a shared folder where you and your team have full access.
Rename each of the files so it explains what the photo is. Rather than Smith_Living_Room_0123.jpg rename it “Blue and white coastal living room by New York City Interior Designer Emerson Interiors ”. This way, once you post the photos on your website, they’ll already be enhanced for SEO.
Wherever you store your photos, I also recommend creating a project detail sheet and adding that to the folder. This document should provide a high-level overview of the project: Client pain points. Results. Special pieces and vendors. History of the house. Photographer info. Builder info. Architect info. Landscape designer info. By creating a project detail sheet, your team will have access to the information when they post about the work online and won’t need to come to you for details. This is also great to have in one place when you submit your projects for press since you’ll already have some of the info documented, rather than having to dig through your product management software to find sources.
If you’re trying to get the project published, don’t share the photos on your website or Instagram. Some publishers want exclusivity and won’t consider a project if it’s already been shared anywhere else. Some don’t, and if you work with a publicist, they’ll be able to tell you which editors require exclusivity and which don’t.
If you’re not trying to get a project published, then you’ll want to continue your Post-Photoshoot Process (more on the top processes you need here).
Add to website portfolio page
Add to other website pages, if needed
Update any marketing materials with new photos, if needed
Create a photo album for your client (be sure to make a copy for your office and for the builder if there was one involved)
Create images for social media and Pinterest
Incorporate project photos into a social media plan
Share in a newsletter
HOW TO GET PUBLISHED & MAKE THE MOST OF THE PRESS
If you do submit your work to get published and a magazine picks it up, it doesn’t end there. They may want to reshoot the project. They’ll likely want to interview the homeowner or get quotes from them. They’ll definitely want a write-up on the project and the names of key people and vendors involved.
Then you’ll want to maximize the reach of your press once you get it. First, so you can fully take advantage of the investment you made in getting published (even if it is just the time you spent pitching and the money spent on the photographer), and second, so the magazine can see how much traffic you brought them.
In this post, I talked with a New York PR consultant about how to pitch to editors, when to pitch to editors, how often to follow up, and what to do once you are published to help your chances of getting published again. Read that article here (and be sure to download the free pitch email templates as well).
CONCLUSION
While I don't have actual numbers on this, I know my clients who share pro photos of their work online where their ideal clients hang out (Instagram is typically a top lead source) make their investment back in spades 100% of the time.
If you're looking for those big full service projects with great budgets and clients who want you to manage the whole process for them, be sure to avoid DIY content when you do share your professional photos (more on that here) because luxury clients aren't looking to DIY anything--that's why they hire you!
There are obviously additional steps to getting better projects, BUT investing in professional photography and getting your work in front of your ideal clients is absolutely number one.
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