19 February 2024

A STEP ABOVE: NEXTHOME NEXT STEPP'S MARKETING MASTERY

Since Wendy Anderson received her realtor’s license in 2019, her journey in real estate has been on the up and up. She gained her broker’s license in March of last year and became the owner of NextHome Next Stepp a few months later.  

NextHome Next Stepp itself has undergone a rather transformative journey as well. Founded in 1953 as an auction company, it was converted into a full real estate company in 2019.  

Now, it serves Ashland County in Ohio, helping people find their perfect home, and Wendy is at the forefront of this, making sure every property represented by NextHome Next Stepp is marketed to its full potential.  

Marketing for Maximum Exposure 

Wendy has a confessed obsession with marketing, a true testament to her commitment to show every property represented by NextHome Next Stepp in its best light.  

It’s this obsession that prompted Wendy to create what she calls a 'maximum exposure' plan to help her listings stand out. It comprises 14 different engagement-generating tools, which Wendy cherry-picks to create a tailored approach when marketing each property. 

“Each property is unique as to which options I choose. The plan involves utilizing social media posts, postcards, online ads, video walkthroughs, and signage,” she said.  

However, Wendy’s property marketing process always begins with one core element: exceptional property photos. 

“I use most of the 14 different elements of the plan, but I always start with making sure every listing has good photos,” she said. 

“It drives me crazy seeing a listing that includes photos with crooked walls, dark areas, and distracting items. I’m obsessed with having good photos.” 

This obsession was one of the reasons Wendy was drawn to BoxBrownie.com. After practicing casual photography her entire life, Wendy began to utilize her self-taught skills when she started her journey into real estate.  

“Throughout the four years that I’ve been doing real estate, I prefer to take all of my own photos and I’ve only used a professional photographer once,” Wendy said. 

Though well-versed in shooting photos with a DSLR camera, Wendy found this method to be cumbersome during photo shoots and time-consuming when editing the photos herself. 

“I started looking for other options, and that’s when I found BoxBrownie.com,” she said. 

An Accident Turned Opportunity 

Wendy said she stumbled across BoxBrownie.com ‘by accident’, and it was this discovery that turned out to be truly serendipitous for her. 

Before using our services, Wendy used Photoshop’s auto-correct function to enhance her photos, but that was the extent of the editing.  

“I was completely self-taught, and I didn’t have the time to learn everything, including straightening the photos and replacing the sky on exterior shots,” she said.  

So, Wendy started outsourcing all her photo editing to us, for a cost-effective and efficient alternative to her DIY approach.  

“For what I'm paying with BoxBrownie.com, it’s a steal to get all my editing needs taken care of,” she said. 

Using SnapSnapSnap to Save Time 

To make sure her listing photos were true-to-life and eye-catching, Wendy learned about high-dynamic range (HDR) photography from YouTube tutorials. The technique involves capturing the same shot at multiple exposures, ranging from one very bright one to one very dark one, and everything in between. These are then blended during the editing process and the result ensures that no parts of the image are leftover or underexposed – an undesirable common occurrence in single-exposure real estate photography.  

“I solely use HDR photography with my property photos. When doing single exposure photography, often it just doesn’t capture the same level of detail when compared with HDR photography,” Wendy said.  

But shooting HDR photos manually with her DSLR camera proved to be time-consuming during photoshoots, and again, Wendy needed a more streamlined option. 

When our app, SnapSnapSnap, was released in January this year, Wendy jumped at the chance to adopt it into her property photography process, thanks to its ability to shoot HDR photos automatically.  

“I think I was one of the first to download it”, she said.  

“SnapSnapSnap makes it so easy to do HDR photography and capture an extra level of clarity and detail that you can’t achieve with single exposure photography. 

“I think it’s a wonderful option to have and it’s really made a big difference with how much time I spend on a photo shoot,” Wendy said. 

Advancements with AI 

Just like high-quality photos, a compelling property description is a must for any listing. But it’s easy for agents to get a case of writer’s block when trying to write it, something that Wendy has seen and understands very well.  

“One of the hardest things for agents is coming up with something new to say for the description of a property,” Wendy said.  

In comes BoxBrownie.com’s AI Copywriting service, with its ability to write listing descriptions in mere seconds using an agent's knowledge of the property combined with the power of AI.  

Wendy uses the service as a starting point for her listing descriptions when time is in short supply and inspiration is low.  

“BoxBrownie.com’s AI Copywriting makes it easy to get the ball rolling,” Wendy said.  

“The descriptions are real estate focused; you may have to tweak a few things to get it to your liking, but it is a fast and simple way to get the creative juices flowing.” 

Standing Out with Transformative Editing 

Making a lasting impression is paramount in the world of real estate, and NextHome Next Stepp has made it their mission to ensure every first impression of a listing is a positive one. To do so, they employ a bit of photo editing magic to stand out from the rest. 

“Our brokerage is the only one in our market that has photos like us,” Wendy said.  

“We consistently edit our photos with SnapSnapSnap or through the BoxBrownie.com online browser. It makes a huge difference – I believe our photos stand out in our market.” 

When asked what her agents’ favorite BoxBrownie.com edits are, two come to Wendy’s mind: Day to Dusk and Item Removal.   

One of Wendy’s agents experienced the power of converting a daytime photo into a sunset hero shot as her first introduction to BoxBrownie.com, which proved incredibly successful.  

“We got so many calls on that house!” Wendy said.   

“When a buyer is scrolling through listings online, they don’t expect a dusk photo, so it really made an impact on people.” 

The same can be said for NextHome Next Stepp’s use of our Item Removal edit as well. Wendy says she utilizes the edit when shooting a perfectly presented house just isn’t possible.  

“Sometimes when the photos are taken, the sellers are in the middle of packing and have things lying around on countertops,” Wendy said. 

“In your listing photos, you want to be able to show how much counter space there is, which is difficult to do when there are items all over it. To be able to use the Item Removal edit is really neat.” 

Cultivating Success with Technology 

From watching YouTube tutorials to stumbling upon our services, to then downloading our app, Wendy and NextHome Next Stepp’s embrace of technology and innovation has taken their property marketing to new heights. 

Want to transform your workflow with SnapSnapSnap, just like NextHome Next Stepp? Download it now. 

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