Show Notes
Episode 1 — What We Wish We Knew Before Starting a Real Estate Media Business
Welcome to the first episode of OUTWORK.
Alex Coombs and Oliver Ward have built two very different real estate media businesses. Alex went from shooting everything herself to building a team and an office. Oliver deliberately stayed lean, eventually building businesses in both Canada and Costa Rica around the life he wanted to live.
In this episode, we go back to the beginning.
Why do so many people get into real estate media and quit? How much does being a great photographer actually matter? When should you make your first hire? And how do you build a business without accidentally creating another job you can’t escape?
We talk about our first hires, rejection, customer service, scaling vs. staying small, company culture, AI, the future of real estate video, and some of the mistakes we’d avoid if we were starting again today.
We also get into something bigger: what are you actually building all of this for?
We’ve taken very different paths, but we both believe your business should be designed around the life you want—not the other way around.
If you’re starting a real estate media business, grinding it out as a solo shooter, or already running a team and wondering what’s next, this is where OUTWORK starts.
Build the business. Escape the job.
This episode of OUTWORK is brought to you by HDPhotoHub — the platform built for real estate photographers to deliver media, create property websites, and run their real estate media business.
More from OUTWORK
What does it take to build the biggest gathering of real estate photographers and media creators in the world? In this episode of OUTWORK, Oliver Ward and Alex Coombs sit down with Brandon Cooper, founder and creator of PMRE — the Photo + Media for Real Estate Conference. Brandon takes us behind the scenes of his journey from real estate photographer and business owner to building a conference that has become one of the most important meeting places for the real estate media industry. We talk about the early days of PMRE, how the conference evolved from a technical photography event into something much bigger, and why community, connection and sharing ideas with other real estate media professionals have become such a huge part of its purpose. We also get into what it actually takes to run a real estate media company while building PMRE, the challenges behind growing both, lessons Brandon has learned along the way, and why he continues putting the conference together year after year. If you’re a real estate photographer, videographer, media company owner or entrepreneur trying to grow a real estate media business, this conversation is a look at the people, relationships and community behind the industry. ABOUT PMRE PMRE — Photo + Media for Real Estate — brings real estate photographers and media creators from around the world together to connect, learn and grow. Learn more about PMRE, the conference, speakers and tickets: https://www.pmreconference.com/ SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR OUTWORK is proudly supported by HDPhotoHub — an all-in-one platform built for real estate media businesses, including online ordering, scheduling, payment collection, media delivery and marketing tools. https://hdphotohub.com/ CREDITS Guest: Brandon Cooper — Founder & Creator - https://www.pmreconference.com/ OUTWORK Hosts: Oliver Ward - https://www.instagram.com/oliwoodmedia Alex Coombs - https://www.instagram.com/alex__coombs Produced by: OUTWORK Topics: real estate photography, real estate media, PMRE Conference, Brandon Cooper, photography business, real estate videography, entrepreneurship, growing a photography business, real estate media business, community, networking and business growth.
Our first-ever OUTWORK guest! 🍸 This week, Alex and Oliver sit down with Phil Maurion, founder of Visual Advantage, one of the longest-running real estate media companies in Canada. Phil started Visual Advantage nearly two decades ago and has grown it into a team of around 20 people — with some photographers sticking with him for 10–15+ years. So we wanted to know: what the hell is he doing differently? Over a few martinis, we get into the stuff that actually matters when you’re trying to turn a real estate photography job into a real business: hiring and keeping great people, separating photographers from editing, scaling without destroying your life, competing in crowded markets, customer service, building systems, and creating a company that can actually operate without you. But the conversation eventually gets bigger than real estate media. How big do you actually want your business to become? When is enough… enough? And what are you building the business for in the first place? Phil has a pretty great perspective on balancing growth with actually enjoying your life — which is exactly what OUTWORK is about. Huge thank you to Big Phil for inviting us into his home, pouring the martinis, and being our first guest. Check out Phil + Visual Advantage: Visual Advantage - https://visualadvantage.ca Follow Visual Advantage on Instagram www.instagram.com/visual_advantage_ca OUTWORK is proudly sponsored by HDPhotoHub Check out HDPhotoHub - https://hdphotohub.com/ OUTWORK is a podcast about real estate media, entrepreneurship, and building a business that actually supports the life you want to live. Hosted by Oliver Ward & Alex Coombs. #RealEstatePhotography #RealEstateMedia #PhotographyBusiness #Entrepreneurship #OUTWORK
We had an adult sleepover… and things got personal.
Can you really shoot a $5 million luxury home on an iPhone? Oliver does—and he shoots his real estate videos handheld.
If you own a real estate media company and have photographers or videographers working for you, this is probably one of your biggest unspoken fears: