I recently asked our CubiCasa Certified Photographers about the accomplishments and challenges they experienced last year, as well as their hopes and goals for 2022.

Thank you to Emily Olman, Mario Mineros, and Allen Newland for taking the time to share their experience and vision for the new year!

Emily Olman, Hopscotch Interactive

Emily

What was something that happened for you in 2021 that was great?

Looking back with 2021 still in the rearview mirror, we ended the year on a really high note as a team. We spent a full week in December prior to the break on skill-building and evaluating new opportunities, and just enjoying some well earned time-off. In 2021 we saw our work appear in The New York Times, Dwell, and Marin Living Magazine, so those firsts were exciting for us. And, we have started working on original content, so moving from working solely as a real estate photographer by myself in 2015 to a marketing agency in 2022 has been a real evolution for me personally and professionally.

Was there anything that wasn’t great?

The market forces in real estate this past year meant we had many demanding deadlines and things were constantly changing. We would start the week Monday morning thinking the schedule would look one way, and by Tuesday everything was completely different! Somehow it would all work out, but again, I think teamwork is the magic ingredient.

What will you change from last year?

It’s not that glamorous sounding, but one change in the new year is to implement a process for registering our media with the U.S. Copyright Office. It will take some coordination and practice, but we are looking forward to rolling this out. Folks can find out more information about that here if they are interested:

https://www.copyright.gov/registration/photographs/

What would you like to do more of next year?

More virtual tours, more Floor Plans, and more immersive content that will help our customers strengthen their marketing offerings across the board. I also love creating our own video content so we will continue to build this in the coming year. For example, we will premier Hopscotch Interactive Neighborhood Stories in 2022 this week! Neighborhood Stories will feature fresh, gorgeously filmed video content from the districts and neighborhoods we work in frequently, like Mill Valley, California, and this will be available to us and our clients for video projects and more.

What do you want less of?

I think everyone would like less rescheduling, but with the many supply chain issues and high demands for the trades, I think that we might still be facing this challenge in the coming months.

Think about the teams you are a part of, how do you plan to contribute and support them in 2022?

2022 is going to be a great year for community building and I think that people are ready to reconnect with each other. For me, the first community, or “team” that comes to mind is the photographer community at large. I am working on more content for the Hopscotch Interactive YouTube channel and every day I see so many people who are in the same boat as I am – or have been – so it encourages me to help more people. I hope to continue to be a guide and translator for the positive impact that we will see on real estate Photography and beyond with technology such as 3D scanning, LiDAR, photogrammetry, and their many applications.

What changes would you like to see in the Real Estate Photography Space in the coming year?

The biggest change I would like to see is virtual/extended reality media becoming more mainstream, and for photographers to realize they are already creating spatial content. It’s evident to me that the ability for someone to make an accurate floor plan with their tablet or mobile phone with the built-in LiDAR should be a tangible connection point – people are making money and providing value using spatial tools. I hope more people can see themselves being empowered by this tech, because it’s kind-of a big deal: they are creators not just end users. And, this awareness should enable many more exciting use-cases for real estate photography and marketing. Let’s get people to think outside of the box!

And my favorite question: If we look into the future and see that you would say that 2022 has been your best year ever, what will have happened for you over the next 12 months?

Helping and inspiring the greatest number of people (clients, photographers, teammates), this is an evergreen goal because there is more to creating a thriving business than keeping yourself busy all of the time. When reflecting back at the end of 2022 I will want to know that we challenged ourselves professionally, improved the quality of our work, and built a better community. I do hope that this translates into all of the success that we dream about, but I think that having that creative freedom is really the fundamental goal. So yes, 2022 will be the best year ever – and by that measure every year we get to keep pushing ourselves creatively will by definition be the best year ever. I wish everyone that same sense of gratitude and accomplishment in the coming year.

Find Emily Here.

Instagram @HopscotchInteractive

YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/hopscotchinteractive

Email [email protected]

Mario Mineros, Mario Mineros Photography

Mario provides professional images for local families and businesses. He specializes in Professional Real Estate Listings, Professional Headshots, and Professional Portraiture.

What was something that happened for you in 2021 that was great? 

2021 was an interesting year, So many opportunities presented themselves with real estate booming as it was/is. Forced growth was great in the sense that demand led us to new ideas and products that otherwise wouldn’t have known about or needed to know about unless the demand was there. The vast and fast implementation of video marketing to everyone’s marketing strategy. The introduction of Lidar in 2021 to mobile hardware allows us to quickly and efficiently create floor plans for clients with CubiCasa just added that much more value to the brand in my opinion. For that reason I 100% switched to CubiCasa.

Was there anything that wasn’t great?
I guess a great problem to have is being overwhelmed with business.

What will you change from last year?
I will focus on streamlining my processes and focusing 100% on customer experience.

What would you like to do more of next year?
Video marketing to identify MY style for 2022.

What do you want less of?
Editing for sure.

Think about the teams you are a part of, how do you plan to contribute and support them in 2022?
I am an extension of each one of my client’s teams. I hope to be an asset that can provide them content that aligns with the core values of the their businesses.

What changes would you like to see in the Real Estate Photography Space in the coming year?
Camaraderie among us all. I truly believe that together we are stronger. Mutual respect among us all in this business will handle the worries of “My client or yours”. There’s a competitive atmosphere that can be harnessed well and still allow everyone to prevail so that the changes that need to happen in the industry happen well!

Find Mario Here.

Allen Newland, A Shot Above of WNC, LLC

A Shot Above offers ground, drone/aerial, interior, virtual tours, floor plans, and TWILIGHT shoots. They are your One-Stop for Photography & Videography of WNC.

What was something that happened for you in 2021 that was great?

January 1st, 2021 my wife (only 50 years old) was able to retire from her full time “day job” of 30 years. This afforded her much deserved personal time as well as freeing her up to work in our Photography business much more intently. Even with all the other things not so great in the world/country we had an excellent 2021 and have been blessed in so many ways. We work hard but all the praise goes to God for providing and guiding us along the way.

For 2022, What will you change from last year?

We are going to spend more time on our marketing plan and updating our website. We literally don’t pay for any advertising whatsoever (never have). We rely on reputation, word of mouth, our website, Social Media, and a “barter agreement” with a local newspaper for our advertising. In 2022 I’m going to spend more time keeping the website updated and tweaking our SEO and Social Media content.

What would you like to do more of in 2022?

While it may sound like I’m “sucking up here” I genuinely mean it when I say I would love to do a lot more Floor Plans next year. We are going to put more “Spotlight” on this program and will be showing the finished product at shows etc. we attend.

Think about the teams you are a part of, how do you plan to contribute and support them in 2022?

I would like to spend more time volunteering and “giving back” than I have in the last couple of years. I’m not exactly sure what that looks like right now during this “thing” we are in the middle of but I feel like I need to find more ways to give back and/or Pay It Forward. I’m on the board of our local Habitat For Humanity and I’d like to be able to “Give” more to them.

If we look into the future and see that you would say that 2022 has been your best year ever, what will have happened for you over the next 12 months?

It would definitely be having zero debt (almost there now) and working full time in the photography realm (Which I LOVE.) I still work a fulltime day job (not in photography) so being able to be a full time photographer would be absolutely AMAZING. I hope to look back 12 months from now and say, “NAILED IT and loving it”.”

I wish you very happy holidays (Merry Christmas from us) and a great and SAFE New Year! Here’s to hoping it really is our best year EVER!!

Find Allen Here.

Thank you to Emily, Mario, and Allen for sharing your inspiration as we jump into the new year.

On behalf of the CubiCasa Team, our warmest wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.