The Spiro Podcast: Managing your Real Estate Photography & Videography Business

Hiring another photographer can create the capacity your business desperately needs—but finding the right person is only the beginning.

Todd and Craig share lessons from their own hiring experiences, including why client interaction can matter more than technical skill, when a contractor model may need to change, and how hiring too late can hold back an entire market. They also discu...

As your team grows, communication gets complicated fast—and without a clear system, important work gets buried across emails, messages, and meetings.

Todd and Shannon share the communication mistakes they’ve made while scaling, including how to choose the right channels, close the loop on tasks, give clearer direction, set meaningful deadlines, and keep your inbox from running ...

Busy season can make your real estate media business feel flush—until the slower months expose what you failed to plan for.

Todd and Craig break down how to calculate your true monthly spending, budget across an entire year, prepare for taxes and irregular expenses, and avoid making emotional purchases after a strong month. They also discuss saving for future vehicles, investi...

Company culture isn’t created by office perks or a list of values hanging on the wall. It’s revealed in how leaders treat their people, what behavior they tolerate, and how the team responds when there isn’t an SOP telling them exactly what to do.

Todd and Craig discuss building trust, turning core values into everyday decisions, and the difficult choices required ...

Scaling a media company can feel overwhelming—but many of the biggest problems come from decisions that seem reasonable in the moment.

In this episode, Craig and Todd break down seven things Todd no longer does when growing a real estate media business. They cover why customer service matters more than camera experience when hiring, how to coach struggling employees without so...

What if the qualities that are often overlooked in business are actually your greatest competitive advantage?

In this special women’s takeover edition of the Spiro Podcast, Shannon Landers sits down with Colleen Kydd, Alex Coombs, and Elizabeth Hansen to talk about the different ways women lead, build teams, and create lasting client relationships. They explore emotional intelligence, thoughtfulness, communication, determinat...

You finally hire help—and then immediately wonder why they don’t work exactly like you.

In this episode, Craig and Todd talk through one of the hardest parts of growing a real estate media business: trusting other people with something you’ve spent years building. They discuss unrealistic expectations, employee mistakes, incomplete training, the “owner trap,” and why growth often feels like a collectio...

What happens when your systems get better—but your client experience gets colder?

In this episode, Craig and Shannon explore how to simplify your business without removing the human element that keeps clients connected. Using ideas from The Human Element and the famous instant cake mix “add an egg” story, they break down why people resist change, why clients still need to feel involved, an...

Todd and Shannon welcome James Bottomley of Haven Creatives to the Spiro Podcast for a conversation about creating more intentional, effective real estate video content. James shares how he got started in real estate media as a teenager, how Haven Creatives grew into a luxury real estate media agency, and why great video is not just about gear or flashy visuals.

The heart of the episode is James’ approach to building video co...

What happens when Todd and Craig throw out the script and answer the kinds of questions that usually stay behind the scenes? In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, the conversation gets more candid, personal, and unpredictable as they work through a mix of business, industry, mindset, and opinion-based questions. From entrepreneurship and client relationships to burnout, growth, mistakes, and hot takes within the rea...

Todd and Craig welcome Heather Haas, realtor, speaker, influencer, and keynote speaker from Spiro Sync 2026, to the Spiro Podcast. Heather shares how networking, intentional relationships, and authentic content creation helped grow her business and personal brand. The conversation dives into social media, mindset, mindfulness, branding, and why trying to “be yourself” online is often the most effective marketing strateg...

At some point, doing everything yourself becomes the bottleneck. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Todd and Craig dive into how virtual assistants can help real estate media businesses create more consistency, free up time, and scale more effectively. From editing workflows and admin tasks to communication and client experience, they break down where VAs can provide the biggest impact and how to successfully integrate them into...

Compliance can feel intimidating—but understanding it is becoming more important than ever for both agents and media companies. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Shannon Landers and Steve break down the major compliance topics that impact real estate media businesses today. From fair housing and MLS rules to branding, drone regulations, and the growing role AI plays in marketing content, they discuss practical ways media ...

Busy season can be a great problem to have—but it also brings pressure, stress, and easy mistakes. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Shannon, Todd, and Craig break down the key things to keep in mind when business ramps up. From managing stress and leaning on your team to maintaining clear communication and not neglecting client acquisition, they walk through practical reminders that help you stay grounded and operate eff...

Objections are part of every sales conversation, but how you handle them can make or break your business. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Todd and Craig break down the most common objections real estate media professionals face and how to respond to them with confidence. From pricing pushback to hesitation around value, they share practical ways to reframe conversations, build trust, and position your services more effectivel...

AI is only as powerful as the workflows behind it. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Todd and Craig welcome Matt Gia, Founder of AutoHDR, to break down how to actually implement AI in a way that improves your business—not complicates it. The conversation focuses on building practical, repeatable AI workflows that save time, increase consistency, and support growth. From identifying where AI fits into your process to avoid...

What if your business actually supported your life instead of running it? In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Craig and Todd are joined by Clay Whisler to talk about building a real estate media business with intention. Clay shares his approach to structuring his business around his personal goals, creating systems that reduce stress, and making decisions that prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term hustle. The conver...

Airbnb is opening up a whole new lane for real estate media businesses—but most people aren’t fully tapping into it yet. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Craig and Shannon Landers break down how short-term rentals are changing the landscape and where media professionals can step in to provide real value. From understanding what Airbnb hosts actually need to positioning your services differently than traditional rea...

Imposter syndrome shows up for almost everyone—but in a growing real estate media business, it can quietly hold you back from charging what you're worth, putting yourself out there, or taking the next step. In this episode of the Spiro Podcast, Todd and Craig break down what imposter syndrome actually looks like in day-to-day business, why it happens, and how to move through it. From mindset shifts to practical actions, they ...