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PropMedia Podcast
PropMedia Podcast: Where Real Estate Media Professionals Build Better Businesses
Hosted by Matty Fisher and Moses Nickerson, co-founders of Pixlmob and PropMedia.com, the PropMedia Podcast is the go-to show for real estate photographers, videographers, drone operators, and media professionals who are building businesses, not just taking pictures.
Each week, Matty and Moses sit down with industry leaders who've scaled from solo shooter to successful media companies. We cut through the fluff to deliver actionable strategies on pricing, client acquisition, business growth, workflow optimization, and staying ahead of industry changes.
Whether you're shooting your first listing or managing a team of photographers, this is where you'll learn how to expand your services, work with luxury clients, leverage new technologies like AI and 3D tours, navigate the off-season, and build the systems that turn your photography side hustle into a thriving full-service media business.
This is where ambition meets execution in the real estate media world.
New episodes drop every Thursday.
PropMedia Podcast
The $7 Million Roadmap: Budgeting for Scale in Real Estate Media w/ Brendan Hsu
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This episode of the PropMedia podcast features Brendan Hsu, co-founder of Aerial Canvas and Acre Partners. Brendan discusses his journey from fixing phones in a college apartment to building Aerial Canvas into a $7 million per year business. He also shares insights from his coaching company, Acre Partners, which helps real estate media agencies scale their businesses.
Brendan talks about the importance of a compelling offer and how Aerial Canvas pioneered the bundled real estate media services. He also shares why cold calling and "whale hunting" for top-producing real estate agents was a key to their success. A major theme is the shift in mindset from focusing on vanity revenue metrics to optimizing for profitability and building a business that can run on autopilot.
Chapter Markers:
- 00:00 - Introduction to the PropMedia Podcast and Brendan Hsu
- 00:40 - The moment Aerial Canvas became a "real thing"
- 01:01 - The entrepreneurial drive for growth and hitting the first million
- 01:39 - Achieving business "autopilot" as a key milestone
- 02:57 - What does $7 Million in revenue look like for Aerial Canvas?
- 03:33 - Aerial Canvas's geographic footprint
- 04:30 - The offer and partnerships that fueled Aerial Canvas's success
- 05:29 - Pioneering the bundled media services offer
- 05:40 - Scaling a real estate media business outside of major markets
- 07:13 - Winning over top agents through cold calling and hustle
- 10:19 - "Whale Hunting" vs. "Net Fishing" for clients
- 12:54 - Building Aerial Canvas vs. Building Acre Partners
- 14:14 - Who is the ideal candidate for Acre Partner coaching?
- 17:04 - The outcome of putting a business on autopilot
- 17:57 - The mindset shift from solopreneur to scalable business owner
- 19:19 - Why real estate media is a good market for a scalable business
- 23:37 - Shifting from a focus on revenue to optimizing for profit
- 25:10 - Managing growth, recession, and the risks of scaling too fast
- 27:57 - Target budget percentages for a profitable media company
- 28:51 - Making sacrifices and committing to growth
- 29:59 - Coaching to a budget model and financial literacy
- 32:49 - Lessons learned from "pulling an Aerial Canvas"
- 34:42 - Planning an exit strategy and building enterprise value
- 35:39 - The commitment required after hiring a team
- 38:36 - The difference between a Lamborghini and a Tesla business model
- 41:26 - Why you don't need to be a genius to scale
- 43:10 - Mergers, acquisitions, and the power of consolidation
- 43:51 - The easiest way to double your business
- 45:14 - Where to follow Brendan Hsu and Acre Partner