Portraits of Raleigh - Voyage Raleigh Magazine

Written By Marco Mendez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marco Mendez.

Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us how you got started?
I was born and raised in Venezuela. I own a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication with a concentration in PR and Advertisement. I also own a Master’s degree in Marketing Management. I worked at InterContinental Hotels Groups for 7 years in Venezuela as a Corporate Sales Manager; then, I worked at Coca-Cola FEMSA de Venezuela for about 4 years in Sales and Marketing. My two last positions were Brand Manager and West Regional Sales, Manager. I moved to the US back in 2017. I worked at the Embassy Suites by Hilton for about 2 years as a Corporate Sales Manager; in early 2020, once COVID hit, I lost my job.

In 2020 during the pandemic, I was looking for other options. I decided to be an entrepreneur but was unsure about which patch I would take. Based on my academic background, I was related to the communication arts; even though my concentration was closer to marketing and sales, arts like painting and music were always my thing. I play drum professionally with several bands in Venezuela. That said, I knew I wanted to do something similar to what I loved for my new full-time job. I have a good friend ( 20 years of friendship) named Fernando Hevia, also a Real Estate Photographer in San Antonio, Texas. I was always admiring his job, but just that. I liked his content a lot, but I never thought of going to the same industry because I was so happy and also busy working with Hilton. I recall I called him, and we spent about 2 hours discussing real estate photography. I told myself I would be the best real estate photographer, and that is how I decided to do this: my new full-time job. After this first decision, many things have happened in a photoshoot, thousands of hours in post-production, and a lot more in classes, mentoring, coaching, learning process, and mistakes.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not even a little bit; the process of becoming self-employed is hard. Mainly as a real estate photographer (good), photography implies many things besides all the process with photos; the difficult part was putting my name out there is a small market like GSO., where the real estate photographers were all set. I recall I googled, how many agents are in the Triad? I did some numbers and said there was an opportunity for me. I recall that the number was close to 2000 ( my marketing background jumped onto my, and the following search was Real Estate Photographers in the Triad. I remember the number was close to 10. The most difficult part was reaching out to people because my main language is not English, it is Spanish, and I was very afraid to speak with someone about my services. I had 2 options to do nothing or send emails. We were locked down, so I worked on my website, client database, and prospecting for at least 18 hours. I did that for about 3 weeks (plus studying to have my drone license). I recall sending about 1000 emails during the first 2 weeks. Emails were not working well, with no reply or feedback, so I added Instagram and Facebook messages, which worked a little better than making the best decision ever. I decided to make phone calls despite my accent and, of course, the mistakes. I called several people, and at least I was able to have the opportunity to talk with people about my services, which also included people who speak Spanish. After 2 years in business, I am still reaching out to people through emails, phone calls, texts, and messages. It is a process that never stops.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
That’s a good question. There are excellent photographers in the Triad area. I specialize in Real Estate Photography, MM Triad Photography which is my company is the top rated real estate photography company on Google from the triad. This makes me proud because people do not know about the hours and thousands of work behind this. What makes me different is that I am always learning. I never stop purchasing tutorials and also assisting in classes and conferences. Now, I am also trying to get my company into Architecture Photography, which is different from Real estate Photography. I am also proud of an award that we received a week ago. I got the award of being the best business of 2022, according to threebestrated.com. I am one of 3 best business commercial photographers in Greensboro. As I said, even though I concentrate on Commercial and Architecture, I love everything about photography. I also have had the pleasure of photographing weddings, headshots, products, and lifestyles. I plan to get busy on other segments besides real estate and architecture/Commercial.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the location of NC ; it is close to everything and very diverse regarding options. We have mountains, beaches, and good culture and traditions. I also love that we have 4 seasons. Thinking like parents of 2 boys, I also like that NC has good universities. I love everything about NC.

Pricing:

  • 1,500 Architecture Photography

  • 800 Commercial Photography for companies

  • 300 Interior Design Photography

  • 800 Weddings / Events Photography

  • 139 Real Estate Photography

Contact Info:

You are more than welcome to read the article in the link below.

Voyage Raleigh Magazine: https://voyageraleigh.com/interview/meet-marco-mendez-of-greensboro/

   

Marco Mendez
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