Frameflow has come into focus.
After a year of building, Gretchen TeBockhorst and Kelly Stoker launched the Denver startup this month, seeking to better link small business owners with photographers, videographers and social media creators.
“For years we’ve worked with businesses on social media… and they all just need quality content,” TeBockhorst said.
TeBockhorst founded the local public relations firm Prim + Co in 2015. Stoker has been working for the agency since 2017 and is vice president of digital marketing.
“A lot of folks are not interested in or have the budget for full-service social media management,” TeBockhorst said. “We’ve done photographer and videographer referrals with people we trust who we’ve worked with for years. So we thought why not create a way for businesses to connect with content creators and give them the ability to work with each other to find out what a project looks like.”
Currently, the founders said, the piecemeal approach that people use is very subjective. It often falls on the whims of SEO optimization and who pops up when a hotel owner searches “best interior photographer in Denver” on Google.
Restaurants, consumer packaged goods companies and other firms can sign up for Frameflow’s website at no cost and gain access to a suite of specialists. They can search through the website’s stable of photographers, videographers and the like by specialty. Just because one is good with headshots doesn’t mean they’ll know how to make a plate of nachos look enticing, Stoker said.
Having high-quality pictures or videos helps build trust with consumers, she added, mainly because so many seek out brands and businesses on social media before spending money with them.
“A lot of times photo is very subjective — what your friend likes might not be what you like,” TeBockhorst said. “This way, you can view the work side by side, filter the results and then see a selection of all of them next to each other with style and price point. That’s the big differentiator.”
Frameflow allows businesses to filter artists by specialty, something other marketplaces don’t typically offer. (Courtesy Frameflow)
Pricing is set by the artist and ranges from $200 hour-long shoots to $10,000 all-day packages with models, site designers and the whole shebang. Frameflow takes a 15% commission, and the idea is that all communication and payment takes place through the site.
Stoker and TeBockhorst said most other creative marketplaces charge photographers and videographers for leads. But with Frameflow, “we only make money if the creator makes money,” Stoker said.
The site is currently live in Denver with about 45 creatives. Most of those are freelancers who the pair have worked with at Prim + Co.
“We’ve seen businesses choose terrible photographers, videographers, content creators that lead them to believe they can produce something that they can’t,” Stoker said. “But that’s where Frameflow comes in. It gives them the ability to search for vetted people.”
When someone applies to be listed on Frameflow, the team reviews their portfolio, website and social media channels to vet their legitimacy. TeBockhorst said they also look at Google, Yelp and Better Business Bureau reviews to gauge how clients have responded to their work over time.
So far, Frameflow has facilitated 12 projects in total, Stoker and TeBockhorst said. Next year, they plan on rolling the site out to Dallas and Phoenix, where they are currently building up a stable of freelancers. The hope is to be in 20 markets by the end of 2028.
The pair put $110,000 into the company themselves to get it launched. TeBockhorst said they are having conversations with outside investors in hopes to raise a $500,000 round by the end of the year. With that money, they’ll likely focus on marketing efforts and improving the site. Both are keeping their day jobs with Prim + Co.
“90% of small businesses use social media marketing and there are hundreds of millions of small businesses in the country,” TeBockhorst said. “If we even have a small percentage of that, we’ll do very well.”
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