--- title: "How to bring content production in-house: week one" canonical: https://withicarus.com/blog/bring-content-production-in-house site: Icarus description: "A plain plan for small brands: which photo, video and ad jobs to bring in-house first, what to keep outsourced, and what your first week looks like." --- # How to bring content production in-house: week one A plain plan for small brands: which photo, video and ad jobs to bring in-house first, what to keep outsourced, and what your first week looks like. _October 8, 2026. Written with AI from the sources listed below, and checked automatically before it went live._ ![Shop owner placing a ceramic mug on white card at a wooden table by a sunny window](https://icarus.b-cdn.net/blog/bring-content-production-in-house/owner-arranging-mug-by-window.png) _Made with Icarus_ To bring content production in-house, start with the work you repeat every week: product photos and the social images and short clips made from them. Keep the rare, high-stakes jobs with outside people until your own results are good enough to replace them. This post covers what to move first, what to leave outsourced, a day-by-day plan for your first week, what it costs to start, and how to judge what you make. **Key takeaways** - Move frequent work you can check against the real product first. - Keep brand identity, print packaging and big launch films outsourced for now. - One clear photo of each best seller is enough to start. - Check every result against the real product before you publish it. ## What should a small brand move in-house first? Big brands show where the time goes. [Klarna cut its image development cycle from 6 weeks to 7 days](https://www.marketingdive.com/news/klarna-gen-ai-openai-cut-marketing-spend-efficiency/717332). [Kimberly-Clark cut one content creation cycle from 24 days to two hours](https://www.marketscale.com/industries/marketing-tech/ai-is-pulling-ad-production-in-house). You don't have their budgets or their teams. But the work they sped up is the work you wait on too: images that crawl through briefs, shoots, edits and more edits. Start with the jobs you do often and can check fast: - Lifestyle and on-model shots of products you already sell. - New versions of a photo you already like, with a new background, a new season or warmer light. - Social posts and simple ad stills for products already in your store. - Short reel clips made from photos you've already approved. Each of these has a real product sitting on your shelf. Hold it next to the picture and you know in seconds whether the picture is right. That's what makes a job safe to take in-house when nobody on your team is a photographer. ## What to keep outsourced, for now Bringing work in-house doesn't mean firing everyone you've ever hired. It means you stop paying outside people for the fifth version of a shot you already have. Then you spend that money on work only they can do. Keep these with specialists for a while: - **Your brand identity.** The logo, the type and the look itself. Let someone who designs brands set it once. You repeat it after that. - **Packaging artwork that goes to print.** A mistake there costs a print run. - **A big launch film** with actors, locations and a sound mix. - **Anything with health, safety or legal claims.** Have a person who knows the rules read it before it goes live. You can move more over later. Once your own product shots hold up, a seasonal campaign might be next. Let your results decide, not a plan you wrote on day one. ## What your first week looks like You need no studio and no prompt skills. You need a few product photos and an hour or two a day. 1. **Day one: pick five best sellers.** Find or take one clear photo of each, one angle, on a plain background. In Icarus that's all a product needs. [Product pinning](https://withicarus.com/features/exact-product) keeps its real colour, logo and stitching in every shot. 2. **Day two: write down your look.** Note the light, the background and the mood you want. Save it in Icarus as a studio, so every product you shoot there lands in the same scene. If you sell clothing, add one sharp, front-facing headshot of a model too. 3. **Day three: make a small set.** Describe each shot in plain words, the way you'd brief a photographer. Something like this: > A linen shirt on a wooden hanger against a whitewashed wall, late afternoon sun through a window, warm soft shadows, shot at eye level Try this prompt in Icarus: https://withicarus.com/dashboard?prompt=A%20linen%20shirt%20on%20a%20wooden%20hanger%20against%20a%20whitewashed%20wall%2C%20late%20afternoon%20sun%20through%20a%20window%2C%20warm%20soft%20shadows%2C%20shot%20at%20eye%20level 4. **Day four: review against the real thing.** Put each result next to the product. Throw out the misses. For near misses, open the photo and describe the change, like "make the background a stone floor". 5. **Day five: publish where you can watch.** Post a few to social, or add one as a second image on a product page. Turn your best still into a short clip for a reel. By the end of the week you'll know which jobs you can keep doing yourself, and which still need outside help. ## What it costs to start You pay per shot, and you see each shot's price before you make it. Here's what a shot costs on the AI Icarus starts you on: | What you make | Price | | --- | ---: | | Image at 1K | $0.02 | | Image at 1K with a saved product | $0.03 | | Image at 2K with a saved product | $0.05 | | Image at 4K with a saved product | $0.11 | | Image edit | $0.05 | | 10-second clip at 720p | $5.08 | So a first week of 50 shots with a saved product at $0.03 comes to $1.50. Three reel clips at $5.08 come to $15.24. If a shot fails, the money goes back to your balance by itself. There's no free trial. A solo owner can start on the Starter plan at $10 a month, which adds $10 to spend every month, or top up and pay as you go. Every plan and price is on the [pricing page](https://withicarus.com/pricing). If you have a team, look at [Icarus for teams](https://withicarus.com/enterprise). You get a shared workspace set up around your brand, an AI tutor, an account manager and Slack support, at a custom price. ## How to judge your first results A cheap picture is only cheap if you can use it. Run every shot through this before it goes live: ![Brown leather tote bag standing alone on a pure white background, front view](https://icarus.b-cdn.net/blog/bring-content-production-in-house/leather-tote-on-white.png) _Made with Icarus_ - [ ] Hold it next to the real product and compare colour, logo and stitching - [ ] Read every word on the packaging and labels - [ ] Check that the model looks like the same person across the set - [ ] Look closely at hands, edges and reflections - [ ] Check the image rules for each place you'll upload it That last check matters most for listings. [Google Merchant Center says not to use an image with promotional elements or overlays](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350), so keep the headline-on-image ads for social and use clean shots for product feeds. [Google also sets a 16MB limit on image files](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350). Icarus makes the shot. Whether a platform accepts it is still yours to check. Drop a photo into the [product image requirements checker](https://withicarus.com/tools/marketplace-image-requirements) to see the size, file type and background before you upload. If a shot fails a check, don't start over. Fix it with an edit, or brief the next one more clearly. Pick your five best sellers and try that first week in Icarus. ## Questions ### What does it cost to bring content production in-house? With Icarus you pay per shot and see each shot's price before you make it. An image at 1K costs $0.02, or $0.03 when it holds a saved product. Every plan, top up and price is on the pricing page. ### Do I need a creative team to make my own product photos? No. Icarus is built for people who have never used an AI tool. You describe the shot in plain words and add one photo of the product, and a face if you want a model in it. ### Can I use AI product photos on Google Shopping? Check Google's rules first. [Google Merchant Center says not to use an image with promotional elements or overlays](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350), so use clean product shots there. Check every image against the platform's current rules before you upload it. ### Do I own the images and videos I make? Yes. Every image and video you make in Icarus is yours for commercial use, with no licensing fees and no attribution. You can use them in your store, your ads and in print. ## Sources - [Marketing Dive: Klarna gen AI cut marketing spend](https://www.marketingdive.com/news/klarna-gen-ai-openai-cut-marketing-spend-efficiency/717332) - [AI is pulling ad production in-house](https://www.marketscale.com/industries/marketing-tech/ai-is-pulling-ad-production-in-house) - [Google Merchant Center image requirements](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324350) --- Site: Icarus (https://withicarus.com) Canonical: https://withicarus.com/blog/bring-content-production-in-house Contact: tanmay@onai.studio