Over the last 10 years I’ve had the pleasure of creating personal branding images for a variety of business owners and professionals. I love learning more about them, their business and hearing about their exciting plans. It’s the first step in customising sessions to create authentic imagery to distinctively showcase their businesses and careers.
As business owners, investment decisions are not taken lightly. So it’s good to know that investing in a personal branding session is not only about the photographs but also how these can move your business forward by helping you achieve your business goals.
Let’s look at 5 reasons why I believe that entrepreneurs and small business owners should invest in personal branding photography to achieve just that!
1. INCREASE VISIBILITY
Attracting new customers as well as reminding existing customers who you are and what you do will accelerate your brand visibility.
Create images which reflect your core values and personality and you’ll be confident that you’re portraying the image and conveying the messaging you want to put out there in a way that you’re comfortable with too.
Your fresh library of personal branding images will support your marketing activities. Enabling you to show up regularly across your website, print marketing, social media, blogging or anything in between.
2. BOOST BRAND AWARENESS
Sharing consistent imagery of you and your product/services will boost your brand awareness. Weave in your elements of your branding – from your brand aesthetic to the values and unique stories you convey through your images.
Not only will your content be instantly recognisable by your audience but you’ll also be top of mind, over others in the industry, when people need your product or service. That’s a powerful reason to invest!
3. INCREASE SALES
Feature professional images illustrating what you’re all about, the amazing services or fabulous products you offer. Not only will these attract attention and stop the scroll, they’ll also help you stand out from the competition and encourage customers to hang around and learn more.
Build engagement with your ideal clients with genuine and relatable content. Include images which provide insights into your interests and hobbies in your personal branding shot list – they are so powerful!
Build trust by creating images which position yourself as an expert in your field. These will be where you share your knowledge and skills. For example, images showcasing behind the scenes of your business and processes in action.
4. MAXIMISE INVESTMENT
Make your photography investment work hard for you. Every image you’ve taken the time to create deserves more than 5 minutes of fame.
Good planning will result in images which can be repurposed to create content to support your marketing plan across different platforms and media.
Images which can be resized for different platforms or media and images with plenty of space for text overlays which can be updated as needed are just a couple of ways to squeeze every last drop from your photography investment.
5. DECREASE EXPENSES
Time is money and as business owners we need to ensure we are investing both of these precious resources wisely.
So whilst making short term savings with a diy approach can seem appealing, it can often cost more than we think in terms of our time. Outsourcing activities which aren’t our forte frees us to use our time focusing on the things we are good at in support of our business instead.
Things like location scouting, wardrobe styling advice, hair and make-up stylist recommendations, concept consideration and prop lists. Save yourself a heap of time and stress as any good branding photographer will be able With the added bonus of avoiding multiple, costly and stressful last minute shootsto manage and help you with this.
Save time by scheduling social media posts a week or month ahead and be able to respond to last minute PR or advertising opportunities with gorgeous, cohesive images selected from your branding photography library. With the added bonus of avoiding multiple, costly and stressful last minute shoots.
Reduce designer costs by supplying useable images taken with intent for purpose. (Top tip: Website designers love receiving images which are wide enough for banners and portrait for pages – it saves them editing time and saves you the cost).
And finally, because I’m writing this after submitting my January tax return and looking ahead at the end of year accounts…. don’t forget your personal branding session is considered to be a tax deductible expense, including hair and make up costs. Do check with your professional accountant to be 100% sure about what can and can’t be included.
Feeling Inspired?
If you’re ready to book your own personal banding session, get in touch for an informal an obligation free chat – I’d love to hear from you!
Moira is a Southsea photographer who works throughout Hampshire, West Sussex and the UK. She specialises in personal branding, children and families on-location photography.
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