Personal Brand Photography - a Guide ...
I notice very often that most people are not really aware of what Personal Brand photography is. Most people think of a Headshot but it would not go beyond that. The first time Personal Branding was mentioned was in 1997. Tom Peters mentioned in an article the following: “We are CEO’s of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called ‘YOU’.”And yes a headshot will help with this, but there is more.
Why Personal Brand Photography?
You have started a business because you believe that you can offer something that is unique. However, nowadays there are so many businesses that are offering a similar product or service. It is really hard to be seen by the wider public. What is it that really makes your product or service unique? Is there anything that cannot be replicated by anyone else? THere is, and that is, indeed, YOU!
Images are processed by the brain up to 60000 times faster than text. Pages with images or video get up to 94% more views than text only (Source: https://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/visual-marketing-pictures-worth-60000-words-01126256). Considering this, it is a no-brainer that images and video are the way forward. But images of what? Obviously, images of your products, a headshot? This obviously becomes a little bit more tricky when you supply services.
The main element in your images should be you. You in the process of what you are doing, you dealing with suppliers, you interacting with a client, you in your studio/ practise or shop, and so on. It will make your images a lot more authentic; it will show your potential clients what it will feel like to work with you. You can influence this process to make it very personal on the one hand and also to align it with your clients needs.It will allow you to show your personality, your talents and skills and your passion (people love to have a little insight in your personal life so any image of you playing with your dog, doing some painting or whichever passtime you enjoy, will be greatly received).
How can you achieve this?
Getting a professional photographer to guide you with this will have great benefits. Not only will your images have high quality, but they will also show the authenticity that you are after. It will result in better engagement, too. People love good imagery and the conversion rate of a well-lit, well composed, professional image is a lot higher than a mobile phone shot (which might look good on a phone but not on a bigger screen). Another advantage is that a photographer can provide you with guidance and translate your style into images. Your images will be consistent too, the style will be the same for all the images, which will add to the professional look of your website/ or social media profile.
If you would like some more information, or if you would like to see more of my work, you can find me here: https://janssen-photography.ie/personalbranding/
