You look great in that selfie, so do you really need a professional photo shoot?
Short answer…no of course you don’t, you don’t need professional photos any more than you need a fab business coach or a clever accountant, help with PR or a marketing guru!
But most people who come to me for photos realise that they’re not visible enough in their business and that the photos they take themselves don’t show them as they want to be seen. (And visibility is the key to people knowing who you are, trusting you and ultimately working with you.)
So they don’t post any photos.
I don’t think any of us feel 100% confident when we’re having our photos taken, whether that’s because of how we look, a confidence issue or just down to the weirdness of standing in front of a stranger posing. So we put it off.
And our businesses suffer for it…
So here are the reasons to have a shoot…
☀️You’ve got a new (website, course, book…)
If you’re a coach, an author, an expert or anyone who sells something that they physically deliver or create (rather than a product…although people still want to see you too) you’re probably going to be using your face to sell it.
Just take a look at Marie Forleo, Jasmine Star, Kerry Lyons, or Lisa Johnson…they all have excellent personal branding photos.
And that’s not by accident!
☀️You’re starting to think about PR
Maybe you’ve got a PR expert working for you or maybe you’ve seen business buddies getting press coverage.
Whether you’re writing an article for a blog, being interviewed by a magazine or even if you’re a guest on a podcast, they’re going to want a photo of you.
And they’ll want a good quality, high resolution one. And that means a selfie just wont cut it.
❤️Its shows that you’re comfortable with who you are!
If you’re selling a service, perhaps as a coach then I bet when you meet people in person you are confident and comfortable with who you are. You know you can help them and that comes across easily in person.
But when people are thinking about whether to work with you. How do they decide? Sharing photographs of yourself shows the world that you’re confident in who you are.
And…don’t forget confidence is contagious. So when people see that you’re confident and comfortable with who you are, they want to know how you did it. How did you get to be this way, and how can they feel so confident too?
⚡️You’ve seen the stats
Photos of you do 80% better on instagram and Facebook than ones of anything else.
Ok, I made that up… but just take a look at your analytics for the last 30 days.
I bet if you post a photo of yourself it does better than the others. People like to see you (That is a fact) and it’s the easiest way to connect without resorting to stalking.
🔥You’re thinking about brand recognition
The final piece of the puzzle is obviously getting that all important brand recognition.
If you love female entrepreneurs as much as I do then you’ll notice that the people who do best are very recognisable. Think of Jasmine Star, Marie Forleo or Janet Murray.
They all share images of themselves over and over again. We recognise them and know what they stand for.
And pretty pictures aren’t the answer (a strange thing to say as a photographer perhaps).You don’t need to compete with models or movie stars. We’re not going to do a makeover to make you look different.
You just need to be recognisable as you and have photos that you actually want to share!
And when you’re ready, here are three ways that I can help you:
1) Visit my blog for tips on VISIBILITY.
Every week I discuss strategies to improve your visibility, get over your fear of visibility and my latest shoots. Read here
2) Plan a bespoke photoshoot.
We can plan a shoot based on what you actually need (read more) or you could join me at a Branding Day.
3) Join ‘Visibility School’.
Visibility school is a membership group where you get 12 months of photoshoots, a fab little Facebook group and lots of bonus content too (new for 2023 members) . Read
