Personal Branding Is a Real Thing

 

 

Ok, so Personal Branding is a real thing, and especially for small businesses, you, quite simply are your biggest asset. And whilst phones can undoubtedly help you get some great social media material, nothing beats having professional images which have been carefully planned to paint the best picture of you and your business. Below, I’ve given my 5 reasons why I believe you’d want professional photos for your business. 

 

1. FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER - So, I read that it takes people 0.05 seconds to form an opinion on your website. This figure makes my head want to explode!… but in all honesty, I know I do exactly the same. From the second you click on, you make an immediate judgement about whether you want to hang around for a while, or disappear asap as you know it’s really not for you! Have the right type of images there so those visitors get a positive feel for the real you, and your business. 

 

2. YOU’VE GOT TO GET PERSONAL- We know people often make buying decisions based on emotional connection. I still see so many small businesses without any faces to them, which makes it much harder to connect. However hard it feels, put yourself out there. It gives you a chance to communicate visually what makes you stand out, what’s your USP, and how do you want people to think of you. Having the right imagery allows people to make an instant connection and emotionally buy into you and your story before they’ve even worked with you, or purchased from you. 

 

3. BE A SHOW OFF - You have no doubt worked extremely hard to achieve what you have to date. Use your photographs as a chance to show off! Be proud, share your passions, your style, and show your potential clients what you have created! Be bold, proud and loud! 

 

4. IT'S BESPOKE TO YOU - This is your chance to collect together a treasure trove of images all about you and your business. On social media especially, we share and forward images we see everywhere, but this is your opportunity to create something that is personalised to you.  Get images of you at work, creating products, or behind the scenes. Include products shots, flat lays, I’m also a big fan of having the kiddwinks involved if that’s part of your story. 

• Tip - Make sure that before you have professional photos taken, you really think about the type of images that would be useful to you for your business moving forward. Be clear with your photographer about what you would like, what best suits your brand, how you would like to come across in the images.  If you use Pinterest, try putting together a board which has colour ways, style, other personal branding images you like on, so you could use it to help explain the ‘feel’ of your business. 

 

5. ONCE YOU HAVE THEM, YOU CAN USE THEM EVERYWHERE! - Let’s be honest….finding material to fill social media feeds takes sooooo long. Searching through reams of stock images and other feeds takes the kind of time none of us have! If prepared for properly, you should be left with a bespoke library of unique images which you can dip in to anytime you need to in the months to come! It saves a whole heap of time and ensures consistency when you use the same style of visuals across all of your media formats! Double win! 

 

by expert Claire Richardson 

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