Are the images you share attracting clients or pushing them away?
Recently I read an email newsletter from an author I subscribe to, the purpose of the email was get to me to sign up to a free webinar and I did!
Why did I do that from 1 email?!
Well, I’ve read her email newsletters for a while now and bought her book so I’m familiar enough with her offering, her credibility and feel confident I’m not wasting my time.
But this one email, whilst on my morning walk, struck a chord and got me thinking. It got me thinking so much that I may not need the webinar but I’m going to listen in anyway because, well, I’m a curious soul and it might spark even more lightbulb moments for me!
The email was written using language that sparked my curiosity, told a story and drew me in. It got me wondering, thinking, hoping (that it could solve a problem for me or make something easier) and it got me interested enough to click the link and sign up for the webinar.
Her writing was magnetic to me.
Whilst we can all learn to write in attractive ways that compels and encourages our target audience to take action immediately (like I did), what about your imagery? What about the graphics you create and the photographs you chose to use to market your business, your services, your products?
Do you choose something that’s ‘the best of a bad bunch’ from a stock photography website?
Do you create DIY photos that you’re not confident in sharing, or you feel ‘meh’ about?
Do you put up with photos that don’t really represent you and your business, or portray your values?
You shouldn’t!
Why?
Because using imagery that doesn’t represent you and your business, that doesn’t show your services or products in their best light can really hurt your business and can even repel customers or, even worse, devalue your offering. Nobody wants that!
If your imagery doesn’t support your expertise gained over years of hard work, your high level of customer service, the positive impact you have on your clients or the high quality of your products, then you are creating confusion and a level of distrust. Ouch. Sorry.
Us humans are visual people and we make judgements based on what we see incredibly quickly. An initial impression is formed in 50 milliseconds!! While a more considered impression is formed in as little as 7 seconds. So those seconds are crucial for making the right impression.
If you’re starting out with your business and really don’t have a budget for brand photography, I can understand that DIY or stock photos are a means to an end. I do sympathise, I’ve been there! But they have a limited shelf life. There comes a point where investing in personalised imagery, that does represent your business and does attract your ideal clients, becomes essential in order to grow and (correctly) appear as the professional business person that you are.
Brand photography that sparks connection
By investing in professional brand photography you are showing your audiences, customers and clients that you:
are serious about what you do and offer
are professional and credible
care about your business and the impressions you want to spark through your imagery
care about what you create to market your business
it matters to you that clients can see what its like to work with you from your imagery
it matters to you that you can show up in images for your clients.
You want your imagery to do the heavy lifting of marketing for you and build connections with your audience. After all, the purpose of personalised brand photography is to tell numerous stories about you: who you are, what your interests are (hello relatability!), what it’s like working with you, and what impacts you have on your clients businesses. So it stands to reason that your imagery needs to be unique to you.
A brand photography shoot is not a scary thing to endure, it can be fun and exciting creating meaningful images that really show you and your business. All your fears are taken away by the planning process, the questions we go through and planning we do together empower you to feel in control and fully prepared on shoot day. Dare I say it, you may even look forward to it!
If you have any questions, or you’re ready to chat, you can contact me here or click the button below to see session options and investment prices.