If your business exists primarily in a digital environment, your website and social media will be your main source of first impressions. Website visitors won’t make an effort to read your entire site’s content before making a quick assessment about staying, so keep things concise. They’ll only give you a few seconds — in fact, visitors may form an impression of your site in as little as 50 miliseconds. A concise tagline or headline at the top of your site should let customers know exactly what they can expect from the rest of your content. Include photos and videos that evoke a feeling. Those 50 milliseconds may not be long enough to guarantee even a tagline will be read; instead, convey emotions and the power of your brand through photos and videos.

Personal Brand Photography is about making the best first impression you can through carefully crafted imagery. Photos that capture your unique personality and attract your ideal cleints.

What is personal branding photography? How is it different from traditional headshots and why would you want to invest in personal branding photos?

I believe the days of boring headshot photos are gone. They are still useful, especially in the corporate environment but if you are serious about your business or job, you will definitely want to stand out from the crowd. Did you know it only takes 3 seconds for people to decide whether they like you or not just by looking at your profile picture? It’s only a short but crucial moment when people create a mental image of you as a person just by looking at your photo. More and more entrepreneurs realise how important the visuals are, especially now with so many businesses conducting their operations online. There is growing emphasis on your website and social profile photos reflecting who you are and what your business is about.  In other words, your brand!  Particularly, if you’re a service based professional and want to stand out in your industry. A standard headshot, looking almost like your passport photo, or worse – a phone selfie – simply don’t cut it anymore.

Branding session photography focuses on you and your business. Personal branding is a relatively new term that is being used specifically to describe business photoshoots for business owners but also freelances, professionals and speakers. It is the ‘practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as a brand’. Each business needs to attract exactly the right clients to survive and flourish. How you are perceived by your ideal clients as well as potential business partners is therefore critical and whilst we can’t control what people think, we can certainly shape it. And this is the role of personal branding. It provides the framework for communicating the WHO – WHAT -WHY of your business.

In my opinion, this genre of photography, can be further divided into lifestyle personal branding, business portraits, product photography and headshots.

These are very often environmental portraits, taken either at your home, business premises or outdoors. They often look very candid and unposed though they are of course planned. These are good especially for social media content. During a session like this photographer usually take a lot of images captured in the moment and clients purchase bulk of images that will fill in their social media for the next few months or even whole year. They effectively tell your story, reflect your brand and build trust with your audience.

These are more high end portraits, either studio or on location, carefully posed and lit as well as fully retouched. They often have a fine art vibe to make them look more high end, artistic and bespoke. There is a very fine line between personal portraits ad business portraits, often they can be both. The posing and expression, as well as outfits, will be different for personal branding. For example in case of women portraits the focus is on creating beautiful figure, accentuating curves, often sultry expression, to make her look very feminine, sexy, attractive. For photos that will be used in your business, we would definitely tone this down. This doesn’t mean you cannot look attractive and confident but the overall feel for the photos should not be “sexy”.

A product photograph is an image of a for-sale item. These images are meant to urge viewers to buy the portrayed goods. They are supplementary to textual copy and product descriptions and can be taken anywhere that complements the theme of the product. 

This is a portrait of the individual from the neck up. The subject might be looking in a different direction; however, they are, of course, posing for the camera. These headshots can be styled to tell the subject’s story in whatever way a photographer wishes. Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and artists use these headshots to promote their own distinctive brand identity. The classic chest-up portraits bring out the personality with a dash of charisma and professionalism.

Personal branding photography can help small business owners and entrepreneurs build their personal brands and generate money. Your personal branding photos must match the visual identity of your target clientele.

Personal branding photography shows your customers who you are and allows them to know you better. As a business commodity, you can use this to connect with your customers more personally. 

A professional photoshoot can cost a lot upfront. Because of this, many business people take their own photos or make use of stock images. They avoid hiring a professional photographer to save money. Remember that the images you portray should accurately reflect your brand. You should never cut corners when it comes to photography.  

Low-quality photos will give customers an unfavorable impression of the brand’s products and services. Positive branding increases customer retention. Therefore, you should never skimp on quality.

The following are some benefits of getting personal branding photography done by a professional photographer:

A compelling visual will entice your clients to invest in your brand. A good first impression is vital to a company’s brand identification. If the buyer doesn’t see the brand’s image, they won’t remember it. 

People tend to remember images better than text. Images imprint memories in customers’ minds. A competent Photoshop service knows how to enhance your brand’s image through the photos they take. As a result, you can enhance your brand’s visual identity, ideology, and how it functions.

Professional photos show your clients that you understand their needs. Your brand image and the visuals you show your customers give them confidence. This will give you a better understanding of what they are looking for from your business.

Community Building 

Professional photographs provide you an edge over your competition in the same area. Your competitors who opt for amateur photography cannot match you. 

A personal branding photographer can help you promote yourself. The photographer is available at all times. Once the photographer understands the brand’s aims, they will best suggest ways to capture them through photography.

Personal branding photos help businesses tell their story, connect with their audience, and grow their brand. You can use these photos on your website, social media, and marketing campaigns. Your brand’s identity is all about communicating your uniqueness, offerings, and values.

Photojournalism is a powerful storyteller. Beautiful, eye-catching photographs will help you express your story uniquely. Images enhance the impact of your message on your website, blog, social media, or email. Does your story motivate, entertain, or educate? Your visuals should support that statement.

Customers who share your hobbies, objectives, and vulnerabilities will directly connect with you. You have to work extra hard to get your authentic selves in the digital age, especially now when every business is conducted online. This will be beneficial for you, your brand, clients, and customers. 

Are you ready to take your online presence to the next level? Use the link below to book a complimentary consultation to talk about your personalised photoshoot
https://portal.renataclarke.com/public/appointment-scheduler/6130d9f6c02b475685f87896/schedule 
I have a special discount to Professionals UK members with up to £400 discount on your image collection. 
Visit my website to find out more https://renataclarkeportraits.com 

Renata owns a boutique portrait studio in Worcester, UK, providing full service photography experience for everyday women and female entrepreneurs. She specialises in high end portrait and boudoir photoshoots and personal branding photography. Her main focus is to empower women through the tailored experience and beautiful fine art portraits and to help business owners build their brand and attract ideal clients