How to choose the right personal branding photographer for you
YOU’VE PLUCKED UP THE COURAGE TO BOOK A BRANDING PHOTOSHOOT BUT, ARGH, HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PHOTOGRAPHER FOR YOU?
Naturally, the photographs are of paramount importance, but to get them, you need to make sure you’re working with the right personal branding photographer to create the results you need.
Let’s look at how to narrow down that short-list to avoid time consuming and expensive mistakes!
Quick reference guide…
Evaluate their portfolio
Real ALL of their impartial reviews
Personality - do you “click”?
Do they have a process that can help you understand what you need?
Pricing
Portfolio
Whilst all good personal branding photographers will be focussing on YOUR brand and showcasing YOUR personality, it’s usual for all photographers, branding photographers included to have their own style.
Some are muted, light and airy, some go for crisp, clean imagery, others are oversaturated and bold, some don't edit, others do… each and every option would create a very different look for your brand, even if you started with the same shot-list, so do check that what you’re looking at is right for the look and feel for your brand.
2. Impartial reviews
Does the photographer have a string of glowing reviews somewhere impartial like google or Trustpilot?
Independent reviews are important as they enable you to see beyond the glossy website and understand what past clients say about working with them. Themes are likely to emerge as you read them - does this sound like the person you want to be working with?
3. Personality
The importance of the relationship you have with your photographer can’t be over-estimated.
It’s vital they “get” you and your business and that you’ll feel at ease with them.
You probably will also want a degree of enthusiasm and excitement as you’ll want ENERGY during your shoot. You can always tell in the images whether the photoshoot was fun and whilst your brand might not be a “fun” one, you certainly don’t want to look as engaged as a lump of rock either!
4. Process
Yes, yes, planning isn’t sexy and you want to dive straight into the fun stuff, but if you’re like the majority of small business owners, you won’t have a background in marketing.
This means you might not know exactly what you need, only that you need ‘something’ to help you communicate better with your clients and your website designer has told you they need high-quality imagery and you’re fed up of struggling with what to post on social media and need a solution - stat!
Literally any photographer can take photographs of you that you can use in your business. In fact, anyone with a decent camera phone and good lighting can get some pretty passable snaps come to that.
What you need from a specialist branding photographer is all the other stuff. The understanding about why that image, what it’s saying, to whom, how to help you “pose” who to guide your expressions to showcase your personality - all the nuances tied to your marketing messages and business goals. That’s why you need a specialist and the benefit of finding the right one is that the process will flow so you’ll be on the same wavelength, ensuring your images do exactly what they need them to do. In addition to you looking fabulous, naturally!
5. Pricing
I’ve added this to the list as it’s often the first question people ask, I think partly because they aren’t sure what other questions to ask!
We won’t pretend that pricing isn’t important because if your dream photographer will take you 2 years to save up for, you have an important decision to make. That said, most of the experienced specialists are in a similar price range, so it’s more likely a case of doing your homework to find the right fit rather than price being a deciding factor.
Sometimes cashflow will be restricted though, so thankfully Bristols favourite branding photographer just so happens to have the original personal branding photography subscription service to help you out! You’re welcome!
If you’d like help attracting your dream clients you can schedule a free 20-minute enquiry call where you can get to know me and whether I’m the right fit for you.
You’re also welcome to sign up for my newsletter to receive more hints and tips on bringing your brand to life online.