How to prepare for your personal branding photoshoot
PERSONAL BRANDING PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWS YOU TO CONNECT - TO SHOW WHO YOU TRULY ARE, SO YOUR CLIENTS CAN CONNECT WITH YOU. BUT IT CAN ONLY DO THAT IF YOU GET THE MESSAGING RIGHT!
So how do you plan for a successful personal branding photoshoot?
List your primary business objective
What do you want to be doing more of? There is no point showing yourself training large groups if you actually prefer to work 1:1 online via Zoom. Be really honest with yourself about what you want your business to look like and write it down.
What are your marketing messages?
Whether you have regular branding photoshoots throughout the year or have one long annual session, you’ll need to think ahead until your next one and map out what you’ll need to communicate to attract the right clients for the services you identified above.
3. What’s your brand vibe?
What do your clients need to think, feel and know about you to choose to work with you for these services?
Brainstorm the words and phrases that your ideal clients use to describe you or the ones you want to be described as. A word of warning though - it’s really important that you show yourself as your clients will experience working with you, as familiarity reduces the fear of the unknown, so whilst you’ll be in business mode, you need to be you.
Any disconnect between your messaging and the reality of working with you could lead to unhappy clients and you want to avoid that like the plague!
4. List the places your ideal clients hang out or aspire to be
You want your dream clients to feel that you’ll “get” them, that you understand where they are and where they want to be. A simple way to communicate that is to show that you’re just like them.
It’s human nature to want to feel like we belong, and naturally, we want to feel understood, so help your audience see that you’re that person, that you fit!
5. Plan your outfit(s)
Similarly to the above points, how will you style yourself? You’ll want to look like yourself as you need to feel comfortable. Not only that, you’ll need to resemble how your clients will see you when they work with you!
If you’re super casual and never wear makeup, a full glam-over for a photoshoot will result in images that look nothing like you, which is not the point! That said, many of my clients do have hair and makeup done before their photoshoot so that they look like the best version of themselves as this helps them feel confident and nobody likes shiny noses in their professional imagery!
6. What “tools” do you use?
Think about how you work and what you use to do what you do - can any be used as props to show your ideal clients a glimpse of you in action?
If you use specific software, can you be using that in a shot and create some content around it to demystify the process?
If you offer hands-on therapies, can you show yourself in action so that future clients know what to expect?
If you’re a service provider, think about your laptop, phone, notebooks, water bottle, reusable cups etc - can you get covers in your brand colours?
7. Create a mood board & shot list
Pinterest is great for this as it allows you to pin everything that feels right to you, which you can then curate and turn into a shot list.
With almost all of my clients, we go into their branding photoshoots with a defined shot-list as this ensures they get exactly what they need from the session. A few have worked with me for so long now that we freestyle it as I already know what they need, but even then I don’t take it for granted - I always ask.
A shot list means that all the points you’ve covered above actually get executed in a way that’s right for YOUR business.
8. Hire a professional personal branding photographer!
Not all personal branding photographers have the same knowledge and experience, many generalist/wedding/family photographers also offer “branding” photoshoots making the process and outcome variable.
All professional photographers should be able to offer you great quality images, the difference might be in how much they can help you get the maximum value for money from your photoshoot.
Very few personal branding photographers have a marketing background, even fewer generalist ones, which will leave the onus on you to make sure you’ve given your photographer a tight enough brief to get the results you need.
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.
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