Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, said it well.

Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room – Jeff Bezos

You see, personal branding is marketing you, the individual. The face of a company. The soloprenuer. The business person.

Why Personal Brand Photos

A personal brand is extremely important these days, especially as social media continues to grow.

People want to buy from people they trust. There is no better way to build trust than to show who you are as an individual and a business person.

Did you know the human brain processes images faster than words? In fact, we can process images at 1/10 of a second. Add in the personal connection, relationship building and engagement you do online and you can make one heck of an impact.

As you can see, having personal brand photos made for you can have a significant effect on your business.

Types of Personal Brand Photos

There are many styles of photos that can be used for personal brands. I’d like to talk about three of them.

Headshots

Headshots are a common type of photography. On their own, they have very little to do with your personal brand. But when combined with other imagery, the consistency between profile photos and other photos become important and powerful.

Headshots can be done in studio or on location in your environment. For personal brand photography sessions, I recommend environmental headshots.

HERO

HERO photos, also known as funnel photos, are typically 3/4 to full body photos where you are looking in certain directions, pointing, or hinting at something. They’re fun, relatable and can help sell products and services.

Typically these are done on location in an environment that compliments your personal brand. However, sometimes they are done in a studio environment on a solid color background.

I think Wikipedia says it best, about HERO images, when they say:

In web design, a hero image is a large web banner image, prominently placed on a web page, generally in the front and center. The hero image is often the first visual element a visitor encounters on the site; it presents an overview of the site’s most important content. A hero image often consists of image and text, and can be static or dynamic

Wikipedia

But why use a HERO image? Here is what Optimizely has to say about it.

A hero image, usually a high quality photo or video, can be a good way to add a personal touch that immediately builds credibility and trust for your brand. Because people are highly visual, having high quality imagery at the top of your page can help create a positive first impression. A hero image can also serve to direct users towards a desired link or call-to-action, or present your business’s value proposition at the top of the web page. Hero images on media sites and blogs can also be used to catch the visitor’s attention, and draw them into reading the article on the page.

Optimizely

Stories

Last, but definitely not least are stories. These are you, the brand, doing what you love to do, sharing who you are as an individual.

If you’re on Instagram then ideally every other photo you share should be part of a 1 of 5 stories.

A great example of this is my friend Jenna, who shares a photo about being a wife, and another about being pregnant (at the time I’m writing this) and another about being comfortable in your own skin.

Knowing what your stories are ahead of time can help shape the personal brand photo session into a more amazing experience.

But if you’re unsure of your stories, it’s ok. We can talk about it!

Why you need personal brand photography

You are your brand, and you might already be sharing photos of yourself, taken by an iPhone or something on the fly. What if you could prepare for an entire quarter of social imagery. What if you can transform your brand into something worth talking about? With photos that show what it feels like to work with you? Photos that let your clients connect with you on a deeper level.

Imagery like this, for your website, social media, public speaking engagements and blog posts… they help you connect with your audience. Personal brand photography can help you build a tighter tribe

If this is something you’d like to learn more about or talk with me about, let’s connect soon.