Branding Photography Services in Toronto and GTA
Now only a few professionals have the luxury of staying out of the public eye. Even when it seems who we are and how we look does not matter… It does! Just think about it!
After the market was overpopulated with impersonal multimillion-dollar branding and communication coming from the corporations people just developed a blind eye to it all.
Focus shifted to the people behind the service or product. And it makes sense. If you are offering the service people want to know:
- Why your services are better?
- Where did you get your training and gained experience?
- How does your professional environment look?
- They simply want to know why they should trust you!
You do like to do online research? Your clients are no different! They do that too! They will check your LinkedIn profile, Instagram, Facebook page, google places, and website before they pick up the phone or email an inquiry. It is up to you to keep the information.
Google your name and your product name! You will see what people who do not know you and who might be your potential clients see!
No matter what products or services you sell – you are the driving force and motivation – and your clients want to see that! It is an incredible opportunity to keep telling the real story behind your brand!
Personal Branding — a step beyond headshot
Professional headshots are very important and have their place on websites, business cards and, even, avatars. But your clients can see very little of your story there. It is just one shot. In the meantime, they are used to storytelling and expect it to be told in an engaging, upbeat way.
Nothing adds to your story as an environment! It is simply a great atmosphere for casual and relaxed communication. Here you will be able to tell more because your potential clients are just enjoying it!
Here you can tell more, show more, demonstrate more. You can mix in a variety of locations, even!
You are your own brand!
Thinking through your personal branding is an exhilarating experience. Although you may be tired from day to day business challenges it helps you to really celebrate yourself. You will inevitably get inspired by your owns story! Interviews with business owners for personal branding purposes is almost my favorite part of the shoot preparation!
An efficient shoot plan for personal branding.
It would not be far off if I say that planning the photoshoot for your personal branding campaign is very close to planning to shoot a movie. While sometimes personal branding shoots can go easily and very relaxed, you still in the back of your mind will think, “Oh, I forgot to bring this, this shirt would have looked great here! You would realize that there are not enough variety of images – because you would stick to your favorite poses…
Think through your shoot plan:
- Locations. Be realistic about them – do they have great natural lighting? do they look great? Is there a variety of great spots within the location?
- Clothing. Comfortable, naturally looking in the environment. ( Evening gown is not often the thing)
- Makeup and hair! Your makeup and hair game is very important. I am not speaking of party makeup! “Natural look: makeup is very important to mask skin problems, reflective or shiny spots. In most cases, some sort of artificial light is used and even a little bit too oily skin creates a problem.
- Think of the things that you can demonstrate, show off or discuss in your social media posts. Remember this series of images will be “conversation starters”, “ice-breakers” or illustrations. Sometimes, it even helps to think in hashtags!!
I start the work on a personal branding photoshoot with a depth interview, while taking notes. It really helps to cover all the bases!
