What is Personal Branding and Why is it Important?

I love working with other business owners, capturing images that bring extra impact and personality to entrepreneurial marketing projects.  As a Board member of my own local business non-profit, I work with small and large businesses who want to stand out in the crowd.

You want a headshot or personal branding image that communicates with your audience. It should help tell the story of who you are and what feeling you want your business to evoke. Do you want to portray a confident, traditional vibe or a warm and friendly feeling? There is no wrong answer–it just depends on how YOU want your clients to feel when they engage with you and your business…and your brand.

Through our Image Concept Consultation, we will help you determine what poses, expressions, locations and backdrops are best suited to tell your story. We will also determine what the images will be used for and therefore, how the portraits should be created. For example, do you need square crops for social media such as Linked In? Do you have a format needed for publication or speaking engagements or a long vertical banner for the Web? We can accommodate business partner and teams as well.

What To Wear and How to Prep for A Personal Brand ing Professional Photoshoot

Clothing selection for your personal brand photography has a huge impact on the perception of you and your brand. Below are some tips and guidelines .

• How would you dress if you had the chance to meet hundreds or thousands of potential clients, customers, or your online audience members?
• That answer is different for every single one of you reading this. For example, a tattoo artist may want to convey a different look than a business coach who may want to convey a different look than a pastry chef who needs a different look than a banker. All of them are professionals.
• There are a handful of guidelines that I give to every client that will ensure you make the best possible decisions when deciding what to wear.
• Unlike a simple portrait shoot, a personal branding session needs to have a specific purpose or goal. Everything you do needs to be planned to advance that goal.
• Some of the most common goals could be to update your website content, strengthen your visual online brand, engage with your clients.

When you are planning a personal brand session, don’t start with the clothes… start with the goal you want to achieve for your brand and then determine what clothing will advance that goal. 

Think about casual vs. formal, choosing a color scheme that matches your brand, and the style of clothes that relate to the story you are telling. 

Be Comfortable

Your personal comfort level is going to show in the photos. If you feel stiff and uncomfortable in whatever you’re wearing, then you’re going to look stiff and uncomfortable in your portraits. 

There are a few things that factor into comfort…

First, you want the clothes to fit well. To tight and you’ll look stiff in the photos and be self-conscious about the fit. Too loose and you’ll just look sloppy. Neither of those looks is very flattering and neither inspire confidence or authority. The best clothes are relatively form fitting but with enough flexibility to move around.

Pay Attention To Colors

If you’re ready to invest in a personal branding photo session, then you’ve already spent some time planning your brand. That probably includes certain color palettes for your website or even a certain “look” for social media posts.

Plan Your Changes

A lot of personal brand shoots occur on location. So opportunities to change outfits may be limited. In these circumstances, you need to plan ahead for ways to easily change your look without having to get completely undressed.

A great way to accomplish this is by creating layers in your outfits. Camis are great for quick changes or you can add a jacket, a cardigan, a scarf, or other accessories to give you a completely different look without having to take anything off.

What To Avoid

Most of these are things that can distract the focus from you and decrease the effectiveness of the photo. Some are just things that look bad on camera.

Avoid Small Patterns And Prints–Small patterns and small prints are extremely distracting in photos. They will draw all the attention away from you and onto your clothing, and not in a good way. Larger patterns can work though.

Whenever possible, stick to solid colors. Use accessories for style rather than prints.

Avoid Branded Clothing–If you don’t work for Vineyard Vines, don’t sport the logo. Or…I can edit out small logos if needed. 

Select Newer, Fresher Pieces–Things like worn out spots, rips, pilling, missing buttons, or other tiny imperfections tend to get really magnified when they are on camera. 

Don’t worry at all about blemishes. I can edit those with no trouble.

Relax and just spend a little time prepping ahead and your images will shine. When in doubt, ask your photographer… I’m happy to help.