„Branding” is a fascinating concept which I personally only learnt about relatively recently. The idea of building and maintaining a coherent presence, either online or in your area is a truly exciting challenge for any entrepreneur. I had an opportunity to better understand the idea when I was working with a business coach myself. Trying to define my values and how I want my brand to be perceived was a very productive process and definitely made my business a better one. In very short and general terms.
It is now equally rewarding to work as a photographer, working with other success minded people on building their dream businesses.
One of the elements making up your BRAND and what it stands for is your visual content, simply your photographs. People buy with eyes (literally and methaphorically) so if you want to win the internet and your audience’s hearts you need to show appealing, professional and neat content. Therefore, if you want your photographs to stand out and do a job for you it is best to trust your branding photography needs into professional hands. An experienced photographer will guide you through the process and support in the planning of your visual content. If your brand is still undefined and you need help establishing your core values, your mission and your execution plan you may be best contacting a professional for that too. Such as Axela Rinoa, the woman behind Fearless Founders Lab, who I will talk about more later on.
There are many benefits which professional branding (or in other words commercial) photography can bring to your business but these are the primary ones:
1. Make your website visible and searchable on Google
Websites containing images tend to get better SEO scores and are ranked higher in Google search engines. Make sure you update them regularly too as websites that don’t get regular content update get ‚shadowed’. If you are not active enough that means your business is not one to keep an eye on.
Also, making sure the images are saved in the right size (resolution) ensures it loads with acceptable speed and again your rankings are likely to be better.
2. Make your products or services clear to your target audience
As cliche as it sounds, a picture does tell a thousand words. You can write lengthy descriptions explaining what services you offer, what benefits your clients can expect but showing them what you have on offer will never fail. People have little time these days and value it a lot. Expecting your clients to devulge in a lot of text is risky, when you can convey the same message with an image.
3. Make yourself appear professional and trusthworthy to your audience
People buy from people that they trust. People buy from businesses that they trust. If you appear professional, you are more likely to attract the ideal client. The one who values your product, your time and you personally. When you make the effort to look professional and have a branding photo shoot your clients will get the message that you are serious about your business and them. And this is the first step to a successful business relation with your client.
Also, investing in a professional photo shoot sends the message that you are not afraid to invest in yourself and your business. Again, that encourges trust in potential customers who are more likely to do business with you.
4. Give a face to the brand
There is an ever growing trend to buy local, buy from small businesses and withstand the international multimilion companies’ monopoly. People like to do ethical business and one of the forms of that is supporting local businesses. If you run a florist shop, a hand made business, a beauty room or another business that needs a boost, showing your face can help your business tremendously. People will feel familiar with you even before they make the purchase. When they visit your store or business they will have already ‚cyber’ met you. Their brain will have been tamed, the initial resentment (which is in fact an innate function of our brain as we tend to treat all strangers as potential danger) will have withered and again you are more likely to close a transaction.
5. Link with local businesses (such as photographers) who can promote your business
By employing a professional photographer you are actually building a network. If your cooperation goes well you will earn yourself an ambassador who will be doing your marketing for you. Next time your photographer’s friends need a therapist, a piano teacher or virtual secretary they will most probably recommend you. How amazing is that? Free markerketing? Yep, as simple as that.
Case study
In November 2018 I worked with a truly inspirational woman who I worked with as a client before that.
Axela Rinoa is a business strategist, supporting entrepreneurs with their business building processes.
She constantly reviews, updates, changes and improves her branding materials, based on her business strategy and plans for the next year. In 2018 Axela came to me with a very specific mood board, outlining the feel, the colours, the set ups and general branding principles she wanted to portray in her images.
Our cooperation was a 4 stage process:
We started with professional studio head shot, then proceeded to boutique style images in a hotel. This was followed by a very casual location shoot showing what Axela loves most and the colours she chose for her brand (sea, water, blue and red). It was a very coherent idea and I was truly impressed how well she knew what she wanted and how she wanted to appeal to her clients.
Check it out just a few of the images we created
Commercial (branding photography) info
Each branding photo shoot (commercial photo shoot) is 100% tailored to clients needs and involves a planning process where a clear vision is defined. I am happy to help plan the visual content however I would expect you to have a fairly definted vision of where, how and for what purpose you wish to use your images. Again, if you need help realising these I may be able to help, however if you feel totally confused and just at the beginning of your business road you may benefit from professional business coach imput.
Pricing guide (2019/2020)
Hourly rate £65 (minimum booking)
Half an hour (on top of each completed hour) £40
Digital files pricing:
- 1 digital file £50
- 2 digital files £80
- 3 digital files £90
- 4 digital files £100
- 5 digital files £125
- 10 digital files £200 (11 – 19 files – £20 each)
- 20 digital files £350 (21 – 29 digital images £17.50 each)
- 30 digital files £520 (31 – 39 digital files £17 each)
- 40 digital files £650
Each additional over 40 – £15 each
Included in the price of shoot & files
- preshoot consultation and branding photo shoot plan
- online gallery for selecting images
- online gallery for proofing preliminary edit
- unlimited corrections in line with photographer’s style and consistent with initial branding plan
- travel to 15 miles of Exeter (£10 for each additional 10 miles)
- commercial license to use images for business purposes
- private link to downloadable high resolution files
END OF YEAR OFFER
If you would like me to help you create content for your marketing and would like to book a commercial shoot with me, you are welcome to take advantage of my End of Year Offer (booking needs to be made by 31/01/2020).
FREE HOUR OF SHOOT, just pay for your digitals!
Yes. Simple. That includes consultation, one hour of photo shoot in location of your choice or my studio set up. Files are paid for seperately.
£50 non refunable deposit required to seal the booking.
Get in touch to do your free initial query call.
