How personal branding photography elevates your website
The most important thing is to start! Start your business at step one and if that entails using stock photos and photos taken off of your phone, do it! We all need to start somewhere and most businesses aren’t going to be able to start with a fully branded website. However remember these stock photos and phone photos are just placeholders until you can take the next investment step.
How do you know you’re ready to invest in personal branding photos? When those phone and stock photos are no longer serving you and you need to step up your business into the next level of professionalism. Let’s be honest, phone photos aren’t professional, they get the job done in some areas, but they won’t fulfill what your business needs.
The same goes with stock photos, they serve the placeholder purpose as well, but they aren’t branded to you. They are generic and not personable, relatable nor authentic to your voice. They don’t show who you are, what you do, who and how you help your ideal clients.
Photography is meant to invoke moods and feelings. Especially branding photography is meant to serve the purpose of supporting your business by creating authentic connections. Attract the right people and repel the wrong people.
Once again KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. When you know someone, like them and trust that business you’re more likely to use or refer that business to others. You show clients this by showing up as the authentic person and creating connections by showing your face on your website, newsletters, and social media.
Ok, time to step off of the soapbox.
What does this look like? Taking a website with stock images and then inserting personally branded photos, let’s take a look at Terina’s website. Terina is a financial coach of Blue Collar Financial Coaching and she recently rebranded her business. This version of her website wasn’t live for very long. All of these images were placeholders for images that we were going to replace from her session. As you can also see there is only 1 headshot of her that Terina used on each page.
When I looked over her website I was making notes of the stock images and coming up with visual ideas that were related to her business and her. I wanted them to flow with her brand visuals but also feel aligned with who she was as a person.
The locations we used for Terina’s shoot was a local cafe and then we walked around downtown Puyallup getting in nature. After we went to her home and into her she-shed. I have to say I was definitely a little envious of the space she has created for herself to work in. It made for the perfect little office to shoot in. I did bring my own white desk table since her husband is currently still making her wooden table by hand and it isn’t finished.
Now her website is filled with images of her. Of her working at her desk and of her smiling with things that represent her. On Terina’s website you get to start knowing her before you even hire her.
Below are the samples of both before and after Terina's photoshoot photos being added to the website.
Homepage Before & After
About Me Page Before & After
Contact page Before & After
Here are a few of the other images, she has for use. She can then use these on her social media, newsletters or on anything else she might need.
Ready for your own updates?
What do you think of the end look of her website? Do you use a lot or a few stock images on your own website? It is time to get your website a facelift and add your own images on to your website?
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