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Well, think about it. If you are running a business or starting a business, you need a photograph for everything. Let me stress that again.
You need photos for everything.
What’s Everything?
- Your personal website
- Your company website
- Your blog
- Facebook for business
- Business cards
- Autosignature on email
- Press releases
- Journals
- Memberships of communities and networks where you have a profile
- College
- Award entries and applications
- Avatars
- Conference & trade shows
You can catch up on my blog about the benefits of entering awards and also a few tips for those all important applications.
Why Resolution Matters
Just Don’t Do It
Of course you can use these pics for Facebook stories and feeds, for Instagram stories and feeds. This content is live and in the moment. When I’m referring to is the static photos that represent Brand You.
I see a lot people using their logo in place of their photograph for social media. What a wasted opportunity. People buy from people and they want to know what you look like, who they are conversing with and spending time building a relationship with. People want to see if you are like them. They want to know who is the person behind an email, a social media handle. They want to build trust.
What To Do
There is a whole process that goes behind getting a brand photo shoot done and the photography will help you choose the right shoot location. They’ll organise to get your hair and make up done, as appropriate to your gender. They’ll help you work out your wardrobe for the shoot. This may entail a few different outfits, so it’ll all be planned out in advance. All of this will come together to help you achieve an amazing end result. And just imagine…once you’ve all this done, it’ll also be easier to know how to put yourself out their when you are networking and attending conferences, events, networking meetings and other business gatherings. You can read more tips on how to dress for networking events here.
If you are not fully clued in to ‘who you are’, a good brand photographer will meet with you and help decipher this story with you. They’ll help define your brand and help convey it through authentic and powerful imagery that will boost your confidence and help you sell your product or service with new verve.
Variety
Personally I get bored with seeing the same image all the time, so I prefer to mix it up, depending on what I want to get across to the audience. Do I want a ‘serious me’ image or a more light hearted image?
Also, the image you use for Linkedin is very unlikely to be the same image you’d use for Facebook but it might be the same as the one you use for a business card. It’s worth spending a little time to strategise about how you are going to use your images, and going back to my original point; if you’ve got a bank full of amazing images to choose from, you’ll never be short of the right one to choose for the right occasion.
Building Trust
People want to see the person they are going to meet. It’s disconcerting when you meet someone that you’ve been building up a relationship with on social media and then you meet them in person and they look nothing like their photo. Automatically, it’s subliminally damaging the trust in the relationship.
Earning Potential
Investing in professional photography will earn you money, as it shows you are worth it. And when you believe you are worth it, your clients will also believe they are worth it and know you invest in you, so they are going to be more willing to invest in you too.
If you have other ideas and suggestions, I’d love to hear them. You can reach out to me at hello@networkingjean.ie. And do connect in with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram. Let’s keep the #networking conversation going!
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