Showing up in your business with confidence: your on-brand photos that elevates your profile online
When it comes to planning new headshots or brand photography, the hardest part isn’t picking what to wear or choosing a location, not even my thought-provoking questionnaire. It’s dealing with that voice in your head.
From my experience, most clients tell me they would like to be more personal across their platforms but their relationship with the camera isn’t the best or they don’t like how they look in photos. But here’s the thing: what are you missing on staying in your comfort zone?
Because if your audience can’t see you, they can’t connect with you. And if they can’t connect, they’re less likely to trust you and buy from you.
So, how do you move past that voice and get photos you’ll actually like and want to use?
Here are three things to consider that will help you shift your perception:
Why does showing your face in your business matter?
It’s easy to stay in your zone of genius and share only client results, your products or stock photos that look nice with your brand across your platforms. It feels safe, even easy at times.
Us, small business owners, we oftentimes wear more hats than we would prefer and marketing is one of those that take a lot of time and effort. But are your attempts presenting your brand in the way you want or are you procrastinating because creating content is a process that takes energy, time and also creativity?
We know, people buy from people. They want to see who they’re working with. If you’re the founder, the one offering the service or even just the one running your small product based business, hiding away can make it feel impersonal.
If sharing your wisdom through a video feels daunting, headshots are the simplest place to start. Just a few photos of you used across your website and social media can start to build that trust, make your brand feel more professional and help people connect with the real person behind the business.
Should you take your own headshots or hire a professional photographer?
I’m all for DIY in many parts of life – homemade, repurposed, rinsed to death. But when it comes to your professional profile, a badly lit selfie or a cropped picture from a party or worse from last decade isn’t going to elevate much.
Your headshot is often the first impression someone has of you online. Your profile should look current, ooze confidence and professionalism.
When investing in a photographer, it’s not only for better quality images, it also gives you a sense of inspiration and confidence to show up. When you’re proud of your photos, you’re far more likely to use them, to share your work, your ideas and your perspective without second guessing if you “look right”. That confidence matters as much as the image itself.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t be personal and connect through your own videos or photos to add more depth to your brand and personality. I believe there is a great opportunity to mix your content between professional and self-made that will be interesting and loved by your audience.
What should you do with your headshots or brand photos once you have them?
Sometimes this happens: a photographer delivers a beautiful gallery of images to a client and months later, hardly any of them have been shared. Why? Mostly because it feels overwhelming to know where to start or we just overthink everything and end up doing nothing.
The best way is to start small.
Change all your profile photos: LinkedIn, Instagram and all your social platforms, Google profile, even business WhatsApp profile. Update your website’s “About Me” page. Add your headshot to your email signature – I promise you, it’s a nice touch to connect a name to a face. Share introduction post with your followers. Next time you have your business cards or any leaflets printed, be bold and include your headshot there. It doesn’t have to be big but you will be memorable.
Then, get organised. Sort your images into categories. Whether that’s marketing pillars, brand stories or topics you regularly post about. That way, you can match a photo to your words easily without overthinking. I’d go as far as saying that your photo doesn’t need to match your copy on socials, as long as it ties in with PS like PS: Did you know about my upcoming Headshot day?
Then move onto other website pages, think about blogs, lead magnets, presentations or proposals, graphics for different services/topics – anywhere you want to add a personal touch.
Now, here’s a question for you: What level of visual content does your business really need?
For some, a few professional headshots are enough to update your online presence and show the real person behind the business. For others, especially small business owners like artists, coaches, nutritionists, creatives and so on – a personal branding session might be the key to creating a bank of visual content that inspires you to share more often and saves you time looking for the perfect image from stock photos websites and second-guessing every post.
Whichever you choose, your brand is you. The sooner you show up with content that feels like you, the sooner your business will feel more personal, trustworthy and connected.
If you are ready to dive in, you can find my page all about branding here.
