“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” ~ Jeff Bezos
When you hear the word “brand,” you probably think of big corporations like Coca-Cola or Apple, which use branding to associate particular values, imagery, style, and products with their company name. Big-budget advertising campaigns, graphic styles, colors, catchphrases, and more come to mind. Smaller businesses also use branding exercises to streamline their message and style and create a unique identity.
In this blog post, we’ll address the following topics:
- What is Personal Branding Photography?
- How To Build Relationships Using Personal Branding Photography.
- The Next Steps You Should Take to Leverage Your Business.
What is Personal Branding Photography?
Your personal brand is how you intentionally communicate your value – your strengths, experience, and unique style – to your audience. In some ways, it’s not so different from what humans have always done – manage our reputations through what we wear, how we speak, what we care about, etc. The rise of social media has added another forum where we encounter each other, making it more important than ever to manage our “personal brands thoughtfully.”
The principles of branding can apply to individuals, as well. In fact, much of your professional success depends on your ability to communicate and generate confidence in your value. This is true if you seek clients to work with, apply for jobs, ask for a promotion, or even fill out a dating profile. This is especially true if you professionally manage a business that depends on your name, image, or personality (like photographers, real estate agents, coaches, doctors, etc.) or take your corporate experience to a broader audience through speaking opportunities, leadership positions, etc.
Your Visual Brand
For a long time, the term “headshots” has been synonymous with professional images, and most people’s experience with getting headshots is fast, awkward, and generic. Typical headshots are fairly impersonal without much variation in posing or lighting. They create a generic “professional” look but don’t communicate much beyond the fact that you are a person, hopefully, a professional.
You are unique, and there is a reason your clients and community choose you over the competition. Maybe you have years of professionalism and dedication, you are particularly organized, or you have a playful personality that your clients love.
Whatever it is that sets you apart, your personal brand is how you communicate so that your ideal clients – the ones that make you love what you do – can find you and fall in love with you. And when your ideal clients can see you, you can
1. Do the work that inspires you and pushes you to be the best you can be, and
2. Charge more because there is demand for your services and you consistently create your best work.
You may be saying, “That’s great, Ann, but my work speaks for itself. Why should I care about the photos of myself?”
The world is online, and your clients, customers, and employers will probably find you online before they meet you in person. Be honest: How many times have you Googled someone before working with them? You want to see if there are reviews for their services and if they just look like somebody you would want to work with.
Building Relationships
If your next best clients are encountering you online – via LinkedIn, Instagram, email signature, Zoom profile image, website, podcast bios, and on and on and on – they are encountering photos of you. And, like it or not, your potential clients are consciously and unconsciously making judgments based on how those photos make them feel. Do they feel trust and know you? Do you look like you know what you’re doing?
In the end, your personal brand is the foundation of your relationship with your clients. It can take you beyond an impersonal online business listing to the role of a trusted friend and advisor. Your personal brand defines how your clients remember you so that when the need for your particular service arises, they think of you first.
The Role of Confidence
The key to successfully marketing and promoting yourself is CONFIDENCE. Not only do you need to have confidence in yourself to create a personal brand and communicate your value to the world, but your confidence will give your potential clients and employers the confidence to work with you.
Our goals are:
1. Create images and videos that make you feel confident so that you are excited to share them. The more you are able to put yourself out there and market yourself, the more clients and opportunities you will bring back.
2. Create images and videos that inspire confidence in your clients and community so that your ideal clients know you, love you and are ready to work with you.
Next Steps
Now that you are on board, what does this mean for your photos? Does this mean you can’t just get a headshot and be done with it?
You can do that, of course.
If you are ready to initiate authentic relationships with your clients, we will craft a personal branding session just for you. This means.
- Discussing your brand and style to create a look that’s perfect for you
- Discussing your marketing and communication channels so that we can create images for all the different places where you connect with your audience
- Discuss your clothing and props so that you know what to wear to feel confident, look great, and have a variety of images you can use
- Guide you through posing and expression so that you look your best and have a variety of images for different uses
- Work with your body and your style to find the lighting and body language that is most flattering for you
- Review your images with you so that you only choose the photos you need and love
In the end, you will have a set of images that you can use throughout the year to market yourself authentically, whether on your website, social media, ads, blogs, podcasts, or print. You’ll never be stuck trying to find an image you can use again.
FAQ’s
What does personal branding photography cost in Barrington, IL?
At Ann & Kam Photography in Barrington, a Visibility Session starts at $650 and is a great entry point if you need a small set of polished images quickly. The Signature Brand Session is $4,000 all-inclusive — that covers hair and makeup, a full shoot day, and every edited image delivered with no selection process. The Brand Foundation Session is $2,500 all-inclusive for a single-person, single-location shoot. There are no session fees plus image packages here. One price, everything included.
What is included in a personal branding photography session?
That depends on the session type, but at the Signature level you get a brand strategy call before the shoot, a Pinterest board and complete shoot plan, professional hair and makeup on-site, 3 to 5 outfit changes, and a full gallery of 60 to 80 edited images delivered with web, social, and high-resolution files. The studio is a warm mid-century modern home in Barrington at 239 Oak Knoll Rd, and we also shoot on location throughout the Chicago area. No image selection process. No choosing 10 from 200. You get everything.
How do I choose the right personal branding photographer near me?
Look for someone who asks about your business before they talk about their camera. The planning process matters as much as the photography itself – your images only work if they’re built around a clear picture of who you are, who you serve, and where you want to show up. Ask to see full galleries, not just highlight reels. Ask how they handle posing for people who are nervous in front of the camera. And make sure their style matches the way you want to show up in your industry. If you’re a professional woman in the Chicago suburbs looking for a photographer who thinks strategically about your brand, we’d love to talk.
Do I need to come camera-ready, or is hair and makeup included?
It depends on which session you book. The Signature Brand Session and Brand Foundation Session both include professional hair and makeup coordinated and on-site. The Visibility Session does not — you arrive camera-ready. All sessions include guided posing throughout, so you don’t need to know how to pose or what to do with your hands. Most clients arrive a little nervous and leave having had more fun than they expected.
Where is Ann & Kam Photography located, and do you travel?
The studio is located in Barrington, Illinois. For Signature Brand Sessions and Full Brand Experience sessions, we also shoot on location throughout the Chicago area and suburbs. If you’re a business owner in Barrington, Naperville, Schaumburg, Lake Forest, Wilmette, or anywhere across Chicagoland, we work with clients all across the reg
If you’re ready to learn more, click the link to download our complete personal branding guide or email us to schedule a free consultation call. Remember to pin this article here and share it with your friends and family.
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