How to prepare for your personal branding photoshoot

If it’s top tips, extensive experience and proven techniques on how to prepare for your personal branding photoshoot that you are looking for, then you are in the right place!

I’m taking an educated guess that the fact you’re reading this blog means you’re already interested in or have even perhaps booked your personal branding shoot. Which is why you are interested in how to prepare for your personal branding photoshoot And you won’t need me to tell you about the impact a truly successful personal brand shoot will have on your business. Because, it’s your face, your ethos and your values that are your brand NOT your company logo!

You’ll already know that visual imagery is one of the strongest mediums we have for communicating on a marketing level. And you’ll be fully aware of how important it is to get your personal branding photo shoot right, to help elevate your brand and grow your business.

I live by the mantra ‘preparation is key’ and I use it throughout my life and photo shoots. I am so confident in the preparation process I go through with my personal branding clients that I decided to share my top tips with you! So read on to learn how to successfully prepare for your personal branding photoshoot.

Talk to your photographer – build a relationship

A good photographer will make themselves available prior to your shoot to really talk about what you want from the session. It’s important to use this time to get to know each other. Your photographer should know what matters to you and your business. Your areas of confidence and those things that you are less comfortable with. As a result of these conversations, you will be able to achieve the very best from your shoot. Equally, you should feel super comfortable with your photographer! Because this person is here for you, to help you and your business, so open up, relax, get to know them!

Answer key questions

The workbook I provide with my personal branding photoshoots really helps me to really get to know you and your brand. But it helps my clients too, to get to the heart of their message, where their values lay. And this in turn helps us to plan a photoshoot that gets great results. To really illustrate the brand through the images! Among other key questions, the workbook encourages clients to define the core values that matter to them and their brand. Something else that’s important to map out is an ideal client. Who are they? What do they do? What do they value? By getting a true and full picture of them we can really design the images that will provoke a response from dream clients that leads to future work.

Share your ideas on a Pinterest board

We are bombarded with images every single time we go online, some we love and really connect with and others leave us feeling cold. A ‘private’ Pinterest board is a quick and easy tool to collect the images that you love. You can gather ideas of how you would like to look or that evoke a response in you that you would like to emulate in your own brand images. It provides a really accurate picture of the direction you want your shoot to take. Think about the look and feel of the images, the type of shot, colours, props and locations.

Get the setting right

Now let’s bring this information all together! You’ve chosen your perfect location, somewhere linked to what you do, or where you would normally work. You know how you’re going to look, to feel your most confident. This could be a fresh haircut, clothing that reflects not only your style but your brand colours. Don’t forget you can use several different outfits, after all this is YOUR shoot. You’ve thought about any props you’d like to use, items that totally reflect you, your values, your brand colours. Getting all of these elements just right will result in impactful images that create connections with your ideal clients.

Let me introduce Emma (Emma Garcia VA), a recent client of mine. We spent quality time discussing how to prepare for her personal branding photoshoot, and the results she wanted to achieve. Using her gorgeous brand colours as our base, and adding in her infectious personality, you can see from her images the cohesive brand image we were able to achieve. Her confidence and sense of fun shine through, I simply loved this shoot and you can see how successful it was!

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Make it personal and personable

So you’ve got the location, the clothes the look  . . now we need to bring the very essence of YOU. Refer back to the workbook regularly. Who are you? Do you meditate? Love heels? Or are you never seen without your red lippy? Do you work at home with your dog? Have you team members you talk to all the time? What brings you joy in your working day? All these elements are personal to you and you make them personable by talking about them on your social media so you’ll benefit from images to illustrate these posts.

When Emily (She is Emily) came to me, she was already hugely successful in the field of e-commerce. Starting from nothing she had built up 3 different businesses to 7 figure incomes! Her focus now is to pass on everything she had learned through her experiences to other women looking to create their own successful businesses. She wanted images that showed she was just like them when she started out, she’s down to earth, grounded yet confident, full of life and humour.

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Create a comprehensive plan of the day

This is where a great photographer will expertly guide you to get the most from your time. Together you should plan a shot list, identify the message on your website that your images should fit. Think about things like a wide banner shot for the header on a webpage, a close up of your hands on your computer to illustrate what you do. Do you want to introduce your team members? What setting should your interaction with them be shown in?

Have fun – be yourself – stay relaxed

Now, this is REALLY IMPORTANT! After all the time you have put in to help prepare for your personal branding photoshoot, this is the point when all your hard work will pay off. You should know your photographer pretty well by now, so you’ll know you have nothing to be nervous about, you’re just hanging out with a friend, who happens to be taking photos of you! Once I have onboarded a client they are pretty much part of the family and I like to make the shoot as friendly and fun as possible. I want you to feel happy about the investment you are making in your business. So it’s my goal to bring your personality to life in your personal brand images. Prospective clients should look at your images and immediately associate it with you, so have fun, it’s your time to shine!

A really great photographer will guide you through each of these steps with care. Ensuring you get the result you want. But did you know that I can you offer you even more?

I’ve talked a lot about knowing your business, and the direction you want it to go in. To really make this happen a business needs an effective marketing plan. A process where the business brand values focus and direction are broken down to create a solid roadmap for its future growth. Having worked for much of my career in marketing, with blue-chip and small business clients alike, and then moving forward to setting up and marketing my own business. I am perfectly placed to help guide you through this part of the process, using my own experience and training.

Get in touch

I love working with and supporting small businesses that are looking to grow, so why don’t you get in touch to find out more. Book a discovery call with me now to find out just exactly how I can help you succeed with great personal branding photography and a strong plan for the future.