How to Add Personality to Your Personal Branding Shoot

Do you want to add personality to your personal branding shoot? This can help create connection with your ideal client before they even meet you.

One of the top hesitations for booking a branding shoot is the worry that you won’t look like yourself. Or that your photos will come out looking like everyone else’s. Well, good news. There’s a way to prevent that!

When you add YOUR personality to your branding photos they cannot be replicated, duplicated, or copied. They will be 100% you. It’s important that you take inventory of what you want to put out there. Because as they say, what you put out, is what you’ll get back.

How to Add Personality to your Brand Photoshoot

If you’re high energy, enthusiastic, and optimistic, let’s infuse that into your photoshoot. If you’re more calm, quiet, and laser focused, we can showcase that. Every business owner has a unique personality – that’s why you don’t need (and shouldn’t) book every job or client. Your interaction and rapport is just as important as the service/product that will be exchanged – especially when it’s a high touch service.

Having brand images that show off your personality will help build trust. Your potential clients can get to know you before they even meet you. They’ll be able to gauge if you are they want to work with.

So how do you add personality to your branding shoot? Here are 5 tips for creating brand photos full of your personality.

Tip #1: What is your Brand Personality?

You’ve probably thought about this if you’ve worked with a brand designer before. Even if you haven’t, it’s good to think about before planning a brand photoshoot. Your brand personality will drive the direction of your branding shoot.

Think about the words and traits that you want to be known for. Think about the traits that you’re already known for.

Here are some words to get you thinking:

• empathetic
• driven
• goal oriented
• optimistic
• calm
• enthusiastic
• problem-solver
• analytic
• artistic
• good listener
• detail oriented

The list can go on and on. These traits can apply to you and your brand. Because think of it this way – your brand impression is what people say about you and your business when you’re not in the room. Why are you memorable to someone? What do they think of when they think of you and your business? And then think about what you want them to feel and think of when it comes to your business.

Tip #2: What are your Brand Pillars or Topics?

When it comes to marketing your business, it’s important to mix the type of content that you are sharing. Now, you may think that you want to get sales from your marketing. Of course, that’s the ultimate goal. However, if you’re constantly (and only) selling in your marketing – whether that’s social media, email, or in person, it’s going to turn people off.

The way that you can incorporate other things into your marketing is having brand pillars or topics. These are a set of 4-6 topics that you’ll talk about throughout your marketing. Why should you have brand pillars? These things allow potential customers and clients to understand you as the personal brand just as much as how you can service them.

For example, if you’re a realtor, your brand topics might be:

• local real estate market
• favorite local restaurants and shops
• quest to try every local coffee shop in the area
• your goldendoodle
• work/life balance as a realtor, wife, and mom of 3

And these are just examples of the things you can include. Yes, people want to know about the local real estate market and that you’ve helped sell or buy homes. However, when it comes to a huge purchase decision such as a home, a client needs to (really should!) know, like, and trust their realtor.

Think about your brand pillars. How can you add elements of your personality to what you share in your marketing. People buy from people after they establish a connection. You need to add personality to forge that connection.

Tip #3: What are your brand colors and signals?

Do you have brand colors? Do you have colors that you wear all the time? Are there things that you’ve become known for because you have them all the time?

There was a time when I was a aspiring wedding photographer and one of the things I always talked about was the wedding cake. I was on a mission to find the perfect red velvet cake in the area. In fact, I talked (and wrote) about it so much, that other wedding vendors would talk to me about it when they saw me. While I still love red velvet cake, I’m no longer on that mission to find the perfect piece. But if you’re looking for it, check out Low Country Quisine!

So think about the colors that represent you and your business. Think about the items that people may think of you when they see them. For example, if you always have a Starbucks drink or tumbler in your hand, people may think of you when they hit the Starbucks drive thru. If you always wear a kelly green scarf or carry a hot pink wristlet, those subtle touches do say something about you.

Think about what your colors are (or what you want them to be) as well as what you’re known for (or what you want to be known for) and add those items to your brand photoshoot.

Tip #4: Create an Inspiration Board to Add Personality

One of the best ways to communicate how you want to add personality to you photoshoot to your photographer is through a visual inspiration board. Use Pinterest to search for and pin your ideas into a cohesive board.

Sometimes, what you imagine and what your photographer may envision will be described the same, but the result will be totally different. Having an inspiration board that shows what you want lets your photographer know what your vision is.

How to create a visual inspiration board on Pinterest

• Setup an account if you don’t have one yet (it’s free)
• Create a board – you can name it anything you want
• Use the search bar to find photos
• You can “pin” the photos by clicking save and choosing the board you want to save it to

Here are some tips on finding photos on Pinterest. If you’re looking for sitting poses, try using search terms like “woman sitting poses” or if you’re looking for laughing expressions, try using “woman laughing poses”. Another option is “branding photoshoot poses”. There is so much content on Pinterest, that you can’t do it wrong.

Find photos that represent your personality and your brand personality to show your potential clients who you are.

Tip #5: Get in the right mindset to add personality to your shoot

One of the most stressful things for clients is the actual photoshoot. Most people don’t love getting their photo taken or being the center of attention for two to three hours. So it’s important to get in the right frame of mind before your photoshoot.

I recommend reading positive affirmations, looking at yourself with love in the mirror, and thinking of all the things that you love about yourself. I know, it sounds kind of hokey, but it can get you in the right headspace.

Create a playlist that makes you feel relaxed and at ease and ready to have some fun. Share the playlist with your photographer before your shoot so they can have that playing for you. Music can create a vibe to get you feeling comfortable and ready for your brand photoshoot so that your personality can shine through.

That’s your goal, after all – to add personality to your brand photoshoot.

HELPFUL RESOURCES TO ADD PERSONALITY TO YOUR BRAND SHOOT

Personal Branding Photography – What You Should Know

When to Hire a Brand Photographer

Find the Right Brand Photographer for Your Business

How to Use Your Branding Photos

READY TO BOOK YOUR OWN BRANDING SHOOT?

Step 1. Get in Touch – click and contact today

Step 2. Discovery Call – we’ll chat about your business and your vision for brand photos

Step 3. Book your Shoot – if we’re a “match” let’s get you on the schedule and start planning