So many of my clients come to me having put off their personal branding shoot for way too long, for one reason or another.
Life gets in the way, sometimes…
But often, it’s deeper than that – they put off their shoot because of some notion that they themselves are not ready at the time.
Say you’ve gained a bit of weight and you’re thinking “I’ll just wait to shift that before I get my brand shoot booked”. Or maybe you’re worried that you’re starting to look a bit older, and so you leave those headshot photos from 5 years ago on your website.
So what happens when you’re striving to look perfect?
Let’s look at a few of the impacts…
1. You turn up to meet a client or get them on a video call – and they maybe don’t even recognise you as the face on your website!
And suddenly there’s a massive crack in your authenticity and trust. The trust that you’ve been curating so carefully with your meticulously crafted homepage copy and relatable social media captions…
It’s so important to live your brand values, especially if one of yours is authenticity. You’ve got to have images that are authentically you, and that show you at THIS point in your life.
You shouldn’t do it on a dating site… you shouldn’t do it on your website 🙂
2. You are missing a chance to connect! Your IDEAL clients are probably experiencing the same issues!
Even people who seem super confident and ‘together’ in their appearance, have self doubt and hang ups. So being brave and facing the world in what you see to be a less than perfect state, is actually going to connect way better to the right people you are trying to reach.
OK so a morbidly obese personal trainer may not get many clients – but I’m guessing if you’re a personal trainer, you are not! But I would totally choose a personal trainer who looked like she understood my struggles, because she’s lived with them herself and found some solutions, over one who looks like she’s always been fit and toned.
YOUR people will feel more of a connection to you, if you can let your true self show.
3. You won’t have the right type of professional brand images you need, when you need them.
For sure, you need to have some polished ‘best you’ shots for certain of your brand visibility strategic needs, but it is equally important to have an array of quality images of the less-than perfect, more relatable you.
Different platforms have a different vibe, and different stories need to be told.
This is why the full personal branding shoot experience with me always involves several outfits, and locations – so we can capture the polished you, and the more real one. We’ll aim to capture your unique quirks and passions, so you’re ready to show up professionally online as the real you that your competitors can’t possibly copy.
4. Even worse than this – you won’t have any professional brand images AT ALL, when you need them!
Imagine you’ve got an amazing opportunity to have a full page editorial spread in a magazine with an audience packed with your ideal clients. There’s a print deadline, but all you have are some phone selfies and a low res photo from Facebook that your mate took of you at someone’s wedding that looks pretty nice, though you’re wearing full wedding guest gear.
For sure, your editorial piece won’t get past the edit stage, if you haven’t got any good high quality images to go with your story.
Don’t let your need for perfection mean that you put off your branding photoshoot till the 12th of Never, and let these sorts of opportunities float by.
5. You’re missing the chance to make your business more credible.
In a world of AI and filters, it’s becoming increasingly hard to trust that things are real any more.
Which is kinda scary really!
I don’t know about you, but it gives me an extra layer of resistance when I’m buying anything, especially online. I check reviews and never follow links from social sites, but rather do a fresh search for the company on Google.
So in this AI crazy context, being less than perfect is actually a BENEFIT to your brand!
Showing yourself as the real you, and in your real environment, rather than just a plain studio headshot, lends you credibility in a world that’s increasingly hard to trust. Even better if you have a suite of brand shots showing you actually doing the thing that you do.
So really (and I say this with sooooo much love!)… you just need to get over yourself 🙂
I’ve heard countless examples, from my clients and others – about how they have embraced imperfections and seen their engagement skyrocket.
Your personal branding photoshoot with me will be a fun experience!
You’ll be relaxed in front of the camera in no time. I’ll guide you to make you look your best, and you’ll start to feel really comfortable and confident – but there’s really no need to aim for perfection!
And the best thing is, you’ll feel a million dollars afterwards – So many of my clients say that their confidence is much higher after their shoot, it’s such an empowering experience!
AND they all say that it was much more fun than they were expecting!
What are you waiting for? Your time to shine is NOW xx