So you’re rocking this business thing and know how important it is to have photos on your website and to keep up to date and share fresh content on social media. Well done! It’s an amazing start!

Do you think there’s some room for improvement? Have a look at the three categories and see which one best describes you (and see which one I fit into… All cards are on the table here).

1. You’re a selfie master and proud of it

You take a damn good selfie and sprinkle them wherever you can – and get lots of likes on social media when you post them. You maybe even take great photos of your beautiful breakfast and cup of coffee while you’re working in a cosy cafe.

The reason why you get lots of likes on these photos is because your audience wants to see YOU! They love seeing the face behind your company, what your days look like, what excites you and they want to know more about WHY you do what you do. As you already know, it’s about so much more than just what you do.

HOW I CAN HELP

What will convert even better is beautiful, professional photos of you.

I don’t mean something in the style of your school photos. I mean authentic images with soul. Images that tell your story, capturing you at your best, going about your daily routine, planning, dreaming, creating, interacting, snuggling with your kids or your dog – whatever it is that makes you you. Your personality and your story are unique and the images you show should reflect that.

All cred to your iPhone skills, but let’s be real here, you can only take so many selfies before it gets a little old.

2. You’re allergic to cameras

Your profile picture is dark and out of focus, but if you squint your eyes really tight you can sort of see that it’s you. Or perhaps you have picked a photo from your wedding day since you were looking pretty amazing in those. Or maybe from a job you had 5 years ago when you were forced to have your headshot taken for the company website. OR you have a photo of your kids or your dog as your profile picture (*cough cough* I may or may not have a photo of my son and my dog on my personal Facebook page).

You cringe with embarrassment every time you see it, but you would rather be covered in spiders than put yourself through the torture of having a new photo taken. You run a mile whenever someone pulls out a camera.

You know you would love to have better photos of yourself, but now’s just not the right time. You’re putting it off until you have more time, or feel a bit better about yourself, until you’ve lost that extra weight, or had your hair cut, or managed to invent a time machine so you can go back to when you were a bit younger and had smoother skin (even though you still thought then that you should wait until you felt better about yourself).

See a pattern here?

HOW I CAN HELP

I totally get it. All of it. I hate being in front of the camera more than anyone, which I think has completely shaped how I work as a photographer. I want to create beautiful images and I want anyone in front of my camera to walk away loving the way they look in their photos.

(Psst. I can also help to organise help with hair, make-up and choosing the right clothes because I know that for some us that is just too hard to deal with on our own. *points to herself*)

It’s not only the photos that are important though. I want everyone to walk away from a personal brand photography session feeling great about themselves and realising that the process isn’t as painful as they expected. I photograph the way I want to be photographed myself. My aim is to capture authentic stories that show who you are and this means that you will be doing things that come naturally to you. I will give you prompts to help elicit natural expressions, won’t put you in any unnatural poses – and I refuse to say ‘cheese!’.

3. You’re a stock library junkie

You know you need to fill your website and social media accounts with beautiful images. You also know that you would have trouble taking good photos yourself, so you set out to find a few stock photos. You start out searching for freebies, but realise they just don’t give the right impression. Your search leads you to one of the stock libraries that are online – and there are some fantastic ones. You start drooling over the images and pop a few in your shopping cart. You know how important it is to keep your images consistent to create a natural flow in your feed and on your website, so you go back, swap a few and continue your search.

Before you know it, 3 hours have gone by and in the end you wonder if you can really afford to spend the money that it costs and if they will really be as effective since even though they’re great photos, they aren’t tailored to your unique brand – and you aren’t actually in any of them.

HOW I CAN HELP

You should be spending your time doing what you do best – pushing your business forward and increasing sales and bookings. Time is money and you can’t afford to waste it.

Personal brand photography that is tailored to your unique brand and your personality, is an investment that will increase revenue by attracting potential clients and helping current clients remain interested, loyal and continuing to invest in you.

The big question is can you afford NOT to invest in it?