Your brand is not your website. Your brand is not your logo. Your brand is not your business cards. Those are only some aspects of your brand.

“A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Set Godin

In other words, your brand is how you make someone feel when they think about you (or your business).

• Who you are.
• What you do.
• Why you do what you do.

A personal branding photoshoot is a perfect way to communicate exactly that. These photos will help you attract your tribe and start building that personal connection with your audience on social media.

Better yet, these photos will help you save time and enhance your internet presence with beautiful, high-quality on-brand images.

But, before you plan a meeting with a branding photographer, you need to set your goals straight. By having a goal, you will show up confidently to your photoshoot and be more effective with your time

Define your goal for the photoshoot

Investing in a branding photoshoot is more than just a normal photo session. It’s setting your personal brand or online business up for success. Without having a clear goal, you can’t be sure if your photos will achieve the desired result.

4 questions you should ask yourself when defining your personal branding photoshoot goals

• Are you just starting out and need professional high-quality photos to represent your brand online?
• Are you rebranding and need a modern and fresh look?
• Are you launching an online course, a book or a completely new website?
• Or do you have new members to your team and you want to humanize your business more?

Once you know exactly why you’re investing in a branding photoshoot, then you can start mapping out the details that will visually bring your ideas to life.

Read more: 3 Secrets on Planning Your Personal Branding Photoshoot

Create a list of where the photos are going to be used

Branding photos are not only for your social media. You can use these photos on so many more different ways. Let’s brainstorm some ideas…

1. Website
2. Newsletter photos
3. Freebies
4. Pricing guides
5. Promotional flyers
6. Blogposts
7. Guest blogger/podcast speaker
8. Facebook Posts
9. IGTV video thumbnail
10. Instagram posts
11. Youtube header
12. Facebook/Instagram ads
13. LinkedIn
14. Podcast graphics
15. Landing page

Make sure you have a different set of combination of photos (close up, wide angles, flat lays etc). This way you will have variation of photos for different platforms.

By knowing exactly where you will be using your photos, you’ll have a range of content that will suit all of your marketing needs.

Create a mood board with your branding style

Let the fun begin! Open your Pinterest and create a ‘private’ board, share this board with your photographer and start crafting your inspiration board today!

When you’re pinning, think about the feeling you want your audience to experience when they look at your photos. This will help your photographer and will make sure that you two are on the same page.

Put together a must-have photo list

While I can give you a list of 15 different ways you can use your branding shoot, I don’t want you to get overwhelmed and feel like you need to spend the whole day taking photos. Create a list with the most important pictures that you need and make sure these are a top priority during your shoot

Here are 3 Must-Have Personal Branding Photos

Create a list of the props that you need.

Once you know where you’re going to use your photos, it’s time to create a list of all of your props that you will be using during the shoot. Based on your shoot goals and the Pinterest board you’ve created, you can now determine what props you’ll need.

Here’s a list of some props for your personal branding photoshoot

• Your laptop or tablet.
• Your favourite coffee mug.
• Green juice / your favourite cocktail.
• Confetti.
• Your (vlogging) camera.
• Your phone.
• Champagne.
• The product or something about the service you sell.
• The behind-the-scenes element you use.
• Your camera.
• Your pet.
• Something that makes your business unique.

Take notes of the props you need and start organizing these well in advance of your shoot so you’re not stressing out over this the day before (or on the day of) your shoot!

Plan your outfit like you’re about to rock your shoot

Planning your outfit beforehand will make sure you feel confident and ready to rock your photoshoot. This will also save you a lot of stress of randomly selecting something to wear the day before.

4 factors to consider when choosing your outfit for your personal branding photoshoot

1. Location – select your outfits based on the location so that it doesn’t compete with the background.
2. Colours – think about your branding colour when choosing your outfit.
3. Your brand – what style of outfits will authentically represent you and your brand?
4. Your dream client – how can your outfit attract your dream client?

Determine the best location for your photoshoot

Your location should be in correlation with the mood you want to create on your photos. I recommend scouting the location in advance to have a list of options. Consider the time of the year and the time of the day that the shooting will be held so you can choose a specific time to shoot.

Your personal branding photoshoot will help you…

• Tell your story and connect with your audience on a more deep and personal level.
• Showcase your unique personality and who you are.
• Easily and confidently post daily on your social media channels.
• Stand out from your highly saturated market and build trust with your audience.
• Have an image bank where you can use pictures for days!
• Have a press release kit ready to go! 
• Showcase your product and services in a unique and professional way.

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