Are you getting all dressed up, looking fab and then taking selfies of yourself in your bedroom mirror in bad lighting, with the that'll-do attitude? You're not alone. Let me tell you, no one looks good with a phone in front of their face in yellow lighting. Especially not a professional!
Photography is tough to get right. Anyone can take photos these days, and a lot of people quite well. But when you look at good marketing, I mean really good marketing, you can tell the difference. Not only are the lines cleaner, the backdrops better and the depth of field spot on (what is this? I hear you say) but the lighting is better, the angles complimentary and the editing natural, the image pops.
I understand that for most small businesses, photography can be expensive if you have it done professionally all the time. So while I highly recommend doing professional shoots every now and then. It’s always nice to know you can create beautiful shots of your own when you have something just pop up, a new product arrive or you have run out of content.
One of the best companies in marketing is Apple. Now, I know they are a huge company, but I am not using them as a competition comparison. We are talking strategy, and they have it nailed. They use the WHY first in their marketing, not the WHAT. If you haven't heard Simon Sinek's talk on this it is worth looking up, but in a brief synopsis it is as follows.
Apple first starts off by showing people in their marketing having beautiful connected conversations with loved ones, going for a run and getting quick little I love you messages from their spouse and young kids learning to read in their parents arms and celebrating the little learning wins. By now you are emotionally invested in all of the happiness. This is the WHY. Then you see the people hang up their conversation and they are somewhere remote but they still got to connect with their family, the runner taps the watch and keeps running with a smile on their face, the child is operating the tablet on their own and loves how easy it is for them to use. This is the HOW. By now you want what they have, not only the emotional fun that they are having but the ease in which they are achieving it. Then you get some pretty shots of an iPhone, Apple Watch and an iPad. The WHAT. Before they ever consciously showed you the products they took you on an emotional journey that you could relate to. You bought the experience, and you just so happened to buy a phone, watch or computer to get that experience.
Learning the basics of photography as a small business owner is imperative, especially if you are based online. Most people buy with one of two things these days, emotion and their eyes. You need to be able to tell a story about WHY that product is going to fulfil an emotional need for them. Or if you're really good, you will be able to create an emotional need in that person that they didn't previously have. To do this you need to have pretty imagery and video's.
I work alone a lot of the time, so I understand that a lot of my clients do the same. This makes it tough to take those professional looking shots of ourselves and to tell those behind-the-scenes stories that get people hooked on our brands. What if I told you that I could teach you how to do it with the gear that you already have? I teach lighting, angles, how to take professional looking selfies, incorporating video, how to take weeks of content in one day, basic editing and how to make sure your images are on brand.
What is your story you want to tell? Let's tell it! I work one-on-one with you to teach you, with your gear and specifically with your brand in mind. We will brainstorm the best ideas to get your products across and we will implement it right there and then. You walk away not only with the knowledge of how to do this for yourself, but also with images you can already use straight away!
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