You hear it all the time, either social media, LinkedIn, networking events even in the office or at parties, “First Impressions Count, you need to have professional photos taken” And you maybe sitting there thinking, “yes ive heard it before but do I really need to spend money to have a photo taken when I just take a selfie or pop a couple of quick photos from my phone”?
It’s a question I’m asked all the time, but let’s be honest, I’m the photographer, I’m biased, of course I’m going to say, “yes spend your hard-earned money with me” But I want to actually give you some genuine reason why I feel you should invest your money on quality photos, and portraits. So grab a coffee, and let me give you 3 reasons why I think you SHOULD spend money on professional photos, and why first impressions count.
Investment
It’s a Marketing Expense, Not A Slap Down of Cash
As a business your goal is to sell to your clients, each year you will have a pot of money that you will allocate to marketing. So, treat a professional photo shoot as a marketing expense.
Picture this, you have invested your hard earned money into your business, you have a wonderful service or product that you offer, you may have a beautiful well designed work space, that’s full of cutting edge technology, your staff may mean the world to you as your dreams are coming to life, and without your staff those dreams would be a fleeting passing, but you need to show your clients this kind of story, that the goods or services their buying are made by incredibly talented people, that the equipment is top of the line, that you the company are invested in your employees, be honest how many times have you decided NOT to buy a product because of ethics, sustainable, human or just your own principles, because the first time you see the company the images don’t tell the story of why that business deserves you?
By treating photos as an investment in marketing and not just a slap down of cash, you can stand a better chance of earning more respect, more love and more smiles, and better still more repeat custom. I tell my clients all the time, it’s an investment in your growth, each business has a marketing budget, and photos should be seen as one of the biggest priorities, because as they say “a picture can speak a thousand words” Your pictures can be used on any form of additional marketing, like leaflets, brochures, banners, wall art for the reception and communal areas, even your vehicles can have photos that reflect your business. You will struggle to get that kind of story from unplanned, randomly taken photos taken without though or reason, and that’s where me as a professional storyteller, comes in.
Confidence
I Own This and This Is Mine
Professional photos show a sense of confidence, for me as a professional corporate photographer I offer a variety of services, but they all evolve around the one word “show you bad ass confident self” Yep I said it, you are THE company that your clients want, some random photos taken on your phone may look ok, but do they really show the story, or do they just vaguely look like you only had 5 minutes and snapped some photos because that was the best you had? You need to show your clients your confident in what you do, why they should choose you over the competitors, it’s about creating a powerful story one that has emotion, which also leads back again to investment, you’re investing your marketing budget to show your confident and you want them to buy from you.
Smiles for the day
They Can Change The World
The final reason I think you should invest in professional photos is “A Smile For The Day”. I’m a big believer in colour and passion, I think were in new era of business where the stuffy board room meetings with the Alan Sugar type directors sit there in their suits screaming and shouting at their workers are bygone.
There is now more freedom on individuality, you can now show tattoos and skin art, whereas before you were expected to wrap up, you can have your hair dyed any colour without fear of repercussions, and people are genuinely much happier and want to show this.
Take me for example, my company branding is based on my love of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because that’s me, I’m a big kid, I refuse to follow trend, I’m my own person, and my personality comes through as someone who (hopefully id to think anyway) as friendly, approachable, trustworthy, and just generally a nice person, but just because I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, doesn’t mean I will do a bad job, it’s just, that’s my personality.
And when I say “Smiles For The Day” that’s why I feel professional photos are a must, because its about creating those beautiful smiles that resonate with your clients, you need to show your clients the real person, and the real people behind the business, its why they choose you over the competitors.
Now of course there is always a specific industry where suits and ties are needed and that’s fine, but even those instances, smiles can be made, by changing the context and the way the photos come across, you can still be open and friendly, not convey the “Your Fired” look that would frighten everyone.
Final Thoughts
There are lots more reasons professional photos should be considered the most important element of any business marketing strategy but that would see me ranting and raving, and that’s not what this is about. But I do hope that this has given you some food for thought, we are in a tough economical climate, and I appreciate that marketing costs are tight, but I hope that by highlighting some of the core reasons why you should invest in professional photos has given you food for though.
Contact Me
Let’s be friends then, hop over to my contact page, and request an information pack, I think you will be pleasantly surprised as how far your marketing budget can stretch with some quality photos.
