You know you need Personal Branding photos to help you build trust with your audience, and help you feel more professional. You know the right images will help you get confidence AND grow your business.
But….. you hate having your photo taken. You know you’re not ‘photogenic’ and you really don’t like your smile. In fact if you’re being honest you don’t much like your nose, your hair, your hips or your stomach either.
And just like that, you’ve managed to come full circle and convince yourself that branding photos wouldn’t help you anyway because they’d look weird, forced or downright ugly.
Now I get it, because I’ve had my own branding photos taken and believe me I was afraid too. Nevertheless I went ahead and did it. And that’s why I’m here to tell you a few things that might help you.
First things first, enough negative talk because the more you focus on yourself and those ‘flaws’ the less confident you will feel, and that’s when all those other inner voices will chatter so loudly you’ll let the self doubt take over.
While I’ve got your attention I want you to take a moment and focus on your potential clients.
Who are you serving? How do they feel? What is their pain point? How can you solve their problems?
See what happens? Now the focus is on them instead of you, which means it is easier to think about your personal branding photos from their perspective rather than your own.
When you focus on your customer’s needs it becomes a little easier to change your mindset. You need to remind your brain that your personal branding photos aren’t really about you, they are in fact for your customers. They’re simply another tool to help your audience get to know you better so they can like you, trust you, and buy from you.
With this in mind let’s go over your earlier objections about the way you look one by one.
1. You don’t like your smile – honestly you do not have to smile in every photo. Of course if you’re going for a friendly demeanour then a smile is going to help you achieve that. And I have ways of coaxing out your beautiful, natural smile without telling you to say ‘cheese’. I’ll guide you through a variety of expressions for each of your poses, so at the end you don’t have to choose the smiling ones if you really don’t like them.
2. We’ll apply the same concept to the rest of your facial features and expression. Different angles will change the way your nose and lips look. Chin up, chin down, turning your face around the clock (don’t worry I’ll show you how) can make a huge difference to your end results.
3. Your hair is a big one, and it’s important to get it right. If you can’t do your own hair so you love it, then please pay someone else to do it for you. Make an appointment with your favourite hair dresser so they can style it before your session. Add hair touch ups to your professional makeup in the studio. And please don’t dramatically change your hair style just days before your shoot. Sure, get a trim or cover up your roots, but don’t go green if you’ve never done it before. And don’t chop off all your hair if it’s always been long and you’re not sure you’ll like it. You really need to like your hair in your photos, otherwise you simply won’t like your photos, no matter how amazing they are.
4. Hips, stomach, arms, legs – remember these are all just physical features and they can be hidden behind clothing, props or furniture, posed in a way that minimises or maximises them, or we can even direct focus elsewhere so they’re not the centre of attention. Your outfit, your position, the lighting and a few other factors can make all the difference here, and choosing a professional photographer who can help direct you through this is well worth the investment.
I also give all my clients a guide to help them plan and prepare, as well as a questionnaire so we can work around your perceived faults and have you looking your very best.
I’d love to know what is the number one thing that puts you off having Personal Branding or Headshot photos taken.
And if you have a concern or fear I haven’t mentioned here please reach out and let me know, so I can address it and help put your mind at ease. It’s important to me that your concerns are not brushed off or overlooked.
I want you to feel listened to and heard, and it is my mission to work with you so you end up with photos that you actually like of yourself.
Have a fabulous week,
PS. If you’d like to get my free guide on How to Look and Feel Confident in your photos you can download it here.
PPS. Want to chat with me about your concerns or ask questions, book your free call here
