Some people love being in front of a camera. But most of us don’t. This episode of The 4 am Report talks about why you should consider making your face part of your marketing plan.
If you’re a small biz owner or an entrepreneur, your face is very much tied to your brand. And often one of your best marketing tools.
In this episode of The 4 am Report, we talk to Heather Davidson-Meyn, owner of Fun Love Photography, about why personalized custom images can make your brand stand out from the competition.
We’re not telling you to ditch the stock photography, charts, graphs and other important design elements you use in your marketing. But we are very certain that you’re missing a great opportunity to showcase some personality and make a more lasting impression people will remember.
We speak from experience:
Exhibit A:
And…
Exhibit B:
Past images used to promote our material.
Long story short: They worked and we got noticed.
Here’s an excerpt from the transcript:
Susan: So Heather, let's talk that out a little bit. A key factor that stops many of us as small businesses from putting our faces on our marketing material is mindset. So, from your experience working with many small business owners, why is this? Why are they so hesitant to put themselves sort of front and center in their marketing?
Heather: Well, there's a couple of places the hesitation comes from. First of all, not knowing. Not knowing the "how" and the "what," exactly. What images do you need to create, and how do you create them? Where do you go? When do you do it? How do you represent yourself?
Secondly, is the whole thing about feeling vulnerable and unsure and not feeling camera ready, whether it be your hair and makeup, your wardrobe, or bigger things like feeling like you need to lose ten pounds.
Susan: Yeah, I can certainly understand all of those factors. My own journey has been at first I was like, "I'm certainly not getting on video." And then we did video, which was highly produced in which it was shot ahead of time, and we were lit perfectly, and that kind of stuff. And then now we've gotten to a place where we're quite comfortable hopping onto a Facebook Live or a LinkedIn Live, and just doing that from a video perspective.
And we applied the same sort of thing obviously to our shops, as well, that we've taken along the way. And I can certainly speak to the fact that getting a hold of your head space and your mindset was a big part of that.
Heather: Yeah, for sure.
Will: I wanted to talk about going beyond just the head shot. Of course. Yes, head shots are great. There's a purpose for them, but let's remember the one thing that makes you and your marketing stand out is that it comes from you. So you are part of that UVP. So Heather, if marketers and small business owners are out there listening, getting kind of inspired by what we're talking about and considering investing in some interesting photography to accompany their marketing. Can you give us some ideas to help get creative juices flowing?
Heather: Yeah, for sure. I start the planning process with every single one of my clients with five main images in mind. Not all will apply to everyone, but they're all important to consider. So first of all, there's you. Who are you? That that could be your basic head shot. What do you look like? Can you be recognized on the street?
The second one is you doing what you do. So this is just a representation of you doing what you do. If you're a maker, if you're making something; if you're a consultant, this is working with people, reading up on the latest books that apply to your field.
Third is you with your products. So again, this is more intuitive for someone who's making products. Maybe you're a seamstress, you're sewing clothes, then you have product, or you're writing books. You're an author, you with your books. And sometimes it's more challenging if you're a consultant helping people with services. It's more difficult to represent, but we can still definitely show you in a way that shows what you produce.
Fourth is you working with clients. Now, as I said, not everything applies to everyone. You may not actually work one-on one-with clients, but it's still important to show that you can relate to people, and it helps people to see you working with people, so that they feel like they can relate to you as well.
And then finally, you being you. So, this is a little bit more personal and not necessarily completely tied to your business, but it helps people relate to you as a person. And that's a lot of what this is all about. Showing your face, showing who you are, and giving something for the people out there on the internet who are seeing your photos on your website. Something for them to relate to. So, if you love taking walks, or you're an outdoors sort of person, or maybe you love drinking coffee, or doing yoga, or whatever it is you do, it's important to put that out there as well.
Now, a lot of people might struggle with envisioning how to turn these ideas into images, but a great photographer will guide you along the process, taking the time to learn about who you are, what you do, what you represent, and who the target client is that you're actually trying to reach, and helping you represent that visually.
Susan: Thank you, Heather. That's such a great framework of what people should be looking to shoot on a small business level, and we like to keep our episodes focused to a specific audience, but sometimes the lessons that we're talking about apply for a spectrum of people.
About Heather:
Heather is an internationally renowned portrait artist who uses the camera to create images that show the beauty of a person, both inside and out. She photographs families (because who doesn’t want to work with children and pets), as well as small business owners looking to elevate their brand presence with custom and personalized images.
Connect
Facebook: @funlovephotography
Instagram: @funlovephotography and @your_brand_photography
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