December 1, 2020
If you’re a business owner who’s ever thought “I don’t need to post pictures of myself online…” or you’ve struggled with feeling confident in sharing yourself on social media, your website, etc… LISTEN UP FAM.
If you know us you know we are PASSIONATE about personal branding and infusing yourself into your brand & marketing. In today’s show, we’re gonna give it to you straight. If you own a business or market products or services online, you NEED to have regular content photos of yourself. Period.
In today’s show we’re breaking down DEEP into creating content photos of yourself – WHY you need to be doing it, the strategy behind it, and so much more. You’ll walk away with the strategic thinking you need to kick BUTT with utilizing content photos of yourself from here on out.
Why? Because people care about WHO they are hiring, not just necessarily what they are hiring. That’s not saying what they are hiring is not important, you still need to have an excellent quality product or service. But I think people often believe the lie that customers/clients don’t care about the artist, business owner, or creator behind the business or service and that is just not true. Proof of that is the “About Me” page on websites as it is the second most visited page on websites besides the homepage. That should tell you something. People care about you as a business owner/human-being/creator.
Ultimately we have to stop hiding behind what we sell. We GOTTA STOP BELIEVING THE LIE THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT US and start showing up.
You have to stop hiding if you want to grow your business, point-blank. That might be harsh to hear but we want you to succeed friend.
People connect to HUMAN BEINGS. Not to things, sales, or offers. They connect to YOU.
We want to challenge you to show up in your Instagram feed at LEAST twice in a grid of 9. Ideally more. But start there.
People instantly feel a loyalty, connection, a relationship when you show up as a person. It creates more involvement and connection. They aren’t just liking a cute product or photo, they are connecting to a human being. If you don’t believe us? Test it out and see what happens. Check out your analytics and we promise you those posts do better than anything else on your social media. Which is a great way to get more eyes on your work and people coming to your social media page. Utilize that FACE!
Marvel does a really good job of showing the connection in action movies. Give us a story with relationships and that’s what human-beings crave. Imagine watching the Avengers and all of the characters were replaced with objects. Right, no one would freaking watch that movie. That’s a weird example but goes to show us as human beings are connected to stories and people. We’re connected to the relationships and seeing the hero win the day.
It relates to our businesses and our feeds, that’s why posts of yourself do the best on your social media because people relate to a story, person, or connection. They are connected to you and not just the graphic you sell or service. We all want to share stories and we so often forget that we have a story to share and people genuinely love and want to connect.
If you are running a business and selling something, photos of yourself create connection, loyalty, and keep you top of mind to your customers. If you show up and put a face to your business and remind them “Hey this is your photographer, you’re going to work with me, this will be the experience because I am the experience”. They’re going to connect with you and in return will translate to more authentic photos because they’re connected with you. That could still apply to any industry that you are in, not just photography.
You have to remember that showing up keeps you top of mind because they are connected to you and loyal to you as a person and not just an object that is selling.
It is important to realize people are hungering for small real relatable. They are hungering for what feels like real life. Many are starting to turn against Amazon and fast fashion companies because they are trying to seek out small business owners and people they can support that are just like their nieces, cousins, or sisters. People are hungering for that.
Stop trying to play the “corporate game” and be YOURSELF. YOU ARE WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS 100% UNIQUE!!!! UTILIZE THAT!!!
Keep in mind the more often you post and especially the more often you post yourself the more you are top of mind for people. Going back to the example as a photographer, we were posting so much of ourselves dancing around our living rooms and sharing the little in-between stuff. Then all of these people who weren’t in relationships or engaged, but the minute they were engaged they were already prepared to reach out to one of us because we were top of mind for months on end before they ever needed our product or service. Day after day we were consistently putting ourselves, faces, and that connection opportunity in front of them. Pay attention to build that type of connection, showing up to build those relationships AND sales because the two go hand in hand.
It is always about connection and giving incredible service. BUT the reality is when you and your personal life (doing laundry or dancing horribly) show up it creates relatability and will grow your following. It gives people a reason to follow you for not just what you are selling.
Say you are a graphic designer if you just share that aspect people might still follow you, but give them another reason and YOU show up. You can show as much or as little as you would like. That boundary for you can be whatever it is.
You can create photos of your product that could potentially connect to your ideal customer, sure, not discounting that at all. What will connect the strongest is an actual human!
YOU!!! Your story. You are the author, the creator, the business owner, whatever you do or sell. You are the lifeblood behind that. That should not be ignored.
More proof of why logistically you need content photos. Why you need to get in front of the camera. We know that can seem scary/arrogant or self-serving, but when you understand the bigger picture and understand you aren’t taking content photos to look pretty. There is a bigger purpose to it. When you are out taking content photos we remember that.
All the places you can utilize content photos:
As your business grows you WILL need good quality photos of yourself. That is a fact. If you keep hiding and NEVER show up at all and only share the products or service, it’s going to be hard to grow your business. We don’t say that from a mean perceptive as we want to give you the honest truth and want you to see you grow and succeed.
You need to show up. Share your face. Remind people that behind what you sell there is a human-being behind there. It will create connections, personalize, and grow your brand. It will expand who you serve and help with growth by not continuing to hide. We’re not saying you’re not going to be successful if you don’t show your face, but let’s just say it’s a catalyst and a very tried and true strategy to grow and build connections.
We take you step by step through conceptualizing, planning, and styling a photoshoot to the final product of posing and creating content photos of yourself for your brand and business. We teach you how to plan, style outfits, scout locations, get good light & color matching for your outfits, how to do self-portraits of yourself with a tripod, and posing tips to know how to get content photos that feel authentic to who you are and connect with your audience.
One-stop-shop for taking incredible content photos. If you are struggling, we got you! Head on over to the Shop to get this course!
www.theheartuniversity.com/shop
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WASSUP FRIENDS. We’re Evie + Lindsey, co-founders of this wild partayyy called The Heart University. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs to kick freaking BUTT in their businesses, dive down into the heart of their why and how, and serve you with all possible tools you’ll need to up-level your business game and CRUSH those goals of yours.
Whether you’re coming to an in-person workshop, joining our online course, or soaking up all the strategies via this blog or our podcast, we’re STOKED you’re here + can’t wait to see you out there kicking butt.
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