5 Tips to Nail Your Personal Branding Photoshoot

A personal branding photo shoot can be the secret ingredient to helping you attract your dream client, which we all want to do. But where do you start? With a pro.

Meet Dana Romano: Mom, Jersey Girl and creativepreneur at Dana Romano Photography. Dana and I met at a women’s networking event about five years ago and became fast friends. She’s my go-to photog for my boot camp events, branding headshots and even family pics. We started brainstorming ideas and had a blast planning the images that would communicate my brand message, “Helping women make more money doing what they love.”

She nailed it.

Here are Dana’s top tips to help you nail your personal branding photo sesh:

Lynn: What is the first thing an entrepreneur should consider when planning a branding photo shoot?

Dana: One of the best things about planning a branding session is it forces you to zero in on what makes your brand YOUR brand. A great question to ask yourself is what’s the one word you want people to walk away with when they see your branding images: Fun? Powerful? Happy? Empowered? Creative? Once you’ve identified that, we can really start to design your session to bring that message home. Your location, clothing, expression, mood, even the lighting…all these things work together to make sure your brand really resonates.

Lynn: What resources do you recommend to find inspiration for a color palette and image ideas?

Dana: This is a GREAT question. Our world is full of inspiration just there for the taking! I absolutely love it when clients come to me with photos they’ve collected from magazines (Vanity Fair is a fave of mine for artistic inspiration) or looks they’ve seen online, because that gets me into their head so much quicker. It really fast-tracks the creative process and gets us closer to the perfect images for them. Also, do a little reading about the psychological impact of different colors. Red conveys a sense of energy, blue is calming, green makes us think of healthy and natural, and oranges and yellows suggest cheerfulness and optimism. Start a personal branding Pinterest board and search for images that reflect your colors, vision and personality.

Lynn: Love the Pinterest board idea! I also searched Instagram for hashtags related to my biz and found inspiration for our photoshoot among the images that top influencers are using. Examples: #wahm #femaleentrepreneur #creativeentrepreneur #momblogger #femfeed #shemeansbusiness #momlifebelike

Ok, once we get clear on our brand and images, how can we use a branding photo shoot to tell our story and attract our dream client?

Dana:  We’ve all heard the expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The  truth is, in a split second, your branding photos speak volumes about you. In a world where attention spans are short and time is valuable, powerful branding shots are the perfect way to grab attention, evoke emotion and move people to take action. And when you know who your target clients are, you can really speak to them. Do they enjoy travel? Leisure time? Are they millennials or do they tend to be retirees? These kinds of questions can help you design branding photos that really hit home with your perfect dream client!

Lynn: I know you have some photography tricks up your sleeve. What should we do to look our best in photos?

Dana: So much of how you look in a photo has to do with your body position. The first thing to remember when someone takes your picture is this: turn AWAY from the camera. Be more sideways. It automatically makes you slimmer, which is really what we all want, isn’t it? Then turn your head back toward the camera, drop your front shoulder a little bit and  push your forehead forward like a turtle. It does great things for your jawline, which most of us need a little help with. And try to get someone to make you laugh. The best smiles are not the actual laugh, but right after the laugh. Your smile is genuine, your eyes are sparkling, and you just look great!

Lynn: Love it. Those tips will help women look and feel more confident.

Tell us about the current social trends. Are head shots still relevant or should we focus on a more authentic, instagram-worthy look?

Dana: The answer isn’t the same across the board. For some lines of work, a more traditional headshot is still the best option. High-level corporate executives, attorneys, and physicians are probably going to want a more straightforward headshot that says ‘competent’ and ‘professional’. But for most business areas, the trend is toward a more casual, approachable, on-location look. CEOs are wearing t-shirts and jeans now! I believe it’s a welcome change, and I think it’s here to stay. The internet has brought us all closer to each other. The barriers to connecting with our potential clients have been lowered, and we want to feel good about the people we’re doing business with. It’s more important than ever to look warm and approachable. Headshots that show more personality, that are done on-location, that almost look like they could be candid (but are actually carefully planned), have just the right tone for making people want to engage with us. Plus it’s a whole lot more fun to shoot, which works for me!

Thanks Dana! Your advice is invaluable.

Connect with Dana to plan your personal branding photoshoot (available in the South Jersey, Philadelphia and surrounding areas).

I’d love to know what you think. What does the photo at the top of this blog say to you?

Ready to really rock your direct sales biz?