Hire a brand photographer
This is hands down my biggest tip! Leave it up to the professionals. They have the proper equipment, experience, and best of all just plain know what they’re doing. Professional photos convey authenticity, confidence, professionalism, and show potential clients that you believe so much in what you do that you’ll happily bring someone onboard to document it. I’m a big believer of investing in your business, and this is an investment that you will benefit from for years to come.
Make sure the colors you’re using are consistent with your brand.
You should be putting thought into every little detail, from the location and lighting, down to the colors of your clothing. Some of the best brand photos I ever had taken were of me sitting on a red chair…and if you’ve been following me for a while, I’m sure you’ve noticed that red is NOT a color I use in any of my branding! I loved the photos dearly, but I never ended up using them on my website. It wasn’t cohesive, and it didn’t fit the brand tone that I had worked SO HARD to maintain all these years.
Stop using Instagram filters!
Yes, they even look bad when you’re using them on your stories. For sake of professionalism, please consider using a better photo editing app/software! Adobe Lightroom, VSCO, and A Color Story are all free for mobile, and there are many other alternatives out there! Another helpful tip – once you find a “filter” or editing style you like, stick with the same one! Your images should look consistent from top to bottom, left to right, and across ALL platforms!
Make sure your photos include human interaction.
We all love a good flay lay image, but if your photos are lacking human interaction, you’re missing out on a major chance to connect with potential clients. I believe in the “know, like, trust” principle, which says that your clients first need to know you before they like you, and like you before they trust you. Have clients that aren’t comfortable showing their face? That’s ok! Even just their hands holding a book, or a piece of paper, or one of your products will give your images that perfect human element. If you’re a service based business, and your photos don’t show you interacting with any clients, it makes it hard for viewers to visualize what it might be like to work with you. Showing images of you performing your service, creating, and interacting with clients will speak volumes to your level of expertise and experience.
Take advantage of FREE stock photography websites.
Yes, there are many out there! This is something I just stumbled upon recently, and it’s life changing! You can find great stock images for almost ANYTHING! Want to blog about your top 10 books to read? Here’s a stock image for that! Want to talk about your cross country road trip? It would be better if you used your own images, of course, but if you’re in a pinch here’s an image for that too! Want to talk about workflows, office hours, or scheduling? Here’s some more!
Here’s my top suggestions for free stock images:
Kaboompics
Unsplash
Pexels (also great for free stock video!)
PikWizard
Don’t overthink it.
A website should always be a work in progress, so don’t wait a year to publish your site because you’re waiting for better images. Done is better than perfect! You can always (especially with Showit!) swap photos out as you grow!
