Branding Agency Southfield
As solopreneurs and small business owners, we are our businesses. In many cases, we place ourselves front and center in our professional branding because our clients want to know who we are and what makes us particularly worthy of their hard-earned dollars. It’s important to let our own personalities shine through because they’re what make us unique. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the photos we already use on our personal social media pages are the best way to “be ourselves” in a professional setting. Instead, professional photos that show us at our best are what can really take a personal image into the professional realm.
Take Dr. Latoya Gaines, Family and Child Therapist and a recent Vivid Visual Solutions client. Here’s how we helped take her image to the next level with professional makeup and photos.
Bright and Professional
Take a look at these two photos. It’s obvious which is the professional one, right? But how do we know? The one on the left has better lighting and composition. Even though Dr. Gaines is looking away from the camera, we can see her face better than in the one on the right. Professional makeup highlights her best features, and well-placed lighting gives her a freshness that we just don’t see in the café photo. In the photo on the left, Dr. Gaines looks like she’s ready to work.
Warm and Caring
Dr. Gaines’ business is built on being caring, supportive, and knowledgeable. It was especially important, then, to allow her true personality to shine through in her marketing. She needed to look professional, but also easy to talk to. Our photographer was able to capture both.
Here, we can see that the personal photo on the right is much brighter and fresher looking than the café photo above. However, she’s at home and this is clearly a selfie. While we’ve all taken some great selfies, they make us appear less put-together than we really are. They’re a casual sort of photo that’s perfect for our personal Facebook pages, or even a quick day-in-the-life photo for a business page. But they’re not ideal as a featured photo on our business page or website.
Cut the Clutter
On the left, Dr. Gaines is professionally dressed. She’s holding her iPad, and that says she’s ready for business. She looks very put together, right? But here’s the problem. There’s too much going on in the background. We have to pay close attention to get the message that she’s professional and put together, instead of letting our minds wonder where she is and what she’s doing there.
The professional photo, however, cuts the clutter. There’s nothing to distract us from the woman who is ready to help. She’s the only woman in the room, and the photographer was able to inspire a genuine, infectious smile that invites us in for a chat.
Want to check out the website that Vivid Visual Solutions created for Dr. Gaines’?
Are you ready to kick your branding up to the next level? It may be time to put away the selfies and café photos and invest in some professional images that show off your best attributes. Vivid Visual Solutions branding agency in Southfield helped Dr. Gaines make the switch with our very own Lisa Noble doing makeup, and a local photographer. Can’t make it to Michigan for a shoot? No problem. We’ll coordinate with local vendors to ensure you walk away with marketing-ready images that are perfect for your brand, anywhere in the world. Contact us today to get started!
