When you think about the word “brand”….what do you think about?  It can be our brand or anyone’s brand. You probably went straight to thinking about the logo, the colors and the font, correct?  

Think about Coca-Cola….you can easily visualize the font and logo on a red can in your head, but their brand doesn’t end there.  

What else comes to mind when you think about the Coca-Cola brand?  Possibly, a thirst quenching, tasty beverage, right? Ok, now what else?  

Think deeper.  Does it make you think about the good old days and childhood memories of sharing a Coke with your BFF on a warm sunny day?  Ok, maybe this isn’t your exact memory, but you catch my drift.

This is what a brand is all about. It’s about creating an instantly recognizable brand identity and it’s about creating an emotional connection.  A brand may have a couple notable products, but it’s the overall brand identity that hooks people and creates raving fans.

Let’s look at another example...Apple computers.   It’s no surprise that PC’s are cheaper than Apple computers.  Apple doesn’t try to compete with PC on price. They know that a PC is cheaper.  Apple focuses on the experience. If you notice, a lot of their marketing is about connecting emotionally.  They focus on creativity and being the cool guy...not the nerdy PC. And it must be paying off! If you’re an Apple fanatic….you don’t have a MacBook and an Android phone!  Typically, you own the entire lineup of Apple products and will have spent far more money to do so in the process. 

You have so many different working parts that are integral to your business and building a cohesive brand because your brand is actually everything that encompasses your business...it’s your colors, font, logo, mission, vision, vibe, message AND PHOTOS!!  So, please don’t overlook the photos. Photos get far more engagement than text. (I could go and find the stats for you, but by now I’m sure you’ve already seen them.) So what does that mean? It means that more often than not, it’s the photos that stop people from scrolling to check out your message...not the other way around.  Therefore, your photos are extremely important!

Photos are the visual representation of your brand and the visual representation of your written message! 

Think about your favorite online entrepreneur….someone that you tell all your entrepreneurial friends about.  Can you pinpoint their brand the minute you see their photo pop up on your feed? I’m sure you can!  The most amazing thing about it is that you don’t have to see their faces or their bodies to know it’s their brand.  But you know it the minute you see it and what did you do next? You clicked on their post and probably purchased their newest offer!! 

Why?!  Because they’ve build that know, like and trust factor through their branding to which you’ve become a raving fan!  They’ve created immediate brand recognition with their images and followed up with spot on messaging. The photos and written message are the perfect compliment to each other and along with the raving fanhood syndrome, equates to increased conversion rates!  Ca-CHING!!

So, how do YOU create a recognizable and well-rounded brand that will have people emotionally invested and shouting at the rooftops to their friends about?

You can never stand out from the crowd when you’re competing with everyone else using the same image.  

This became more pronounced with the advent of Canva.com.  Canva allows photography and graphic design novices to create beautiful images for their website and/or social media platforms.  It’s extremely easy to use and super affordable, but the downside to it was that tons of people ended up using the same photos to represent their brands….and this is never helpful if you’re trying to be unique and stand out in the world wide web.  

Case in point….you’re scrolling through Pinterest (or any social media platform of your choice) and you scroll past a photos because you THINK you’ve already seen that post or offer.  When in fact, if you had looked closer, you would’ve realized that someone else is using the exact same photo for a totally different offer. It’s quite possible that the offer you just scrolled past is EXACTLY what you’re searching for….but now you’ll never know.  

A brand photographer is someone who will immerse themself in your brand in order to fully understand its mission and essence.  

The photos that you receive will be able to tell your brand’s visual story and they’ll compliment your written message.  But, best of all….they’ll be yours! They will be unique to your brand and they won’t end up on another competitor’s website or social feed.  SCORE!!

Where can and should you use your new branded and beautiful photos?  

Start using your branded photos everywhere….!

• Social media
• Your website
• Course material
• Webinars
• Ads
• Print materials

Your photos will be uniquely your brand and they will start attracting your ideal customers, building your know, like and trust factor; and increasing sales.  Your brand will become easily recognizable and you’ll start building your own set of raving fans.

I recently wrote a blog post that goes into great detail on why it's important to have custom branded photos and ALL the places you could benefit from using your own photos.  Have a look at the post for more inspiration and details.

You’ll be happy that you’ve invested in your business and your brand’s future.  Having photos that are uniquely your brand is exciting and will help up-level your business!!

Want to see some of the other photos I've done?  Check out my portfolio here.