The 7 steps to prepare for a brand photoshoot

Recently I went through a full rebrand of my business so I know exactly how daunting the process can look before you get started.png

This is part 1 of a 3 part series on photography in your business. Read the other parts here:

Stock Photos for Your Business | Presets for your Photos

Recently, I went through a full rebrand of my business, so I know exactly how daunting the process can look before you get started. In this blog post,I’m breaking down why I decided it was time and how I made the decision to say YES to a brand photoshoot!

#1 - Review your Purpose:

First, we need to break down the purpose of a brand photoshoot: Your brand photoshoot needs a purpose—with real business goals—to actually make financial sense.

When you start with your purpose behind the photoshoot, it will help to align all the photoshoot elements back to your business goals.

Is the purpose for your products to shine in the eyes of potential clients? Do these potential clients need to see themselves using or interacting with your products?
Is the purpose for your clients to get to know you better?
Is the purpose to create better imagery for storytelling?
Is the purpose to gain new email subscribers?

The purpose isn’t “just because I want to....” Your purpose typically needs to generate money, interest and/or measurable goodwill. Bonus, if you know your conversion goals it will be very easy to know if your brand photoshoot does or doesn’t make sense for your business.

#2 - Pull your inspiration

This is totally the fun part! Go wild on Pinterest by creating a secret board and pull together brand imagery that speaks to your goals and your target audience.

Start by pulling imagery that speaks to you, then edit the imagery based on what your target audience resonates with:

If you offer a service, what images get the most likes/saves/hits?
If you offer a service/product, is there a specific service/content that you find is the most engaging?
If you sell products, what products are your best sellers?
If you sell products, what images on your Facebook or Instagram feed have the most engagement?

If you aren’t currently working with your target audience or don’t know ANY of this information yet, that’s OK → seek them out and poll your ideal clients/target audience! What services or products catch their eye? What do they want to see more of? What do they want to see less of?

These are not totally defining questions, but might allow you the perspective of seeing your goals through your client’s eyes.

#3 - Create your Budget:

Next, it’s time to assess the resources you can allocate to the photoshoot which means it’s time to make a budget.

If you don’t know your exact budget yet, then start by collecting costs or researching what this looks like, financially, so you can create a budget. Don’t worry— I created a budget tracking spreadsheet to help you get started!

Overall, brand shoots are going to be a big investment in your business, and if you’re not sure that it’s the right fit for you, I assess my estimated cost to use for each image.

For example, if I think I’m going to get 2 years out of the images, and I’ll estimate about 100 high-quality images from the shoot:

$3,000 (photoshoot costs) / (100 images * 12 uses/image) = approximately $2.50 per image

Now, this isn’t the most accurate formula, but it puts the cost into perspective of your goals. At $2.50/image, I’m sure as heck going to get my money’s worth out of the photos!

And if your conversion is to sell a product, and let’s say your photoshoot had 20 products:

$3,000 (photoshoot costs) / 20 products = approximately $150 per image

But let’s say you PROFIT $50/unit and these photos increase your sales by 40 more units, then:

$50 (profit/unit) * 40 units = $2,000 additional profit

$2,000 additional profit - $150/product image = $1,850 additional profit in your business’ pocket from professional photos

Wowza, right?!? This is why, when possible, we’re focused on purpose with measurable conversions.

No matter your choice, you can go small or really big in putting together your brand photoshoot, but the most important aspect is to make sure the shoot aligns with your goals, vision, and budget!

#5 - Booking:

After your favorite photoshoot team is available and you’ve recalculated your budget worksheet, it’s time to go back and make sure the vision and goals still match. If so, it’s time to invest those $$ into your people!

If you’re taking headshots, you’ll obviously need to be present. But, if you run a product based business**, you might not even need to be on site for the photoshoot!

**If this is your first branding shoot for your products, I would encourage you to be present, but if your team and creative partners know the vision, then you may trust them to execute the product vision without you moving forward!

#6 - Prep:

Sometimes you can’t hire a creative director, or it’s not the best investment early on in your business, so you need to get a little scrappy. Been there, done that...and there’s NOTHING wrong with making that choice!

However, I find your finished photos look best when your primary job for the day (as the business owner and face of your business) is to be the representative of your business and to be in front of the camera and not have to be thinking about everything else that needs to be done for the shoot to go well (because it’s really hard to “look natural” or remove the RBF when you’re focused on all the things you have LEFT to do in this shoot).

But, because I KNOW what that’s like, I’m also including a quick checklist of some props and details you might need for your photoshoot, too….because it’s better to have the things you need and not use them, then not have what you need to get the money shot! You’ll find a link to get the checklist at the end of this post.

#7 - Photoshoot:

It’s PHOTOSHOOT TIME! If you’ve hired vendors to help you with the heavy lifting, it’s time to show up and be glammed up! Your job today is to be the face of your business; embrace it all by setting an out of office, turning your phone on silent and tuning into this experience.

If you want, take some behind the scenes photos and videos to enjoy later! And, like a great day, spoil yourself a little bit to celebrate → this is a BIG accomplishment!

No matter what you choose, having a brand photoshoot has helped to elevate my business’ presence to the long-term goals, and given me the tools to better tell my clients’ stories to my audience, and I hope it does the same for YOU!

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