7 Steps to a Successful Personal Branding Photoshoot for Wellness Entrepreneurs

One thing I encourage all my health & wellness practitioner clients to invest in is a Personal Branding Photoshoot.

You know, where you hire a photographer to take some pics of you ‘doing your thing’ so that you can use them on social, on your website, and on marketing materials to promote your business.

Branding is sooo much more than your logo, fonts, or colour palette. In fact, when I hear marketers and designers talk about branding as ONLY those things, I cringe!

" Your brand is the promise of the experience your client will have with you. It’s everything."

In a traditional clinic type practice, branding includes everything from how you answer the phone, the music playing in your waiting room, the essential oil in the diffuser, and the pens your clients use to fill in their intake form. It’s also obviously the intake forms too! When it comes to online practice, we need to rely even more heavily on the visual aspects of your brand. And that’s where images of YOU come in.

HERE ARE MY 7 TOP TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL  PERSONAL BRANDING PHOTOSHOOT

1: Create a Pinterest Board Create your own Pinterest board and start collecting photos that you love for inspiration. Start with mine here and pin the pics you love to your own board (my board: https://pin.it/4LILs3k).

Share your Pinterest board with your photographer ahead of time, so that they can easily see the types of photos and poses that you like

2: Plan Your Shot List Try to get a mix of images that can be used across your website, social media, in ads, etc. You’ll need a mix of Head Shots, Photos with white space to one side (for ads and social media posts that need text overlaid), pics of you working, pics that show ‘behind the scenes such as you preparing healthy food, and some fun ones that show your personality too.

HOT TIP: With Canva Pro, you can remove the background of a photo so that you can then put yourself onto new backgrounds or different coloured backgrounds, and this works best if the photo is full-length standing – so get your photographer to take some of those!

3. Use Props Take some props with you like tea/coffee mugs, laptop, bottles of herbs or vitamins, fruit and veg and chopping boards, a green smoothie, books on health and nutrition or others relevant to your niche, pretty notebooks, and pens – think anything that resonates with you and your niche.

4. The Right Outfits Aim for 3-5 changes of outfits so that you can get a mix of photos. Keep colours within your branding guidelines too so that everything ties in. I always try for a dress, a white tee or shirt with jeans, a top and skirt, and a jacket that can be worn over the top of one or two of the other outfits. Jackets and scarves are a great way to quickly change an outfit. I like to put my hair up for the last outfit change too so that it looks different.

5. Hair and Makeup Having your hair and makeup professionally done will make the world of difference to your final images. A lot of stores like Mecca, Sephora, Mac, or Napolean will do makeup for a fee that’s redeemable on a purchase. Some photographers will suggest makeup artists and even have them available on location. It is 100% worth it as you need a LOT more makeup for photos than in real life. Hair is also great to have done – just popping into your local salon for a blowdry is a small investment to pay to be happy with your photos! Keep the style similar to what you normally wear so that you still feel like you!

6. Practice Poses Practicing some poses in the mirror before your photoshoot can help you to feel more comfortable once you’re in front of the camera. Trust me, if this is your first shoot you might find you freeze and feel awkward (I used to never know where to put my hands!) If you have 3 or 4 poses that you can fall back on, you’ll get some better shots. Look back at your Pinterest board and practice those poses.

7. Self Care On the day, eat a good breakfast and drink lots of water. Relax, have fun and you’ll have some great pics!

What’s your experience been like with branding photoshoots in the past?

If you like, pop into my free online community and share your fave photoshoot pic with the hashtag #photoshoot!

Here’s the link to the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prosperouspractitioner