I have the privilege to help curate imagery for small business and I love it for so many reasons!! If you don’t know me, I am a numbers person. I have to have affirmation that I am moving and working towards the right direction. Not only for my business but for yours.Through out the imagery and this post I am going to give you examples and statistics on why a small business owner needs a minimum of fresh quarterly content of and for your business needs to be captured. Also I will share some of the Businesses I have the privilege to work with and their insight of what professional imagery has done for their business.

Here lately I have been asked for my business card alot. I am not going to lie I get embarrassed( for a sec) that I haven’t slowed down to order more but let me be 100% transparent. I don’t really want to buy any business cards because I know the device in their hand is exactly where they will go to type in my business card details to research me then in the trash the card will go. Sooo with a sweet face I say oh no I just ran out but do you have your phone with instagram or facebook ?( EVERYONE DOES, Never heard someone say NO, yet. Therefor my point proves itself.) Follow me On Instagram it links my website , email, phone and more! I continue to tell them my Instagram is my living and breathing business card that will give you more insight than the card ever could…….. Side note: Listen closely though, I am 100% believer you need a website all content needs to go on your website that’s a space you own and no one can take from you . This is you baby so don’t devote all your time to Social Media your website is your key. You want to put all your business information on your website and use always changing free social media outlets to market your website and services. Use the imagery to identity your website with your social media outlets.

Ok so here is where I am going to bring it home , spike the ball, do an amazing dismount, type that grit…. If you are a small business, large business, a Doctor, A Chiropractor, Personal Trainer, Therapist, Baker, Designer, Entrepreneur , Gift Shop, Side Hustling, and the list goes on you need to do a minimum of quarterly imagery of you and your business each year!! Yes folks, a minimum of Four One Hour Sessions with a professional photographer each year!!! Yes I love your Phone Images, I am loving portrait mode too!! BUT, you are busy running your Company and you need to have someone that specializes on imagery to take your imagery game next level. I hear it all too often, when I tell a client oh I love this picture, oh my gosh it took me all day to edit this one pic. Okay sweeties, if you are editing a pic all day who’s answering emails, strategically planning your business moves? Photography is marketing and you need to delegate it and treat it as such. Although you may have the same camera and all the cool gadgets it doesn’t mean that’s what you need to be spending your time on imagery! You are the CEO you don’t have time for that, stick to your specialty and I will stick to mine and together we will take on the world,,,, or our little pieces of it ( insert entrepreneurial laugh here)!! Listen, You need to be closing the deals making the sales , your photographer needs to be planning your session and editing your images that’s what we do folks, although you have killer skills work smarted not harder and delegate, delegate, delegate. I shouldn’t be talking believe me it’s so hard to let go but leave the imagery to us!!

So whether you hire me and or are reading this in Hawaii and need to work with your local photog, ( lol I can dream I have readers in Hawaii be nice). I have put together One Year of four Sessions of a basic Shot list that is versatile to what type of business owner you are. Remember gone are the days of the PROFESSIONAL fake book shelf on a roll of plastic paper with you sitting a cherry red desk! People want to know if you practice what you preach in a sense. They want to entrust you and familiarize themself with you! They want insight of what you do and you can go at this several ways. I tend to focus MY Business on My Clients and Directly at My Business with occasional backstory of myself and my whys. I choose to keep most of my family stuff private, with an occasional fun family image. After all, I think my kids , husband, and dogs are the best in all the land but Sally the therapist just wants to know if I can photograph her business in the best light. Not that my daughter has an amazing softball skills and my son is the funniest little drivers ed student. No worries therapy Sally I won’t bore you with my family stuff but I will knock your socks off with what my business can do for your business!! I got you, click click boom!!

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FIRST SESSION SHOT LIST –

This session is all about YOU !Bring your Favorite you items with the color pallet you want to correlate between your website, social media, and email lists. This is where your brand begins.

• The Headshot – Not so dry & Stiff
• Movement Headshot/ A Shot of you laughing , reading, drinking your favorite beverage in your favorite location
• Detailed Images of your works space & favorite items

During this session you will get the feel for the process. I always consult with my clients on the initial session. This session is the longest, I review their past imagery, website , and I hear what they lack and what they desire. I then map out to start creating imagery to captivate their ideal client. Example; if a client doesn’t like the color pink I will never request them to wear or add pink. If a client is searching for the Gluten Free consumer our items will represent that, or location will be known for being gluten free. The whole idea is to appeal to your niche. Don’t be something you aren’t it will not work and it will come across that way in imagery.

SECOND SESSION SHOT LIST

Your niche Educate your audience what you offer and what sets you apart. Focus on the actual thing you do! You will be moving and interacting. Focus on items you offer. Focus on your ideal client and what you feel they don’t know.

• Interact with a client or product you make
• Use tools to highlight what sets you apart
• Product Shots/ You with Product

THIRD SESSION SHOT LIST

A special season . Using a Holiday is always relatable. Whether it be a Birthday, Mother’s Day , Father’s Day. Find something specific that your business can relate to your consumer. This session you will jazz it up for that specific season.

• Decorated Office Area or Space
• Are you giving back to the community , Images of who wrapping gifts to donate
• Product Shots/ You with Product

FOURTH SESSION SHOT LIST

Let this be a recap session. What would you change what do you feel your audience is now requesting more of? Hone in on what you did to make your Website & Social Media Insights increase.

• Update some YOU Imagery
• Did you add to your team
• Did you add products
• What can we look forward to seeing in the new year

Remember from each session you can get tons of images. From that you can break up and use imagery on different days creating a cohesive experience for your audience/consumer. To help me with INSTAGRAM posts I prefer to use the tool Planoly. Click HERE is my referral link. Planoly let’s me create my layout and automate when they will post. After all as mentioned before we do not have time to post thoroughly every day so taking a morning of each month to plan your marketing is always sufficient. I then carry the images to Facebook , Blog , Website and more!!

STATISTICS

• Instagram has 1 Billion Monthly Users
• 80% of the Accounts Follow A Business on Instagram
• 1 Out of 3 Most Viewed Instagram Stories is from a Business

Photography has changed massively over the years. A couple of bonus stats attest to that: more pictures are now taken every two minutes than were taken during the entire 1800s. It is also estimated that ten percent of all photos ever taken were snapped in the last twelve months. It seems our appetite for photography shows no signs of slowing down. These Instagram stats demonstrate how important this trend is for marketers hoping to reach their audience. – Brand Watch

Resources: Sprout Social Brand Watch

I have also added this link for some more insights with insight for the Need of your Website and Not just the need of Social Media posts. How both are useful to your business. Follow Link HERE.

Let’s Work Together

So what are you waiting for!! Let’s take your imagery to the next level!! My business is to shine the light on your business. That your service or product becomes tangible and obtainable to consumers through imagery and in the end resulting in profits! Feel free to email me at hello@audriedollins.com and I will gladly quote your businesses imagery needs.

Thank you fo stopping by , all opinions are that of my own. I cannot promise my spelling is always accurate but my intent means well.

XOXO – Audrie Dollins

www.audriedollins.com