You’re ready for photos that will take your business to the next level and you’ve realized that you can’t keep taking the same mediocre cell phone photo to cut it. You need a photographer.

How do you find the right personal branding photographer? I mean, geez, everyone and their sister is a photographer now, but trying to find a photographer who understands the needs of a growing entrepreneur and how the right marketing strategy can help you earn more money is like looking for a needle (no, let’s say diamond) in a haystack.

Let me make it easier for you by sharing 3 of the common mistakes entrepreneurs make when hiring a personal branding photographer. If you are intrigued by these. I have 3 more important ones you don’t want to miss, so drop me a line in the boxes at the end.

 

1 – Hiring a traditional photographer, but not one that specializes in personal branding.

 

Did you even know there were photographers who knew enough to help you grow your business?

You’ve seen all the generic shots that we all need to be sprinkled throughout our content, but if that’s all you get with a traditional photographer, then you won’t get strategic images that connect with YOUR ideal clients and will engage your ideal client. 

You need more than a beautiful headshot if you plan to make an impact. Picking a photographer that doesn’t go into detail with you about your marketing strategy and help you brainstorm ideas to reach clients and upgrade your brand is not a good return on your investment. 

Pro Tip – Look for variety in their portfolio and on social media Ask to see a single client’s images – you want to see some variety in there that seems to be unique to that person and not reflect the traditional stock photography.

2 – Not asking for commercial use license.

 

Most traditional photographers won’t officially allow you to use the images from your session to make money. To safely do that, you need to sign a commercial agreement.

Since you’re going to use the images to grow your business and make money, you should expect to pay more for these images than you would a personal photo session. 

Quite frankly, commercial licensing can get fairly complicated. Traditionally, they are based on distribution numbers, length of time in use, the location they’ll be used, and so on.

Most professional personal branding photographers include the necessary license with no usage tracking or complicated pricing.

Pro Tip – Before hiring a photographer, ask about their usage license and contract prior to making your decision.  If they don’t have a commercial license, it might get a little awkward if they see you making a lot of money off their images.

Think about it, if the photographer doesn’t have the tools to handle commercial work, how can they be expected to understand YOUR needs as an entrepreneur?

 

3 – Hiring a photographer who requires you to give them credit on the images every time you post or print.

 

If you hire a traditional photographer and they agree that it’s fine if you use their images to grow your business as long as you give them credit – RUN!!!

You need to be mindful of your conversion rate in social media ads as tagging outside business could hurt your conversion. And that’s just one of the issues you might run into. 

Now, do I appreciate being credited on posts? Of course! But I don’t require it. I want to give you such a great experience that you want to recommend me anytime you hear someone asking about a personal branding photographer. 

As photographers, we do depend on using the images we take to show examples of our work to potential clients. But maybe you have a large following, you’ll want to work with a photographer that understands the brand you’re growing and they won’t take advantage of that. Just make sure to have a discussion with them about requiring credit from your business.

There are even more very important issues to consider! Want to learn more?

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what it means to hire a photographer who understands the marketing needs of your business and what you need to make help it grow.

I have three more mistakes and perks that I’d love to share with you. If you’d like to know, drop your info below and I’ll send the details right over. 

I’ve been there! I hired a traditional photographer that claimed personal branding. I got some cute photos, but they weren’t what I need for my business. And sometimes even the professionals like a little help and guidance. 

 I want to make sure you don’t get stuck in a bad situation.  (If you’d like to see more of the photos from this session in use, visit Boldly Pursue.