Is it time to book a brand shoot? In today’s episode, I’m sharing ten reasons why NOW is the perfect time to book your next brand shoot. Plus, I’m sharing the true cost of not investing in a brand shoot for your business!
On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.
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Review The Show Notes:
Boosting Confidence And Finding Clarity (3:23)
Professional Guidance (4:25)
Confidence Boost (5:11)
Personalized Vision (6:03)
Amplifying Brand Awareness And Visibility (6:58)
High-Quality Visual Content (8:35)
Consistent Brand Aesthetic (9:53)
Engaging Social Media Content (12:22)
Amplifying Your Online Presence (13:40)
Stand Out From The Crowd (13:52)
Fresh And Updated (15:03)
Collaborations (15:52)
They’re FUN! (17:17)
The Cost Of Not Investing In A Brand Shoot (18:20)
Review the Transcript:
Is it time to book a brand shoot today? We’re going to dive right into 10 reasons. Why now is the perfect time to book schedule and plan your next brand shoot. If you’re new here, hello, gorgeous. I’m your host Kiana. And I’m so fricking happy. You’re here with us today. I’ve been a photographer since I could hold a camera at the wee age of three.
And I’ve been photographing my favorite things, curating special moments, hosting, exploring, and learning ever since. With a background as a wedding photographer for the last 15 years, I’ve recently pivoted to offering more content and branding shoots. My goal with this podcast is to share the many seasons of photography, entrepreneurship, sisterhood, motherhood, and the growing pains it really takes to chase our dreams.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about when is the right time to book your next brand shoot. And today we’re going to clear all that right up. Now as a professional photographer, of course, I would love updated branding and content shoots every single month. I want them for myself. And of course, I want you to book them too, but I know that that’s just not possible.
We have businesses to fuel lives to run and busy families to take care of. So I’m hitting you heavy with the facts, sharing experiences, success stories, and hyping up the importance of updating your online presence beyond your headshot, but also being very realistic about when is the right time for you.
If you’re on the fence about booking your next photo shoot, stick around. I literally created this episode for you. Together we’ll determine if the time is now, next month, or next quarter, maybe even next year if we’re being really honest based on your needs. You are worthy of being photographed. My love, we need more people to know about you and your dream clients and customers are praying to find you and what you offer.
How are they ever going to find you without sharing your story and what you offer the longer we hide a second guess ourselves and hang out in the shadows of our social media corners, the harder it’ll be to make an impact, attract the income. and live out your soul’s purpose. Let’s get this party started and crank out 10 reasons.
Why now is the perfect time to book your next brand shoot. Welcome to Kiana Marie weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen. Photographers who are excited to serve you. Serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams.
You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode@kianamarie.com slash podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go.
I’m sure by now, you know I love a good list, and today’s list has a list. To break it down even more clearly for us, right? I love a good checklist. Starting with boosting confidence and finding clarity, increasing brand awareness and visibility, amplifying your online presence, and closing out with the cost of waiting.
I’m not going to let you take off without thinking, wait a second, hold on. What if I’m missing out on this? We’ll dive deeper into each of these topics to help us understand the value of what a brand experience really feels like more than what it looks like to work together and collaborate with me.
Let’s start with boosting confidence and finding clarity. It’s so important to make a plan, set your intentions, and write out exactly what your goals are for your life and business. Every morning, I pull an affirmation card with my coffee and set it as an intention for the day. Maybe it’s an intention to get something done, check something off my to do list.
Maybe it’s just a feeling to remind myself to stay calm on busy days and find moments of grace during the chaos. Have you ever set an intention for your business? Not only how you want to operate and feel as the owner slash CEO slash manager or whatever title that feels aligned with you, but how do you want your clients to feel when working with you?
I want you to really noodle that and maybe journal that your subcontractors, employees, assistants, and business collaborations. What intentions are you setting for them? What are your big lofty goals and visions for your life and business? If all of this feels a little unclear, This is where I come in to help paint that picture with you.
This leads me to reason number one, professional guidance. As your photographer, I come in hot with the ideas, clarifying questions to help you feel seen, heard, and understood. We’ll brainstorm ideas for who you are today, exactly as you are, where you’re going. And how we can bridge that gap. Your branding photos are so much more than outfits, poses, and hairstyles.
And believe me, those are important. Don’t get me wrong, but it’s my job to not only help you feel amazing, but to align yourself as the expert, curate authority driven photos, and help you find clarity in your offers. We have the clean white canvas to draw out your brand identity. Let’s get creative and create a shoot.
That’s authentically you just maybe a little polished. Reason number two, confidence boost. If you’ve been feeling kind of blah lately, or maybe stuck in a rut, now is the perfect time to book a brand shoot. We’ll shake things up, rattle the universe, give you something to look forward to, and literally breathe the life and magic into your business.
Even if the thought of taking photos makes you want to puke, feel awkward, icky, or doesn’t sound fun at all. Trust me, I’ve heard it all. I promise it’ll be painless and so much fun once we get started. As your photographer, you’ll not only feel prepared for your shoot, but during your shoot, I’ll legit be your hype girl.
I love pouring love, intentions, affirmations, and even prayers into your shoot so you not only feel confident, but you transform into the next version of yourself that you need to help get to that next level in business. It’s seriously so awesome to see it unfold right in front of my lens. Reason number three, personalize vision.
This is what makes these shoots perfect for you and on brand for your business. I love taking the time to pull inspiration, brainstorm and strategize with you so we can create images that you’ve never seen before. I love Pinterest for ideas. It sparks creativity, but sometimes what we have in mind doesn’t even exist yet.
Together, we’ll be creative with your location, backdrops, outfits, props, and every little detail. We’ll even curate client experience moments to showcase yourself as the expert you are. You come to me with your ideas. I noodle them over and together, we turn those visions into visuals. Many of us have very similar businesses.
Let’s be honest, our niches or tools may be different, but the core of the businesses I gravitate towards always help people. So how are you standing out? Now that I’ve listed out boosting confidence and finding clarity, let’s keep this list going with amplifying brand awareness and visibility. How are people going to know about you if you’re not showing up online or confidently walking into rooms?
Phones these days take legit photos. Let’s be honest, but there’s something magical about having your photos professionally taken. It reminds me of when I get my hair done at the salon, having my hair freshly washed and that scalp massage. Oh my God. It feels so good. You know what I’m talking about? And I know this sounds kind of creepy and I don’t even care, but like, why do all hairstylists have nails, right?
Like they have like the, like manicures. They have like nice nails that scratch so good. Oh my gosh, it feels so good. And then when you pair that with a fresh color and a fresh cut, it just leaves you feeling like a million bucks, right? In fact, I love that feeling so much that I let my hair go about two to three days without washing it because I can never get it to feel that way or to style it on my own again, right?
Like, Oh, I just wish I could take my hairstylist home with me and she can do my hair every day, right? That. To me, it’s what a professional brand shoot feels like. I feel polished, share my secrets, and I just freaking love my hair. And I even walk out and drive differently that day, right? Like you just leave the salon feeling like, ah, it just feels so good.
Now imagine that feeling, plus having beautiful photos that transplant you back to that feeling every time you post them, share them, or create sales pages with those photos. I mean, it just gives me the chills that I get to help provide that feeling for my clients. All right, let’s keep rolling right into reason number four.
High quality visual content. The difference between a brand shoot and a content shoot really boils down to two things for me. A brand shoot is telling your dream client what you’ll do for them. And a content shoot is actually doing the work. Both have high quality images with some sprinkled B roll and behind the scenes clips, but there’s an elevated experience with branding shoots.
Brand shoots are intentional. They’re strategic and well thought out. Together, we make up a plan to capture your spark, authority, and individuality while still leaving room for magic. You know the difference between a website or social media feed when you see professional photos versus an iPhone photos?
They’re just different, right? If you’re attracting more luxury and high paying clients, having an elevated and professional experience on your, on your website and on your social media presence will help make those millisecond decisions and first impressions for those dream clients. Now, of course, not every photo or video you take or post needs to be professional.
And I get that. That’s where I want to be like really realistic about this. But having a handful of branded, beautifully curated photos conveys that you take your business seriously and invest in your brand as well. Number five, consistent brand aesthetic. Like I mentioned before, you’re not always going to have access to professional photos, and sometimes you need to capture photos on your phone or with the best camera you have available, but consistency builds trust each time you invest in your favorite photographer, the better and better the photos will get.
I’d love to share a success story with my soul sister, Felicia Romero. We started working together around 2019 and I’ve been photographing her consistently since then. I’ve had the honor of attending speaking events with her to capture content. We’ve done dozens of photo shoots every year and I’ve been there to help photograph her live podcasting events and fun experiences like Masterminds in Sedona and all over Arizona.
In her content folder in Pixie Set, you should see it. It’s, I literally need to do a screenshot of it and do a little video behind the scenes of it. Because there are dozens and dozens of folders of all the fun stuff that we’ve done together. When we started working together, Felicia was just starting to crack into online marketing and online coaching.
She still had a handful of personal training clients and was ready to go completely full time as an online instructor and business educator. Every time we collaborated on a shoot, we made a plan. It’s seriously an honor to see her business blow up and now consistently bring in more 400k or more a year since we started working together.
What’s beautiful about these shoots is to see her glow up. Each of these branding and content shoots have a purpose. I can’t even stress this enough how intentional they are. They’re scheduled to align with her upcoming events, sales pages, new offers, and masterminds. You see, Felicia cracked the code and is constantly elevating her energetics.
So when it’s time to launch something new, she feels a fire inside and a burn Burst of creativity, even though she has a bank of thousands of images and B roll clips to utilize and to pull on because she just experienced this new level in herself. It’s time to capture that new version of her, right? So make sure to check out the show notes to share a collage of the many photo shoots and experiences we’ve done together.
I want to kind of piece them together for you to actually see the glow up here and just the magic that can happen when you literally team up with a photographer like me, whether it’s with me or your favorite local photographer. To see that growth and document that journey is just so incredible. And that’s something that you’re going to want to reflect on as your business continues to grow.
So your clients and your dream clients can see this timeline, right? It can actually see you evolve. This is the power of consistent brand aesthetics. All right, let’s keep scrolling down the list. Reason number six, engaging social media content. I’m going to be honest with you. No, really. I’m going to be really honest here for a sec.
Your dream client doesn’t care if your bottom teeth are straight or not. They don’t care about your pant size, what color your hair is, or what type of house you live in. They don’t care about any of that stuff. You know what they actually care about? How you can help them, how they feel around you. They care if they can trust you or not.
They care about the results you’re providing for them. Having updated branding photos will be an extension of your life. And of your real life presence, then we just got to get it online. That’s it, babe. So when we work together, your clients will feel your magic through their phones. They’ll literally scroll to feel, Ooh, this girl feels kind of, Ooh, I’m interested in this, right?
Like they’ll want to trust you, not because of what you look like, but how you carry yourself. I know you know what you’re doing, but how do we get strangers online to trust us? The secret is to simply be yourself. Creating engaging social media content really starts with sharing your heart, how you can help, and the results you provide.
When we stop hiding and decide to be seen, you’ll be amazed how quickly your dream clients will come running to learn more and book you. Okay, let’s roll right into this next chapter, amplifying your online presence. It’s one thing to feel confident enough to show up online, but how can we maximize our brand shoots and actually use our photos?
Reason number seven, stand out from the crowd. Now, if you know me well, you know, I’m a huge advocate for community over competition, and I want all of us to win. If we’re not a good match, energetically, stylistically, or maybe not at the right price point for each other, for any reason, I have a friend that I highly recommend.
In fact, I love my business besties so much that I’m going to change this reason from sending out from the crowd, to. To standing out from who you used to be. Okay, I hope you can follow me for a sec with this. What I mean is that I focus on becoming a better version of myself every day. All of my clients are aligned with me for a reason.
And I want to ensure that I’m sharpening my tools, learning more and investing in myself. So when it’s time to work with me again, my skills have increased and I’m more prepared to take even better care of my returning clients. This is what I mean by investing in your brand photos to stand out from last year’s versions of yourself, even last week’s version of yourself.
You’ve been invested in your education, gaining experience and learning tons every day. Let’s let your dream clients know that you’re not just the perfect match for them, but every day you’re improving with brand photos and content to prove it. Reason number eight. Fresh and updated. I don’t know why every time I say fresh, I got to think if you’re not talking about your business, why should anyone else honestly, who cares, right?
Planning a brand shoot is the easiest. And I think the funnest way to talk and celebrate brand. Your business without feeling salesy. If you have a new offer, experience a pivot recently, or have an upcoming event, now is the perfect time to book a photo shoot to showcase that excitement and build that hype.
Let’s get excited. I know you can’t see me right now, but I’m literally talking with my hands like the Sicilian I am and just, I’m just so excited. Like we need to bring that hype. Like I said, if we’re not excited about our business, Why should anybody care? Let’s give them a reason to talk about us like Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Okay, here we go. Reason number nine, collaborations. Have you recently hosted an event with a friend or industry peer and had a Canva backdrop remove your photos to splice them together? Trust me in a bind that absolutely works for graphics. But if you’re embarking on a new upcoming event or collab, Having professional photos of your team will work wonders.
I just recently had the honor of photographing the elevated exchange created by my friends, Tracy, Johnny, and Emily. I have to tag them to show you all their updated stuff. It’s just been so fun. Each equally powerful business owners ignited an incredible dream team to facilitate educational networking events for entrepreneurs.
For our last shoot, Johnny invested in a brand shoot and by the luck of the stars, Emily happened to be in town. She lives in California. The stars definitely aligned for us to all be in the same spot. Their, their schedules are so busy and we just happened to be at the same spot. They extended the shoot and invested in B roll content and we knocked out a ton of marketing material for their next event with everyone.
It was just so awesome for all of us to be in the same room. They’ve been building this, um, like extension of their businesses as collaboration together. And so it was just so magical to all be in the same room together. If you have a collaboration coming up with a friend, another brand or business, maybe even products to pitch for brands, investing in professional photos will absolutely help boost brand awareness with a touch of professionalism.
All right, here we go. Wrapping up with number 10. Reason number 10, they’re fun. Literally, they’re so much fun. I saved the best for last because we got into this business with a passion. Has your passion and spark for your business felt kind of burnt out lately? Need some fresh eyes or new energy on your business?
Sometimes just having something to look forward to and something to shop for will be incredible. It’s just a little spark or a little fire under a butt that we need. I know I just dumped a lot on you to think about, but let’s make business and content creation fun again. Let’s get creative, be silly and capture your true authentic self.
You my friend are magical and more people need to know about you. Your offers, what you’re creating and what you’re making need to be seen. Let me help you feel seen, understood and heard. Let’s let loose. Let’s ignite those big ideas and take action. You deserve it. Your family deserves the best version of you and your clients are praying to find you.
Now, in closing, before I wrap up, I want to quickly share the cost of not investing in a brand shoot. I know it’s not always the best time, but the longer we wait, the less sales we make. Between you and me, we know there are coaches, business owners, and leaders less qualified than us, and they’re making sales, and some are even misguiding people when that could be us offering what they need in the first place.
Don’t let the time you’re wasting waste the time of your clients and their money praying to find you. They’re ready to buy and invest in you. We just need to show up with that buy button, right? We need to actually be seen online. So they build that trust and they want to work with us. Okay, so let’s do a quick recap.
Feel centered again. I want to kind of take a deep breath before I just bounce and go into the next episode and let the day take over. So let’s just do a quick recap. This is going to be fast. If you’re taking notes or if you just want a quick little refresh, let’s kind of reframe it real fast. Okay.
Number one, professional guidance. I can’t wait to hear about your business ideas and help create a strategic content and marketing plan for you. This is where ideas just completely just light on fire and we’re going to have so much fun coming up with ideas for you. Number two, confidence boost. You are incredible and I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.
When we have professional brand photos, we instantly feel more professional. Number three, personalized vision. Booking a brand shoot with me is way more than just getting the pictures together. We’ll find clarity in your offers and prepare a shoot that feels like you and your brand. Number four, high quality visual content.
It’s time for your online presence to reflect your professional business and valuable experiences. Number five, consistent brand aesthetics. As your business continues to grow, let’s grow together. Booking content and branding shoots throughout the year will help build your brand identity and visually prove yourself as the expert.
Number six, engaging social media content. You truly are magical. I’m here to help capture the energy you have in real life to make posting online so much easier and more authentic. Number seven, stand out from the crowd. What I really meant with this reason was to stand out from who you were five years ago, who you were last year, last summer, or even yesterday.
We’re forever evolving. Let’s capture updated content and brand shoots to mirror those upgrades, mind shifts, and reach those next levels. Number eight, fresh and updated. Give yourself a reason to talk about your products, your offers, your coaching and masterminds and any upcoming events. Fresh headshots feel shiny and new.
Number nine, collaborations. If you’re planning to co host an upcoming event or want to pitch to collaborating with brands, having professional photos will always make you look and feel more legit. Number 10. Brand shoots are fun. If you’re still not sure, I wish you could tag along to the next brand shoot and see me in action.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, tells me how unphotogenic they are, how much they hate getting their photos taken, or how they’re just doing this because they have to. But, by the end of the shoot, we’re swapping recipes, I have new contacts to introduce them to, new opportunities to come up to share, podcasts to listen to, or I even pitch themselves to be on, right?
So that’s the best part about being in the podcasting industry is I have a friend for everything and like, like I said, being old school Italian, we know a guy, right? And it’s typically some type of badass entrepreneur. And the business space that I cannot wait to introduce you to, but I can’t know who to introduce you to until we connect, right?
These shoots fly by, they’re so much fun, they’re so entertaining, and I cannot wait to connect with you. When you’re ready for your turn, I’m just one email, text, DM, or call away. Since brand shoots are very intentional, I typically book out about three weeks to three months in advance. This gives us plenty of time to plan, shop, and strategize for your shoot.
If you have any questions or would love to start brainstorming for your shoot, please let me know. I’d love to give you priority for dates and get your booty on the calendar. Typically my shoots take place right here in Arizona with beautiful studios and locations near Scottsdale, Phoenix, Gilbert, and Mesa, but my bags are always packed.
I’m always down for branding shoots in your hometown too. If you found this episode helpful, please, please share with three business besties that you know need this pep talk for some fresh energy and some sparkle in their business. I appreciate you taking the time to listen. I’m seriously so grateful for you.
In case no one has told you today, you are overqualified. You are important. You are loved. Our world needs more of you and your magic. Can’t wait to introduce you to more business besties next. Plus stay tuned as I continue to sprinkle in more solo episodes about branding, prepping for your next photo shoot, collaborating with business besties, and so much more.
Love coming to the podcast soon. Okay. Love you. Hope you have a great week. Bye. That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie Weekly!
Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at quiannamarie.com/podcast.
I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app until next time, keep on dancing.
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