You know you’re ready for a brand shoot, but you don’t just want pretty photos. You want a professional shoot with branding and marketing strategy to back it up. In today’s episode, I’m sharing why you need to hire a photographer that thinks like a marketer! 

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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Today’s episode is brought to you by The Green House, my resource garden for photographers! Let me help you AMPLIFY your heart online and in real life to turn bridesmaids into future brides through templates, workshops, and freebies!

Review The Show Notes:

Pretty Photos Vs. Profitable Photos (1:26)

Strategy Matters More Than Style (2:40)

What To Look For In A Brand Photographer (4:49)

Mentioned In This Episode:

Lucky 13 Quarterly Content Creation: quiannamarie.com/13

Book A Brand Session Planning Call: quiannamarie.com/book

Connect with Quianna:

Website: quiannamarie.com

Instagram: instagram.com/quiannamarie

Review the Transcript:

Imagine hiring a photographer, planning your outfits and making sure your hair and glam are on point and you’re feeling your best. Loading up all your props and client experience stuff in the car, lugging it into the studio, and then staring at your photographer as she says, okay, what do you wanna do today?

Tell me what you want. Can you imagine? Oh my God, that sounds like a nightmare. Not all photographers are created equal. Most can take beautiful photos, some can make you feel beautiful, but I make it my passion to do both and help you navigate the branding and marketing strategy behind your brand. Shoot.

Today’s episode is for the business owner who already knows you need new photos, you need fresh content. You’re ready to be seen at this next level. You’re investing in big ticket masterminds and coaches, and your clients are forever grateful for the results and experiences you provide. But maybe you’re scrolling, researching, asking around, and thinking, who do I even hire?

What photographer can I trust to work with? If you’re building a business, if you’re scaling, if you’re launching offers and actually making money, you don’t just need someone who takes pretty photos. You need someone who thinks like a marketer because pretty photos might get you compliments, but photos backed by a strategy, those get you clients.

All right, so let’s start here with pretty photos versus profitable photos. There is nothing wrong with the beautiful aesthetically pleasing styled photos. We love good vibes, outfits that make us feel like a million bucks and photos that make us feel legit. But here’s the question I always ask. What are these photos actually doing for your business?

Are they helping you sell an offer? Building trust with your audience, showing your process and expertise, guiding someone to work with you? Do they help share your personality and make someone want to work with you over someone in the same town offering the same things? Same things. Why you, right. Or are they just sitting there?

Oh, looking cute. Because there’s a big difference between photos that look good and photos that convert. And when you work with me, we’re not just aiming for the pretty, we’re building a library of images that actually support your business goals. If your photos aren’t helping you sell, they’re just decorations.

They’re just fluff and shiny things to look at on your socials and on your website. We work together to make these photos work for you. Alright, let’s chat about why strategy matters more than style. Let’s break down style really quick and what I’m actually meaning when I say style, I’m not talking about your outfits, right?

I’m actually talking about the photography style. So yes, the editing matters. The lighting matters. The location definitely matters. And of course you want photos that you love, that you feel you’re best in, but style and vibes alone will not grow your business strategy will, before I ever even pick up my camera, I’m thinking about what you’re selling, who you’re selling it to, how you show up online, and what kind of content you need.

Because your brand session should align with your launches, your offers, your messaging, your next level, not just your Pinterest board. And this is where so many brand shoots fall flat, and in my opinion, go wrong. They’re beautiful, but they’re disconnected from the business. That’s vanity, not strategy.

There’s nothing worse than seeing a headshot of someone with a laptop and beautiful smile at a first glance. We can’t tell if they’re a realtor, a third grade teacher, online business coach or photographer. Literally, we can’t tell at all just by looking at that photo. I think those photos are cute and we all need them, but where’s the heart mission client?

Experience your personality and more millisecond information about your business. Trust me, I have plenty of laptop picks and I still take them today with my clients, but that’s just a standard shot to include. Together we’re capturing much more substance, creativity, and proof with your brand session. I wanna see the proof.

I wanna see that magic and that essence of who you are, what you stand for, what you got going on, and what you’re selling, how we can actually work with you. We wanna see that proof. And if we’re not coming in with a strategy, we’re literally just here to have a good time, which I’m okay with, but I also wanna make some money too, right?

I also want to be legit as possible, and I want that for you as well. You know, you’re ready for a shoot and you have some ideas to help capture for your brand, right? So you’ve been searching some things, you’ve been, um, looking through your own client experience and thinking, oh shoot, like I need a photo of this.

Like I need to capture this. Uh, especially when you are either offboarding a client or sharing an experience when you’re actually working with them directly and they say something and you’re like, oh, I wish I had a GoPro on my head. Like, I wish they were micd up. Could we say that again? Right. Like, those things are always happening.

And those are the moments that I wanna help capture for you and your business. So you, you know, it’s time, right? Like, you know, you’re ready for a shoot and you may be thinking, what should I be looking for in a brand photographer? And here’s what I want you to look for. I don’t want you to just look for some pretty portfolios.

Some trendy edits, cute Instagram feed, right? I challenge you to look for someone who asks you, what are you launching next? What offers are you focusing on? Where are these photos going to be used? What kind of content do you struggle to create? Because that photographer, they’re thinking beyond the shoot.

They’re thinking about your results. Also, pay attention to this. Okay? So like you wanna know if your photographer is guiding you, are they directing you? And do they help you feel comfortable? Because you should never walk into a shoot thinking, I hope I know what to do. That’s not your job. It’s the job of your photographer to ask these questions and dig deeper into your vision and mission for your business so we can pull out and celebrate your personal brand.

As always, I suggest asking other trusted businesses for referrals, searching for brand photographers in your hometown, and even consider peeping who your mentors are hiring, right? Oh my gosh. Like I am constantly looking at the photographers that Jen Gottlieb is hiring, and Amy Porterfield and Jenna Kutcher, right?

Like, who are these girls hiring? I want to learn from them and potentially even book a shoot with them myself, right? Because they’re doing it. They’re investing in these, in these photos and in these branding experiences because they know how important they are. So remember. You’re not looking for photographers that copy and paste their client shoots and ask you what you wanna do while you’re nervously blinking and blinking at them, wishing that they help direct you.

Invest in photographers that create a photo production for you to easily build that content library for your personal brand offers, upcoming launches and events, and this is where I do things a little differently. When you work with me, you’re not just booking a photo shoot, you are getting a content strategy partner, a hype girl.

I’m literally your biggest fan, and I will forever be your biggest cheerleader and a marketing brain behind every shot. We plan your shoot around your current offers, your upcoming launches, your content needs, and I help you map out how to plan for your shoot, what to capture, and how to use it after.

Plus, during your session, you are not just left guessing and hoping and praying that you look skinny and you look powerful, and you look legit, right? Like, no, I’m guiding you. I’m directing you. I’m hyping you up, helping you move, laugh, feel natural because I know that when you feel good, that’s when the magic happens.

I literally get the chills thinking about it. It’s my favorite part of the shoot. I love bringing the vibes, making you feel comfortable understanding your visions and bringing your ideas to life. Speaking of ideas, you know, I am the idea girl. I truly feel this is where my intuition kicks in and I’m constantly getting downloads of creative ideas, posing, and all the details.

I love being your go-to girl to just pull fun series ideas, content ideas, ideas for carousels or stories. Fun things that you can get your clients and your customers looking forward to, because it helps you build that consistency, right? Because what’s the point in me helping you create all this fun content, feeling so confident for your photos and all those little B-roll clips to just.

Sit in your laptop or just like die on your phone, right? Like we have to get them out. And when we can think of those really fun ideas to build consistency and show up authentically, like that’s where the movement actually happens, right? Like you are actually moving the needle and clients or potentially new followers, they have something to look forward to.

I love talking through that with you. Alright, and then after this shoot, you are walking away with a full content library, confidence through the roof and clarity on how to actually show up online. It’s my goal to deliver a gallery of images that makes you scream, oh my gosh, I love these. Or, ah, these photos finally actually look like a me.

Or my personal favorite that I hear all the time. I can’t believe it key. I hate my photo taken and I hate the way I look in pictures, but I love these. One of my favorite ways to help you feel like yourself and still looking your best is to simply ask you questions and direct you during the shoot. Yes, we’ll go over all the questions to prep and help guide all the things before the shoot to prepare for your shoot, but I’m talking about asking you.

All about your client experience, sharing your stories about the results you get your clients, and learning more about your passions literally during the shoot. Like this is the conversation we’re having. You know, this is something that like I don’t even ever talk about, like on social or on my podcast because I’m doing this so often in front of my clients for the shoot, but I want you to think about that, right?

Because a good photographer is going to pull these things out of you and get you talking and feel confident. It’s not just about like, Ooh, look how skinny you look, right? Like, no, like I want to ask you very specific questions. So your brain is literally almost kind of like distracted. Like you instantly go into your zone of genius and you feel comfortable in your own skin, and that that is the essence that I wanna help bring out from you.

Right? So like for example, anytime my niece talks about softball and shares about her pitching practice, she completely lights up. She has a sparkle in her eye and she literally is glowing because she loves playing softball so much and she knows that I grew up playing softball and pitch too. So it’s even more special, like the fact that she knows that I love it as much as she does, and she has stories to share and experiences to share.

Like what? What’s going on in her little world? She knows how much I adore her and love hearing these stories. Like we’re all just like, ah, like we’re just like lit up. Right. That’s exactly how I want you to feel while I’m photographing you. It’s truly my mission in life to help capture that sparkle in your eye too.

I won’t just be posing you and guiding you where to put your hands, how to sit with your shoulders back, tits up back straight. Right. I’ll be doing all of that and getting you talking to hear about what lights you up. That’s a strategy to making you feel comfortable and looking your best. It’s all in you.

A great photographer will pull it out and help capture that light. So if you’re thinking, okay, wait, I’ve definitely just booked photos based on vibes before. You are not alone, but now you know better. And if you’re not quite ready for a full brand session yet. I offer quarterly mini branding session days, and would love to have you join as a little taste for what it looks like to work together on your own personal branding session.

These shoots pop up quarterly and they’re the perfect blend of fresh headshots and lifestyle photos, meeting new entrepreneurial friends. I have like this great networking group, incredible community of women that come together. I’m just so grateful. I’ve been doing this for like the last three years, three or four years.

Oh my gosh, I probably should check. And every single time I have hosted a lucky 13, shoot, someone new has walked in the door. And I love that because I do have my regulars. I do have my groupies. Come often, and it’s just so fun to see the relationships and connections that have built since the beginning of hosting these little mini shoots.

But the fact that there is always someone new coming is just such a gift that I get to introduce you to new friends, make new connections, and they’re just so fun. Like it’s something to look forward to. Right? All right, so check out keana marie.com/thirteen. That’s Q-U-I-A-N-N-A marie.com/thirteen. Or DM me the word lucky and I’ll shoot over all of those details if you are ready for the full experience to create content that’s aligned, elevated, and built to actually support your business.

That’s exactly what we do inside my personal branding sessions and content days. Everything we chat about in this episode will be mapped out for your own custom and personalized shoot. DM me the word brand, and I’ll pop over more details for all of this too at the end of the day. You don’t need more photos.

You need better photos. Photos that work for you and support your growth. Photos that help your business make money, honey. So when you’re choosing your next photographer, don’t just hire for style and the vibes hire for strategy. Alright, my love. Go be seen. Go build something incredible. And when you’re ready, I’ll be here.

I can’t wait to help capture your growing business and support you with photos that help you fill your calendar with dream clients. I am always cheering for you. All right, baby, keep on dancing. Okay. Love you. Bye. That’s a wrap on another episode of Kiana 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 on dancing.

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