When was the last time you did a photoshoot? Here's why that matters…

The Discovery

A few years back, one of the gentlemen that I followed on social media published a number of photos and referred to them as “my favorite shots from our quarterly marketing photo shoot.”

I was impressed by this because it was not just because the pictures were great, but also because the fact that his team had a photo shoot once a quarter was incredible in my eyes. I had gotten my first headshots when I got started with my business. Then, a couple of years later, I got some updated photos and headshots, but that was about it.  

Implementation

I wasn't planning to do any more photo shoots. I figured that I'd simply take photographs when I was speaking. That would be sufficient. Seeing that quarterly practice inspired me to rethink our strategy. Why isn't that the standard practice for small businesses?

While my team and I don’t typically manage a quarterly photoshoot, we DO go every six months to get new photos. We come up with new ideas for photos every time we visit a new location, but we don't just take headshots. Every time we take new photographs, we try to be innovative. To come up with action shots that will stand out.

This allows us to keep our marketing fresh and up to date. Now, we have recent photos to use for our marketing, while also allowing our marketing to change and evolve. It creates a larger and larger database of photos to select from when we need to compile new pictures for our marketing.

The Challenge

Every six months or once a year, send a photographer to your office to shoot photos of your employees, your team at work, and even staged photos to replace the stock photos on your website are great. Stock photography is losing its popularity in marketing, so you'll have your own stockpile. Stock images are getting less and less popular in marketing, particularly online. People can tell they're stock photos, which is not the impression you want to create with your business. To make your life easier, get a wonderful photographer and ask them what they would charge to come by once every six months or once every quarter to take a few shots. You can then use these shots for your business. It will affect how you are able to promote your business and how your customers view and engage with your brand.