Are you making noise about what you do?

No? Then who is doing it for you and your business?

As I was just getting my balance with my photography business, back in 2020, a client said to me “ You have to make noise about what you do first, who else is going to do it?”

This really resonated with me. It was so true. If no one knows who I am and what I do, why and who would then be “Making noise” about my photography business? Me! The only person who could do it was me, and is me.

This isn’t to say to blow your own trumpet in an arrogant type of way. Instead to share your work, share about who you are and why people should choose to hire you or buy from you. Let your work speak for itself. However for it to speak, you have to share it.

There are a couple ways you can use social media or any type of marketing to “make noise” in this economic climate we are currently in. One way is through promotional marketing… promoting what makes you different from others in your industry. I always say, your USP is YOU! Especially if you’re a creative or run your own business. the way you differentiate from other people in the same line of work, is by sharing more about you, highlighting things you like and dislike, your hobbies and things that bring you joy. Give people a reason to connect with you, to get to know you.

I don’t know about you, but the first page on someone’s website I go to is always their about page. I want to know if they’re someone I think I could get on with and work well with, and if there is nothing there for me to find out more about them, then I am quite likely to close the page down. I want to connect and invest in people, not just businesses. Human connection is what we are missing these days, (I could talk on and on about how technology has impacted our natural human needs for belonging and connection) … anyway I digress.

Another way to “make noise” is to share what you do, why you do it & how you do it! We love to learn and to know about the effort that goes into products or services. We like to know what we are spending our money on. If you educate your audience on the time and effort that goes into your business, people are probably more likely to invest more in you, as they can empathise with the time you put and see the value in it. People want to see the skill you have learnt, to show them that they could maybe learn it too, or they could outsource it to someone who really knows what they are doing. Show your audience your knowledge. Qualify yourself. Share through the evidence of your skill!

Promotional marketing can be done through written word or visuals - ie text, photos, videos, or graphics. you can create one piece of content and deliver it multiple different ways to appeal to every member of your audience.

Personal branding photography is one way to visually Make Noise about your business, who you are and what you do. It is a way to capture you in the space you work in, to showcase the work you’ve done to attract more of your ideal clients, to create a catalogue of images of evidence to qualify your skill. It is how you use the photos that will help your business grow. Using them as a conversation starter, to get interactions with you audience. Personal branding photos can be used to show you in action loving what you’re doing. They can be used to show your face so that your audience know who you are, will know who they are working with, and they type of person you are. Isn’t there that saying, that “a picture speaks a thousand words”. Well there is actually some truth to this. We naturally read images, like a book. We read the body language, the scene in which the photo is set, the emotions expressed on the models face, all the way down to the detail of their clothing and the books in the background. Whatever it is in the image, we naturally read it and create a narrative in our minds with the information given to us.

Why not use this to MAKE NOISE about who you are, what you do and why you do what you do? Allow your audience to like you, know you, and trust you!

I want to help you make noise! I want to help you with your personal branding photos, to guide the narrative to your authentic selves, to help you grow your audience and hopefully in turn your business. If this is something you feel you are lacking, or have been thinking about, pleas do reach out! I would love to have a chat with you and help you in anyway that I can!

Community over competition - am I right?

Authenticity is the way forward, at least that is what I believe!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. I hope it helps you and gives you some food for thought. If you want to brainstorm with anyone or have a chat on how personal branding photos could help you, please do get in touch.

Have a great day!

Meghan Claire