Social Media!

It’s a beast, and sometimes a burden, but it’s really important for driving new customers and clients to your business. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t love instagram, but I’m not going to lie, I get a lot of my information from it. I check out local restaurants, jewellery makers, food producers, musicians, artists, etc. on instagram. It’s often the first place people look you up. So you want to make sure your posts look “on brand”. A professional photographer can help you with this. Whether your vibe is clean and sleek, or down and dirty, having well-shot photos that capture you and what you do can really make a lasting impression. This applies to product photos, portraits of you and your staff, action shots of you doing your thing! Social media is all about the photos.
Your Website
If you’ve got some extra downtime this year, it might be a good idea to revamp your website. Look at me, I’m starting a blog! After saying I would for years… Having professional photos on your website can really be the deciding factor of whether your potential client is going to invest in you or not. And I do not mean stock photos. I know, it might sound absurd, but photos are so important because they leave a lasting impression. Humans are visual creatures. We might not remember the name of your company, but we will remember the colour scheme of your website, and whether you had a low-res, cringe-worthy photo on your website.
Everything Is Online Now

Well, not everything, but so many businesses have set up online shops for their products, and are taking orders through email and over the phone. There is way less face-to-face contact, which means your customers can’t see that winning smile of yours! All of a sudden your online presence went from being kind-of-important, to extremely important. And people are quick to judge. So it’s time to update that old headshot, it’s time to write a new business description, it’s time to get some great product photos that really show off how amazing your stuff is! Nothing will ever replace the magic of meeting or speaking to someone face to face, but for now, make your online presence as true to you as it possibly can be!
Sell, sell, sell!

Whether you realize it or not, you are selling online. Even if you don’t have an online store with products for sale, you are selling yourself and your business. But let’s talk about products for a minute. Truth be told, if you have a crappy photo of your product, your customer will think its a crappy product. Even if your product is top-of-the-line, handcrafted, locally sourced, organically grown, if it looks like a bad kijiji ad, then it’s going to be a lot harder to sell. You want the photo of your product to really show off why it’s so special. You might need some photos of the product “in use”. For example, if you make fancy watches, don’t take a picture from behind the glass of the display cabinet (for the love of god…) - get a photo taken of the watch being worn, on the type of person who might wear it (is it a watch for kids? Grandpas? You catch my drift?). If your restaurant has shifted to doing take-out, don’t take a picture of the gorgeous food you made in a take out container. Plate it! Make it look appetizing! Make it look so tasty that people drool when they scroll by it on Instagram.
Professional Photography is an Investment

2020 has been a freaky year. With the growth of companies taking their business online, photography has become an essential part of carrying that out. That being said, photography has always been important for helping businesses attract new clients and sell their products or services. If you counted how many photographs you see every day, you would be shocked! The photos you have taken for you will be something you can use over and over again. For social media, your website, print advertisements, marketing materials, etc. For when your favourite industry magazine finally calls you up and wants to feature you - well you already got the photos! Photos don’t have an expiry date. Yes, you might want to update them every year, or every five years, but there’s a multitude of uses for them that will ensure you got a great bang for your buck.

Five Reasons Your Business Needs Professional Photos in 2020