In honor of all the pops of color that summer provides us, the Sunkissed skin and having that summer glow, brand shoots are in full swing because hey, nothing beats a natural tan for pictures! Before we dive into the HOW though, let’s first talk about the importance of the WHY of a brand shoot, shall we?

As a beauty artist, it’s hard to stand out in this over saturated market. You have to find a way to make scroll-stopping content that’ll draw your people in. Not something that looks like everything else you’re seeing. You’re an ARTIST and you need to represent that with the authenticity in making your brand really pop with a photo shoot!

The same goes for curating your online presence — from your socials to your website, email marketing and beyond. You need to have the aesthetics to make it work for you. The aesthetics, in this case, are your brand photos. The photos curated from your brand shoot are to be reserved for your business when it comes to, well, everything!

Most of my VIP artists are really uncomfortable around the idea of a branding shoot and even more anxious about getting ready for one. However, each of them have said during the shoot “Jo, I’m so glad you talked me into this” or “this has been so much fun!”. Not only do you gain photos that really align with your brand for all your online platforms, you gain the confidence that you didn’t know just needed to be pulled out of you. So, did I convince you to stock your beauty station with the essentials? Good, let’s do this.

Consider Your Ideal Client + Build Your Brand Mood Board

I’m coming right out of the gate with a hard one to swallow for most of my artists… your brand photos are not for you. They are for the ideal clientele you’re wanting to attract. If your goal within the next year is to raise your prices, you need to do two things. One, deliver an elevated client experience (I’ll talk more on this in my next post) and two, don’t promote cheap looking marketing material.

Whatever your career goals are for the next year, your mood board needs to represent that. You’ll want to have photos that attract that specific ideal client that you’re wanting your books filled with. To establish credibility, your visual aesthetics across all your online platforms have to align with what they’re seeking, so that your work will RESONATE with them when they find you.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, here’s how to make your mood board. Think beyond Pinterest for inspiration. Look to magazines, artwork, natures textures, and more to create a layered mood around what you want to capture in your photo shoot.

To establish credibility, your visual aesthetics across all your online platforms have to align with what they’re seeking, so that your work will RESONATE with them when they find you.

Find Professionals that Vibe With Your Mood Board/Vision

It’s extremely important to find a photographer whose work aligns with your brand. For example, if you have a super colorful brand because you specialize in vibrant coloring, you would want a photographer who shoots bold and clear photos and not a photographer who prefers their lighting on the dark side, giving their work a moody and muted vibe. If your mood board looks bright and airy, you’ll want a photographer whose Instagram page represents that. Let their work on their website and socials do the talking. If you love the work they’ve created and feel that their style and tone align with your vision, you can make a confident decision in knowing they have the ability to recreate similar imagery for you.

Next, you’ll want your hair and makeup professionally done. This isn’t a must, although it’s definitely nice to just sit back and be pampered for an hour. You’ll go through the same process that you did with the photographer, for finding your hair and makeup artist. If you believe you’ll do better, than by all means, do it yourself. But I will say, branching out and meeting new artists is a great way to network within our industry and you never know what possibilities can come up when you meet other artists!

Prime example of this would be that when I meet and work with artists either for myself or for my clients, conversations flow, we talk about things we have coming up and boom, a relationship has been made, I invited them to a show or we did a collab together, the list goes on. I love networking with others in the industry and you should too!

Find the Right Location that Aligns with Your Brand

This step can sometimes go hand in hand with scheduling out your photographer, makeup and hair artists. If the photographer has a studio of her/his own, then you wouldn’t have to worry about this. However, if they don’t, then you’ll need to make the decision for your location that will best align with your brand.

I had an artist in Kansas City, Missouri who worked in an urban area, so I wanted her to have brick in the background of some of her photos to give off that vibe to attract those clients down there. Unfortunately she hadn’t moved to her new location yet, so we couldn’t do the photos in her new studio. We ended up renting out a space for a couple hours with multiple setup options and included different backdrops for the shoot as well. I had to coordinate the photographers schedule with the makeup & hair artist to align with the available timeslot of the studio rental to make sure we had the right details for the shoot.

If you have the extra cash to invest in that idea, that would be ideal. But if you don’t, it’s not a deal breaker, it just takes a little more creativity. Just think about your services, the feeling of your workspace, and what type of photos you’re wanting to display on your website and social content (other places too), and find places near you that will show that.

Plan Your Outfits + Props

Now that the logistics have been checked off your brand shoot to-do list, it’s time for the FUN part: outfits and props! When I first started working with clients and doing shoots, I let them pick their own outfits without checking them a month before the shoot…big mistake on my part. Now, I do all the shopping, send the links and all they have to do is order if they like it. I make sure to stay within budget and we also talk about items that are already in their closets. Something very important to mention here, don’t go out and pick an outfit just for the shoot. Ask yourself these questions before purchasing:

• 1. Will I wear this to work in?
• 2. Do I have an event coming up that this outfit would be also be perfect for?
• 3. Will I get a lot of use out of these shoes?
• 4. Are these pieces of jewelry versatile, where I can wear them with the majority of my work outfits?

Break it down by category

Not sure if you knew this, but believe it or not, when you shop for work clothes, they fall under the miscellaneous deductions list for your taxes and as long as the extent of the total exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income, you can write them off (did someone say shopping?)!

When it comes to props, here are the categories I use to make sure we have all the little details for the shoot:

• YOUR WORK SPACE (what do you need to perform what you specialize in? Think through all the items you use for the services you’re wanting to book more of and pack all of those items.)
• JUST IN CASE ITEMS (make sure to pack a steamer, scissors, tide to-go pen, lint roller, etc. Even if you steamed your clothes before you packed, they can still wrinkle on the way to the shoot and wrinkles are a photographers nightmare. Trust me, she’ll thank you.)
• FUN EXTRAS (I always recommend fresh flowers or plants. Fresh flowers always look better in photos than fake. Any branded material of yours, any affiliate products you have, even your products you promote. This is a great opportunity for your photographer to get those shots in-between outfit changes.)

Create a Shot List

No, not the one that almost landed you in the hospital for your 21st birthday (none of us need to relive that night, ha). But the list of shots you need for your website, email marketing, if you have a blog, a blog cover image that aligns with the name of your blog, etc. Right after I get all the professionals booked, I jump into what shots I’m needing before putting together the outfits and props. Go through the website design you’re wanting and describe all the types of photos you’re wanting.

For example, for your services page, it would be really nice to have a short 3 second clip of video showing that specific service. Or if you have an event page, it would be great to have a picture of you toasting with champagne (or my favorite beverage of choice — an old fashioned). Just make the images represent your brand and yourself both. Your site guests will always look at images first, so make sure all your photos have great lighting and are professionally taken. I went ahead and took the liberty to creating one for you to help get your juices flowing. You can grab that here —

Let’s recap

As you probably already know, I have a true infatuation for branding shoots and everything that goes into them. They’re so much fun and I could go on and on about strategizing for one because they truly do set you apart online (and up for big time success!). I’ll go ahead and let us part ways so you can check out the freebie above and get planning!

Your future social pages will thank you for upgrading your photos and the list of places you can use them is endless! I’m talking about website, socials, blog posts, email campaigns, events you’re hosting, classes you’re teaching, and beyond. The photos you gain from a branding shoot will take your brand to new heights — and we can’t wait to see where you go!

XOXO (& always your hype girl!),

Jo