Hey, do I know you?
Omg, omg... I KNOW you don't I?
I was aware of stammering, eyes wide open in amazement, in the middle of town, grounded, firmly planted and in front of a woman that I was convinced I 'knew' very well. Her face….and I could not think where she was from, but her face, it was so very familiar to me. Was she regularly in the media? Had I seen her recently on Netflix? I was so excited. Because I knew she must be a big deal.
I was smiling and she was smiling, she flattered and slightly bemused by my reaction to her. Finally I asked her, 'where do I know you from?
'Er..I work at your local Tesco?', she, half apologetically, replied, ‘on the tills’?
She worked at Tescos.. but because I knew her face so well, I assumed she was a celebrity.
I see her so often (like most of us with our local shops) because I am in the store probably 3-4 times a week... That's how strongly I knew the likeness of her face from the checkout. From a regular visual revisit.
A few years ago I remember almost melting down (in excitement) at a business event when I finally met Deborah Labbate. Deborah was a business mentor who lived locally to me but worked globally. I had only ever ‘met’ her online. At the time I tuned in regularly to her weekly LinkedIn posts. I , myself, was just starting to use social media for business and she really resonated with me.. Her posts were inspiring. She was literally always in front of my eyes. When I finally saw her at an event, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I even curtseyed in front of her!
I CURTSEYED to her like she was a QUEEN!
Isn’t that a whole new level of craziness?
I was able to playback to her what she had written and the content that I had really enjoyed. She had become a celebrity to me....and I was a true fan…because I saw her online all the time. And I liked what I read and also what I saw.
Content + Visual = Emotional ‘celebrity status’ connection.
And then two years ago it started to happen to me, business leaders coming up at events, thrilled. I know you! ‘I loved the thing you wrote about the thing’, etc. All from my being seen regularly somewhere to create familiarity which in turn builds trust.
See where I am going with this yet?
If you want to grow your brand, do it VISUALLY; it’s so powerful.
It will bring your business greater connection, trust and in return, a higher level of £-investment. A visual approach it will double your impact and brand connection.But the visuals need to be ‘good’.
But to do this you have to be seen regularly. Businesses need to feel that they really know you. When they do, they dissolve barriers and you become part of their crowd. The door is open. Branding photography will do this for you because it places you at a high level visually. The right brand photos facilitate this because they subconsciously engage.
The woman at the shop, was in front of me every week visually (at Tescos). But we can’t always be in front of people IRL.
Debbie Labbate was in front of me weekly on Linkedin. This we can achieve.
A consistent approach with a regular branding photograph and message will bring you connection and clients. Write regularly and show up visually and in high level brand images, that is all it takes.
Both women I felt emotionally attached to through constantly connecting with them visually, one in person and the other online.
The strength of that emotion created inside me, on both occasions, left me speechless and excited.
I felt close to both of them and yet I knew neither of them. That is the power of an emotional and (visual)connection.
With an emotional connection comes trust.
With trust we buy.
It’s how social media works.
It is how branding photography establishes connection.
It is simply your emotional sales tool. The part you maybe aren’t using effectively yet?
Show up every week in business photos and you start to be seen as well as heard for what you do and become an authority and ‘celebrity’ in your field.
People remember what you have to say.
Use a QUALITY photo of yourself to elevate your visual status and increase your impact, just once a week.
It is a crucial opportunity to be recognised for your work AT THE RIGHT LEVEL.
I advise just one professional brand photo a week, every week, This I provide for you from your brand shoot.You will receive enough photos to do this.
You become so familiar that people know you at events…