Below we have a guest blog post written by Petra from Petra Brand Photography on the topic of having quality photos for your pet business. Whether you're a dog walker, pet sitter, veterinarian, groomer, dog trainer, or sell pet products, this blog post is for you!
Have you thought about having a professional photography session for your pet business? …jolly good, you are in the right path. If you haven’t thought about it and don’t even know what brand photography is then you need to approach this with an open mind.
If the images on your website and social media are stock photos or unprofessional and not good quality then it’s not going to attract your ideal clients for you.
Sadly most of the businesses I meet have bland or stock images.
Let me just quickly mention one thing about stock photos. Everybody knows a stock photo when they see it and they don’t pay much attention to it.
So you want pet owners to pay attention to your website and your business?
Then you need a brand photography session!
First of all, let me explain brand photography:
Your business, whether it is service or product based, it is your brand. And you want it to be amazing, glowing and eye catching.
It doesn’t only consist of your logo and your website. People tend to forget there is much more to a brand.
Professional brand photos are an asset and will serve you for months, you need to invest into. Good brand images will capture who you are and what your business is about. It needs to show your ideal clients a story about you and what you do.
You need to build Know, Like and Trust with pet owners. So for this they need to see you, …yes, on a picture. Not a picture that was taken on your graduation or the one from your cousin’s wedding (because that was the last time you dressed up nice). An up to date professional photo of you; and I’m not talking about a headshot, that is not a brand photo. You need a series of portrait images of you and images of you at work. Be proud of what you do and shout it out to the world!
Pet owners need to trust you. After all they trust you with their fur baby!
So why would they trust you if there is an unprofessional image of you or no image at all on your website or on your social media? Why would they trust you if they haven’t seen you at work?
Let’s say you are a dog trainer, can you show new puppy owners how your classes are held and what methods you are using? Or you are a doggie daycare owner, can you show multiple images of the premises or what sort of games you play with the dogs? Professional photos, not the one that you snapped yesterday with your phone and all the dogs are blurry on it.
Here is a fact for you. The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than words! 60,000 times! So imagine your website and social media full of beautiful professional photographs of you. Show those glowing photos of you at work and how you can help pet owners. Make that first impression last!
Wait a minute…what?? Now you are telling me that “I don’t like my picture taken” or “I don’t look good on photos” or “Nobody wants to see me”. Believe me, I have heard it all.
You might be surprised to learn that almost everybody is uncomfortable in front of the camera. People want to get to know, like and trust you – and they can’t do it if they don’t see your face.
The secret is to find a brand photographer who you like. Don’t rush into the cheapest one near you, because that won’t work. Find the photographer that makes you laugh on your first call, one that will chat to you and want to know more about your business. A photographer who knows the pet industry is even better. Then your brand photography session will be so easy and you will have gorgeous images! A good brand photographer is there to help you get comfortable, get you smile, and make you forget that you actually don’t like it.
Hopefully by reading all this now we can agree on it that having a bank of professional and bespoke images will make you stand out from the crowd and attract more clients into your business. It will position you as an expert in your field and give you more confidence as well!
So get out from behind the scenes – it’s time to shine!
To learn more about Petra Brand Photography (including her virtual sessions going on for pet businesses like yours), check out her website here.
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