For those of you who know me well, you will know that I am a regular poster on Linkedin - you can find my profile here:

www.linkedin.com/in/marcusahmadphotography/

Well, this post is a collection of those posts - all meant to entertain and inform!

So grab a beverage of choice and strap yourself in - it could be a bumpy ride!

“PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE”

When building a personal brand focusing on the human element of your business will give your brand a personality because let’s face it people buy from people.

I think the fast pace of change and growth in people’s internet browsing behavior has caught a lot of businesses out. 

Why?

Because I still see a lot of websites and social media still feature bland design and stock images that at best lack authenticity and can be misleading to your clients.

We all know too well the above quote that people buy from people, so it’s an easy fix – give your business a face that your clients can relate to.

Do it well and you can get a lot of value out of only 2 or 3 well-planned and executed images. Combine this with more candid photographs taken on your phone and you're on to a winner!

PLANNING AND PREPARATION OF A PERSONAL BRAND PHOTOSHOOT

This simple-looking photograph is the result of a lot of planning.

It was put together for Vik Martin who is a web designer specialising in the WordPress platform

And hopefully reflects Vik’s personality and her fun way of doing business.

As soon as she told me her strapline “The WordPress Nurse” I knew it had the potential to be a fun and creative shoot. The location choice was easy, it was going to be in my studio which would give a nice bright plain background to the photograph. The bed linen we decided would be all white as well so as not to distract from the hero of the image – the WP logo.

I wanted to make sure we got the dimensions of the logo just right – big enough so it could easily be “read’ but also to scale with the dummy body.

In the end, Vik’s mum actually made a cushion from the logo, which just looked absolutely fabulous.

The accessories – stethoscope, nurses hat, dressing gown and glass bottle were either at hand or easy to source. 

Vik took to her role with ease and in less than an hour of adjusting and shooting we had the shot – in two variations. One panoramic for a header or banner and another square image for Instagram. After that we photographed a variety of portraits against red and grey backgrounds that Vik could use for her website and posting.

THE ONE BIG THING THAT I LEARNT FROM THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY

After I graduated from University with my degree in Editorial Photography and a bulging portfolio under my arms I set out to look for a job as an assistant.

Well, that’s what you did in those days!

After a few letters (yes it was that long ago!) I got accepted to work as a second assistant to one of the top advertising photographers of the day. I worked for Paul for 4 years and became his main assistant and worked on some huge campaigns, shooting across the world.

We worked with some fantastic creatives, who were younger than me but were so knowledgeable about visual culture and what was hip, I was so impressed.

The thing I learnt the most though was the value of pre-production – planning.

A 3-day shoot might be planned for 3 months! Lots of meetings, visual sketches exchanged and phone calls galore!

Nothing was left to chance. 

If we needed rain we would hire in a water truck, sunny – shoot in a place guaranteed to be sunny and then allowing several days to make sure the light was perfect.

You get the idea!

I take what I learned and apply it to my personal branding shoots. Going through every detail with my clients to ensure perfect images that really reflect their brand. Spending time getting to know what the client wants/needs and planning for every eventuallity.

Those lessons have stood me in good stead!

MY FAVORITE BIRD IS A PENGUIN!

They are so adorable aren’t they?

If there was a top brand for birds it would have to be the penguin.

Let’s break this down into the 3 components of a personable brand!

AUTHENTIC 

True to itself there’s nothing like a penguin! They all have their own individual call to their chicks, an amazing feet when they flock in thousands

MEMORABLE

Once seen never forgotten, whether waddling around on land, sliding on the snow or demonstrating amazing diving abilities

VISION

Focussed on the task in hand – they could fly but they don’t because their domain is the sea

The penguin certainly scores well as a brand 

The photo was taken by Tobias Baumgaertner in Melbourne. And won the 2020 Ocean Photography awards.

It features two widowed fairy penguins seemingly comforting each other and taking in the view. Something they did on a regular basis.

THE SOCK OF STOCK!

When visitors look at your website or brochure do you want them so  see photographs of young, overly glamorous people in an unrealistic location that look totally unauthentic and have little to do with your business?

Or would you rather them see welcoming images of you and your staff, the client experience and details that help them make a connection with you and your brand?

 Photographs that are authentic and memorable, images that you are proud of and tell the story of you and what makes you unique.

You are unique and you don’t need to use generic stock photos anymore

THE POWER OF THE PEN!

This is a gadget I use when retouching images, it’s a touch sensitive pen and tablet.

I have been using one for years and I though it might be something that  is worth sharing with you.

The advantage I find is that it feels a lot more natural to use than a mouse and can be of benefit if you suffer from a repetitive strain injury. Also being touch sensitive you can alter how hard you have to press and therefore control the flow.

This is a great feature for drawing  because by pressing harder you can make the line thicker and make your retouching seamless. You can get the trackpads in various sizes but really the smallest ( and cheapest) will do the job. They do take a little bit of getting used to but the tradition is really worth it.

Who is your ideal customer?

This is definitely a subject that comes up a lot, especially when you are talking to those involved in marketing and personal branding.

And I am sure like me you find it can be a difficult question to answer!

My take on it, for what it’s worth, is that invariably your ideal customer is someone who is quite like you. Now  I may be generalising here, but I think in a lot of cases this is true.

OK a lot of my clients are women but I would say they hold the same or very similar values to me and that’s what counts.

However I would like to work with more guys because I think we are not particularly good at promoting ourselves online and I am not sure why!

So I am reaching out to my LI network for a bit of market research and asking for help with a question - why don’t men invest in personal branding photography in the same way women do?