Small Business Photography – Should You Hire a Professional?
Starting a business and running it from scratch is no walk in the part – every second and every penny counts. So, for a full-time small business owner, hiring a photographer may not that be a priority considering the heavier expenses in keeping the business rolling.
Truth be told, even if you are not a pro, there are still steps that could help you in being good at small business photography. Hence, it’s just a practical choice if in case you opt to do your product and store photoshoot by yourself.
On the other hand, hiring professional photographers for your projects would also be a great investment. This is especially true if you are working on your initial marketing campaigns to expand your reach and attract potential clients, or if you are trying to scale your business. Besides, an immediate problem needs an immediate solution.
If you don’t have a background in small business photography, you can’t just take your smartphone, start shooting, and expect to have your high-quality photos that are worthy of a magazine spread. It’s not that easy.
Taking excellent photos requires skills that can only be honed with long-term experience. So, if you need superb images for your marketing campaigns or projects the soonest time possible, it would be better if you hire a professional photographer.
Small Business Photography Dilemma: To Hire or To DIY?
To give you a quick answer to this question, we can say that you should still weigh the gravity of the situation. Are you thinking of hiring a pro because you are not good with photo editing and you don’t have editing software?
Is this for a huge marketing campaign geared in making you stand out from the rest of the small businesses in your area? Is this for your website, for your blog, or is this for your daily content on Facebook or Instagram?
Again, you need to look at both sides of the coin and use your judgment while also considering your budget. And like what was said earlier, if you want to get things done in the fastest way possible without compromising the quality of the images, then go on and hire a pro.
5 Advantages of Hiring a Professional Photographer
Small businesses may go on with their daily operations without relying on outstanding promotional campaigns, but their products, services, and customer service can only do them so much. Having an amazing marketing strategy is part of your business; you can’t just neglect it if you want your venture to thrive, and flourish faster.
The way that people see your business can be influenced by your branding, and having excellent imagery is part of establishing a strong and memorable brand. The images that you use reflect your business, and even your professionalism.
And if your images don’t have an appeal, let’s face it – your sales will somehow pay the price. As they say, “Eye appeal is buy appeal.” To help you decide with this decision, here are some advantages of hiring a professional photographer, and of not resorting to stock photo sites or DIY images.
Rise Above Your Competition
Whether you’re running a wedding photography business, a local café, a bakery, or a fitness club, you’ve got to pay special attention to visual marketing. If you want to stand out from your competition, then every image that you put out on your website, social media channels, or print ads should pop.
It only takes about a second to catch someone’s attention, and only about 8 seconds to keep your audience interested. So, you have to be sure that every image that you share is a league of its own. Rising over your competition is crucial, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition is even tougher. People’s pockets are tighter, so if they’re going to spend on something, they’d really look for nothing but the best.
Showcase Your Products and Services Professionally
Whether you are selling a product with a high visual component (apparel or food for example) or not, it’s important to have an expert to guide you on how to highlight the value of what you are offering.
And professionally captured images elevate the perceived value of your products and services. More so, professional product photography can help make your business look larger, well-established, and on par with your biggest and more experienced competitors.
Encourage Engagement from Your Target Market
You cannot undermine the power of social media in generating a buzz – may it be for a product launch, major opening or campaign, or even just from the daily content that you share to your audience. With valuable pieces of content, great offers, and visually-stimulating images, don’t be surprised if you wake up one morning to find out that your post has been shared hundreds or even a thousand times already.
Convey Your Story and Unique Voice
Visual storytelling is one of the most important ways of establishing your brand and showing your target market what sets you apart from the rest. A highly-skilled photographer knows how to listen to your stories, to learn more about your business, and be able to translate those into impactful images.
Benefit From Your Photographer’s Network
You can benefit from your photographer's connections whether he shares some of the images from your photoshoot or not. But of course, it would be better if he does share the photos even on one of his social media accounts.
Again, if not, you can still benefit from his social networks through his referral or word of mouth marketing. Hence, it is important to establish and nurture a good professional relationship with him because your encounters will most probably not end in just one photoshoot.
Shoot Your Way to Success
If you are ready to start your product or small business photoshoot, feel free to book your appointment with us.