Last month I had an awesome personal branding session with real estate agent Brittany Olsen. We met when she signed up for one of the Front Steps Portraits back in March. She wasn’t just looking for photos, but photos she could use to create content for social media. I was so impressed with how Brittany prepared that I knew she would have some great tips for anyone considering their personal branding session. I asked her some questions and she gave some awesome answers!
Why a personal branding session and not just headshots?
Headshots are wonderful, but they don’t tell your story. At the end of the day, people follow you on social media because they like YOU and your content! The way you build trust with your community is by connecting and sharing a little about your personal life. Who is the girl behind the headshot and why should I trust her? By doing a branding session, you are providing a glimpse in to your every day life. It is real and it shows you, your work, your family, your life. Ultimately, as people, if we can relate to someone, we trust them.
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How did you decide what kind of pictures you wanted?
I asked myself “what is the goal of this branding session? What am I trying to capture and how will it add to my brand?” I wanted to show what my daily life is like as a full time mom who works from home as well as the professional side of my job. From there, I started writing down post ideas in the notes section on my phone. Every time I was going about my day and thought, “this would make a good post topic”, I wrote it down and wrote a couple details of what a picture might look like.
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How did you choose your outfits?
I knew I wanted a few more professional looking outfits for the pictures of me working and a few casual outfits for the pictures where I am with my family going about our daily routine. I even wore leggings and a t shirt in some of the pictures because that is REAL LIFE. And that is what I want people to see.
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How are you planning on using your photos?
I have noticed that posts that include pictures of me or my family receive three times the amount of engagement on social media. I plan to post more of these pictures moving forward to hopefully increase engagement! By doing a branding shoot, I now have pictures of myself I can pull from whenever I would like. And I plan to do another branding shoot in about 6 months when I need new content.
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Why was it important to shoot at home and include your family?
When you are a realtor, you are the brand! You are marketing yourself and the value of your work. I work from home most of the time and I wanted to show what that looks like. I work from my dining room table, from my kitchen island and from the couch and sometimes my kiddos are around. I also wanted people to get to know ME. Not just me as a realtor, but me as a person and my family is a big part of that.
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What are some tips for people for preparing for their personal branding session?
Be prepared! Before the session, I printed a list of about 50 picture ideas and how I would use them to generate content in a social media post. Example – me in pajamas and coffee cup = “What is your morning routine? In the mornings, I…” I also had different outfits set aside so I could quickly change for different shots. You don’t want your photos to look like they were all taken on the same day! And lastly, I had some props ready – my computer, a print out of my listing packet front page, a few real estate signs, head phones, books, etc. But my biggest piece of advice is to have content ideas and picture ideas printed out and ready to go.
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