How to plan personal branding photos that attract the right clients
When you plan a personal branding photoshoot, it is easy to start with the photos you think you need. A new LinkedIn headshot, some photos for your website and maybe a few images for social media. For me, a good question to keep in mind is “who do you want these photos to attract?”
I recently photographed Nadia Meuthia Ramadhani, a copywriter working with fintech companies, start-ups and senior professionals. Before the shoot, she gave me a few words she wanted her photos to feel like: strategic, warm and polished.
She wanted to look professional and confident, but not too corporate. Modern, but not like a Silicon Valley start-up. Approachable enough for LinkedIn, polished enough for a conference speaker profile.
Start with your ideal clients
Your personal branding photos should make sense for the people you want to work with.
For Nadia, her clients are founders, C-level professionals and people working in tech and fintech. So we did not want the usual copywriter images with lots of creative props, coffee cups and notebooks. Instead, I looked for inspiration from consultants, tech executives, speakers and thought leaders.
The profession is different, but the feeling was much closer to what we wanted.
Turn your personality into visual ideas
Saying you want to look “professional” is too broad. What does professional mean for you?
For this shoot, we turned her words into simple visual ideas:
Strategic: thoughtful expressions, notes, working with ideas.
Warm: relaxed body language, natural smiles, conversational moments.
Polished: clean backgrounds, simple styling, strong portraits.
This makes it easier to decide what to wear, where to shoot and how to pose.
Don’t worry too much about posing
I don’t think you need to know how to pose before your branding shoot.
In fact, some of the best images from this session came from giving Nadia something to do. We used a desk, a laptop and some sticky notes. She could write, move things around, look at her notes or imagine she was talking through an idea with a client. It gave her something natural to react to. And the photos feel more like her.
This is something I try to do in my personal branding sessions in Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.
I want to give you some direction, but I don’t want every photo to look like a pose.
Think about where you will use the photos
Before your shoot, make a list of where you need your images.
For Nadia, we needed photos for:
- Her website
- Her portfolio
- Video thumbnails
- Educational content
This meant we needed different types of images. Close portraits. Wider photos. Working shots. Images looking at the camera. Images with some empty space for text. That variety makes the gallery much more useful.
What should you bring to a branding shoot?
You don’t need lots of props. For this session, the sticky notes were probably more useful than anything else. They helped create a feeling of strategy and working through ideas. Think about what is actually part of your work. A laptop, notebook, phone, book, product or something you use every day can be enough.
The prop should have a reason to be there.
If you are curious about Nadia’s work, you can find the link for her website here. And if you’re in Dublin and thinking about getting your personal branding photos, drop me a message here. I’d love to hear from you.