Your Personal Brand. Why it Matters, How to Manage It and YES...You have one!

Personal Branding

According to Wikipedia, Personal Branding is defined as  "The practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. While previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal-branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging."

So what exactly does that mean?  It's actually quite simple...it's essentially management of your public image - the way you appear to the world.  We don't really "create" our brands - we already have them.

Don't believe me?  Google your name - what comes up?  Facebook photos?  Your phone number?  A news article you've been mentioned in?  A Linked In account?  All of this public information (and believe me, in today's web-based world there is a lot of it) provides others with an idea of who you are and what you are about.

Why Your Personal Brand Matters

Simple.  If someone wants to learn about you, chances are they are going to type your name into a search engine and start gathering information.  Your public image is very important and your personal brand can make or break you in the business world.  A personal brand can > affect whether or not you get accepted into your desired college > help you get that dream job (or not) > set forth a positive (or negative) perception of who you are > show how much you care (or don't care) for your customers > make a positive (or not so positive) first impression > determine whether or not people choose you or someone else > define your credibility

According to Forbes.com, "Whether you’re on the job hunt, a student, or gainfully employed, you must think, act, and plan like a business leader. With the surge of social media, you have not only the ability, but you now have the need to manage your own reputation, both online and in real life."

There are so many great articles out there that can help you define and develop your Personal Brand.  I highly recommend starting with THIS ONE by Forbes.com on how to get started.

How To Manage Your Personal Brand

Whether you are a lawyer, pipe layer, teacher, construction worker or college grad looking for your first job it is extremely important to manage your Brand.  How do you do that?

Here are a few simple tips:

Be Authentic In order to maintain a strong Personal Brand it needs to be accurate and true.  Don't try to be someone you are not - I promise it won't work.  Embrace who you are and make that work for you.

Be Clear Once you have defined your Personal Brand, scream it from the rooftops clearly and concisely.  You might even want to come up with a short

Be Consistent Whether online of off, present yourself in ways that are consistent with how you wish to be seen.  Make sure your online and offline lives and images are in sync.

Be in Control Resist the urge to post those ridiculous images from your crazy night out on the town.  Spend the time to publish that industry related article on Linked in.

There is a lot more to managing and building your Personal Brand, but I will leave the details of that up to experts like Forbes, but what I can tell you from my area of expertise is that...

Your Online Physical Image Matters

There is no denying it - we are a visual society.  We make many assumptions and judgements (whether we want to or not) based on packaging.  Why do you think companies spend so much time, effort and money on how to present and display their products?  People are no different, perhaps for people this is even more important because it can mean the difference of getting that job, date, client, or being passed over without a second thought.

In a world of selfies and endless casual snapshots, you can make yourself stand out from the crowd with a professional portrait.  Whether you go for a more casual, outdoor full body image or a more traditional headshot your image needs to line up with your brand.  You can read an article I wrote and published on LinkedIn regarding the WHY behind this HERE.

Do You Need A Headshot?

Headshots can be done indoors or outdoors.

Let me help you define your online image with a professional headshot.  All headshot sessions include a phone consultation where we can discuss wardrobe and background setting that support your brand.  During your session I will coach you through expressions and poses that accurately portray that brand. I charge a package flat rate for corporate headshots. Each session includes the consultation, photo session, wardrobe changes, immediate image review and a set number of  hi-resolution digital jpegs and web-resolution digital copies for both personal and business use.

Contact Me for more information!

A Big Announcement, Confession, Promise and An Unusual Guarantee

I've been sitting on this exciting news for over a month and it has been killing me, but I didn't want to say anything until everything was finalized.

As of this week, Fotoplicity will be based out of East Brunswick, NJ.  I have rented a quaint little office in a corporate building on Tices Lane.  My office is small, but it has large windows and when I'm done with it it will have lots of personality (pictures to come soon).   I even have a parking lot and an elevator!  It's taken a lot of work to get Fotoplicity to a place where doing this made sense, but in order to take it where I want it to go this had to happen.

So what does this change?  Well, nothing .... and everything!

As far as sessions, it doesn't affect anything. Ninety percent of my portrait sessions will be held in outdoor locations while corporate headshots can be done in the office. 

The big changes come on the service end....

My Confession

While the last year has been great in terms of expanding my brand, I feel that I have not been offering the best service possible to my clients.  Working out of my home has just not been ideal for meeting with clients resulting in limited interaction.  This is a problem because I believe that in order to capture the very best photos....the ones that have emotional value, I need to connect with my clients.  I have many clients that have been coming to me for years and I am honored to have their repeat business, the best part is the connection I have developed with them.  I've watched and documented their children's growth, learned their personalities and have created a nice bond.  I am no longer a stranger with a camera, and THAT makes all the difference.  Let's face it....putting ourselves in front of a lens can be an uncomfortable thing, but when you are familiar with the person behind the lens, the awkwardness diminishes and we tend to allow our true selves shine through.

Having this professional space will allow me several opportunities to connect with my clients.  For new clients, pre-session consultations will be available if desired and will be easy to schedule.  We can sit and chat about your session, what you want to accomplish, ideas on location and wardrobe and you can get to know one another!  

Changing to this service model has also changed my pricing structure.  I now offer lower session fees that cover my time and talent for the shoot and the service aspect of the session.  Prints, products, collections and digitals will all be sold separately.

My Promise

Starting today, I promise to make purchasing prints and products simple, fun and pressure free. Many photographers simply deliver a bunch of digitals online after your session and while this works for some specialties (events and headshots), it is not ideal for portraits.

The lack of this service didn't really hit home until my daughter broke my heart with THIS question last year.  After that life-altering conversation I realized that there really is nothing more valuable than a printed photograph and it was IMPERATIVE that I start putting some real effort into providing this service to my clients.

People hire me to capture emotional, meaningful images and I'm going to insure that they walk out the door with a physical copy of their best image(s) - something that they can touch, feel, hang, share and see without having to turn on a computer screen.

While I can't promise to make the picture selection easy, I will make the ordering process simple.  The best part?  You only purchase what you love!

My Unusual Guarantee

Enchanted photo by Fotoplicity, Central NJ photographer

I will never pressure anyone into buying anything.  I have a disdain for high-pressure sales people (you should see me when I prepare to buy a new car).  This shift is all about providing a service that is truly needed.

Be honest...how many photos do you have sitting on your computer waiting for you to do something with them?

You'll get to it, right?

RIGHT?

<Crickets>

THIS is exactly what I'm talking about.  And don't worry, I'm not going to hide anything from you.  You will have a full understanding of my pricing BEFORE your session.  No surprises, it's all reviewed in your consultation.  And even better, there are absolutely no purchase minimums.  If you only want to purchase one 8x10 print that is your prerogative!  I am going to provide you with the same service I will provide the client who purchases $2000 worth of prints and products.

Why?  Because I believe investing in your memories is one of the most important things you can do for your family.

Still not sure?   Here is the "UNUSUAL" part... If you come to your reveal appointment and do not like ANY of the photos and can't justify purchasing even one....I will refund your session fee.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I WILL REFUND YOUR SESSION FEE!   I am so passionate about this, confident in my work and believe that my pictures will become valued possessions to be passed down through the generations that I offer this guarantee to my clients.

There are very few photographers that are willing to offer a guarantee like this...but I believe the service I provide warrants such a guarantee.

Documenting important life milestones is serious, emotional and meaningful business.

Full Service

When you hire me you are investing in a full service.  From pre-session to post-session, I'm here to help, show and guide you through it.  And while I'm taking care of all the details you can focus on the more important things in life.

When your experience is over with me, you will not only walk away with beautiful and meaningful images that you can see, feel and touch but you will have a positive feeling that you've made a smart and valuable investment in your memories.

Fotoplicity Enchanted Session

And as for me?  I'll know I've done my job, and done it well, when you return next year!

The Heartbreaking Question my Question My 7 Year Old Daughter Asked Me That Made Me Rethink & Overhaul My Business

I have two daughters....they are my everything.  Natalie is 10 years old and Melissa is 7.  

Over the past several years, my daughters have watched me grow Fotoplicity out of a passion and have been the inspiration behind many of my creative ideas.  But this past year my seven-year-old asked one question that made me stop dead in my tracks and re-think my entire business model.  This one question put into motion a brand overhaul that is currently taking place and I think will resonate with every Mom out there.....

One day, I was cleaning my room when Melissa came in with a sad look on her face and a little photobook in her hand.  She sat on my bed, looked at me with big puppy dog eyes and then lowered her glance down into her lap staring at the photobook.  "Mommy?  Do you love Natalie more than me?"  My heart just about broke into a million pieces.... I sat down next to her and asked her why she would think that.  "Because you don't have any pictures of me as a baby."  The photobook she had in her hand was one I created for Natalie's one year birthday. It was kept in a pile of other little photobooks I had created before I had Melissa.  I quickly tried to console her letting her know that I do indeed have hundreds of baby photos of her....on the computer.   "But I can't see them there, I can see Natalie's on the wall, but not mine."   I did a quick inventory of the photos hanging around my house.  She was right.  All the beautifully framed baby photos were of Natalie.

How could I possibly explain that things just got too chaotic and busy with two children, work and life to find time to create photobooks or wall prints for her?  How could I justify that all those digital images hidden away on my hard drive were as valuable as the ones hanging in full display on our walls?  How could I let her know that I had every intention of printing photos of her but somehow the years have passed by and I never found the time to do so?  I couldn't.  There were no excuses, there was no answer that would make her hurt go away.  "Life got in the way" was just not going to cut it here.

Feeling completely discouraged and broken myself, I told her we would go to my computer and pull up her baby pictures.  And we did...of course it took me about 45 minutes to hook up the old hard drive, get it to work on my newer computer, shuffle through thousands of irrelevant files and sort through a ton of meaningless digital images that were blurry and crappy all to get to the few good baby photos.  The photo-hunting experience definitely took away from the feel-good moment of the memories.

Melissa's simple question and the following "digital experience" made me realize that the emotional value of a printed photograph stands undeniable.   Our digital, fast-paced lifestyles and abundance of cell-phone snapshots have devalued the most meaningful, timeless possessions of every family. Digital photographs have become expendable and offer a very short shelf life in comparison. I had a hard enough time accessing Melissa's baby photos from just a few years ago....how much more difficult will it be in 10 or 25 years from now?  Will future technology even be compatible?  Will your grandchildren care to load them up on their computer?  Will there even be computers?

Today's world moves so fast.  Moments are rarely appreciated because there is this constant pressure to move on and find the next big thing.  It took my 7-year-old daughter's pain and feeling of neglect to make me realize that digital images are NOT always ideal.  Yes, they are convenient and have their place, but when it comes to emotional value....nothing compares to a high-quality printed photograph.

I am determined to stop this cycle for every single one of my clients....even if it means printing just ONE image.

Thanks to Melissa and my broken heart, I have made it easier than ever to get gorgeous printed artwork from your session.  From personalized proofing where we set up an appointment to review your photographs together in person or virtually and explore options for displaying your memories for everyone to see and enjoy to Online Proofing Galleries where ordering prints and products can be done with the click of a button.  I provide a customized service to fit your needs. Let me take care of the ordering details and you can walk away with a PHYSICAL piece of memorabilia that will last a lifetime and be handed down to your children and their children.

Of course, digital files are the base of most Fotoplicity Collections because I know you want them… Digital files are perfect for storing on a hard drive, sharing on social media, email, or for the DIYers that like to take on printing themselves. But if you choose to just get the digitals, I urge you to please, please, please…go the extra step and PRINT one or two of them. It really is important!

I don’t want you to put in the same position as me with your child asking why you don't care enough to print or hang their picture.