Personal Branding and Establishing a Strong Online Presence

21 May 2021 13452
Rate this item
(6 votes)
Social media is a visual space. Across different platforms, observe how design, placement, colour, and presentation is as important as application efficiency.

Facebook is known as a communication feed where you could share your life moments through photo albums. Instagram, is famous for its aesthetically pleasing “square” feed layouts. For LinkedIn, on the other hand, a professional profile is necessary to establish good connections that would land you job opportunities. Whether you are an artist, a public figure, or a content creator, there is no denying that the type of photographs, videos, and graphics you post plays a role in your social media profile; much more for establishing a brand.

Introduction

A brand is one aspect of social media that many people try to emulate but fail to understand. To start, a brand is more than just a combination of name, logos, and products. Overall, a brand serves as your identification in the digital space. It is how your followers, your customers, and the general virtual public would perceive you — as an avatar.

When you think of it like this, an avatar of yourself needs to have a name and an appearance. It should also communicate who you are, what you do, and what you offer. Essentially, branding is a combination of efforts to build a unique identity that when people see it, they would know that it is you.

What is Personal Branding? Why is it important?

Personal Brand


Since you now know what branding is, let us now define what makes a brand yours.

Personal branding is how you create a brand out of how you present and position yourself online. You are for example, a public figure. Given that, people online have their eyes on you, what you post, what you say, how you interact and react to things. All of which is associated with who you are and affects your credibility.

With the rise of the internet and social media platforms, personal branding became significant in evaluating someone. Companies and employers now look at their potential employee’s social media accounts to vet whether they are a right fit. The inclusion of online profiles is also being required now in addition to resumes. These include your LinkedIn profile, a portfolio or an online blog, your Instagram and Facebook accounts, as well as following count.

How Personal Branding Could Help You Establish a Strong Online Presence

Personal branding in a highly visual space focuses on physical appearance and presentation. It means giving importance to how you present yourself, how you dress, your posture, whether you appear confident and trustworthy just by looking at your pictures. Things that people often overlook.

People interact best with other people. Recognition is in seeing faces. The same goes for your brand — whether it is for a business or yourself. It enables people to connect with you and your brand on a personal level. And in turn, translates into brand loyalty.

Online Presence


Moreover, be authentic with it. People can smell fakeness from a mile away. As much as social media is curated to a certain level of perfectness, sincerity should still be your top priority. Through this, the message becomes your own. It would also make content creation easier down the line as you are making yourself the centre of your brand. In assuring that people would perceive you well, it is important to make a good first impression.

Now, how would you be able to ensure that you keep being authentic while putting the best version of yourself out there?

This is where personal branding photoshoots come in.

Personal Branding Photoshoot and Where to Begin

Don’t be misled. When it comes to personal branding photoshoots, it’s not just about the photos. It is a process of self-evaluation, self-positioning and targeting the right audience. It also deals with identifying personal goals, your measurements of success. The photographers, outfits, hair and makeup, come after. Here are some of the things you have to identify for an effective personal branding:

Your Purpose
Ask yourself why you are creating a personal brand? Why is it important to share your message out there and not keep things strictly about the business?

Your purpose would be your driving force. It keeps you passionate about the things you do and ensures the longevity of your work. If you don’t establish your purpose firsthand, it would be difficult for you to continue if the brand faces changes and challenges.

Lastly, purpose leads to authenticity. No other person could have the same purpose as you. Advocacy is vital in business because it creates a sense of humanity in products. For example, a sustainable packaging company would be another money-making business if no person behind it intensely advocates sustainability.

The same applies to personal branding. A good photo would be another good photo shot by a professional if the person photographed does not have a purpose. You have to be clear about it in your branding photoshoots and it will be easier for you to present yourself confidently.

Your Goals
Speaking of causes, you also need to ask yourself, what are your goals? What is the direction that you would take? Do you want to be professional and dress in business attire? Or is a chill atmosphere your thing?

Your goals directly translate to the story of your brand shoot. For content creation, this equates to the topics you’re going to write about and the events that you would be making. For personal branding, on the other hand, it could be the feeling that you would want to evoke.

If you are a public figure and your goal is to appear credible, then a professional and clean layout is what you need. If you are an educator, you have to create an environment wherein you look knowledgeable. Maybe add a desk, some books, and wear glasses.

Your Audience
Last on the list is identifying your audience. Now that you have a purpose and have set goals, a target audience is next. It helps in fine-tuning your shoot to cater for your niche.

Is your brand demographic, predominantly female? Then try to look put together but still relatable to establish a connection. Are your followers mostly Gen Z? Then research on trends and see which styles communicate the best.

You are adjusting your brand to fit the tastes of your audience. Not necessarily to fit the norm. Rather have a creative foundation. Besides, if you are sure about your purpose and your goals, you would not have to change anything about your appearance - you are just enhancing it.

How to Prepare for a Personal Branding Photoshoot

You are almost there! Now that you have a strong foundation, the final step is probably the most fun: the photoshoot. Here a list of things you need to prepare for a personal branding photoshoot:

Photo Shoot


1. Plan it all out
A successful photoshoot starts with great planning. It is not something that would work on a whim. It deals with various aspects starting from your budget, the layouts you would want and how many, and your concept. Would you want a static standing photo? A full tight shot? Perhaps a creative one with props?

You may also try creating a schedule board. If you are going to set the shoot for a whole day, how much time should you spend travelling to the location, the time to get ready. Outfit changes should also be taken into account so that things would go smoothly. Consider creating a storyboard as well so that you could discuss it with a photographer beforehand.

2. Choose the Right Photographer
A picture is worth a thousand words. And a photographer is the writer. Which makes it crucial for you to find the right as they would help you tremendously in translating your message into a picture. Find a photographer that you are comfortable with so that the photoshoot process would be enjoyable. Most importantly, choose a photographer that fits your desired aesthetic. It will save you the trouble of dealing with revisions and waste time.

3. Pick a Suitable Location
Does it make sense for a fitness coach to shoot in an office space? How about a nutritionist shooting at a gym?

Picking a suitable location is key to achieving cohesiveness and effectiveness for your photos. Seeing a fitness coach in a gym makes you think that he knows what he’s doing while a nutritionist in a clinic or kitchen, for example, would make you believe that you are in good hands. The location sets the mood and also creates a sense of trust. For good measure, try to add some props as well for a dynamic feel.

4. Dress for the Part
To present your best self and leave a good impression, you need to look presentable. A full-body suit creates a sense of power, while a dress shirt would mean professional yet casual.

Discuss colours as well. Ask your photographer if the colour of your clothing would blend well with the background. Is a printed blouse too loud? Is white too plain? Try to experiment while keeping on brand. A good suggestion is to incorporate your brand colours so that you set yourself apart from your competitors.

One option for preparing your wardrobe for a photoshoot is to consider renting or clothing swap shops. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emission and one of the most polluting industries out there.

Sustainable style has been on the rise in the Singapore fashion scene. Several platforms like Style Theory and Rentadella offer “rent and return” services for people who are looking for clothes to wear once but do not want to buy new ones. Other stores like The Fashion Pulpit have clothing swaps where you choose old pieces from your wardrobe and exchange it for other pre-loved items.

You get to build a professional wardrobe while at the same time help in promoting sustainable advocacies.

5. Prepare for your Hair and Makeup
The natural “no makeup, makeup look” is common right now. It’s perfect as it gives a simple look for those people who want to keep things natural without appearing superficial. And although there is nothing wrong with keeping things natural, results would differ under all the light and studio setup.

Getting a professional hair and makeup artist is 100% worth the extra cost. They could help you in enhancing your natural features and achieve great results. A professional HMUA would also lessen the things you need to worry about on shoot day so you could focus on taking the perfect shots.

6. Take Care of Yourself and Stay Confident
Most importantly, take care of yourself and stay confident. Make sure to eat well and get enough hours of sleep before your shoot. Eating well reduces the chances of breakouts and bloating. Getting enough sleep means lots of energy so you do not look exhausted.

A glow from within is unbeatable. You may hire a personal branding coach to help and motivate you or try giving yourself daily pep talks. Stay confident and slay.

If you are interested in personal branding photoshoot but feeling a little overwhelmed with all the things you have to prepare, Dolce Vita Events could help you!

Find a team that could help you with everything that you need – a professional photographer, a professional makeup artist, and a personal branding coach, all in one package.

You may contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.