Product photography
If your business is product-led, I imagine product photography will be one of the first parts of your marketing mix that you create but ensure that you consider what the media are looking for. The biggest mistake I see small businesses make is to invest heavily in over art-directed lifestyle shots, but the reality is that most media want products on a ghost or white background they can cut out easily for their shopping pages.
ACTIVITY
– Think about the pages or destination you want your product to end up in and ensure that you have a selection of shots that can be used for media.
– Don’t over think your press photography, businesses are often scared of the simplicity of shooting on a plain white background, but trust me when I say that this is the most requested shot I am ever asked for.
TIPS
– Shoot your product flat lay on a white background (or what we sometimes call ghost cut-out).
– Make sure you have both low- and hi-res photography.
– The resolution should be 300 dpi – jpegs are the best format.
Business-to-business photography
If you are a service business, you might get by with generic shop-bought imagery for your website or using Unsplash for social media, but this is not going to wash for journalists.
ACTIVITY
– Everyone has seen the overused and rather dull flat lay image of a MacBook with a millennial pink notebook and a latte – so think differently, what images really represent you and your business that are not generic?
– Could you take some photos of you at work; e.g., at your desk, hosting a meeting, speaking at an event, directing a shoot? Think about all the visual aspects of what you do and how you can capture this.
– Create a bank of images (4–6) that are a mixture of portrait and lifestyle and reflect your business personality.
TIPS
– After headshots, the business ‘lifestyle’ shots are the ones that most companies ignore.
– If you have a physical space for your business, what can you do to make it more memorable so people might want to snap a pic and share it with their followers?
CHECKLIST
– Do you have all your photos saved in both high and low resolutions?
– Are your images captioned and labelled properly (don’t just leave it saved as a numerical file – make sure you have a clear description and it is captioned.
2.4 Biographies
Whether I’m pitching a client for writing an opinion piece, speaking at an event or speaking on a podcast – inevitably the first question I will be asked (if I’ve not already included it as part of my pitch format) is “Can you send me their bio” and they want it immediately.
It is surprising how many businesses have been going for years where the key stakeholders don’t have a biography on file when, in my opinion, this should be one of the first assets you create for your media toolkit. Or, if they do already have a bio, it tends to be a bit dull and I’m bored halfway down the list of all the professional accomplishments.
ACTIVITY
Tell me everything
Generally, entrepreneurs fall into two camps, wanting to share absolutely everything or fearing they don’t have enough to say. To begin with, write down everything because not only is this a useful exercise to uncover all your forgotten talents and experience, but it may also unearth something different that you can build on. Ask yourself the following questions:
– What skills do you have that are relevant to this business?
– What are your relevant academic or professional qualifications?
– What is your industry experience?
– Any other strengths to highlight?
– Do you have a quirky hobby and/or habit?
The red pen
Going through all of this information, which is the most important? Rank the different points as to what are the most relevant. And start your cull of what might be irrelevant for your first draft. (Keep a long-form version of everything for future use and to keep updating.)
What’s your name and where do you come from?
Cilla Black always nailed a good intro. Having read some monstrosities out there, it’s worth flagging to start simply and with the basics – your name and where you currently work or some examples of who you currently work for if you are freelance.
Add a personal detail
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