A picture says a thousand words

Take a look at the photos you use to promote your business or your products.

Look through your website, your brochures or other marketing collateral, your eBay accounts and your social media pages. In particular, look at any photos of you, your premises and your product.

If you, for whatever reason, don’t have any photos on your website – and you should – take a look instead at the photo you would use if you were asked to send in a photo for a newspaper article or a headshot for a conference.

If a picture says a thousand words, what do your photos tell your customers about your business?

Do your photos make you look like the kind of organisation you would want to do business with if you were a potential customer? Do your products look like the kind you’d want to buy?

Do your photos convey a professional start-up on the verge of conquering the world? Or just the unsteady, low-resolution, poorly cropped and dimly lit visions of unprofessionalism and indifference that come from the back camera on an iPhone?

There’s a good reason why big multinationals spend a small fortune on photography and pictures. From the executive headshots to the impressive 3D renderings of their next property development or the perfectly melted cheese on a Big Mac, they know the power of images.

Well, Old Taskmaster says this: It’s time to pay a visit to a professional photographer. If you’re really pressed for time or cash, cousin Sally who’s handy with an SLR camera will do.

That said, with no disrespect to your cousin, a professional will probably be more aware of cropping, composition, light, shade, contrast and colour.

Get them to take a series of professional shots – in both portrait and landscape – of you, your products and (especially if you’re in retail, hospitality or any other industry requiring face-to-face customer contact) your business premises. Perhaps a few photos of your other senior team members as well.

After all, if a picture says a thousand words, then some quality photography can make your business look like a million dollars.

Get it done – today!