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Author: John DeMato

John DeMato is a branded, lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who collaborates with speakers, authors, coaches, and high-level entrepreneurs to produce magazine-quality images that present them powerfully, purposefully and authentically to their audiences.

More than just a photographer, John sets his clients up for success beyond the portrait session by coaching them on how to best leverage their image content for their websites, social channels, blogs, publications, advertisements and various other needs.

A former television producer, John has over 18 years of production experience, and has been featured as a portrait photographer expert on several NBC Universal daytime talk and reality shows.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Fill up your audience with the meat and potatoes…

It’s one thing to have bursts of inspiration…

…It’s quite another to develop them into compelling pieces of online content

I was on the phone the other day with a speaker who is looking to dive more into creating online content with the brand new lifestyle portraits we just created.

Since I’m a big fan of getting into the weeds with people about creating social posts and blog articles, I started spitting out the why behind creating a memorable online presence through the creation of compelling and valuable content. I told him that he wants all of his online content to either inform, entertain and/or inspire his audience into action.

I then dove into the importance of generating idea nuggets, and how they are the backbone of your storytelling strategy.

These are the insights, conversations, and moments that happen throughout your day – work and personal lives – that are the sparks of inspiration to create these compelling and valuable pieces of content.

Then, I started talking to him about the relationship between these idea nuggets and the image content that he now has at his disposal. The images, I explained, visually punctuate the sentiment of every story that he wants to share, whether it’s for social media, blog articles, an ad, presentation or even copy on his website.

As I was about to dive deeper on how to leverage his photos, he backtracked for a second and asked me:

“How do you develop an idea nugget into an actual post?”

Now, there’s a lot of books that have been written on this subject. You know, the Greeks and Romans put in a lot of work on this subject already, 🙂

Over the years, I’ve gleaned some valuable information on storytelling development from these foundational pillars.

But, as I’ve embarked on creating content that resonates with my audience, I’ve created my own customized framework in order to develop a process that makes sense to me.

Essentially, I break down online content development into 4 primary storytelling sections:

  • Opening Spiel
  • Meat And Potatoes
  • The Closer
  • Call To Action

But before I dive into what each of these sections mean to overall story development, let’s start at the beginning.

IDEA NUGGET CREATION

While I’m going about my day-to-day work and an interesting idea enters my consciousness, I’ll make sure that I write it down in my phone. Now, for you, that might mean writing it down on a post-it, whiteboard in your office or in a notebook.

The key here is that you’re writing it down and protecting it from your shitty memory that fails you on a minute-by-minute basis – especially in this hectic, short attention span world in which we live.

In some cases, I’ll go ahead and develop the idea immediately from my phone, or I’ll store it away for a rainy day and develop it at a later time.

Regardless of when I further develop it, the first step is to figure out what this idea nugget represents in the grand storytelling scheme.

Does it represent a teachable moment for my audience? Is it an actionable step for them? A funny and catchy title? A revealing statement about what motivates me as a human being? An example of my expertise? Does this share the type of experience I offer clients? Is this an interesting zinger that can be used to wrap up the post?

Or, does this idea nugget serve to inspire a completely different idea altogether?

Once there’s more context placed around this particular string of words with respect to the value it offers my audience, the next step is to determine where they fall within the storytelling structure I mentioned above.

Let’s take a closer look at these sections to help you understand their purpose.

DISSECTING THE STORYTELLING SECTIONS

Opening Spiel

What can I say, I’m a fan of Yiddish words, 🙂

Set the scene of your post by sharing a story that eases the audience into the point of this piece of content. This story introduces and reinforces the need for audience members to keep reading because they are going to learn something valuable, whether it’s related to their pain points or related to them getting to know you better.

What does the opening spiel look like?

Well, if we look closer at this article, the idea nugget that I had written down that spawned this article was simply:

Create an article that talks more about idea nugget maturation – from a thought to a post.

When I sat down to develop that insight-inspired nugget into a compelling and valuable story, I remembered a conversation I had with a client in the not-too-distant past about this very topic.

I realized immediately that was going to be the topic of my opening spiel.

Now, that’s one specific way to create an opening story, but there are many ways to open your post:

  • Start with a question that relates directly to a particular client friction point
  • Start off with misdirection – walk your audience down the “wrong” path before you grab their hand and course-correct them in the rest of the post
  • Create a contrast between the way you used to think about a topic, and how you approach it now (which represents the teachable moment for your audience)
  • Pull a quote from something you read that relates in one way or form to the lesson you want to share with those you serve
  • Share an observation that inspired a particular way of thinking about a topic
  • Share something that places you in a position of vulnerability

Regardless of how you begin your story, create an emotional connection and relate it to the reader from the very first sentence, and that will hook people in with your opening spiel and give them a reason to continue reading.

Meat And Potatoes

I like the phrase meat and potatoes because, for me, it symbolizes sustenance – the true value of what you’re sharing with those you serve. The opening spiel, however you choose to craft it, serves to move people directly into this section.

These are teachable moments – actionable steps, deep insights, and further elaboration – that your audience can take away and implement into their own businesses and lives.

Whether you’re providing them insight that illustrates your expertise, life as a business owner or life as a human being, this is the section where you flesh out these important story points.

Taking this article as an example, the meat and potatoes is the storytelling framework that I’m fleshing out for you now.

This is the takeaway that I want to impart to everyone reading this so they can create and implement a smoother and more fluid storytelling process.

Still got room in your belly for more? Cool – let’s keep it going, shall we? 🙂

The Closer

After you tickle them with a feather of value in the meat and potatoes section of your post you then need to tie a bow on this piece of content that ties everything together.

How do you approach this? You could:

  • Summarize what you’ve shared in a way that distills the important pieces into a handful of sentences
  • Share the potential results of them being actionable in the way you describe in the meat and potatoes section
  • Write a punchy and quick-witted closing paragraph that allows your personality to shine
  • Add a twist to the story and allow your audience to see everything you just shared with them in a more valuable and beneficial context
  • Offer them a motivational kick in the ass to get them moving in a positive direction
  • Create an emotional and touching conclusion that will resonate with your audience beyond the information itself

I have a bit more to go before I reveal my closer, so hang tight for it. I can tell you that it’s related to one of these above examples – and that’s all I’m telling you for now, 🙂

Call-To-Action

Why do we need one of these?

Although it’s great to impart valuable and compelling content, it’s important to include a next-step.

After all, we’re not in the business of posting content simply to throw out into the world and enlighten a couple of folks. We’re looking to build relationships with a community of folks that we serve and establish our value to them.

We also need them to know HOW we offer that unique value.

With that in mind, what do you want your audience to do once they’ve consumed this particular piece of content?

  • Pose a question to incite engagement on this post
  • Provide a link to sign up for your newsletter
  • Point them towards more content related to this topic in your blog
  • Encourage them to follow you on social media
  • Have them sign up for a webinar/workshop/online course related to the information shared in this post
  • Pick up the phone and call you for a consultation

Each piece of content that you create has its own call to action, so, you can think of different and interesting ways to allow your audience to further connect with you beyond the post itself.

Don’t flood your audience with multiple calls-to-action – keep their effort simple by only using one per piece of content.

I haven’t figured out my call to action yet for this post, but I’ll have something by the time we get there, don’t worry, 🙂

AHEM…AND NOW, THE CLOSER

Creating consistent and valuable content is a pain in the ass, there’s no doubt about it. Even when we have interesting idea nuggets at our disposal, it’s still challenging to build entire stories around them.

That’s why it’s essential to have a framework in place to help facilitate the storytelling strategy process.

My hope is that the framework in which I leverage on a daily basis helps you in your efforts to create memorable, compelling and valuable online content.

Now, take what you’ve learned and go write some magical content, will ya?

CTA TIME

This is just a sample of the storytelling strategy that I share with my audience through my 3x weekly newsletter.

Want me to do you a favor and send them directly to your inbox to save you the commute to my blog?

You can sign up for it here – and receive some free goodies in the process.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

In your clients own words

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portraits Speaker Consultant Lou Diamond working on computer

Stop talking and let those you serve speak on your behalf.

So, I have this problem where I like to talk a lot, especially about the work I do with speakers, authors, and other expert-based businesses.

I get very excited, the sweat starts going, the cursing gets ramped up and my hands start to flail around like they have a mind of their own.

I sometimes have to catch myself, but never do. 

It’s because I love talking about visual storytelling and lifestyle portraiture – it’s in my blood and wholeheartedly believe every word I say. 

Although I understand that sharing this level of passion for the services I provide my clients is important, I also understand that my words alone are not enough to pique people’s interest in hiring me for my specialized help.

They need to hear from people who’ve experienced the process. 

They need to hear from people who were in their shoes and have come out on the other side much better off for the experience working with you.

For many years, I was under the impression that the work I created with clients speaks for itself.

Guess what?

It doesn’t.

Although a picture is worth a thousand words, it never opens its mouth to share them. 

That’s why I provide space for my clients to do so…

…and so should you!

Whether in written, audio-only or in video format, sharing your client’s thoughts on how you helped them with some aspect of their business is an extremely effective way for you to gain the attention of those who need you most. 

In addition to it representing social proof, these testimonials provide your audience an opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of the person whose life and business has improved as a direct result of your products, services, and specialized attention. 

This helps create a direct connection between you and your audience, which goes a long way to developing a deeper connection and trust. 

Once you gain their trust, that’s when these audience members become paid clients who buy your book, attend your workshops and sign up for your online training programs. 

BEFORE YOU SOLICIT OLD CLIENTS FOR TESTIMONIALS…

Keep one important point in mind:

These testimonials are not for you. 

They’re for those who read them so they can understand how you solve people’s points of friction in their businesses and lives.

Please don’t simply ask them to write a sentence or two about how amazing you are! 

This isn’t enough. 

What your audience wants to know is why the experience was amazing. And it’s your job to guide your clients when they’re crafting these testimonials to do just that.

GIVE THEM TESTIMONIAL QUESTIONS

When I first started sending out a list of questions to my clients, I felt very uncomfortable about it. I felt that it was a burden.

But then I started reading the testimonials I received and realized that this exactly what was needed in order to paint the full picture of the experience. 

In addition, I received a few thank you’s from those who leveraged the questions to create the testimonial because it made their lives easier.

They didn’t need to guesstimate what I wanted them to talk about – they simply answered the questions, combined them into several paragraphs and posted it to my LinkedIn page.

Done.

FORMAT FOR CREATING TESTIMONIAL QUESTIONS

Everyone has their own way of communicating and sensibilities, so, rather than talk about how you word your questions, I feel it’s more valuable to talk about the types of questions that need to appear in your testimonial request.

Remember, it’s not a blurb of how amazing you are.

It’s a story that shares the value of how you positively affected someone’s life and business. 

Here’s how you can set up that story.

TESTIMONIAL QUESTION 1 – WHERE WERE YOU IN YOUR BUSINESS THAT YOU NEEDED TO CONTACT ME?

This is an extremely important question for your clients to answer. This is the entry point for those reading to start relating themselves to this person. 

This question fleshes out your testimonial clients initial points of friction that necessitated them booking a call with you.  Either the reader has the exact same friction in their life, or they can relate to it.

And this is exactly what you want. 

You want the reader to compare themselves to your testimonial client. While this question elicits an answer that’s all about their pain, there’s a happy ending to this story. 

Allow readers to envision themselves experiencing that same happy ending. 

TESTIMONIAL QUESTION 2 – DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE

Allow your testimonial client to share all of the juicy goodness that represents working with you.

Now this could actually be fleshed out through a series of questions that each focus on one particular aspect of your service, depending on how you structure your service offerings.

Make sure to allow your testimonial clients to highlight specific aspects of their experience through the questions you offer.

For example, don’t assume they will talk about how the on-boarding process set them up for success if you don’t specifically ask them to talk about it. 

Remember, you have options if an answer isn’t forthcoming or shaped in the way that you want.

One, you can ask them to elaborate on what they’ve written or two, you can strike it from the testimonial altogether.

But don’t assume anything.

TESTIMONIAL QUESTION 3 – WHAT VALUE DID YOU RECEIVE FROM THE WORK WE DID TOGETHER?

Value has many meanings.

If you don’t offer questions that lead your testimonial clients down a path that describes the value you want prospects to know about, you’re running the risk of having them leave the good stuff out.

Questions that touch not only the quality of deliverables, but the empowerment that they feel now that they’re on the other side of working with you are also essential to offer. 

Remember – people don’t make buying decisions based on what they think – they base it on how they feel. If you create testimonials that touch on both, then you’re creating powerful marketing assets that get attention.

So, that’s pretty much it.

All you need are three types of questions and that will tell an effective story on your behalf. 

At the end of the day, these testimonials validate you in a way that you simply cannot do for yourself. 

It takes a little extra work and prodding of your past clients.

But, when potential clients consume these testimonials, the juice is worth the squeeze.

And, oh by the way, they’ll put a smile on your face, too, 🙂

 

John DeMato is a NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how, what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Here’s what sucks about stock photos on your website…

Do you leverage stock photos on your website?

Read on to see why that sucks.

As a speaker, author and expert-based business owner, your website is the magical nerve center of your online presence. 

It’s the top level that all other areas of your digital footprint leads to.

When you drive them to your hub, you want to greet them with all things YOU. 

And it starts with your image content. 

When people view your portraits, they’re looking to subconsciously answer three main questions: 

  • Is this person approachable?
  • Will I get along with this person?
  • Can this person be trusted?

If you only post stock photography on your website, you’re impeding the qualification process of those who would otherwise be ideal clients for you to serve. 

This impedance creates doubt in the minds of those who visit your site and have them look for alternatives rather than contact you directly. 

Why create that doubt when you can simply invest in an image content portfolio created specifically for you?

Some people argue that it’s hard to capture certain types of image content and it’s just easier to buy something already done. 

Sure, I can buy that it’s hard to capture certain types of image content based on the types of audiences you serve…

…but does that mean your brain is broken and can’t think of creative alternatives that involve you in them?

There’s ALWAYS more than one way to skin a cat.

For example, if you need photos of a boardroom meeting and your clients typically have you sign confidentiality agreements, then book a co-working space boardroom and have 3-5 of your friends show up for 30 minutes in their boardroom uniform best and instruct your photographer capture a wide variety of images:

  • You leading a discussion
  • Someone giving a presentation with slides
  • Attendees taking notes
  • Someone typing on a laptop
  • Shaking hands
  • People grouped together in discussion

This is a very generalized list, but you get the point. 

How many stock photos of the above scenarios have you seen floating around the internet? How easy would it be to simply capture images that you have full rights to and can do whatever you want with?

In collaboration with my clients, we’ve contrived a wide variety of lifestyle scenarios, including the above boardroom scenario, in order to get customized lifestyle portraits that they can use for their websites, including:

  • Webinars
  • Keynotes
  • Workshops
  • One-on-one consultations
  • Working on technology
  • Brainstorming ideas/mind mapping
  • Day-to-day activities

Some have argued to me that it’s cheaper to purchase stock images than to hire a photographer for a branded lifestyle portrait session.

Here’s my two cents on that.

Depending on where you purchase the stock photos – Getty, Pond 5, Adobe, etc. –  the pricing might be considerably cheaper than a portrait photography session. 

But here’s the catch.

That photo isn’t exclusively for you – it’s for everyone else who purchases rights to it. Do you want to run the risk of posting a photo that 20 other people are also using? Specifically, people who also operate in a similar space of expertise?

In that case, buy the exclusive rights, you say?

Have you seen how much it costs to garner exclusive rights for one photo? If you have more than a handful of stock images on your site, that strategy becomes cost prohibitive.

At the end of the day, all roads point to you investing in an image content portfolio that has a wide variety of branded lifestyle portraits and other image content that uniquely illustrates who you are, who you serve, and why you do what you do. 

Your website is too important a marketing asset to be littered with images that can be found all over the internet. 

There is only one you, and you need to be front and center on your website!

If you would like to learn more about image content portfolios and the relationship between visual content and the written word, I invite you to subscribe to my blog, where I also share other storytelling strategies that help to create a memorable and referable online presence.

Ready to skip the reading and get down to work?

Are you ready to delete all the stock images on your website and start fresh with your own branded lifestyle portraits?

Let’s have a chat and see if we’re a good fit to work together on this.

 

John DeMato is a NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how, what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

What fires have you put out recently? Share them through your online content.

Looking for something to write about for online content?

Talk about the fires you’ve put out this month, for starters…

Regardless of what area of expertise in which you specialize, you undoubtedly have had to deal with unexpected left turns when it comes to your client work. 

While these speed bumps and hindrances are undoubtedly a pain in the ass with which to deal, you’ve handled it in the best way possible to satisfy your clients. 

The bad news is that you never know when these roadblocks will present themselves.

The good news is that you can leverage the entire experience in content that will deeply resonate with those that you serve.

I’ve devoted a good portion of my blog and social content to describe the various ways in which I’ve helped clients overcome emotional roadblocks, logistical hiccups and day-of-shoot shenanigans that could’ve ultimately affected the success of the session.

Ultimately, it only represented a small blip on the radar once we addressed the issue and moved past it.

Why?

It alerts clients of the type of service and experience that they should expect when they work with me.

At the end of the day, everything I write is not about me, it’s about my clients.

And sharing how you put out fires is a huge component to that puzzle because we all know that smooth sailing with respect to client work is rarely how things work out. 

Potential clients want a sense of how you handle yourself in those moments

Why?

When they read your content, they’re relating it directly to themselves. 

Let them know how you will take care of them should something unsuspected arise in the work you do with them.

Since we’re talking about putting out fires, let’s get some of them on paper for you right now.

Putting Out Fires — Idea Nugget Exercise

I want you to identify one client you’ve had over the past month where the road got a little rocky and answer the following questions. 

Don’t rush – take a couple minutes: 

  • What was the 5-alarm fire that popped up during your client work?
  • How did your client react to it?
  • How did you react to it?
  • How did you resolve the issue? 

Once you’re done, combine the answers together, tighten up the English, make sure the story is relatable to those in your audience and, suddenly, you have the raw materials needed to create a social post or blog article staring right back at you!

Then, the next question is how do you visually punctuate this story, whether its an image for your social post or a thumbnail for your blog entry.

The first question is whether or not you want to identify the client specifically. 

If so:

  • Do you have a photo with the client? 
  • A selfie? 
  • Screengrab of you two talking via a web conferencing app such as Zoom? 
  • A photo taken together at an event?

If you don’t want to identify the client and speak in general terms – I do this ALL the time – then:

  • Do you have a lifestyle portrait of you working with a client where you can’t make out their faces? 
  • On a Zoom call on your laptop? 
  • On the phone speaking with a client? 
  • A dramatic photo of you thinking to yourself that creates a sentiment of reflection and rumination?

There are a myriad ways you can visually punctuate a story like this. 

The key is that you first identify the specific fire you put out and write it down, and the image choice will inevitably follow based on your objective with the post and whether or not you want to identify the client specifically.

When you share content like this, you’re providing your audience of potential clients the opportunity to realize that whatever comes up while working with you, they’re in good hands and you know exactly how to take care of them.

That goes a long way in establishing a deeper connection, rapport and ultimately, trust, with those you serve.

Similar to this idea nugget-inducing article, I share a variety of storytelling strategies in my blog. If you’d like to receive them directly in your inbox to read at your leisure, then subscribe to my 

blog – I’ll throw in a free gift once you sign up, cause you know, I care, 🙂

If you’re looking for more personalized work to help you sort out your online content creation strategy, I can help you with that, as well. 

Set up a call with me and let’s see if we’re a fit to work together and how I can help you with your points of friction in this area.

 

John DeMato is a NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how, what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

The benefits of joining a professional association

Want to be discovered by those you serve?

Discover them by joining their groups and associations.

I never felt so naked in my life. 

I kept repeating that sentence to myself, as well as relaying it to anyone who asked, “how’s your Influence experience going?”

Influence is the big daddy conference held annually for the National Speakers Association, and I attended this year’s installment in Denver – not as a photographer, but as a participant.

To give you a little perspective, this was the first time ever that I’ve attended a conference without a camera or the intention of working behind a lens.

Ever.

And yeah, it was uncomfortable. 

To the point that I made that known to all of my colleagues from the local NYC Chapter when they checked-in with me in between breakout sessions or lunch. 

But, I’m not bringing this up to further shine a light on my shyness – that’s an obnoxiously long conversation for another day!

Despite how weird and uncomfortable I felt walking the halls without my camera, I knew I was in the right place talking to the right people for several reasons.

First of all, speakers and authors are my people.

Not just because they’re the group I serve with my specialized attention behind a camera.

But because they’re amazing artists with skills that I respect and admire.

I am inspired by people who tell stories – impactful, entertaining, thought-provoking and game-changing stories- for a living. 

And I was surrounded by these storytellers for 4 days, soaking in a wide variety of conversations.

Now, some people might say, “well, I follow these people on social media. I already learn what I need from what I read there.”

Sure, you can learn a lot while listening to conversations on social media, no doubt about that.

But, when you’re face-to-face with someone over the course of a couple of days, a certain level of rapport and connection happens that simply cannot happen over a computer. 

You’re sharing an experience together in person, which opens up the honesty floodgates a little wider than engaging a blog article or social media post.

Conversations with fellow association attendees affords you a variety of benefits.

Benefit #1 – intelligence-gathering mission

Although I am not a professional speaker, I attended a bunch of breakout sessions for professional speakers and trainers.

Rather than apply this information to my business specifically, I can use the keywords, phrases and other speaker-centric jargon in my content that I share with speakers, authors, and other expert-based businesses. 

The idea is that if I leverage the verbiage used by the top speakers in the industry, it will help create visibility for my own services because the messages will resonate more deeply. 

In addition to the actual language being used, I also took a laundry list of notes related to other aspects of the business of professional speaking:

  • What other revenue streams do they look to create
  • What marketing strategies and tactics to employ to help raise their speaker fees
  • What types of technology to use to help improve their keynotes

These and many other topics were covered during the conference. 

This type of information is invaluable to me because I now have a unique opportunity to talk about how my services can help them solve these particular challenges.

Benefit #2 – Understand the different levels of clients

While at Influence, I immediately noticed that not every speaker is starring on the same playing field. 

Now, I didn’t need to hop on a plane to find that out.

But, when you’re in conversation with a young speaker starting out and, 5 minutes later, chatting with a CSP, I’m able to quickly understand how some of my services are best tailored for certain levels of clients. 

And more importantly, how to tailor the messaging to attract those types of clients to that specific service and session.

Benefit #3 – Deeper connections with people you already know

While building relationships online is an important aspect of your online presence, the goal is to get those relationships off-line and happening in real life. 

This fact was never more evident than when I was at the conference. 

As I mentioned earlier, I had my challenges initiating conversations with new people and shared this openly with colleagues that I knew. 

To my surprise, they reciprocated their own feelings by sharing with me their own anxieties, frustrations and overwhelm.  

These are extremely successful keynotes, and through these conversations, I realized that no matter what level you achieve, fear, regret, imposter syndrome, and doubt are real emotions that need to be dealt with over and over again. 

I was shocked at some of the stories I heard but was extremely appreciative because they opened themselves up to me in a way that would have never happened had we started an email chain or direct message banter. 

It’s through these revealing, yet cathartic, conversations that strengthened the relationships I have with these speakers, and I feel like the professional relationship has graduated to a more personal one. 

At the end of the day, I aim to work only with professionals that I would consider to be my friends, so, this is precisely why I was thankful for having the opportunity to be in this position. 

When you’re looking to build an expert-based business that serves a specific niche, you need to go where they hang out – digitally and in real life. 

Although the investment can be steep, the benefits are magical.

After all, what’s it worth to your business to engage a room full of your ideal clients face-to-face?

 

John DeMato is a NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how, what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Connect Emotionally with Those You Serve

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portrait Keynote Speaker Sylvie DiGiusto looking out window

One way to draw a crowd on social?

Inspire them to “feel” something through your content.

When creating relevant and valuable content, it’s essential that the insights you share inspire your clients to think and envision themselves leveraging these ideas in order to improve their own businesses and lives.

But “thinking” is only one piece of the pie when creating rapport with your audience.

There’s a lot of what I refer to as food-for-thought content circulating around the interwebs as we speak, and, to be honest, it’s pretty damn noisy out there.

That’s why you need to add another layer of intrigue in order to give your content a chance to be discovered, appreciated and shared amongst those who follow you.

When people are prompted to feel something – joy, pain, win, loss, overcoming doubts and fears, etc. – that transforms that particular social post or blog article into something more memorable and shareable.

When you inject an emotional component into the conversation, that brings the words on the screen to life and helps to cement a connection and rapport with those you serve.

It makes the words more personal, and thus, more meaningful to those reading it because you’ve offered a level of vulnerability by sharing these feelings through your content.

It leaves a lasting impression.

As a speaker, author or coach, you have a myriad of moments in your lives from which you can draw that will resonate with your audiences on an emotional level.

Those moments can then be used as real-life examples to illustrate your expertise, life as a business owner and life as a human being.

So, What Are These Moments?

Overcoming Hurdles

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portrait Luis Paredes reflecting to himself

We’ve all been knocked down in a variety of ways in our lives – personally and professionally. If you’re living and breathing, you have plenty of these stories in which to share.

Failed businesses? Getting burned personally and professionally? Rough childhood? Overcoming a self-imposed or physical handicap? Learning disability? I could go on, but, you get the point.

The key to the value and emotional resonance of these stories is not just that you went from utter failure to the top-of-the-world, it’s the emotional labor that went into this ascent that will
truly resonate with your audience.

They want to see beyond the photos taken at the finish line; they want to know about how you reacted to setbacks that almost took you completely off-course.

Feelings of doubt, overwhelm, anxiety, second-guessing the nature of the task or goal – that’s what people relate to because they’re currently going through the same emotional ringer themselves.

And they want to know how YOU got past all of those self-defeating thoughts so they emulate your model to do it themselves.

By sharing the story arc of your struggle to success, you give those you serve hope because you’re living to tell the tale from the other side.

And no, this is not about humblebrags, showing off or grandstanding to get attention.

This is about feeding those you serve with the inspiration juice to help them keep on their path to growth so that they can experience success, as well…

…and when they realize they need to invest in specialized attention to help them get there, guess who’ll they be contacting for that?

Gratitude

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portrait sales and marketing executive Anthony Chaine on laptop

Leading with stories of struggle and challenge isn’t the only way to emotionally connect with your audience.

Expressing gratitude for people, moments, thoughts, kind gestures, and the things we often take for granted is another powerful storytelling option that resonates deeply with your audience.

These types of stories are perspective-shifters and mood adjusters.

It reminds them that regardless of whatever challenge they’re facing at the current moment, there’s a lot in their lives for which to be thankful.

Your post expressing gratitude, whether it’s something small or big, will provide those who read it a much-needed reality check that breaks them out of whatever negative thought loop they are currently experiencing and back into the present moment.

It is through the gratitude that you express that your audience will also get a sense of what matters most to you in life, and it will help fill in the gaps with respect to them getting a better sense of your personality and perspective.

This creates a deeper sense of connection without them ever having a real-life conversation with you. You’ve let them into your world simply by sharing how grateful you are for all of the gifts that exist in your life.

Ain’t nothin’ wrong with putting out some good vibes from time-to-time, 🙂

Who Are You Beyond the Work?

 

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portrait Dr. Brain Lima playing pool

While being a badass superhero who is charged with helping those get past whatever is holding them back is important to share, sharing stories that paint the rest of the picture is also an important piece of the puzzle.

And sharing how the rest of that picture makes you feel – well, that’s even more powerful.

  • What practices do you leverage to stay productive and moving forward, and when did you discover them? How was life before these discoveries?
  • What do you actually do for fun? Any interesting activities and hobbies? What prompted you to pick up these hobbies in the first place, and what keeps you coming back?
  • How about family – how important is it in your daily life? What lights you up about them? How does it feed your motivation to do what you do professionally?

In addition to these quick suggestions, there are many other avenues beyond your work that you can explore and share with people, but make sure you keep one important point in mind:

You need to be comfortable sharing these ideas, and you don’t have to share everything.

For example, I know plenty of parents who keep their children FAR AWAY from their social media feeds. I also know colleagues who have major affiliations with certain social clubs, and they choose not to talk about it.

Figure out the activities outside of your work that both excites and motivates you to share with your audience and stick to that. Regardless of the activity, it’s the fun, fulfillment, and joy that you express in your writing about the hobby, activity or family in which people truly connect.

Rather than simply sharing hard facts and data to illustrate the lessons you want to impart, weave in these real-life stories that evoke emotion and sentiment in order to reinforce the teachable moments.

In the process, you’ll also become more relatable to those reading the posts because you’re sharing human being moments, and human being moments are what ties us all together.

Don’t take any of your life and business experiences for granted – take note of them and leverage them in your writing to create a more well-rounded experience for those who follow your every word.

It’s a magical way to connect with those who need your help the most, 🙂

John DeMato is an NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

You Don’t Need a Bargain – You Need Value!

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portrait photographer John DeMato and Brian Lima reviewing photos

Look beyond the price tag when investing in portraits.

You don’t need a bargain – you need value.

While recently chatting with a client after our branded lifestyle portrait session, she told me that she booked a portrait session months before while in Europe for a speaking gig.

Once I got over the fact that she cheated on me – sigh, tear wipe – I leaned in to listen to her story.

She told me a photographer she knew through a colleague of hers was in the same city as her at the same time, so she decided to take advantage of the opportunity and get some portraits taken outside of the US.

The photographer charged an extremely low rate for her sessions, so why not, right?

Once they met, they spent time capturing portraits in my client’s hotel room, on the street, in the nearby park and a bunch of other locations.

After several hours together and a couple of hundred photos captured, I asked my client how many keepers she selected from the pile.

One.

Wait, what? ONE PICTURE?

Yup, just one photo out of that entire experience.

I was a bit dumbfounded, to be honest.

Mind you, this was moments after she and I went through the pile of photos we created over the course of a couple of hours. In our case, the difficulty, fortunately, was getting rid of photos because she loved so many of them.

The difference between these two portrait session experiences was staggering.

Now, I’ve been hired to clean up other photographer’s messes in the past, but honestly, the disparity that she described was hard to grasp.

I wanted to know where she thought the difference lied between the work we did and what she got in Europe.

So, my client obliged with a laundry list of reasons:

The other photographer is not specialized to serve speakers, authors, and coaches.

She specializes in fashion photography, which is awesome for fashion work, but, not for branded lifestyle portraits for thought leaders.

The goals for these two different genres live on completely different planets, and, as a result, the photos will not resonate as deeply – not only with my client but with her own audience.

All photographers possess different strengths and gifts behind the camera – hire the ones that serve your community specifically in order to maximize the value of the image content you capture as well as the experience of the session itself.

No strategy session beforehand.

While we spoke at length about my clients’ outfits, locations to shoot, the lifestyle activities we would capture, in addition to the overall mood of the portraits, there was zero conversation with the other photographer beforehand.

She just showed up and clicked the shutter button on her camera for a couple of hours and hoped for the best.

While this is a perfectly suitable mode of operation for an impromptu session or just having fun with the camera, this is not the way for any member of the speaker, author and coach community to acquire marketing assets that will promote their services to those they serve.

These images need to be dynamic, compelling and authentic to them, which is why it’s important for the photographer to understand who they are, who they serve and why they do what they do before they unpack their camera and lights.

They need to understand the goals of the portrait session for their client and how these images are going to be used throughout their online presence.

It’s a little more involved than hoping a handful of the images are in focus, 🙂

Reviewing the photos throughout the session.

While photographing with my client on the street, I walked over and showed her the way the images were coming out on the back of my camera.

And, mid-way through our session, I stopped down the session in order for us to review what we had captured up to that point on my laptop, which is a much bigger and better view of the photos.

She was extremely appreciative of the feedback I was giving with respect to how she could leverage these images both on social media and other marketing avenues. She also found it helpful that I offered my opinion as to which images better represented her brand and should be used as speaker submission photos.

We also discussed what we thought was working and not working with regard to the aesthetics of the images – lighting, locations, her facial expressions, and wardrobe – and we made notes to implement these adjustments for the second half of the session.

At one point, my client remarked how she not only didn’t do this before her portrait session in Europe, but she’s NEVER reviewed photos with any of the photographers she’s worked with in the past – and she’s worked with quite a few.

Normally, the other photographers simply emailed her a link to a shooting proof gallery and it was up to her to figure out which images she wanted to use, let alone see them mid-session.

Ugh.

Of course, it’s possible to make those decisions on your own, but, when you work with a professional photographer, it’s about optimizing the entire experience – from consultation call to the delivery of the images – in order to maximize the success of the session.

It was really interesting to hear about these differences between my service and the one my client received while working abroad.

Her experience highlighted the need to hire a photographer that not only understands her specific image content needs based on her niche, service offerings, and personality, but also to create an experience and hand hold throughout the entire process in order to ensure maximized results from the session.

Long story short, don’t bargain shop for this shit.

Find a photographer who can collaborate with you to create an entire image content library that you can leverage long-term for all of your marketing needs.

Also, remember one very important point; most people will be introduced to you through your online presence – your social media profile, blog and/or website. Make a strong first impression with images that present you in a way that befits your level of expertise and passion you have to serve those who need you.

You’re going to need a hell of a lot more images than just one to achieve that, 🙂

John DeMato is an NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and storytelling strategist who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Show Your Human Side in the Content You Share Online

When you show the human side of yourself…

…people feel like there’s an entry point into your world.

One of the most asked questions that I field from clients revolves around what they should post about after they get their hands on a pile of branded lifestyle portraits.

As I explain to those who enroll in my Idea Nugget Incubator Program, although it’s essential to illustrate your expertise, and more specifically, show how that expertise helps solve your client’s specific pain points, you also have one other major objective to consider:

You are in the business of building relationships that eventually mature from a follower who appreciates your work to them hiring you for your specialized help.

Talk Like a Human Being

One of the best ways to do that with an audience that’s never met you in person is to create content that breaks the fourth wall and lets them understand who you are as a human being.

What drives you to be the person you are? What do you stand for? What’s important to you outside of your business? Interesting hobbies? Family – is it important to you?

What about your past? How did it lead you to the path you walk on in your life and business today? Had any major setbacks? Struggles with identity? Discovering your passion to serve?

How about the future? What are your goals? Aspirations? How are you working on achieving those goals now?

These are just some of the questions that you can explore through your social media posts and blog articles.

When you create content that goes deep beneath the surface, especially with stories that share vulnerabilities, you’re painting a much more vivid, broader picture of who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do.

As a result, you’re purposefully curating your online presence in a way that shares both your superhero ability to offer the solutions to your client’s pain points while also being empathetic and relatable to those you serve by showing them that you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.

If you only shared expertise-driven posts, you’re missing a golden opportunity to allow your audience to connect more deeply with you beyond the work, and allow them to feel like they are part of your world – and give them the chance to share everything you do with their community.

And when you’re looking to grow a community of advocates, referral partners, and clients, offering your audience an opportunity to build rapport with you through your human being-driven stories is one sure fire way to fan that flame.

What About the Images to Compliment these Stories?

Identifying, writing and scheduling the stories that share your human being side is step one – a very important step one!

But, the work is not done yet.

To ensure that your story has a legitimate opportunity to be seen by your audience on their news feeds, it’s essential that you compliment the story with image content that visually punctuates the sentiment of that story.

Here are a couple of options to keep in mind as you develop more content around this idea of showing your human being side and providing your audience an entry point into your life.

Old Photos From Your Past

Do you have images from the time period that you’re referencing in these stories? If so, these would be ideal to either scan or take a photo of with your smartphone camera and attach it to the posts.

I have written several articles that relate to my struggle with weight and self-esteem, and, for each of those articles, I’ve included photos of me when I was at the height of my weight post-college.

Although I’d prefer to never look at them again, I understand that the image and the story will speak directly to a lot of my clients who can relate directly to this issue.

In addition, using old photos taken “back in the day,” especially on outdated technology, are eye-catching because they look and feel different than photos taken today.

Remember all those old square photos taken with the sepia tint? They stand out, big time, amongst all the other stuff on a news feed simply because they look different. And no, the Instagram filters CANNOT replicate this look precisely in the same way, 🙂

If you discover old photos that visually punctuate the sentiments of the stories you’re sharing, digitize them and use them to your advantage!

Selfies/Smartphone Photos

Since you don’t have a paparazzi following you around 24/7, you need to take matters into your own camera from time-to-time.

If you’re engaging in a fun hobby or doing something with the family and want to share the moment with those you serve, then grab the phone and snap the shot. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on the opportunity to visually punctuate that story with an image that precisely paints the picture.

You don’t need to have a background in photography to do this, folks.

And don’t worry if the picture is good or bad – just take a couple shots of the moment from different vantage points – wide shot to close up, move from the left side to the right – and when you’re done, take a look at the options and pick the one that looks best to you.

When it’s a selfie or a smartphone shot, no one anticipates that image to aesthetically blow them away – it’s about sharing that moment or insight with those you serve – that’s what counts most in this case.

Branded Lifestyle Portraits

So, what happens when you don’t have an old photo that works or you forgot to take a photo with your smartphone camera?

Well, you could leverage one of your professionally-captured, branded lifestyle portraits to visually punctuate that story, as an alternative.

The key is looking through your image content portfolio and identifying a portrait that compliments and enhances the emotional resonance of the story that you’re sharing.

For example, if you share a story about the death of a parent and how that motivated you to pivot your life in a completely different direction, don’t use an image where you’re wildly laughing.

The emotion of the story and the sentiment of the image are incongruent, and it sends a confusing message to those who read the post.

That seems like common sense, but, you’d be surprised at how many times I’ve come across this incongruence between message and image online.

If your image content portfolio has a variety of images that span the emotional spectrum, you will be in good shape to select an image that makes the most sense for the emotion you’re looking to convey in that piece of content.

So, Should I be an Open Book?

The short answer? Absolutely not.

You are the gatekeeper of everything you share online, so, you decide what’s fair game and what stays close to the vest.

Although I am comfortable sharing many aspects of my life with my audience, I certainly don’t spill the beans on everything. I have a simple rule for myself that I adhere to every time I sit down to write stories that shine a light on an aspect of my personal life:

If I feel this remotely feels like an overshare or is embarrassing to my friends and/or family, I avoid it. If it’s something that I’m comfortable talking about publically and is relatable to my audience, I double-down on it and bring it up when relevant to the lessons I’m imparting on those I serve.

As long as you set healthy boundaries, you’ll provide yourself with a framework when figuring out how far you want to go with sharing your life with your audience.

When you set the intention to connect on a deeper level with those you serve, it helps them see you in a different light.

While they already know that you can help them get past what’s holding them back from the rest of your content, stories that share your human being side allows them to see that you’re real, that you’ve been where they are, and that you care.

If you want to build trust with your audience, lead with heart – they’ll thank you for it by signing up for your services down the line, 🙂

John DeMato is an NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and content creation expert who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Attract New Clients Through the Words of Your Current Ones

Want to know how to attract new clients into your online ecosystem?

Have conversations with your current ones and share them with the world.

It’s no secret that the key to building and maintaining a sustainable business model rests with your ability to attract and gain consistent attention from those you serve.

That’s why posting informational, entertaining and inspirational image content is essential in helping lay the foundation for building trust with those you serve.

But image content is just the start.

Bearing this in mind, I’ve recently started to incorporate video into my content creation strategy.

Although there are many ways to leverage video – behind-the-scenes footage and direct addressing camera to share an informative message, to name a few – I’ve been focusing solely on one specific, and simple, type of video content:

One-on-one conversations with my clients through video conferencing software such as Zoom or Skype.

(Here’s one way that I’ve been leveraging these conversations.)

No crazy equipment. No need for hours to set up the shots. No high-level producing required.

Just a nice conversation with someone that you’ve helped get over some things that were holding him/her back, 🙂

What Do We Talk About?

The goal is to record a 30-60 minute conversation that lays out the what, why and how behind their decision to hire me for my lifestyle photography and content creation services.  

As for the conversation itself, I’ve created a simple format that I follow for each:

  • Introduce who they are, who they serve, and why they do what they do
  • Ask them why they felt the need to invest in branded lifestyle portraits
  • Was there any objections or apprehension before they decided to work with me
  • We then talk about the experience:
    • Strategy sessions
    • Portrait session
    • Post-portrait session
  • What are the results that they’ve received from working with me – could be tangible and intangible benefits
  • What would they say to someone on the fence about working with me to illustrate the value of the session

Now, these are the basic topics I steer the conversation towards, but I often freestyle follow-up questions based on their answers.

Either way, this is an initial framework for you to figure out the specific questions you’d want them to answer.

The Benefits of Conversations With Your Clients

Although a pretty simple setup, there is work involved when creating these videos, fortunately, the juice is worth the squeeze, 🙂

Here are some of the benefits of recording these conversations with your clients:

Show how you solve your client’s pain points in their own words

Although you’re already sharing this through your written content, and in some cases, your other video content, it’s much more impactful and powerful when it comes out of the mouths of those you serve.

If a potential client listens to the conversation where your client is laying out their why for hiring you, that will resonate much more deeply with them.

Why?

They emotionally connect with your client because their success gives them hope that they, too, can get over the hump with their own issues and challenges.

And, here’s another fun wrinkle:

The more clients with whom you have recorded conversations, the more opportunity you have to relate to a wider group of folks within your specific niche of service since everyone’s reasoning for hiring you has their own unique spin on it.

The moment they connect the dots and discover that you’re a viable option to offer them the specialized help that they need, they immediately lean in more and pay closer attention to the posts that you share and the services that you provide.

Although they may not be ready to invest in your services at that particular moment, the nurturing process has officially begun.

And, when they are ready, guess who’s on top of mind, 🙂

Share the “Client Experience” Through Your Client’s Eyes

When you’re running a business and looking to invest in help, the bottom line results are what we’re after, but, the processes, experiences and hand-holding that produce these results are just as important.

This is something that you can deep dive into with your clients during the conversation; talk about the onboarding process, frameworks, strategy sessions and self-reflection work that led your client from where they were to where they are now with their businesses and lives.

Not only is this informative for your potential clients watching these videos, but, it’s also a jolt of inspiration to show them that working with you leads to positive change and results that matter to you.

That’s solid social proof right there.

When your clients share their experience working with you, it demystifies and highlights the process for everyone watching, giving them a clearer picture of whether or not you’re the type of person with whom they want to work.

Showcase Your Personality as a Qualifier for Potential Clients

When you share a long-form conversation with a client on video, that offers potential clients an in-depth view of how you communicate with those you serve.

Yes, your audience gets a taste of that through your written posts and articles, but on video, that impact is magnified exponentially.

Unlike a written piece of content, you’re talking with your hands, speaking in your own voice, making jokes and illustrating the unique way in which you create rapport with your clients.

Either your personality tunes people in or they’ll tune out.

Regardless, video leveraged in this way is a wonderful qualifier that will help save you time from having exploratory conversations with people who aren’t a good fit if your personality doesn’t mesh well with theirs.

Learn the Value of Your Services in a Way That You’ve Never Thought of Before

Although you have your own ecosystem with your own lingo that illustrates the various elements of your expertise, your clients aren’t you and they interpret your value through their own lexicon that lives inside their own heads and within their own communities.

Pay close attention to the way that they do so and share it through your own content.

Rather than doing keyword research online in order to create content that will resonate with those you serve, conduct it with those that have already paid you money for your services!

It’s a much faster and way more personalized process when you do it in this one-on-one setting.

Strengthen Your Relationships with Existing Clients

Before I committed to recording these videos, I had a ton of negative mind-chatter surrounding how much of a burden this will be for those I ask.

I mean, who’s going to want to spend an hour BS’ing with their photographer, right?

Not one person has said no thus far, and several, in fact, said it was an honor that I asked.

Well, guess I was wrong on that one, 🙂

These are your people. They are part of your community. They’ve paid for your specialized attention and are a much better person for it. You’re not a burden – you’re a game-changer.

And once you’re talking, the rapport that you had while working together will be reinforced and strengthened throughout this conversation.

If you feel like you’d be imposing on someone to have them take an hour out of their day to talk with you, stop it right now!

Of course, some people’s schedules are tough with which to coordinate, but, keep in mind how valuable this video is in the long-run and keep asking former clients until you get as many yes’s as you wish.

Amazing Content Assets to Leverage Everywhere

If you’re going to put in the work, you better leverage it everywhere in order to truly maximize the effort.

In addition to the client page that I created on my website, I’ve also leveraged these video conversations with my clients in the following ways:

  • Blog
    • The full conversation sent out in a blog article to my email list
    • Soundbites that have been taken from each conversation and sent out to my email list
  • Social Media
    • Posted selected soundbites on all social platforms – IG, FB, LI, Twitter
    • Created content from some of the insights my clients’ shared about the experience
  • Drip campaign
    • Re-worked my “Welcome Aboard” email sequence to incorporate soundbites taken from 5 of the conversations I’ve had in order to nurture new signups into my process through the words of those I serve

Give me another week, I’ll probably come up with a couple more avenues to leverage this content, 🙂

Either way, you can see the value that this type of content offers you.

Empowering your clients to do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to promoting your services is an amazing way to draw attention to the magic that you do.

It’s a wonderful compliment to the work that you’re already doing with your social posts and blog articles.

And, it gives your potential clients hope that they’ve found the person that will help them get past what’s holding them back.

Pretty magical, if you ask me 🙂

John DeMato is an NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and content creation expert who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ page e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Here’s a Creative Way to Leverage Your Event Photos

How do you stand out from the Speaker crowd?

Be creatively generous.

Recently, I was hired by a speaker colleague, Jen Slaw, to capture candid, event photos of her presentation to a group of accountants.

I mean, how can I say no to a speaker who juggles as part of her presentations, right?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love shooting speakers of all persuasions, but, when props are included in the mix, it makes for an exciting time:

 

Although she is very familiar with my work through the NYC chapter of the National Speakers Association and knows how I make a concerted effort to capture magical moments big and small, she made a point to tell me that she wanted a large portion of the images to capture attendees participating in the group activities.

And, so I did:

I was curious to know why she specifically requested these types of photos.

She mentioned that these specific images were going to be bundled together and emailed to the event organizer as a thank you for their participation.

What a creative way to leverage these images!

I had actually never heard of one of my clients doing this before, and yet, it makes so much sense.

It offers yet another reason why it’s a no brainer to invest in a professional photographer to cover your presentations and workshops, especially if they have interactive and team-building components.

By offering these images to the company or foundation that hired you, you’re ingratiating yourself by going the extra mile and offering extra value to their members and employees.

As a result, when their next monthly, quarterly or annual meeting comes around, guess who the organizers will be calling again to present?

In addition, when other departments within the organization conduct their own monthly, quarterly or annual meetings, the opportunity for you to be referred to them increases exponentially because of your thoughtful and generous add-on.

As for the attendees, these candid images offer them a fun and personalized memento from what otherwise would’ve been an endless meeting of talking heads and powerpoint presentations.

Also, when you share these images with attendees, it affords them the chance to post some of their favorites on social in order to share the wonderful experience they had while listening and participating during your presentation…

…which is, by the way, a great way to promote you to their networks.

The best part?

If you already hire professional photographers to cover your events and talks, you can simply ask them to focus more on the audience to capture these moments, and the work is done. You’re already making the investment and are tailoring it to help create added value for your clients.

If you don’t, perhaps now you can see the versatility and value of candid event images beyond posting them on your social media feeds and blog articles.

At the very least, you will make the attendees smile, which counts for something, doesn’t it, 🙂

 

John DeMato is an NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and content creation expert who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how, what, and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.