I did two brand photoshoots waaaaay back in 2023. They were at two different price points and yielded two different results—but not in the way you would think. 

• Photoshoot #1 cost $6,500 and got me 10 usable photos. That’s an average of $650 per photo.
• Photoshoot #2 cost $2,200 and got me 115 usable photos. That’s an average of $20 per photo.

Why did I end up with two dramatically different results?

• It wasn’t the skill level of the photographer.
• It wasn’t the amount of time we had together.
• It wasn’t the number of outfits I brought to the shoot.

It was the prep work I did BEFORE the shoot.

So I want to share with you a play-by-play of how I 30x’d the ROI of my second brand photoshoot.

(If you’re snickering and think brand photoshoots are frivolous, go tell that to your audience. They want to see pictures of you. Because when they see pictures of you, it automatically builds trust and goodwill without you having to mutter a single word. Even the IRS agrees it’s important—you can write your brand photoshoot off your taxes.)

3 Steps I Took to 30x the ROI of My Brand Photoshoot

The prerequisite for a high-yielding brand photoshoot is knowing your inner brand energetics: 

• Who you are
• Who you serve
• How you help & make people feel

If you can’t answer these questions, spend time figuring it out. Then move to step 1.

Step 1

The first thing I did to prepare for my second brand photoshoot was plan my shot list. A shot list is just a list of all the poses, angles, and moods you want captured. 

About the moods. Remember when you took the Brand Personality Quiz? You defined your brand personality and the emotions you want to elicit in people when they see (or think of) your brand. Add these moods to your shot list because you’ll need them to create an aligned visual identity. 

The day-of is a hot and exhilarating mess and you want to maximize your time with the photographer. No matter how strong your hippocampus is, don’t commit your shot list to memory. Write it down. 

Step 2

Once I figured out the shots I needed plus the ones I wanted if time allowed, I emailed the list to my photographer. She now had a checklist to work from during our session and we could avoid all the awkward “uhhhh, alright, let’s uhhhhh, you wanna, hmmm, put your arm up like this” moments. 

With the shot list in her hand, my photographer knew exactly how to lead the shoot and we didn’t waste time finnicking around. It also allowed me to move efficiently between outfits and get a variety of images with different props and backgrounds. 

Emphasis on the different props and backgrounds. 

A HUGE mistake entrepreneurs make during their brand photoshoots is taking repetitive images in the same pose. Like this:

The pictures above are lovely. But standard images, no matter how lovely, limit you. You’ll quickly run out of photos to use in your marketing assets. 

Now look at the images below. Notice the varying angles, poses, props, and moods in each image. These are the kinds of images that allow you to infuse personality, texture, and depth into your brand assets. 

It’s what stops the scroll.  

Step 3

I’m not an actress and lying doesn’t look good on me. So on the day of my second brand photoshoot, I canceled all my meetings and took it easy. 

I wanted to bring clean energy into the space. And hey, it paid off. When my photographer sent me the photos two weeks later, I scared the neighbors—that’s how loud I cheered. 

And then I immediately proceeded to batch-create months worth of content because the motivation and excitement struck hard.

Here’s a sneak peek of the pics I received: 

And there you have it. That’s how I 30x’d the ROI of my brand photoshoot. All 115 pics are 100% on-brand for me and they’re what I’m using to increase my visibility in 2024. 

So Nemo, no more hiding. Did you book your brand photoshoot yet?

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By the way, when you buy a Brand Starter Kit, one of the 12 signature assets you get is the Photoshoot Brief. It’s the plug-and-play solution to ensure you get near-perfect photos from your brand shoot. (The kind of brand photos that make your dream clients jump up and down to work with you.)