Photography

Visuals for Social Media

April 3, 2019 by Tammy Hudgin, posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media

Here is a little exercise you can do.

For the next week, I want you to write down everytime you stopped on a post in your news feed as to what made you stop to read the post. At the end of the week, review your list and find out what the common factors were. In most cases, it was the visual that stopped you.

So…….why aren’t you using more visuals in your posts?

I love when I see pictures of people I know and for me, I tend to get more traffic/visibility when I use a picture of myself. For this reason, I had an ‘Influencer” photoshoot done to capture my personality as well as certain ones to use when I am talking about a tip, something new that is happening, etc.

Think about the content that you are putting out in Social Media and put together a list of what type of pictures/animation you want to create and either hire a professional or get one of your friends to take the photos for you (our cameras do a pretty great job of taking photos).

Start selling YOU in your posts with your visuals!

Visuals for Social Media Posts

February 3, 2018 by Tammy Hudgin, posted in Facebook, Social Media

I received a request from Action CIND to do a blog in regards to visuals

When it comes to Social Media, one of the KEY elements is the visual that you attach to the post. The visual will draw people in to read your posts, so it is important that you either create or choose the “right” photo that will attract people.

You can create your own visuals/graphics through a couple of options:

Canva
- This site provides templates for posters, cover photos for all Social Media sites, through a drop and place method. It allows you to upload your own photos or use existing free ones that they provide. You can also add text, choose font styles and colours.
Adobe Photoshop is a program that you can purchase to create your own graphics however, personally I don’t feel that this is as user friendly for us beginners
PicMonkey
- This site is similar to Canva and you can get a free trial
Powerpoint
- This is a Microsoft product and most of us have it available on our computers. Personally, this is my favourite to use to create my posters/graphics because I can work with the whole slide and then “save as” a jpg/png to upload into Social Media. I do have a step-by-step tutorial on how to use Powerpoint to create visuals.

Click the poster to take you to purchase:

Here are a couple of samples of what I created in Powerpoint

When you are ready to use these graphics in a Facebook post BUT also want to have a link for people to go to, you will want to make sure you upload the photo FIRST when you are writing the post.

Go to Business Page
Click in the box where you are going to write your post
Click on the “photo” icon and upload your visual
Then write the post and paste any links you want to drive traffic to. You might want to have accompany words like “Read More HERE” and then paste the link.

IF you write the post FIRST and paste the link, then it will auto-populate with what is existing on the website.

When it comes to finding the right visuals to use, I always encourage people to use photos of themselves, of their team, of their organization, where you can. When you want to upload a “generic” type photo, there are a couple of FREE sites that you can some great stockphotos (these sites also allow you to purchase photos for a very low cost).

Your next step?

Go CREATE!!

Importance of a Great Personal Branding Photo – Guest Blog by Mark Alousis

April 23, 2017April 24, 2017 by Tammy Hudgin, posted in Uncategorized

Hello everyone, my name is Mark and I am the owner of Mark Alousis Portrait in Toronto. I take modern, magazine style portraits and headshots. Think Vanity Fair or GQ style for the everyday men and women. In this post I will talk about the importance of a professional head shot as well as a few tips to get the best results from your shots.

When someone gets a contact from a friend or business associate, what is the first thing they do? In most cases people either Google them or check out their social media profiles on Facebook or Instagram. If they have any sort of online presence you will most likely find their profile picture. Now, what impresses you more, a cropped, grainy photo of them at a recent wedding, a “selfie” in their bedroom, or a headshot taken by a professional?

I don’t have enough fingers or toes to count the number of times I’ve come across profile pictures of business people that are clearly from a wedding (or funeral ;-)). You know the one… the one where they have their arm around someone who is cropped out of the picture, or the one of them in a nice suit or dress with a cocktail of some sort in hand. Not the best impression for potential clients or employers.

When I first started learning about the professional headshot about 5 years ago, one thing that stuck with me was “confident yet approachable”. That could mean a bit of a smile, a bigger smile or a certain “look”. Whatever that is, your photographer should be able to get that out of you, because that is what you are paying a professional for.

Some clients say to me “ugh, I hate getting my photo done, I’m not photogenic”! My response to everyone is the same. I tell them to let me take care of that! You don’t have to know how to move, or pose, or “look good” because I will pose and move you, right down to your last finger!

I advise my clients to avoid patterns and crazy colours if possible as they can be a bit of a jerry_blog (2 of 2)-3.jpg distraction. BUT – if that is your brand or the image you want to portray then go all in on that. When I do my pre-shoot consultation I recommend that my clients bring 2-3 outfits that we can mix and match to get different looks so they have some variety to choose from.

Hair and makeup? Absolutely! I recommend it to all of my clients, as it takes out a stressful step for some, but also gets you the right type of look for a photograph. I tell my clients if they are doing their own makeup to be sure to use a matte finish so there is not too much shine on the skin.

My clients always get their top three shots from a session. This allows us to get a few different looks to use across your social media or profiles. For example, you may need a more formal image for LinkedIn, whereas Facebook and Instagram can be a bit more casual. It is also good to change up your profile picture from time to time to keep things fresh.

I hope you would agree that a great headshot is key to putting your best foot forward online. If you have any questions about Personal Branding please feel free to email info@markalousis.com or call me at 416-278-4259 to chat.

Thanks to Tammy for asking me to write this blog and I hope to see some of you in the studio in the future!