Baddie On A Budget: 5 Tips For Slaying Your Budget-friendly Photo Shoot

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I’m always chatting up my boss friends about how to take their brands to the next level. We see the big brands and popular influencers because they are dominating their fields with high-profile visibility. But not many see the work that goes into the building phase. So when we’re talking about building up a brand- whether it’s a personal brand or you’re a service provider or course creator or literally anything else… there are a few things that are non-negotiable on Beyonce’s internet.

You had better WERK! Not work honey… WERRRRRKKKK!

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I remember having this deep, profound conversation with my bestie years ago. During our conversation, I was unpacking all the things that landed for me during this amazing training my coach had done. One of the things was “doing the work.”

My bestie profoundly asked, “Yeah, but what’s the work?”

It was at that moment that I realized, that overarching principles have to be coupled with step-by-step action items or we stay “stuck.” You get the principle, you get the action item, then you execute. 

My “Become Your Brand Guide,” was born from that conversation.

And this blog post is meant to dig deeper into the first step of my guide, which has to do with building authority online.

Your website, your social profiles, your content- all need to convey how amazing you are in real life. This can be hard to accomplish with blurry cellphone pics and bad lighting. I tell all of my Brilliant Collective members this upfront, book a photo shoot!

Start the planning process 2-4 weeks in advance, and whatever you do… DO NOT back out.

Is it new and possibly nerve-wracking? Yes. 

Have all the millionaires had one? Also yes.

So let’s talk about 5 things you need to slay your budget-friendly photo shoot, shall we?

1. A makeup artist

Even if you don’t always wear makeup or absolutely despise makeup, book a makeup artist for your shoot! A full-face, natural look is going to give your photos that wow factor that grabs attention. Using a booking app like Style Seat will help you find a highly rated makeup artist near you. Full faces typically range from $50 to $150. Create a profile, find two makeup artists you like and favorite them. You will want to look at both of their calendars and compare their availability with your photographer's.

2. A photographer

Finding your forever photographer might take a while. But in the meantime, we need polished, high-resolution pics for your content. I like to use a booking app called Shoott. You get a free 30-minute photo shoot in a public location, your photographer does some light retouching of the photos and then sends you a gallery via email. You only pay for the pictures you like. Use code BUDGETBADDIE for 15% off your order through 8/31/22. *pro tip, book as close to sunset time as you can. Sunset casts a golden glow that content creators call “golden hour,” everything you shoot looks amazing if you shoot during golden hour!

*Shott is currently operating in the below cities:

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Connecticut, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Long Island, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, NYC, O’ahu, Orange County, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, SF Bay, Washington DC

If you’re not in one of these metros, check out a small business Facebook group for your city and ask for a recommendation. Ask for a 30-minute content shoot a public space, you’ll be surprised by how affordable a quick shoot is.

3. A look

Peruse Pinterest for 2-3 cute poses you might want to use for your photo shoot. Make sure your outfit matches your brand colors and most importantly, makes you feel confident. If it’s not giving power suit energy- don’t do it. You need to be feeling like Beyonce in this outfit. It needs to be giving boss babe energy. It needs to be giving, know your worth and add tax energy- ok? Ok. Now you don’t have to break the bank for this. It can be as minimal as a cute blazer, well-fitted jeans, and some statement jewelry.

4. Props

Make sure you grab your cute purse, your laptop and your cell phone because a couple of “I’m on the phone” or “I’m working on my laptop” shots are cute classic looks. If you’ve written a book or sell a journal- bring it! Work in a few pics with your products to maximize your time.

5. A +1

Do you absolutely need another person? Not really. But bringing someone to film short clips of you getting your makeup done, you walking to meet the photographer and you taking your pictures is super smart. All of that footage is BTS (behind the scenes) content that can be worked into your ads, reels, tik toks etc. Make sure you squeeze every little bit of content out of this day! 

Make sure you clear your schedule for this day because you do not need anything else to be responsible for. Take your time, get a good night’s sleep, start your shoot day off with gratitude and watch how beautiful your photos turn out.

When you’ve chosen your favorite shots, come check out my Facebook group, Brilliant Bosses Network. There I’ll be sharing how you can create stunning marketing content out of your beautiful shots! 

As always, I can't wait to see what you create.

Talk soon!