Small businesses are the beating heart of Duluth. They've created the culture and tone people crave when they come to Duluth for a downtown stroll or in search of small stores for the perfect gift and homemade pieces from the great north.

Combine the lifestyle photography feel with your business. Natural, relaxed headshots and modern photos of your products and your business at work will refresh your websites, spur your social media to buzz and hey, everybody loves a pretty picture. No one can resist!

POTENTIAL CLIENTS ARE WONDERING...

Are you professional?

Who are you?

Can I trust you?

What do you actually do?

What does your work look like?

Prove to me I'll love what you offer!

Have you answered all of these questions for people before they even ask? Nobody wants to doubt what they're about to buy, whether it's a cup of coffee, hair and make up artists, a photographer, a jeweler. Let's face it, people are too busy or shy to ask and they're probably afraid it's not worth their time.

You have the ability to show them before they even ask. The aesthetic of your website and the kinds of images that you show people can and will answer these questions for them, without even realizing it.

The truth is people don't always want to read. Especially if they don't have time or they're just scrolling through Instagram, they want to see. It's fast information and if the image is pleasing to the eye, people are naturally drawn to that.

MY CONFESSION...

When I came to Duluth I had no idea where to get my hair done. I wanted a great stylist, but I also wanted somebody I could chat with at the same time. Do you know what I did? I went on google and searched, like most people will. Before I even realized it, I was skipping over every single site that did not have photos of their artists. I didn't even bother! I know I'm not the only one here.
Not only did I completely skip the website that didn't have photos, I found myself completely doubting myself, frantically searching for sites with photos. What if I couldn't find the building? What did it look like? What's the inside of their salon like? Maybe they're too fancy for me. Maybe the girls won't like me. They might not do my hair in the way that I like if we don't have the same style.
When I found some websites with headshots...... (Come on now.. I know I'm not the only one who has done this, let's see a raise of hands here!) I picked the girl I thought I would like, according to her own hair cut and my ability to imagine if we will get along. Not because I didn't like the rest of the girls, but because I really wanted to bond with, chat with and love my hair artist.
As a photographer, I realized what I was doing pretty quickly. I was trusting the images to tell me a story. What the business is like, who will be there greeting me, what is their personal style. The more I knew from the photos, the more my silly fears calmed down.

Apply this to your own business. If you could show your viewers who you are, what you do, what kind of magic would it do for you?