Today’s episode features Crystal Hollman, owner of Crystal Clear Photography AZ. Bella and Crystal discuss the importance of photography, graphics and visual appeal to websites and blogs.
Show Highlights:
- Where do you use styled stock photos and why? [5:45]
- Key things you need to do when shooting your own photos. [9:35]
- Advantages of hiring a professional for your business images [12:45]
- What should we look for in photographers? [18:45]
- The importance of copyrights and business release of your images [20:00]
Tweetables:
[Tweet “”Photography is a killer way to make your brand stand out.” – Bella Vasta”]
[Tweet “”You want to be able to use photos for all aspects of your business.” – Crystal Hollman”]
[Tweet “”You have to look good online – that’s the age we live in.” – Bella Vasta”]
Special Offer
We’ve got two awesome things for our listeners! Run over and grab free 5 styled images at Crystal Clear Photography AZ. Or, if you’re ready to take your business images to the next level, sign up for a custom styled image shoot for your brand and receive $25 off. Make sure to give me the referral code – BellaPodcast – to claim the $25 off when booking your session.
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Transcript:
Bella:
This is episode 81 of Bella in Your Business. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready, Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump. Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta with Jump Consulting and today I have Crystal Holman with us. Crystal and I met through good old-fashioned networking. She’s a friend of a friend of a friend who I’ve hired and had great success with. She provides such a unique service that I really wanted to have her in your earbuds today to kind of help explode your mind on photography and in your business with graphics and just the overall visual appeal.
Before we get into it, I want you guys to think about what would Facebook look like if there were no pictures on it? What would your website look like if there were no pictures on it? Pictures and graphics are so hugely important. And if any of you have worked with me, you’ve heard me say that you always want to show up as Cinderella looking for Prince Charming with your hair and your makeup done and your ball gown and everything looking beautiful. Not with your makeup running down your face, your hair falling out and like sweatpants and shoeless, right? You’re not going to attract anyone. And that’s what I feel graphics do. So without further ado, welcome to the show, Crystal.
Crystal:
Hi, thanks for having me.
Bella:
Absolutely. Why don’t you give us a little bit of background? Tell us how you became a photographer doing what you’re doing today and a little bit more about yourself.
Crystal:
I started my business almost four years ago, a mom of two girls. I started my business because obviously, like most of us, I wanted to be able to have some flexibility in my schedule, be able to be home and raise my girls. And I loved doing photography. So I really wanted to be able to provide a service to businesses. The whole concept kind of came about when I wanted photos of myself for my own website. I was like, I don’t have any photos of me and I don’t want to put stock photos of some random person who isn’t me with a camera. So, you know, I developed the idea of helping businesses out there get quality images—supporting small businesses and kind of helping them with that and with stock photos.
Bella:
Because sometimes we need custom stock photos. We all have such unique brands now and are able to do so much with it. So that’s kind of where I started with that idea, was just with my own business, and realized that that was a need out there for a lot of other businesses and business owners. So a little bit about the business, and kind of brought me to this point where I’m trying to support and help as many business owners out there with custom images that they can use that are high quality for websites, blogs, and all of that good stuff.
So our listeners know—the way that I found you or you came on my radar was my good friend Desiree, who actually is a military spouse, military mom. She does SEO for people. She is stationed in South Korea. And all of a sudden her images just started really popping—her podcast images, her images for her business. They were picturesque of maybe a desk with a little bit of military things thrown in the background, but yet headphones for podcasting or something. It was like these images had been created especially for her. And guess what? They were.
It was incredible. So I kind of actually asked her about it. I’m like, where are you getting your graphics? Because you guys have to understand that we sell ourselves online. So even as dog walking and pet sitting companies, we could go to Canva and we could make graphics on our own. But that doesn’t mean that they look good. It doesn’t always mean that they represent what we do. And there’s pictures that we could take of ourselves walking dogs or feeding cats or cuddling puppies, you know, but then there’s just some graphics—just like, “Hey, how did you get your dog’s name?”—just graphics that you want to throw up there on Facebook. And when you can really match the pictures to your brand, you’re going to stand out in that noisy, cluttered graphic world.
Bella:
Crystal, explain to us why styled stock photos are so hot right now and describe a little bit more—go off of what I just said—and describe them a little bit more so our listeners can really picture it in their head as they’re listening to us.
Crystal:
Right. So they are really popular right now because, again, kind of going back to how our brands are so unique. We’re all trying to stand out in such a saturated market because there may be thousands of dog walkers, for example, across the country and you want to be the one that stands out in your area. So you’re trying to create a unique look for yourself and trying to create that brand consistency. Styled stock photos have become so popular because you can have custom images and take those photos and really brand them and make them part of your brand and consistency with your images. So they’ve become really popular because you can set up shoots with people like myself where we can go through and identify your brand, identify the look that you’re going for, and really decide what you want your audience to be able to see and what kind of message you want to be able to get across and create custom images that are of cute little desks or things like that that are going to speak to your type of client so you can put those out there. So it creates that unique look for you and your brand and also creates that consistency. So people start to then recognize you and your brand altogether as one.
Bella:
Yeah, consistency is a great word, Crystal. You want everyone to be like, “That’s XYZ company, I recognize the style.” And that’s kind of one thing that I think is really hard as we try to do it ourselves in something like Canva or PicMonkey because it’s really hard to keep up with that same style board all the time, you know? So getting a batch of photos that’s like that, that you can do overlays on, are really helpful.
Crystal:
They’re very helpful.
Bella:
So where do people use these kinds of photos and what do they use them for?
Crystal:
People will use them across tons of platforms. I always love answering this question because I think it kind of gets people’s minds going as to where they can actually use photos for themselves, but all across your website—so website banners, background photos, your blog. Your blog needs graphics and stuff too. People are very visual. Obviously social media, so across Instagram, Facebook. People actually use them for their YouTube channels as well. So if you have a YouTube channel or are trying to do something unique with videos, you can use them in your videos. People have used them in different presentations, print materials that they might be doing. Maybe they’re doing a giveaway or handing out flyers or information to people at fairs, or maybe you’re just walking down the street and want to be able to have some materials that you can hand out. People use them for a lot of handouts. There’s just so many different ways that you can use the images, and I would say people should really explore the opportunity because I think you can use them in all kinds of ways.
Bella:
Yeah, for sure. So let’s break it down even more. So styled stock photos—we’re thinking about one of the cool things you and I had a conversation about when we first were engaged together to do business, and it was like, “What kind of backgrounds do you like or what kind do you want?” And I decided I’m actually going to use it in my Better Marketing with Bella program because they were so great and so versatile.
I want you guys to think about—I think the most common ones that always come to mind are the ones that you see of a desktop and it maybe has a mouse and a keyboard and a phone and they’re all kind of like neatly positioned yet a little chaotic. And then you see someone like put a box with a text box over it and it’s announcing something. So that’s the styled stock photos that we’re talking about. And I think it’s so unique with the pet industry because those photos that we see, you’re never going to really see grass with like a leash and tennis shoes and like a couple of pieces of kibble or treats sprinkled on it, you know? And the glorious part of what you do is you can create those kinds of things.
I mean, if we were just, you know, a desk job or a virtual assistant, sure, we could go find a plethora of these kinds of photos on a deposit photos or on the web somewhere, right? But something that’s so specific to the industry, I mean, I think that is just such a killer way to make your brand stand out.
Crystal:
Yeah, exactly. And I think that’s kind of where people are starting to realize that they need to customize it more for themselves because like you said, you can go on stock photo sites and you can find a ton of photos out there, but you’re not going to find anything that’s going to be specific to your industry and your brand. You might find some pictures of dogs or cats, but you’re not going to find the specific setup that you need. So that’s why it’s so great to have the opportunity to do custom photos and to be able to use those for your business.
Bella:
Yeah, for sure. So what does that process look like? You said that when you work with someone, you kind of get their brand feel and then you design a shoot around that. What does that look like for someone if they were to work with you?
Crystal:
So basically what I do is I set up a time to meet with my clients either over the phone or via email, and we go through a list of questions. And I just kind of ask them, you know, what’s their brand, what do they want their audience to see, and what kind of feel do they want to come across in their photos? We go through a questionnaire, I find out what their favorite colors are, what they don’t like, if there’s any kind of props that they use on a daily basis in their business that might be good to include in photos. And then I go through and kind of start planning a shoot based on that.
I pull together colors, props, and everything like that. And then I go ahead and I do the photo shoot. And after that, I go through all the photos and edit them, and then I deliver them to the client through a digital gallery. They can download them, and they get to use them however they want. They can use them across their social media, their website, and whatever else they need.
Bella:
That’s awesome. I love that you make it so personal. It’s not just, “Here’s a photo package, pick one.” It’s really like you’re co-creating this visual identity with your client.
Crystal:
Exactly. I really want them to have images that are going to work for them, and I want them to be proud of the images that they’re using. I want them to be able to feel confident when they’re putting something out on social media and know that it looks professional and that it represents their brand well.
Bella:
I love that. It’s so true because so many of us—especially in small business—don’t realize how much the little details matter visually. The type of photo we post, the colors we use, even the lighting—it all makes a huge difference in how people perceive our brand.
Crystal:
Yes, absolutely. And that’s really why it’s so important to have professional photos because you might not think it’s a big deal, but it really does make a difference in how people perceive your business. If your photos are dark or grainy, it might not seem like a big deal, but it can make your business come across as less professional. On the other hand, bright, clear, cohesive images make your brand stand out and look trustworthy.
Bella:
Yes! You guys, if you’re listening to this right now, I want you to go look at your website or your Facebook page after this episode and ask yourself, “If I were my ideal client, would I be impressed by what I see? Would I want to hire me?” Because your photos are part of your first impression. They’re your storefront window.
Crystal:
Exactly. You only get that one chance to make that first impression, and you want to make sure that it’s a good one.
Bella:
That’s so true. So tell me, what’s one of the biggest mistakes that you see people making with their business photography right now?
Crystal:
I think one of the biggest mistakes I see is people using images that don’t match their brand. They’ll pull something from a free stock site that looks good on its own, but it doesn’t fit with the colors or the style of their brand. And then when you look at their website or their social media feed, it looks inconsistent. You don’t want that because it confuses people and makes your brand look disorganized.
Bella:
Yes, that’s a huge one. You know how I feel about consistency. When people see your content, it should look and feel like you.
Crystal:
Exactly. And another mistake is people not investing in quality images. They think they’ll save money by taking their own photos, and sometimes that works for certain things, but often it ends up looking unprofessional. It’s worth investing in good images that you can use over and over again.
Bella:
Yeah, because when you look at the cost per use, it’s actually really affordable. If you use those same high-quality images on your website, in social media posts, in blog graphics, in email headers—it’s worth it.
Crystal:
Exactly. And it saves time, too. You already have a gallery of images ready to go that you can just pull from whenever you need to post something.
Bella:
Yes! I preach that all the time about batching your content, and this is just another layer of that. Batch your visuals too.
Crystal:
Yes, exactly.
Bella:
So, Crystal, tell everyone where they can find you if they want to check out your work or connect with you about getting photos done for their business.
Crystal:
They can find me on my website, which is crystalhollman.com, and I’m also on Instagram and Facebook under the same name, @crystalhollmanphotography.
Bella:
Perfect. You guys, I’ll put that in the show notes, and I really encourage you to check her out. Her work is beautiful, and if you’re serious about stepping up your brand visually, she’s your girl. Crystal, thank you so much for being here with us today.
Crystal:
Thank you so much for having me.
Bella:
You’re welcome! You guys, go out there and make your business shine—literally and visually—and as always, keep jumping.