Why Your Website Sucks: Selling Your Identity, Not Your Product

From 2006 until 2009 Apple began a series of commercials they called the “get a Mac” campaign. You’re probably very familiar with it. It features an attractive smooth talking individual who represents the Mac, and an older fatter, less attractive, man who represents the PC. See some examples on YouTube.

In my opinion this was the most successful campaign I have ever seen. It alone loosened a foothold that Microsoft had planted on the personal computer marked many years before. Now, Mac is a dominating force that threatens to overcome the market share that Microsoft once had.

What happened? Why was Microsoft’s campaign not nearly as successful? (See a poorly planned Windows 7 commercial here). I think it all comes down to what Mac was trying to sell: an identity, not a product. Apple convinced the world that becoming a Mac user was not just about the product, but by purchasing the products you became part of a prestigious club of Mac users with a poignant style and identity. Identity, not product.

So how does all this relate to your website? When I browse some photo websites, I can’t help but be reminded of the picture below. Why? Because from the beginning of my visit until the end, I am bombarded with a sales pitch. Every page is filled to the brim with reasons why my life would be ruined if I did not choose so and so.

However, as Dane Sanders says, what you ought to be selling is not your product, but you. When you try to sell your photos, you will inevitably have a lot of competition. However, when you sell you, there is no competition. There is only one you.

So how do you establish an identity and sell you? Here are some simple things you can do to change your website from a product-selling site, to a You-selling site.

Write to people, not to robots.

We have all likely encountered the SEO site, even if you didn’t know it. For those you who are unaware of SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s a series of techniques that people use to increase their presence in the search results in Google. One of the techniques is filling your website with key words:

“Los Angeles wedding photographer John Joe, is based out of Los Angeles doing wedding photography. His Los Angeles wedding photography is so Los Angeles awesome, that even people not from Los Angeles will fly his Los Angeles hide out to a place that is not Los Angeles for their non-Los Angeles wedding photography pictures and wedding images and wedding photos and wedding portraits and wedding bridles.”

Sound familiar? This is SEO garbage. What has John Joe said? Nothing.  Often, in an attempt to attract the Google robots, people turn away the people that they are most interested in.

I am not against SEO. In fact, my own website has some SEO garbage in it (Yes…I do need to update it). However, it should be tastefully done. You should never write love letters to the Google robots while spewing nonsense to the people who will actually pay you the money.

Anecdotes are always good.

Back when we first started out, we had a testimonial page because that’s what everyone else did. However, I was so sick of reading the testimonials that sounded like they came from an infomercial. So, we decided to do testimonials a little bit differently. Rather than request a testimonial, we merely asked a client if we could “quote them.” We were already receiving testimonials via e-mails, handwritten notes, phone calls, or other spoken complements from our clients. In such cases, these compliments were sincere, genuine, and often involved some sort of anecdotal experience. Why not turn those into a valuable marketing tool? Here one of our testimonials that we once had on our website:

“I cannot begin to tell you how powerful of an impact Amber’s pictures had on me and my family. Shortly before my dad died, she took his portraits. Not long after her photo shoot, his cancer forced him to be bedridden. I was emotionally numb-neither happy nor sad. While he was on his deathbed, she sent us a complimentary picture of my dad. As soon as I opened the picture I wept. I wept because it captured so perfectly my dad’s personality-his impish grin, that ‘I got you again,’ look. Suddenly I could feel sorrow about my dad’s impending death, but I also felt joy at having known him and loved him. My siblings also wept when they saw the picture. It was requested by many and was put in his obituary, on his funeral program, and now hangs on the wall of all my brothers and sisters’ homes. His hospice nurse is even making a quilt with that picture on it. I’m so grateful she was my photographer. I will never have any other.”

This sort of story will stay with your visitors much longer and more poignantly than something like,

“Our entire wedding photography needs were taken care of in one very affordable package by Joe’s Photography, including our engagements, bridal portraits, and wedding day pictures. It was great!”

Rather than asking people to write testimonials for you, just ask your clients for permission to publish the praise they’re already giving you. Then, you can guarantee it doesn’t sound trite.

Make your bio about YOU, not your craft.

Your bio is not a sales pitch about your photography. Your portfolio should sell your photography, not your bio. I’ve heard so many bios that sound like this:

“Jim’s photography style is candid and genuine … My style is classy, elegant and artistic… Claire is passionate about recording every precious moment. With an artistic flare, her work stands out among her peers…Jack can capture every detail of your special day, including your genuine smile …”

If you need to tell people what your style is in your bio, then your portfolio sucks. What should Bio be about then? It should be about you. It should show your personality. You are introducing you as a person. They don’t need to know what kind of a photographer you are. Half the time they don’t even know the difference between artsy, photojournalistic, traditional, fashion, candid, or emo. And half the time, they can’t even tell the difference between good photography and bad photography! But they can tell when someone is being real.

I have always enjoyed browsing Matt Christensen’s website. His slogan is,

“Not your average grumpy photographer.”

I love that. It’s immersed in personality. I think his by bio is worth mentioning:

“got to be honest… never really wanted a bio. I’m fine living my life behind the lens… yes, I like to have fun and tend to shoot very relaxed. I wear flip-flops and shorts to all non-formal events (e.g. engagements and bridles)…. I love to invite clients to a round of golf, barbecue, or just hang out after all is said and done some of my best friends started as clients.”

Doesn’t that sound like a guy you would love to get to know? I’ve never met the guy, but I am sold on his personality. But not only should your bio represent your personality, it should also be about you the person! Introduce your family, tell them your hobbies, if you have a side job, tell them about it. Let them know there’s a person behind the lens.

For our bio, we wanted to introduce potential clients to our family. After spending a few paragraphs introducing me and my wife, I introduced my oldest son:

“Corban McKay (born April 2007) began his career as a model in the hospital in Orem Utah. He mastered and patented various dashing expressions including ‘Blue Steel,’ ‘Magnum,’ and ‘That’s my Toy, Give it Back.’ As a child prodigy, he mastered his runway walk at the age of only 13 months. It has been said of him that he is ‘…arguably the most sought after and photographed child of this millennium.’ When asked what he tributes his success to, with humble conviction and with chocolate smeared on his face, he unequivocally states, ‘Momma! Daddies! High Chair!’”

I have had more comments on my bio, than on any of my pictures. Let your personality come out and you let yourself come out.

Frequently asked questions should be frequently asked questions.

I recently read a photographer’s frequently asked questions page and laughed out loud. I don’t remember who the photographer was, nor the FAQs that he showed, but it was obvious he was trying to promote himself. Every question seemed to be a question that was fashioned in such a way that would make him look good (and only him):

“Frequently asked questions….”

“are you a certified member of APA, PPA, IPA, ICRPA, MKAKJHGIC DOA, and IOU…PA?”

“Have you ever entered and won 7 print competitions within the last 6 months?”

“Do you shoot with a full frame camera that can withstand an atomic bomb in case something happens during our wedding day?”

These types of questions make you look egotistical. No bride goes to your FAQs page because they want to be pitched. They go to find out information. Make your FAQs page informative.

So think of the questions people tend to ask you, and put the answers to them there. As you find more that you are constantly answering, include those as well. Leave the sales pitch at home. It’s that simple.

As you are genuine, sincere and honest in your website, you will reach more people than any string of keywords and egotism can muster. Be comfortable being you, and let that come out in every aspect of your website.