Why being recommended isn’t quite enough on its own

I made my way to a lovely networking event this morning, hosted by Public Speaking Coach, Vocal Confidence Expert & Sound Healing Specialist Judith Quin, I was sitting with a group of people who all run their own businesses. Coaches, therapists, reiki practitioners and sound healers. Brilliant, established, excellent at what they do. And when the conversation turned to marketing and reaching potential client bases, something interesting came up.

Branding and how it doesn’t feel like the right word.

It sounds corporate, or performative, or like something that is only concerned with colours and logos. What everyone around that table (including myself) actually wants is clients through word of mouth, being recommended through people. Which is lovely, and it works, up to a point.

But here’s the thing, even when someone recommends you, the first thing the new person does is look you up. They find your LinkedIn, or your Instagram, or your website, and they make a decision about you in roughly four seconds. And what they’re deciding isn’t whether you’re good at your job. They’ve already been told that. They’re deciding whether you’re their kind of person.

That’s not branding in the corporate sense. That’s just being seen properly. And it’s almost always a visual thing.

” Andrea is fantastic!

she works with a warmth and professionalism that is unmatched. The quality of her photography speaks for itself, and she makes the whole process so easy.

I can’t recommend her highly enough!”
Fiona, Pilates Instructor

You don’t have to call it a brand. Call it your identity.

Every person at that networking morning had a clear identity. A warmth, a way of working, a particular kind of client who loves them. We find it hard to wrap it up in marketing language, and honestly, I understand. Working in the wellness and holistic field, your work is rooted in presence, connection, and genuine care for the people in front of you. It’s not easy to translate that neatly into a branding tagline. The language of branding can feel at odds with the language of the work itself, which is probably why the word makes so many of us groan.

So let’s drop the word. Call it identity instead. Your identity is the thing people feel when they sit across from you, and the thing that makes someone say to their friend ‘you have to meet them‘. It exists whether you market it or not. The only question is whether it’s coming through in the places people meet you first, which is almost always online.

Word of mouth is brilliant. It just doesn’t travel alone.

A recommendation gets someone to your page. What’s on the page decides whether they book.

If the only photo of you is a cropped selfie from a wedding in 2019, that’s probably the impression someone is taking into their decision. Not just the warmth of the recommendation, not the five-minute conversation your friend had about how good you are. Just the picture.

Good images don’t replace word of mouth. They carry it. They’re what makes a referral convert into an enquiry instead of a tab someone closes.

Your profile picture is doing more work than you think

The small round image next to your name appears everywhere. LinkedIn, Instagram, your Google Business Profile, your email signature, the comment you left on someone’s post three weeks ago. It turns up hundreds of times a week, often before any of your words do.

Most people give it about ten seconds of thought and then leave it untouched for four years. Which is a shame, because a profile photo that actually looks like you, in your element, is one of the highest-leverage pieces of marketing you’ll ever make.

Speaking of Google Business Profiles, it’s worth saying this quickly. If you want word of mouth to travel, a Google Business Profile is where reviews live permanently. People can leave them, they show up in search, and a good profile photo is doing quiet, repeated work every time someone types your name in.

“Andrea is such an amazing photographer. She understands how to create a safe space to play, relax and capture you at your best.

I love the picture she has taken of me and would definitely recommend her.

She is so kind, calm and patient, which is great for those of us who are a little awkward and nervous about having their picture taken.”
Laura, Yoga Teacher and Movement Director

Good photos aren’t about looking polished. They’re about looking like yourself.

This is the part where I’d usually say something about my approach, so here it is. I’m not trying to make anyone look like a glossy magazine version of themselves. That’s not interesting, and it’s not what makes people book you.

What I’m looking for is the real thing. The expression you make when you’re genuinely listening. The energy that comes off you when you talk about and are absorbed in the work you love. The specific way your hands move, or the way you laugh, or the quiet version of you between sentences. That’s what people recognise.

Let’s work out what your values are

You don’t photograph someone well by pointing a camera at them. You photograph them well by understanding what matters to them first.

So before a shoot, we talk. About what you do, who you do it for, and the feeling you want someone to have when they land on your page. About your values, the words you’d use to describe your work, the kind of client you want more of. It’s not a branding exercise in the formal sense, it’s just a proper conversation, and it’s what makes the photos land.

Everything else follows from that. The location, the clothes, the mood, the moments we’re looking for on the day. If we haven’t had that conversation, the photos are just nice pictures. If we have, they’re pictures that do a job.

Photos that help the right people recognise you

Here’s what happens when your images match the energy of who you actually are. The people who enquire are the people who were always going to be a good fit. You stop trying to convince strangers and start being found by your people.

That’s the whole thing, really. Not branding in the icky sense. Just being visible as yourself, so the right people recognise you quickly and the wrong ones move on.

Let’s make some photos that actually look like you and what you do

If any of this is landing, and you think the photos you took on your phone are standing in your way of moving forward, get in touch. We’ll have a proper conversation first, and then we’ll make some photographs that do your identity justice.

facilitator guiding woman through breath work class with other participants lying down

woman holding up sound instrument close to face

woman holding sound healing harp in front of water

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