“The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.” – Jonathan Heidt, social psychologist

People are 22x more likely to remember something if it’s in the form of a story. I should probably tell one here!

Once upon a time, there was a small business owner struggling to figure out what to post on social media, which she knew was a free form of advertising that could help her business if leveraged properly. She really didn’t want the struggle of coming up with a picture every day, spending 30 minutes deciding the right subject, with the right background, with the right lighting, then taking 35 selfies so she could be in the photo, too (because studies show that engagement goes up by 38% if there’s a face in the photo… and people want to know who they’re doing business with), then editing the picture… and on and on. All that time adds up! Posting daily? That’s 3.5 hours a week… 182 hours a year… wait… that’s a month! Certainly there were better things she could do with that time. So she found herself a photographer to help her, but not just any photographer: one well-versed in branding photography, that took the time to get to know her business and what she wanted to share about it. In one afternoon together, they created an entire bank of images she could pull from to show and tell about her business for the next quarter. So much easier and more professional, clearly representing her mission, and allowing her to brand to maintain a cohesive look across all platforms, both online and off. And she lived happily ever after. The End.

I’ll have to work on this, and try again after we go through the next few posts about storytelling to engage pathos, ethos, and logos – telling your story to appeal to the emotional, ethical, and logical brains of your audience.

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Ready for some great photographs? Let’s get to know each other over coffee (or smoothies… or milkshakes…), and talk about celebrating your life’s true beauty in images you love. You can reach me at [email protected] or (434) 226-0365, and let me know when and where you'd like to meet!

My Promise: Together, we will create amazing photos you’ll want to share. How do you want to be photographed?