Quality photography is an essential element of an interior design business’s lifeblood, a star component of elevating your website and building a brand portfolio with the power to attract new clients. It is also a major investment. Knowing what to do with your archive of high-quality interiors pictures beyond building your website can present a challenge, even for the seasoned designer. Here are five fresh ways to repurpose your photography and really extend their utility.
Crop It
As simple as it sounds, an easy photo edit can give a whole new perspective to the frame. Crop a room scene to focus on a corner vignette or a key element that you want to feature, such as a lamp, rug, or piece of furniture. If you will be using the image on social media, take this opportunity to talk about your highlighted element in more detail to further differentiate the cropped image from your original post.
Create Cards, Invitations and Personalized Notes
Do you have holiday show house pictures in your stash? Use a vignette to create a seasonal card or event invitation from your firm. Custom thank you notes present regular opportunities to revisit images of a special project on one side, engaging a valued client or colleague visually, as well as with your words.
Think Outside Your Genre
Look beyond the expected niche. If you’ve already placed projects in shelter and interior design publications, it’s time to tap into new markets where potential clients spend time. A neighborhood newsletter or real estate blog. A garden club website. A cooking publication that talks about kitchen design. Perhaps even a magazine focused on parenting that might consider emphasizing children’s room design and play spaces.
Rinse and Repeat
Give an image from a project you featured on Instagram a year ago a second act. This time, study the image to see if it possesses brand partnership potential. For example, if one room features a healthy representation of a certain brand of lighting, textiles, flooring, wallcovering, or paint color, try reposting the image. This time, emphasize those pieces, and be sure to tag that brand in the text and photo. Often, brand representatives and ambassadors will engage with your image and sometimes repost it, sharing your work with their vast network and new-to-you audience. With your permission, sometimes they’ll even share your image(s) in their daily or seasonal e-newsletters or blog posts.
Go Behind the Scenes
While on the set of a photo shoot, take a few behind-the-scenes images. Then think about teasing the new project and the effort to have it professionally photographed. Be careful not to give away the full room pics. Look for a few fun moments that include the artist behind the lens, who often has the ear of editors. Professional photographers are a trusted source of new talent and projects. Next time, it could be yours.
Photo courtesy of Mali Azima