Do you often wonder whether your business niche is a little too unique? Like maybe you’re a little too cherry, when you ought to be a little more vanilla? (Everybody knows vanilla is selling.)

It can be tempting to try to look like someone else, to mimic what a successful brand is doing to give your business a more professional look. Don’t fall into temptation. Your unique identity – who you are, where you are – is what keeps you competitive.

Leverage your locality with local images.

Stop using stock photography. As compelling as such gems as “Man Smiling” and “Women Shaking Hands” can be, homegrown images are far more likely to impress your local market.

So should you break out the smartphone and start snapping shots? You could, but don’t forget why you were using stock photography in the first place.

Having a local image is good, but a local and professional image is better.

Start using a local photographer. Here are three reasons you have no excuse not to:

1. It won’t take long to find one who can get the job done. Photographers are everywhere in your local market.
2. Name your price. As you shop around you’ll find photographers with a range of experience and cost. Chances are you’ll find one that can improve on what you’ve been doing on your own within your budget.
3. Not only will your online and offline marketing be more attention-grabbing, but stimulating the local economy is just good business sense. Give a photographer a job and you just earned yourself a customer and grew your referral network.

Be you. Remember where you come from, and get the pictures to prove it. Cherry fans will love you for it.

Contact Farmhouse Creative for a list of great East Central Indiana photographers!