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John DeMato Blog

Welcome to the Deliver Magic blog, where experts who speak, coach, train, consult, and write books will find actionable insights to elevate their personal brands through visual storytelling. From strategy tips and branding photography to live event coverage and storytelling techniques, discover step-by-step guides designed to help you align what you say with how you show up in photos. Get ready to unlock the magic behind creating a cohesive visual identity that drives engagement, builds credibility, and inspires your audience. #DeliverMagic

I guess we need to talk about stock photography...

 

Sigh - I guess we need to talk about stock photography...

 
 

...and how much it’s killing your brand!

 

I was on the phone the other day with a speaker/author colleague and the subject of stock photos came up.

She was lamenting over the fact that she spent years leveraging these images because, quite frankly, it was easier for her to simply buy an image that was “good enough” to do the job to support both his blog articles and social media posts.

She went on to say that after a couple years of the “write a post, buy a photo” routine, she had an epiphany.

She realized that even though these images were convenient and easy, they weren’t exactly hitting the mark in terms of visually punctuating the sentiments of the stories and lessons that she was sharing in her written content.

What once was a major convenience was now becoming a problematic situation.

She wasn’t truly being seen by those she serves.

And, that’s why she finally bit the bullet and invested in a lifestyle portrait session in her hometown and ditched the stock photo subscription with Getty.

This conversation inspired more thoughts on this topic, and I shared them in this article for C-Suite Network.

You can check out the conversation here.