Whatever you do in your office today,whether that be your global HQ, a cubicle or your home, please take a picture. Not an instagram snap, but a picture taken with the best camera you have available to you.
Take a picture of your business in action. It may just be your desk or it may be 100 faces engrossed in information on their screen. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is this is a snapshot of where your business is right now.
Brand heritage
In a few months, in a few years, you will look back at that picture with pride. If you don’t, you need to start asking questions now. That picture will mean a lot to you. It will mean a lot to your online audience too.
Very few businesses let us in to their real world. We’re comfortable talking about transparency and business authenticity. We’re not comfortable displaying to the world who we really are. It really does matter.
Don’t shy away
Startup owners can hide the business behind a virtual office and a virtual answering service. It’s worthwhile to an extent. But, to help make the business appear bigger or more established? It’s telling me a story you don’t believe in.
12 years ago I setup a guitar retail business from my spare bedroom. 2 years later it operated from a storefront and a 5000sq ft warehouse. Times change. I never captured those early scenes of my startup business as boxed guitars and accessories were lined up, floor to ceiling, around my desk. It’s a huge regret. It was an intrinsic part of my business heritage that I shied away from capturing.
Don’t pretend
What’s on the outside isn’t you. A picture of your business office, albeit an impressive office, from the outside doesn’t tell me what’s inside. It’s just a block of offices you share with dozens of other businesses. It’s a facade and nothing more.
If a building doesn’t represent your business than I can assure you a stock image of happy friendly suited staff doesn’t either. This is all about you and your business.
There’s a story to tell
We love autobiographies. The stories of our heroes. We love them because we get to see where their story starts. The picture of Sergey Brin and Larry Page huddled around computers in their university dorm. Bill Gates or Steve Jobs sat back in their chairs analysing computer components. It’s all part of a wonderful story.
If you believe your business is on the path to amazing things then capture and share those moments. I’ve worked from home for 5 years. I’ve won the opportunity to work with some of the world’s largest organisations. At no stage have I been rejected due to my work surroundings, or the lack of desks in a ‘real office’ space. My surroundings are part of my own story. My clients invest in me.
Right now, I’m sat at my kitchen table, 6:30am in the morning. Fully dressed I hasten to add… having woken up with this blog article running through my mind.
Who you are is the real you
Let your competitors talk about how they offer the ‘leading services’. Let them use stock imagery to masquerade their story. Let them have 10 worldwide telephone numbers rerouting to their single local office.
You’ve got a story to tell and that story is about you, your people, your brand and your business. It’s irreplaceable and can never be mimicked. It helps me identify with who you really are. That’s a tremendous asset in a business world where people still deal with people.
Now, get that camera out.
Written By:
