Chicken vs Egg: Why You Should Invest in Professional Product Photography
Updated: Sep 13
There are many reasons why investing in one professional photographer long-term is a good idea over trying to DIY or hire multiple professionals. To illustrate this point (and have a bit of fun), we’ll use the chicken vs the egg analogy.
What’s better? To own a chicken or buy eggs every couple of days?
Suppose you own a couple of chickens, and they provide you with two eggs per day. Great! Not only are you satisfied with the ones you consume, but you’ve also made a profit from selling the ones you don’t use.
On the other hand, you can spend $10 on a pack of eggs and make no profit at all. You’ll also have to keep going out and spending more money on eggs every time you have a craving for a morning omelet.
So how does this translate to professional Product photography?
In this instance, owning chickens is like hiring one professional photographer long-term. This is the best way to see a return on your investment, as you’ll receive consistent monthly content that is tailored to your brand and image. Those photos can then be used to generate business growth, thus creating a worthwhile investment that makes a profit and adds to the professional image of your business.
Building a relationship with a Professional Product photographer is vital because, over time, it actually reduces costs since they’ll understand your company's targets and aims. Every time you need to hire a new professional, you’ll spend valuable time and money steering them in the right direction.
A long-term relationship ensures that your company maintains a consistent style, which is essential to building a strong and recognizable brand image. This is especially vital for small businesses still trying to build recognition.
You’ll also be working with someone you know to be reliable, whose work you’ve seen before and know will fit your requirements.
What if you opt for the egg?
The opposite of this is making the mistake of attempting a DIY approach or hiring multiple photographers at different stages of your business journey. You might even look to stock photography for your photo needs. However, all of these options are too inconsistent to be worth your time and hard-earned money.
Hiring multiple photographers can turn out expensive and result in inconsistent work that doesn’t fit your desired brand photography needs. This can also affect sales due to poor brand communication.
There’s also the question of reliability. If you’re targeting multiple photographers and not building a long-term relationship with one practice, you’ll be in danger of running into professionals that don’t understand and fit your working process.
Invest in content that’s made for you
You can accelerate your visual marketing by at least 30% when you invest in content that’s been researched and tailored especially to your brand. Maintaining that level of consistency and professionalism will ensure that your business is in the best position to attract interest and generate sales.
It’s also worth noting that a photographer you’ve worked with long-term will be able to generate positive ideas based on the experience they have with your brand.