Personal branding using the example of Franziska Zimmermann
The most fascinating thing about my work? The people I work with. With personal branding photography, I capture the essence of the personality and the brand. This often gives me an almost intimate insight into the character traits of each client. In the shoot with Franziska Zimmermann for Personal Branding LinkedIn, I once again gained a fascinating insight into the interplay between personality and business. After all, that's what my photography is all about: visualising these unique connections.
About Franziska
Franziska Zimmermann is a freelance business and event presenter, keynote speaker and advertising face from Esslingen near Stuttgart. What immediately fascinated me about her: The 37-year-old wears her laughter openly and knows how to infect others with her zest for life. Anyone who books her as a presenter for trade fairs and specialist events, keynote speaker at events and congresses or model and advertising face for their campaign not only gets a taste of her irrepressible joie de vivre, but also the highest level of professionalism and reliability.
With a background as a specialist and manager in the world of business and finance, she knows how to present herself skilfully. Her experience of over 20 years in front of the camera and on stage helps her immensely. Her motto: Make quality visible!
Franziska's success with her personal brand
A recurring theme in Franziska's life is sales and visibility. She started working as a model at the age of 16 alongside her A-levels. Born in Dresden, she was discovered and approached by a modelling agency at the gym. Through her work as a model, she quickly had to learn how to present herself well.
Today, Franziska is booked by major companies such as Bosch, Mercedes, Bauhaus and Union Investment as the face of their advertising campaigns. She has also been booked by start-ups, hotels and beauty and sports brands to appear in print, online and TV campaigns.
In addition to her work as a model, the 37-year-old has an exciting CV: from door-to-door sales for green electricity at the age of 20 while working and travelling in Australia, to her jobs as an event manager in a 5-star hotel and HR consultant, through to management consultancy in the finance, digital and M&A sectors.
Franziska's story with personal branding Linkedin as a corporate influencer
Franziska's position on LinkedIn is no coincidence: as Head of Business Development at a large German financial and tax consultancy, Franziska was a pioneer in building a personal brand on LinkedIn. She quickly realised that old approaches to sales processes are no longer enough today.
Cold calling alone is hardly sufficient, especially for complex and high-priced service and consulting products. People buy from people and trust is the basis for every sale. As a result, Franziska has utilised the power of LinkedIn and has patiently earned the title of "Professional in Corporate Influencing and Social Selling". Also on Instagram it has established a strong position in its niche.
When Franziska was still a full-time manager and "only" worked part-time as a model and advertising face, she sometimes seemed to be a different person on LinkedIn and Instagram. The reason for this is very simple: different target groups are targeted here. Instagram was primarily used to build her personal brand as a commercial model in order to be noticed by modelling, casting and advertising agencies, photographers and videographers. On LinkedIn, on the other hand, the clear focus was to position herself professionally as a specialist and manager on an equal footing with startup founders, managing directors in SMEs and finance and M&A managers in DAX companies. In addition to personal insights, she shares helpful knowledge about ESG, governance, risk & compliance or NextGen Finance and AI.
Franziska now uses all this "groundwork" in her self-employment as a business and event presenter and speaker. While Instagram and LinkedIn were two different projects in the past, she is now bringing the content closer together again.
Preparation Personal Branding LinkedIn Shooting
Franziska knows how important high-quality image material is for the continuous growth of her personal brand. When she was looking for a personal branding LinkedIn shoot, she turned to me. Franziska combines many talents and areas of interest, which was a welcome challenge for me as a photographer. How do I create images that show Franziska as a commercial model on the one hand and a business presenter and speaker on the other?
All under the guise of her motto "Making quality visible", we started creating mood boards together weeks before the shoot. After more than 20 years of experience in front of the camera and on stage, Franziska knows exactly what colours, patterns and styles work well for her personal branding. If you want to create such a mood board yourself: these things should definitely not be missing!
- Define the theme and style: Firstly, think about the theme and style you want for the photo shoot. Then collect images that represent this theme and style.
- Set colour palette: Choose a colour palette that suits your theme and style. Make sure that the colours look harmonious and support the desired mood.
- Image variations: Look for a variety of images that show different aspects of the theme or style. This can help to find alternative approaches and thus leave a lasting impression.
- Include texture and atmosphere: Add images that convey texture and atmosphere. This can be surroundings, outfits or lighting conditions.
- Clear presentation: Make sure that the mood board is clear and concise. Use short descriptions or notes to record thoughts and ideas about each image.
The realisation of the personal branding LinkedIn shoot
So we needed a location that was just as versatile as Franziska herself. Now those who are here and on LinkedIn have been reading for a while that I am absolutely not a fan of studios. I love shooting with natural light and have created my own style of branding photography by pointing the lens towards the sun. For this LinkedIn branding shoot, however, we needed to find a location that would allow for business and lifestyle images in one go.
The perfect location for this: The Beam Studio in Fulda. Thanks to the large windows with plenty of natural daylight, we found a great compromise here. The great furnishings also helped us to present Franziska's business in as many different ways as possible.
However, in addition to choosing the right location, there is a lot more to optimal preparation. The viewer of the picture is often unaware of how much work and preparation goes into choosing the outfit with matching jewellery and make-up. Franziska's tip here: Let professionals get to work. That's why we also had a skilled make-up artist for hair and make-up at our shoot.
Of course, this is also about the set design: to ensure that personal branding images are coherent and of high quality, we also think about the notebook, magazine, matching water carafe on the desk and fresh flowers in advance. Of course, how could it be otherwise, all in coordination with our mood board.
Franziska also came up with a very special accessory for her pictures as a presenter and speaker: the film flap with her name. Today, she also uses the resulting image as a key visual on her Homepage and in their offers.
Franziska's 5 tips for authentic personal branding LinkedIn
- Be yourself: If you like to laugh (I absolutely do), then laugh just as much during the personal branding shoot. If you don't like showing your teeth, then don't force yourself to do so in front of the camera. A fake laugh doesn't look authentic!
- Show personality: It's not called "personal" branding for nothing. Even though LinkedIn is a business network, you should still give a few private insights here from time to time - ideally always with a connection to your business.
- Always do the unexpected: Do things differently from others and/or have your own opinion.
- Better done than perfect: Don't spend ages thinking about whether you should use a different photo or whether the text is already perfect. Continuity is important and that also means perhaps sending a post even if you are only 80 % satisfied with it.
- Offer added value: Personal branding is not (pure) self-promotion, but people will follow you if you keep sharing tips and lessons learnt. Ask yourself the question: How can I help my network? This will pay you back a thousandfold.
Personal branding on LinkedIn is no easy task, but Franziska shows that it is possible to build an active community with enough continuity, determination and skilful presentation. As a business photographer, I would also be happy to help you with your LinkedIn personal branding. I am happy about Your enquiry!
