Welcome to another episode of Bright Minds of eCommerce, where this week, we delve into the world of product photography with the talented Stylist and Product Photographer, Paige Noelle. In this insightful conversation, Paige shares invaluable tips and strategies to elevate your brand through product imagery. From DIY to professional photography, get all your tips here. Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your visual identity, Paige’s expertise provides a roadmap for creating stunning product photos that captivate your audience. Stay tuned for a deep dive into the art and science of product photography.
In today’s episode you’ll learn:
- Tips and tricks to DIY exceptional photos at home.
- The importance of finding a photographer who aligns with your aesthetic and product style.
- Tips for assessing a photographer’s compatibility through their portfolio and communication style.
- The significance of having a diverse product photo library, including lifestyle, stylised, and classic e-commerce shots.
- Utilising tools such as Lightroom and Canva for quick wins, such as correcting deep edge imagery and creating compelling visuals.
- The strategy of “eating the frog” – tackling the most significant task first to boost productivity.
- Leveraging a seasonal approach in product photography to extend the longevity of your imagery.
- Creative ways to make the most out of your product photos, from collaborative Christmas competitions to versatile set creations.
- The benefits of having a well-organised and accessible product photo library for consistent content creation.
Links from the show:
- Join the 5-Day Ad Sprint!
- Bright Red Marketing Episode 52
- Paige Noelle Stylist Website and Instagram
- Get Paige’s Free Photo Product Planner!
- The Drop Studio for beautiful backdrops
- Podcast Recommendations: The Lisa and Sarah Show, Rise and Conquer, We Don’t Have Time for This, and The Diary of a CEO
Transcript
[00:00:00] Paige Noelle: If you’re creating an image, you look away and you look back and you’re not looking at your product first. If you’re looking at a prop or something else in the background, get rid of it.
[00:00:09] Dahna: Hi, and welcome to the bright minds of e-commerce podcast.
[00:00:12] I’m Dahna founder of Bright Red Marketing, and after helping so many businesses in the e-commerce space over the years, I wanted to bring you the best advice Australian experts in e-commerce and e-commerce store owners had to offer. If you want relatable stories and actionable advice and the latest Facebook advertising strategies, you’re in the right place. So let’s get into today’s episode.
[00:00:31] Dahna Borg: Today we’re here with Paige Noelle stylist. Welcome Paige.
[00:00:35] Paige Noelle: Hello, thanks for having me.
[00:00:37] Dahna Borg: So good to have you on the show.
[00:00:38] Let’s dive in. Why is product photography so important in the e-commerce space?
[00:00:43] Paige Noelle: It really is still so important. And I know a lot of people who might be listening might be thinking isn’t it all about video content now? Are we still even doing product photos? And yes, definitely. So even just recently the CEO of Meta’s Instagram came out and said a little while ago, yes, it was very heavily video-based, but now they are swinging the other way and pushing photos.
[00:01:09] So you might’ve even noticed that in your feed now, photos are coming through again, which is fantastic.
[00:01:16] Dahna Borg: Look, it’s my preference.
[00:01:17] Paige Noelle: Isn’t it? It just makes life a little bit more easier and having that combination of the two. I’m going to go through three of the most important places you need to have your product photos and how it can really help your e-commerce business get out there.
[00:01:31] So the first one is your website. So having those really polished product photos on your website is. So important. It really does three things. It positions you as a person of authority within your industry. It builds that trust with your customer. And it also is a confirmation in their minds that you are this high-end, legitimate e-commerce business.
[00:01:58] And it’s just fascinating how a product photo can instantly do that as soon as you come on someone’s website.
[00:02:04] Dahna Borg: It’s the only thing we have to go by is what is this thing? Do I like it? What’s it look like? What’s it make me feel like? That’s the only thing people have to judge you on at that point.
[00:02:15] Paige Noelle: Exactly. It’s almost like you think of it as your storefront and it’s your windows in your store. So if you had those all beautiful, someone’s going to say, Ooh, I want to come in and have a look in there. The other place is yes, on your social media. So let’s talk about Instagram. So when we talk about your product photos on Insta, there are three main areas I like to use them.
[00:02:38] When you have made a video reel, having a reel cover as a product photo is a really beautiful way to get, a bit of continuity to your Instagram feed, even though that’s definitely not as important as it used to be. It’s just a big time saver. And I don’t know about you, Donna, but sometimes when I’ve made a video, I’m going through the bar and I’m trying to find a moment in the video where my face isn’t like, All crazy looking and contorted. Oh
[00:03:03] Dahna Borg: I make a lot of strange faces. So it’s extra hard for me.
[00:03:07] Paige Noelle: my gosh, my mouth is just like a wide-open scary smile. My gosh, it’s a bit different when it’s paused like that and not a whole video. So yeah, so having a product photo ready to go is a great win. Now coming into Christmas time, using your product photos as a carousel is a really fun one for e-commerce businesses and a way you can create something that’s really shareable and saveable around this festive time of year.
[00:03:37] Think about what your product is, put it like an info carousel together, something to do with Christmas. So say your product is anything to do with cooking, it could be a Christmas recipe or self care, it could be a little self care ritual. And then the last one is, yeah, your photo reel. So if you’re stuck and you need some content, popping some product photos together to the beat of a trending audio and you’re done.
[00:04:01] Dahna Borg: I love that. I think it’s something that, I don’t think it gets left behind because everyone knows that you need photos. Like you can’t put a product on the website unless there’s a photo of it. But I feel like people sometimes think I just need to take a photo. And there’s not the like.
[00:04:16] How am I going to make this be an on brand photo? How am I going to make this multi purpose? How am I going to make the most out of this photo? How do you, when you’re taking these photos, especially if you’re doing it yourself, how do you make sure that those photos have a consistency to them, that they are on brand?
[00:04:34] Paige Noelle: Definitely. So when you are just starting out making your own product photos, the one thing I really love to teach my students is to make sure you do create your own kind of mood board or vision board this is really the first step to nailing down your whole visual aesthetic. So something that’s really important here to note is your branding board. is different to your visual product photography board. So in branding, the colors can be really bright sometimes really strong, that kind of a theme.
[00:05:11] But in your product photos, often those really bright Full on colors are too much. So just spending some time on good old Pinterest, going through and I love Pinterest, oh my gosh, and saving things that um, that really speak to you. Here’s one of my favorite tips here. So when you’re searching in Pinterest, type in your product photography, as your first step.
[00:05:33] So go in and 10, 000 images will come up, go through and don’t censor yourself here. Just choose things that you really like and put them in a board and then go through and cull them. But you can also search for aesthetic. So you can have something like romantic product photos, energizing, aesthetic, those kinds of things.
[00:05:56] Put a mood board together, have it somewhere you’re going to be able to see it whenever you’re creating a product photos and just. Stick to those. So things like your background colors and your props. So that way you’re not creating something, say, in November. That’s really relaxing and calm and lovely pastel colors.
[00:06:16] And then in February, you go to create some more, but you’re in a more energized mood. And so you’re using really bright colors and there’s going to be that clash. And when your customers who have been following you from November, see these new photos, they’re going to say, Oh, hold on. Is this a new business? Am I in the wrong
[00:06:34] Dahna Borg: We see that in ads so much that we’ll get some photos, but the photos don’t match what the website looks like. So then we get that discontinuity that it’s you clicked on an ad and you thought you were getting one thing, but the website’s completely different. So having that consistency, I think is a hundred percent key.
[00:06:48] Paige Noelle: It really is. It’s so important. Just removing barriers from people to question, Oh, what’s happening? Am I in the wrong place? And visuals is the easiest way to create that flow from one place to another, all the way down to that click buy button.
[00:07:05] Dahna Borg: A hundred percent. I agree. What are your thoughts on, some people do like just plain on white, really simple but beautiful product photography versus like really styled product photography. I’m assuming there’s a place for both but what are your thoughts on the differences between those?
[00:07:23] Paige Noelle: Definitely. So I like to categorize product photos into three types. So you have your lifestyle photography stylized, and then your classic shots, which is also e commerce. So your e commerce shot is a shot on a white background or a plain background, or even the background is removed. One thing I’d like to say here as well with your e commerce photos is only use these on your website.
[00:07:47] So I would recommend not using them on your socials. They’re what I call like a bottom of the funnel product photography. Another thing here as well is Don’t feel like you need to have a white box. Have you seen those white boxes that you can get yet? So don’t feel like you need to do that and buy one of those to get started.
[00:08:06] You really don’t. All you need is a white piece of paper, preferably mats. You can buy backdrops from lots of different places online. My favorite is the Drop Studio, a lovely female based Australian business. So you can buy one of those, stick it up against a wall, and have it coming down from the wall and then swooping onto a base.
[00:08:28] The reason you want that swoop is it creates an endless backdrop. So there’s no hard edge. And that’s really all you need. The other thing is to make sure you have a white board on the opposite side of whether the light is coming in. So that means you’re reflecting light back onto your product and it’s all lit beautifully.
[00:08:46] And that’s your eCommerce shot done.
[00:08:48] Dahna Borg: Lovely. I also am a fan of when, and obviously it would become down to a budgeting constraint or could just be a brand preference when it is just more lifestyle shots as the sites photos. So obviously it depends on the product, but there are some products where you really need that really clear crystal detail on white background to know what you’re doing and buying.
[00:09:10] But I do really like what we are getting into a little bit more lifestyle shots for e commerce. It’s just like. How does this product, it gives you a little bit more emotion and I quite like that. I
[00:09:19] Paige Noelle: definitely. So lifestyle photos, I like to put at the very top of the funnel of getting your customers in. So using it on places like social, your website header, definitely you want a lifestyle image there. Yeah. What makes lifestyle imagery so powerful and successful? It’s the first step in your customer imagining themselves using your product.
[00:09:43] Dahna Borg: love that.
[00:09:44] It’s so true though. Like the lifestyle image really is about showing people how a product could be used in their life.
[00:09:51] Paige Noelle: Yeah. And it’s there. Imagining themselves using it, then that is really one of the biggest barriers to the sales that already picturing like, Oh, yes, I would definitely use that, say it’s a hand cream and you photographed it, coming into Christmas and summer, it’s in a beautiful bag, spilling onto a towel at a beach.
[00:10:11] Instantly people are thinking, Oh, that hand cream looks relaxing. I need a holiday. I’ll get that hand cream and go on holiday. They link it all together.
[00:10:21] Dahna Borg: I love it. I love it. When is the time for someone to stop DIYing and hire someone to do this? I think a lot of people can balance both for a little bit where they still do a little bit themselves. They get a, they get help for some other bits and pieces, but when is when is the time in business to actually get help with these things?
[00:10:41] Cause I know a lot of people start out doing it themselves in
[00:10:44] Paige Noelle: Yeah. And that’s a great place to start. And really with the technology that we have now, you can do it yourself a lot of the time. So my favorite analogy is the hairdresser analogy to answer this question. yoU know how we go to the hairdresser a few times a year. We get the whole thing done, color cut, the whole shebang.
[00:11:05] It’s wonderful. But we need to know how to do our hair. Other times throughout the year, how to curl it. If we’re going out somewhere how to put up in a sleek ponytail. We don’t wanna have to be going to the hairdressers every week to have them wash our hair. We had to be able to do it ourselves.
[00:11:22] And the same is with choreography. So ideally having professional photos done. Twice a year would be great. Once a year, if you can sitting down with your professional photographer and stylist, like I said before, really nutting out that mood board and your aesthetic, getting that clear. They take the bulk of the shots, but then throughout the rest of the year, you’re able to make them yourself sticking with that same aesthetic, but being able to keep up with that content.
[00:11:52] We’ll not having to wait for someone else to be able to do it for you. And. Saving money.
[00:11:59] Dahna Borg: Perfect. I love that analogy. I suppose it does also depend on the type of product and how often you’re launching and things. If you’re launching every couple of weeks, you probably need to be getting help a little bit more regularly. But I think that’s a really great point. Like it, It is like going to hairdresser, It’s a difference between people who get their hair cut twice a year and people that are getting their hair colored every six weeks. If you’re getting your hair coloured, you got to get it more regularly. If you’re just getting it cut, you can do I like this analogy. That’s very helpful.
[00:12:26] Paige Noelle: I think if you’re going to invest money in having a professional do your product photos, the areas I would spend money is on your lifestyle shop. And you’re stylized. So in that order, I’d get lifestyle first and then stylized and then try to work on the e-commerce ones yourself.
[00:12:44] I Would definitely do it in that order.
[00:12:46] Dahna Borg: feel like lifestyle is a lot harder to do yourself.
[00:12:49] Paige Noelle: It can be, and also, especially if you’re starting out and also lifestyle, a professional photographer can bring in models and things like that, get a location for you. Get it all done.
[00:13:01] Dahna Borg: yeah, and I’m going to ask you controversial question. We obviously run a Facebook ads agency. And sometimes we’ll find that the less polished grainy blurry taken on an iPhone. Sometimes those photos work better than the, I paid 10, 000 for a photo shoot, which my client unfortunately found out once.
[00:13:21] What are your thoughts on why this works? Obviously you still need the professional shots. You need them for your website. You just need them for your socials. You can’t just have grainy blurry photos everywhere, but what’s your sort of theory on why you think this works and how to leverage that?
[00:13:35] Paige Noelle: Yeah. I love that so much. And you’re so right. So I think people do tire of seeing the same thing. And I think we’re seeing this not only in product photos but also how people even are on social media is less of the, hello, today I’m going to bake this pie and more of a, I just filled the bag of apples to make the pie.
[00:13:57] What am I gonna do? I don’t wanna watch that. More so over someone who’s polish and perfect. And so just like visually surprising your audience is always going to be a win. So someone’s scrolling through and it’s beautiful, Oh, whoa. What’s this? It’s grainy. It’s different. This is real. I’m brought in.
[00:14:16] That’s a beautiful thing to do. And I would almost categorize that. As an aesthetic, that kind of what is it unstructured polishness. Did I just look up a word?
[00:14:28] Dahna Borg: I’ll take it.
[00:14:29] Paige Noelle: Unstructured polish. So I would definitely, yeah, look into doing that kind of. Photography and mixing it in with everything else.
[00:14:39] So your photo library. So you wouldn’t want to have that kind of imagery down when they’re on your website and they’re in the e commerce area, which is all about crossing the T’s, dotting the I’s. functions, features of your product. You don’t want to use it there, but definitely when they’re getting to know you and just showing the personality of your product.
[00:15:01] Grainy images are fabulous and even fake it as well. If it is too polished, use an app like the Tezza app and you can put a grain over it. You can blur it.
[00:15:12] Dahna Borg: I do think that’s where I think a lot of brands use UGC and they just get that imagery from their customers and things. But I know a lot of people when they’re starting out aren’t getting UGC. So if you have to fake the UGC, not in that you’re misleading people by saying other people have bought your product, but to create that style of content, that’s a little bit more organic.
[00:15:35] I think that’s really interesting.
[00:15:36] Paige Noelle: yeah. One thing there, if you are gonna make that style of imagery that is less polished, still have some certain elements to make it consistent with your overall branding.
[00:15:48] Yeah. And just to take it up another level. And it’s easy. All the things that you would need to think about here are just the colors.
[00:15:56] So don’t all of a sudden slip in like a bright orange. Book in it. If you’re all about pastels cause that’s going to throw it off and that’s easy to think about as you’re doing this kind of imagery and lighting. So you still want the lighting to work for you.
[00:16:12] And so all that is making sure you’re utilizing that natural light shooting either near a window where the lights coming in outside. Even if you’re going to go for that more grainy, organic look, if you’re doing it in a dark area, the quality is just not going to be nice enough, Instagram’s not going to push it, it’s going to make your ideal viewer have to work to figure out what’s going on,
[00:16:36] Dahna Borg: There’s a very fine line, I think, between a bad photo and an organic looking
[00:16:42] photo.
[00:16:43] Paige Noelle: Yeah. But
[00:16:44] Dahna Borg: It still has to be good.
[00:16:45] Paige Noelle: It’s supposed to be good. Yeah. Jump on Pinterest and search organic product photo, UGC product photo and start pinning those ones as well and mix them in with your overall product photo library.
[00:16:59] Dahna Borg: I love that. So for those who want to DIY, do you have some top tips, because you have amazing tips on your Instagram but do you have like your top tips for people that are doing this themselves?
[00:17:10] Paige Noelle: Yeah, definitely. So my three favorite tips, okay I’ve already spoken about lighting. So there’s, yeah, lots of things you can fix when you’re editing, but lighting is not one of them. So make it easier on yourself and nail that one when you’re actually shooting. And so I don’t mean going out and buying big, fancy lights.
[00:17:30] You really don’t. You don’t need it when you’re making it yourself. The sun is absolutely perfect. It’s there for you. So just take a minute to study the light where you’ll be shooting. When is going to be the best time of day? Do you want that, big, bright, hard shadow lighting or that more softer morning light?
[00:17:47] Always using a whiteboard to bounce light back. Now a whiteboard, if you haven’t heard of that before, it’s just anything like a white foam board from Officeworks or Spotlight, a piece of white paper, a white curtain. All the white is doing is reflecting light, so that’s a really quick win. Another one is distractions. So I’m gonna hit you with another analogy,
[00:18:12] which
[00:18:13] Dahna Borg: like your analogies so far. So we’re
[00:18:15] Paige Noelle: is my Destiny’s Child analogy. So
[00:18:18] your
[00:18:18] Dahna Borg: way over already.
[00:18:19] Paige Noelle: I love it.
[00:18:20] So your product is Beyonce and everything else is Kelly and Michelle. Now, if you’re, you know what I so if you’re creating an image, you look away and you look back and you’re not looking at your product first. If you’re looking at a prop or something else in the background, get rid of it. Michelle is trying to steal the spotlight. all about Beyonce, so yes, so definitely avoiding distractions. And another key one there is backgrounds.
[00:18:49] So if you only do one thing after listening to this and if that’s getting yourself a nice clean one sheet background, you are already way ahead and you are on your way to great product photos. Because yes, we don’t want to be having your customer look anywhere, but your Gorge product.
[00:19:09] Dahna Borg: I love it. We’ve got backgrounds, lighting,
[00:19:11] Paige Noelle: Backgrounds, lighting, and then,
[00:19:14] yeAh um, editing. So, you know, Back in the day, we had to use things like Photoshop and all these really big things. But now the apps on your phone are so easy to use. And even if you do want to edit on the computerthe more they’re updated, the easier it really gets.
[00:19:33] Dahna Borg: Love Lightroom.
[00:19:34] Paige Noelle: I love Lightroom. There are so many things you can do in there. But when you’re just starting out, just focus on things like, yes, like you said before, brightness. So just adjusting the brightness a little bit. Sharpness. That’s the big one. You can’t see my hands, but I’m like, I’m doing jazz hands right now.
[00:19:50] Dahna Borg: She is doing jazz hands. I can confirm. It’s
[00:19:53] Paige Noelle: And again, like we say, when someone comes to your website and they’re seeing you for the first time, if the images are fuzzy, that’s not good. It’s going to make people question the product. So sharpness is easily avoided. uP the contrast a little bit and just make sure the perspective is even.
[00:20:11] So what I mean is the lines are straight. It’s not slanted. It’s not forward or back. So yeah, brightness, sharpness, contrast, and perspective when
[00:20:19] Dahna Borg: I love that. I have the Lightroom app on my phone just for editing day to day photos and it’s so easy to use. It’s lovely.
[00:20:26] Paige Noelle: It really is so easy to use.
[00:20:27] Dahna Borg: And it’s not very expensive. Lovely. So obviously if people moved on from DIYing and they want to get help, what do you need to ask someone to know whether they’re a good fit?
[00:20:36] How do you know that the person that you’re hiring sees your vision, gets your mood board? I know that they talk a lot about it with wedding photographers, that you’ve got to find the wedding photographer that likes your style, not try and convince them to do light and airy when they do. Moody and contrasty.
[00:20:52] So with product photography, is there like a similar sort of vibe? How does that work?
[00:20:57] Paige Noelle: Spot on. Again, like hairdressers, you wouldn’t go to a barber for a formal update. They could do it if that you really wanted them to, but it’s not going to be as good as someone who really specializes in that. So definitely take your time and look at people’s work. What are they posting on their Instagram?
[00:21:19] Some of the time though, some product photographers don’t post too much on Instagram because they’re more making things for their clients, but just asking them to provide a portfolio or to look at what they have on their website. And just feeling them out in the email. Think, is this person really easy to talk to?
[00:21:38] Have they answered my questions really easily? Or am I having to go back and have to ask them again to clarify something? And yeah, you’re really spot on there working with photographer that matches your aesthetic and your product’s aesthetic rather than trying to make them do a different style is really going to work because with, creatives, you kind of give them what you ideally would like, and then some space to also create.
[00:22:06] Because every product photographer that I’ve met, ever worked with all, we want is to create beautiful imagery for you. Definitely. So yeah, finding someone that you feel really comfortable with, I think is going to be really important.
[00:22:19] Dahna Borg: I think that’s just good business advice. Like we’d all be happier if we worked with people that we got along with.
[00:22:24] Paige Noelle: Yeah, definitely.
[00:22:26] Dahna Borg: I think that’s great advice. I just know that I obviously don’t have a product based business, but shooting branding photos and things like I really like light and airy. I know that works really well with my branding and it’s just what I like.
[00:22:38] And it’s just finding the photographer that does. Light and airy. If you want super stylized, contrasty, lots of props, kind of product photography, you need to find someone who does that. If you want really lovely light and airy lifestyle photos, you’ve got to find someone that does that. I know a lot of people struggle.
[00:22:57] I’ve had some jewelry clients in the past where they really struggle with like the micro
[00:23:01] Paige Noelle: Oh, okay.
[00:23:02] Dahna Borg: So again, I think if you’re looking for someone to do really micro photos, it’s called macro photography, not micro photography. Yeah. If you’re looking for that, you need to find someone who specializes in that.
[00:23:13] Paige Noelle: Yeah. And for example, so I specialize in the lifestyle and stylized but not e commerce. Um, So, I wouldn’t want to take on a client who just needs their e commerce shop.
[00:23:26] Dahna Borg: Your photos are so fun
[00:23:27] Paige Noelle: but then there’s other photographers who I know who just love it, who live for that macro photography and getting everything really just crystal clear. And they’re just doing a hundred products a day and they are in heaven.
[00:23:42] Dahna Borg: Yeah.
[00:23:42] Paige Noelle: I love to, build sets and create props and, shooting beautiful location homes and create that magic that way. Yeah.
[00:23:52] Dahna Borg: which is my preference. Cause it’s just fun. And your photos are stunning. I had a. Stalky stalk before we chatted, of course.
[00:23:58] Paige Noelle: I love this store. This
[00:24:01] Dahna: Ready to dive into Facebook ads, but you only have a small budget and aren’t really sure where to start. We have a free five day email challenge that I would love to have you join us on. All you have to do is head to sprint S P R I N T dot bright red marketing.com.au And you will get five days of really actionable insights into making sure that you make the most out of your Facebook ads. Make sure that you’re profitable. And I share with you how to make my absolute favorite ads of all time. So. Let’s get back to today’s episode.
[00:24:32] Dahna Borg: you’ve DIY’d or you’ve paid someone, do you have any like top secret tips on how to make the most out of your photos? Cause I feel like a lot of people get a shoot, they post the photo once on socials, upload it to your website and they’re like,
[00:24:46] Paige Noelle: is one of my favorite things to talk
[00:24:48] Dahna Borg: what do I do now?
[00:24:49] Paige Noelle: So again, living in the time that we do now and the technology that we have access to is just the best. So I Canva. Kind of New. I do love it as much as I love it. Canva is
[00:25:04] Dahna Borg: Yes. Canva’s fantastic.
[00:25:06] I feel like Canva has a place, though. I feel like some people just put too much trust in Canva, and you can tell when someone has just relied on Canva, and then everything looks Canva. Yeah. But Canva itself is fantastic, if
[00:25:21] Paige Noelle: Yes, no, I totally agree. The templates are really fantastic, but if you rely on them too much and just swap out the image and put your product there, but you’re leaving the font and you’re leaving the background color, it’s like, Oh no, no, no, no, that’s not you. So yeah, use it as a guide, but yeah, but definitely tweak it.
[00:25:40] But the way I like to use Canva to get quick wins there’s a few different ways. The first one is to correct your deep edge imagery. So deep etch is another really important type of product photo you need to have in your photo library. So all it is the background is completely removed. So your product is just floating there.
[00:26:00] You can use it in a few different places. So you can use these the main one where I started out, so I started out as a stylist in editorial magazines. So I’d put together, the Christmas gift guide and trends pages and all that kind of thing. And I would always be on the hunt for new products to include in those pages.
[00:26:18] And we always needed to have The deep edge of the product, when you open a magazine or even on a website and there’s this month’s trending colors are marble and copper, and then there’s 10 products circling that all just floating on the page. That’s deep edge. So you can use Canva to do that.
[00:26:38] Just upload your image to BG background remover. And there you go. So when you have a spare moment in your day, just going through some of the product photos that you already have, do you bet your products out of them and save them away for when the magazines call you up another way to use deep edge imagery, especially coming into Christmas time.
[00:26:57] If you’re going to collaborate with other business owners, other product based business owners to run like a Christmas competition, we can win all the products. Get everyone to send one person their deep edge imagery, pop it all together on a page on Canva, add a background. Done. There you go. You’ve got your Christmas competition imagery ready.
[00:27:20] So if that’s imagery you already have, there’s lots more to do there, but I could talk for hours. But when you are creating imagery to begin with, if you spent the time to create a scene, milk it for all it is worth. So don’t just take one photo one way, shoot portrait, shoot landscape, move the products around, create square.
[00:27:43] Move the products all the way over to one side, leave blank space, shoot it like that as landscape. That way you can add text on it for your website. Remove props, add props. And my biggest tip, brrrring drumroll, is whenever you are creating your product photography, anytime throughout the year, have a little box beside you ready to go with some Christmas props, some Valentine’s props.
[00:28:08] Summer, spring, winter, anything you can think of throughout the year. And just when you finish everything, go Christmas bauble. Click. Halloween pumpkin. Click. Love heart confetti. Click. And then future you will thank you so much when it comes to this time of year and you already have started building your Christmas product photography catalogue.
[00:28:30] Dahna Borg: I love that. It’s like batch content creating your product photography. Like you’re already doing it. You may as well just throw a pumpkin in there and a Santa hat while you’re at it.
[00:28:40] Paige Noelle: Exactly.
[00:28:42] Dahna Borg: Clever. Now you’ve touched on this topic of a photo library a couple of times. Can you explain to us how you create the photo library?
[00:28:51] How you’re using the photo library? Just give us the rundown.
[00:28:54] Paige Noelle: So that really is the ultimate goal. If you have a product business, having a product library is. The dream. So that means whenever you need product photos, you never left for that feeling of, Oh my gosh, where is it? I don’t have anything. You have it there. So really all it is is a file on your computer or a separate album on your phone.
[00:29:15]And that is where you store the imagery in those three different sections. So lifestyle stylized and classic e commerce.
[00:29:24] hOw good would that be? You’re like, I need something.
[00:29:27] Dahna Borg: lovely. Lovely. Thank you. Perfect. So it’s just a system really of having all of the different kind of photos. You never going, Oh, I don’t have any photos to post today that there’s always something in there.
[00:29:36] Paige Noelle: exactly.
[00:29:37] Dahna Borg: Amazing. Do you think we’ve missed anything before we wrap up to the last couple of questions? I feel like we’ve covered a lot, but there’s always more to talk about.
[00:29:44] Paige Noelle: . I think
[00:29:46] Dahna Borg: Alrighty. What would be your best e commerce tips for those listening? If you had to like narrow it down to like one best e commerce tip.
[00:29:54] Paige Noelle: My best e commerce tip. I’m going to stick with the Christmas theme and say, all you need when you’re creating a Christmas imagery is just Christmas. A sprinkle of Christmas, just a sprinkle.
[00:30:06] Dahna Borg: You don’t need an avalanche of Christmas. Just a
[00:30:09] Paige Noelle: Yes, exactly. For two reasons. Don’t overwhelm yourself thinking you need to create the North Pole in your living room and Shoot your products in there.
[00:30:20] You don’t need to do that All you really need to do yet is have your product on a nice clean background Perhaps you put it on a little plinth which can just be a little box That you painted to match the background your product and a gorgeous little Christmas bauble next to it
[00:30:36] Dahna Borg: So
[00:30:36] Paige Noelle: all you need so simple so elegant your product is the star People aren’t visually overwhelmed, which can happen a lot this time of year.
[00:30:47] There’s so much coming at people.
[00:30:50] the calm amongst the visual storm, then you’re actually going to stand out.
[00:30:55] Dahna Borg: I love that. I actually wrote a newsletter about something similar around, like if everyone’s going completely nuts for Christmas, everything just starts to look the same. And the Christmas becomes the focus, not. The product. So I really liked that. Like just a little bubble.
[00:31:12] Paige Noelle: Yeah.
[00:31:13] Dahna Borg: In my head, I’m picturing cat Santa hats on product boxes.
[00:31:17] That might be too much.
[00:31:18]
[00:31:19] Dahna Borg: I’ve got one for my cat. He’s adorable. He
[00:31:21] Paige Noelle: my God. Oh, I’d love to see that. But as well, like you were saying, a lot of people often focus on The event of Christmas at this time of year, but if your product kind of doesn’t really fit in that, expand your thinking to not just the Christmas event, but the season.
[00:31:39] And what are other people doing throughout this season, here in Australia, of course, it’s all about summer holidays, and end of year parties, school is breaking up people are traveling. So think about, yeah, the whole season.
[00:31:54] Dahna Borg: have to be Santa hats and tinsel and baubles. It can be going to the beach, holidays, summer, sand. I love that. And then you’ve got more longevity too. You haven’t created a whole bunch of photos for essentially one day. You’ve created photos for the next three months.
[00:32:11] Paige Noelle: Exactly.
[00:32:12] Dahna Borg: I love that. I’m going to get into the last couple of questions we ask everyone, do you have any strategies or habits that you follow each day to help you stay on track in business?
[00:32:21] Paige Noelle: Oh depends on the day. I would love to say,
[00:32:25] I get up for my kids.
[00:32:26] Get up at 5am, kids are up at 6, write in my journal, but no, I do, if I can get up before the kids, I’ve got three little ones and just take a moment and get everything out of my head, I love journaling, it’s my thing I always do, and just getting everything out of my head and into a list, I instantly feel better, and Eating the frog.
[00:32:47] Have you heard of that analogy?
[00:32:48] Dahna Borg: I’ve read the book.
[00:32:49] Paige Noelle: Oh, I’ve always, I make myself eat the frog and then I feel so good. I get some pat on the back and then everything else at once.
[00:32:56] Dahna Borg: Can you explain eating the frog to everyone who now thinks we’re completely insane?
[00:33:00] Paige Noelle: does sound crazy. Yeah. Eating the frog. What am I talking about?
[00:33:04] eating the frog is doing the biggest thing on your task that you really don’t want to do, but it’s going to move the needle the furthest. Do it at the very beginning and then it’s done and I find it myself that often it doesn’t take as long as I thought it would take.
[00:33:20] Dahna Borg: Never does. Never does. I once put something off for three weeks and it took 10 minutes.
[00:33:24] Paige Noelle: I’ve put off things for a year and it’s
[00:33:27] Dahna Borg: I Don’t know why he called it eating the frog though. Cause I feel like there are. Like it’s just such a strange concept, but I know exactly what you’re talking about. Lovely. Do you have a favorite podcast?
[00:33:37] Paige Noelle: I have so many podcasts. I’m not including yours, which is absolutely fabulous.
[00:33:42] Dahna Borg: Thank you.
[00:33:43] Paige Noelle: What is my favorite podcast at the moment?
[00:33:46] Dahna Borg: We’ll do a top three if you have a lot.
[00:33:48] Paige Noelle: I do.
[00:33:49] Dahna Borg: This is an entirely selfish question. I just like knowing what everyone else is listening to.
[00:33:53] Paige Noelle: Okay. Let me see. Okay. All right. My three top favorite podcasts are the Lease and Sarah Show, so L I S E, and Sarah. My cheeks hurt after listening to that is these two amazing Brisbane mums. They used to have their own radio show, but now they have a podcast and they’re just so funny and smart and relatable.
[00:34:17] And I’m, I have massive girl crushes on them.
[00:34:20] Dahna Borg: Love it.
[00:34:21] Paige Noelle: The next one is the Rise and Conquer podcast. Georgie Stevenson,
[00:34:26] Dahna Borg: Very nice.
[00:34:27] Paige Noelle: Gold Coast girl. I love her. I love listening to all her stories. And my other favorite one is we don’t have time for this.
[00:34:33] Dahna Borg: I haven’t heard of that one.
[00:34:34] Paige Noelle: So good. That’s another two moms on the Northern beach of Sydney and just talking about hilarious things.
[00:34:41] I saw their live podcast recording a little while ago at the tower house in Brisbane.
[00:34:46] But then I need to give you some business ones well, I do love the diary of a CEO.
[00:34:51] Dahna Borg: Yes. Okay. A couple of people have mentioned that one over the time, so good to know.
[00:34:55] We’ll take a top four. Anyone listening to this likes podcasts and we’re always keen for new podcast episodes to. listen to.
[00:35:03] Do you have a favorite business book?
[00:35:04] Paige Noelle: Oh, my gosh. And again, I love them. And I read too many of them. What would be my favorite one? Oh Oh, F your finances.
[00:35:14] Dahna Borg: Nice thank you for self censoring. So I don’t have to tell Apple that they were
[00:35:17] swearing in this episode.
[00:35:18] Paige Noelle: She’s so fun. And her name is Mel Brown. Yes. Mel Brown money. She’s a money expert. So she’s an ex financial advisor and just the way she puts it together with running your business and organizing things.
[00:35:33] It’s just super relatable and easy to read. And like you can tell by the title, she’s really fun and she makes it fun.
[00:35:40] Dahna Borg: gets stressful, so it’s nice to have some fun and relatability in there. So I love that. And if you’ve obviously got a couple of different ways that people can work with you, can you give us a little bit of the rundown on the different ways people can work with you and how they can best find you?
[00:35:53] Paige Noelle: Yeah, you can always find me on my Insta, which is @paigenoellestylist but I have a few ways you can work with me. Actually at the moment I’ve got a free yearly planner. So just head to my website, paigenoelle.com.au forward slash planner. I always feel like I sound like a news reader when I say that. And it’s just yeah, a year of content ideas to help you get started and to make your product photos. So there’s that one. I have my signature course, which is the product photography playbook, where I teach business owners how to create their own product photos using just the sun and their smartphones.
[00:36:29] Dahna Borg: Fantastic.
[00:36:30] Paige Noelle: And the other really fun way is I do image audits and image coaching. So if you’re not ready to dive into hiring a product photographer or dive into the course, I can do a one on one with you, go through all your imagery on your, wherever there’s a touch point with your customers. So social, Instagram, anywhere, website, and I give you my advice, a full mood board, and I just obsess over you and your product.
[00:36:54] Dahna Borg: That’s amazing. Thank you so much for joining us. I’m sure a few people will at least come and check you out and see what you’re up to. Cause again, the photos that you have taken are amazing. And your Instagram is very helpful. Even just for me who doesn’t do product photography, there’s some really great tips on there.
[00:37:08] So hopefully lots of people go follow you, but thank you so much for joining us. It’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show.
[00:37:13] Paige Noelle: thank you so much for having me. That was such a fun chat. I loved it.
[00:37:16] Dahna: Thanks for listening to the bright minds of e-commerce podcast. As always you’ll find the show notes@brightredmarketing.com.edu forward slash episode 52 thanks for listening.
