Recently, a client expressed to me her disappointment when I didn't do more retouching to her photo than I had. But the things she wanted to change gave me pause. To change these things would feel…dishonest.

Luckily, I already knew how I stand on the issue. But there was a time when I didn’t. Now by having a clearly defined sense of my business ethics, it was easy for me to respond accordingly. I knew exactly where the line was drawn.

If you’re a business owner, it’s a good idea to define your business ethics ahead of time… before you face pushback. Here’s how I decided how much photo editing is too much (for me), and what steps to take to define your own sense of ethics in your business.

You’ve booked your first brand photoshoot, or you've considered booking it, but you see we also provide hair and makeup. Unexpectedly, you start to feel concerned. You think you’d feel more comfortable doing your own hair and makeup or going to a makeup artist that you’ve visited before.

Can’t I just do it myself? Or go to Sephora? Why isn’t that the same thing?”

As it turns out there are actually some pretty scientific reasons why DIYing or getting outside help for your hair and makeup won’t be the best decision for your photoshoot, and five BIG reasons why you should just go ahead and trust your photographer’s team.

Like just about anyone else, I’ve been sucked into working with some businesses who portrayed a killer image on social media, only to realize that sacred truth once again: Instagram is not reality.

There were promises of a streamlined, detailed process and ongoing education happening for their followers. These businesses LOOK good. They SOUND good. But then when you start working with them, you realize their client experience is, well, lacking.

So I set out to study what mistakes they were making with their client experience and then used that information to do things differently in my own business. Here’s what I learned.

Maybe you think photos of yourself never turn out well (I have a way of helping you show up beautifully and naturally on camera). Or maybe you’re someone, like Monique here, who as she put it, “has never had proper photos taken”. Let’s embrace your inner goddess and let her shine so you can actually feel good about sending people to your website and really start making those bucks.