You know those images of desks with perfectly-placed items like a laptop, mug, a few pens, and maybe a pair of glasses? That, my friend, is a stock photograph, and that one simple image can make a world of difference for your brand.

Stock photography isn’t a new thing. You’ve probably seen tons of memes from popular older stock websites, such as the infamous Shutterstock, Alamy, and iStock, who are most recognizable by their watermark slapped across images. Any class presentation where you needed to Google image search for a photo representing something, you’ve run across some stock photography.

These days, though, that term has been recreated in a way. Photographers aren’t just shooting scenarios where the models are overly enthusiastic with their expressions anymore, they’re giving a new meaning to stock photography and, in turn, giving an amazing way for brands to add more flavor to their business.

But in what ways could you be using stock images to help your brand pop?

Today, we’ll be giving you some ideas for how you can use them in your business, and we show you some examples, too.

We even have 90 stock photos for you, so stay tuned for the end!

“Gaining clients” can be a foreign, uncomfortable phrase to most new service-based businesses.

It’s new territory– hell, a new world– trying to navigate how to gain clients. You almost feel like you’re missing out on something that everyone else knows except you.

The thing is, this isn’t like the krabby patty secret formula.

It doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’re finding that you aren’t getting any leads, what you could do is reevaluate what kind of first impression you’re giving, and it all starts with one thing:

Your client introduction packet.

When you set up a product-based business, you spend a lot of time thinking about the product itself. You’ll devote time to planning how to market and communicate it to potential customers. But often, packaging is last on the to-do list, because it’s seen as a practical way to protect and ship, and nothing more.

You've watched your friends, colleagues and competitors land guest blog posts, podcast and television interviews and features in your favorite magazines. (You know, places like The Huffington Post, Being Boss and, ahem, this here blog.) They’re getting featured and getting the chance to grow their audience, boost their revenue and earn the kind of credibility you crave.

You want to have that experience – and that success – too. So you jump straight to working on some pitches of your own and end up missing a crucial step in the process of getting featured. (Don’t worry – almost everyone does.)

Do you know how many online businesses there are today? About 1.2 bazillion* (*extreme hyperbole). Or at least, it feels that way, doesn’t it? There’s no doubt that the online business world is full to the brim, and more new businesses keep popping up every day.

With the glut of online businesses out there, you need a way to stand out and to connect with your potential clients and customers. You can’t simply say, “I’m a graphic designer” and have clients flock to you, because there are about 3.4 million* (*yep, hyperbole again) graphic designers out there.

So, what can you do about that? You can humanize your business through the very thing that you share all the time: your copywriting and content.

With the huge influx of new solo or small group entrepreneurs into the world, the realm of branding has shifted. Where “personal branding” used to refer to the act of dressing up your personality, packaging yourself as a commodity in order to climb the corporate ladder, it now means something very, very different. Now personal branding refers to bloggers, solo photographers, freelancers, and all kinds of entrepreneurs and how they market themselves and their products or services. Furthermore, as these talented and capable people begin to brand themselves, a trend of DIY personal branding has taken over the blogosphere and social media marketing genres.

There is nothing wrong with DIY branding, particularly in the creative sector. After all, branding is something many creatives learn by trade and doing it in-house can save a lot of upfront cash for a new or small business. However, there is an unfortunate downside to the the DIY approach, especially in today’s post Pinterest world. Too often creatives, bloggers, and infopreneurs build a brand from shallow trends in their niche. Driven by the time stresses of the #sidehustle, or the ever-present comparison game, they abandon the core concept of authenticity and originality in branding and clamor to make something, anything so that they can launch their endeavors and build their businesses.

Building a brand that’s authentic and that you love could be the difference between having a successful business and one that’s not. Why? Because having a brand that’s authentic means being more in tune with who you are and where your passions lie as well as the needs of your audience. When I started my business as a branding strategist and designer 10 years ago, I wasn’t authentic at all. I did what I thought I needed to do. I offered a limitless amount of services, I talked about everything that I did, and I left “me” out of the equation. As I progressed in my career, I came to realize that I was making a huge mistake that was basically limiting my success.

So, I made a shift in the way I communicated with my audience and with myself, understanding my passions and being unapologetic about doing what I love. Here are the five steps you should follow in order to build an authentic brand that you love.

Branded patterns are such a great way to make a statement with your visuals.

You can get some gorgeous patterns on Creative Market and Etsy, and Rachel from Haute Chocolate includes some gorgeous options in her monthly Graphics Pack.

Many of my website design clients aren't photographers, but they know they need great photos to make their website design pop. The trick isn't finding stock photography (it's all over the internet), but finding the right stock images and making them work for your website.  Here’s the thing: if you use the wrong images on your website, you’re going to run into problems.