1 photographer, 2 brands, 2 examples for personal branding

A really cool website project I was part of in 2026 was for a photographer who needed to update his website for B2B customers – and also wanted a new onepager for B2C customers. Smartshots and the new brand Smartshots People are brilliant examples for personal branding and how website copy and designs change when the target audience changes. This article is something you won’t see often: a comparative case study! 🥳

In 2023, I was part of the team who created a website for the business photographer Patrick Hofer and his personal brand Smartshots – and in 2026 it was time for an update: what used to be four offers are now two, Patrick as a photographer got more self-confident in how he works with his clients and he niched down on some parts of his target audience as well as his services.

In addition, Patrick started working with B2C customers and he now wanted a onepager advertising his services for this new target audience. For this second personal brand, we wanted to show the connection to Smartshots, but it also had to work as an individual brand: Smartshots People was born.

Personality as the common denominator

What makes Patrick’s approach to photography unique – both, for bis business customers and people who book him for a shooting privately – is one factor: personality!

In the B2B context, this means when a company hires him, they can be sure thatthe pictures follow a concept that’s adapted to each individual customer. They show the company authentically and give their customers a feeling for this company and its people. His goal is always to capture the passion that helps his B2B customers get out of bed each morning – and show the people working at a company how they really are, approachable and open.

In every photo he takes, he follows his motto that in times like these, when we’re flooded with AI images, real people matter more than ever. And not just in front of the lens, but also behind the scenes of the shooting. 😉

You might be wondering how this theme of personality translates to the new brand, Smartshots People, right? It’s simple, really: spotlight on YOU! Whatever it is you want to capture in your shooting, Patrick is up for it. Since he finds “normal” boring, his offer specifically targets people who want to celebrate what makes them unique.

Whether that’s wild and flashy, or quiet and subdued, doesn’t matter – Patrick knows that each and every one of us has something that makes them unique. And he wants to make this uniqueness visible.

Personal branding website examples: Smartshots & Smartshots People

Obviously, there’s many aspects we could focus on for these two examples for personal branding websites. Since I was responsible for the copywriting, though, I want to draw your attention to how a brand’s personality and its target audience change the branding and more specifically the website copy.

To illustrate that, we’ll have a look at various copy examples taken from both websites: we’ll have a look at the texts and discuss why certain decisions have been made. But before that, I want to give you a quick overview over Smartshots and Smartshots People.

Personal branding website example #1: the hero

On both websites, the home page of Smartshots as well as the the onepager of Smartshots People, the hero shows how text and design can work together to become more than the sum of their parts.

The H1 here reads “For business photos that work for you” and we’ve highlighted the “dir” (you) in one of the brand colours. This communicates two things to website visitors: 1) a certain laid-back playfulness of the brand, and 2) a subtle focus on the reader, paired with an intrinsic reference to the individuality that’s at the heart of everything Smartshots does.

At the same time, both copy and design have a certain calmness to them – they aren’t flashy, but feel professional and create a relaxed, creative vibe.

In the hero of the personal brand website for Smarthots People, we also use colour to highlight certain words and create the right feeling: in the example below, you can see that while the brand colours are based on Smartshots’ branding, a few adjustments have been made to make it more colourful and lively. What would’ve been too playful for the B2B sector, creates the exact feeling we want in the B2C sector: creative, unique, and focused on individuality.

The H1 for Smartshots People reads “Photos that celebrate you and what makes you unique”, with certain words highlighted to create a focus on the reader, telling them it’s all about them.

As a general rule, we can say that with Smartshots People, everything is a little more: more colour, more edges, more Patrick.

Since the target audience are people who like it when things are a little different, that’s exactly the feeling we wanted to create with this personal branding website: it’s confidently different and therefore speaks to people who are just that.

Personal branding website example #2: the offers

When describing the offers for a B2B audience on Smartshots’ home page, we consciously chose clarity over uniqueness. As an example for website copy, these texts are nothing special – but what they are is crystal-clear. There’s no doubt in the readers’ minds about what they’re looking at, and that was our priority in this case.

Of course, we could’ve been creative here, chosen funny body copy that’s all about Patrick’s personality. The question is, though: what would that mean for potential customers?

And the answer is: nothing really, except for a few question marks in their heads at a moment where they’d actually need answers.

By choosing clear, unambiguous communication here, we show customers that we value their time and want to make their lives easier, not harder. Given that these values are part of Smartshots’ brand identity and one of Patrick’s USP, that’s definitely the right choice! 🏅

For Smartshots People, however, we can have a little more fun with the copy and paint a picture in people’s heads. Even more so: it actually makes sense to be more punchy and engaging here to spark potential customer’s imagination for what their shooing could look like.

We introduce the section with the eyebrow “No matter the topic, as long as it’s you!” and chose the H2 “character portraits & home stories for each of your facets”. The H3s read “My studio in Alkoven is your stage” for the character portraits and “lifestyle home story at your place” for the even more personal home story shooting.

By giving lots of examples in the body copy, we want to inspire readers and make them think of their own shooting and what’s possible if they book Patrick. This entire section is fun and whimsical, and the colourful highlights in the text as well as the pictures help to create just the vibe we want for Smartshots People.

When introducing Smartshots People’s offers, we really wanted to tune into getting the right feeling across. Patrick’s rule for these shootings is “everything’s possible, but zero pressure” – which is why we kept the scope of these shootings as open as possible.

There are a few hard facts, yes, but the main focus here was definitely to let people know that Patrick is up for their ideas, whatever they are. While the part about home stories focuses on the very personal, emotional character of these shootings, there are no limits to your creativity with the studio shooting

Personal branding website example #3: statement about values & goals

Bold statements are a must for any brand that cares about personality – so obviously we needed these for Smartshots and Smartshots People. 💪 For the B2B brand Smartshots, we chose to use subheadings for our statements, but for Smartshots People, we wanted to let Patrick’s personality shine even more, so the B2C brand got its own statement section.

In the case of Smartshots, for examples. we chose a section of the home page to take a stance against AI and stock photos with the H2 “with me, you get authentic photos that stand out from AI and stock”, which just makes sense for a brand that’s all about personality, don’t you think? 😉

While some website visitors might be offended by this kind of statement if they’re AI fans, we wanted to make Patrick’s position clear – after all, people who’d rather have AI pics aren’t Patrick’s target audience.

It was a conscious decision to use this particular statement: it forms the target audience, manages expectations and proves that Patrick isn’t afraid to speak up.

This statement, just as the one we chose for Smartshots People, has a clear goal: show people who Patrick is as a photographer, what his values are, and what his personal brand stands for. After browsing his website and reading statements like this, companies know what to expect when they book Patrick for their business shooting.

To achieve a similar result for Smartshots People, we chose the following citation: “Every person has something that makes them different from the rest of the world. Let’s celebrate what makes you unique”. Just as the statement on the Smartshots People website, this statement is rooted in the topic of personality – but talks about it in a completely different way.

While AI and stock photos do provide value for businesses, they are usually completely irrelevant for people in their private lives. In most cases, we have a personal connection to the pictures we put on our walls, maybe they hold a treasured memory or show something that’s very personal to us.

And when somebody decides to book a photo shooting, they want to capture something very specific. That might be the fleeting moments of a pregnancy or the love a couple or two friends share. Maybe somebody is a real character and wants to show their flashy, whimsical side – or somebody finally accepted a (perceived) physical flaw and is ready to show themselves to the world without their masks.

Whatever it is people want to immortalize: Patrick loves to see people’s edges and vulnerabilities and celebrates each person just the way they are.

So, what can we learn from these two examples for personal branding websites for one and the same photographer?

One big problem I’ve noticed over the years when creating website copy for both, big companies and personal brands, is that everybody’s way too focused on themselves. I want X for my website. I want to show what I can do. Y makes sense to me.

And don’t get me wrong, I completely understand where that’s coming from – it’s my website, after all. But unfortunately, it leads to people forgetting their own target audience. And the fact that my website is actually for my target audience, not me. 😅

So, what does that mean?

Simply put: my branding, my web design, the way info is presented and literally everything else on my website has to be tailored to my target audience. I might not love every detail that’s on there, but as long as something works for my target audience, that’s just something we have website owners have to accept: My target audience is more important than me.

And that is exactly what the websites of Smartshots and Smartshots People show. The person behind these personal brands is the same. His values are the same. But how they are presented, how we communicate what he stands for and his general way of showing up changes with his target audience.

Patrick is always Patrick. But his personal brand identities change when his target audience does.

And isn’t that amazing? 🤩