The Importance of a Professional Headshot
You’re probably here because you’re on the fence about getting a headshot, or you simply want to learn more. I understand, I’m the kind of person that does his research before purchasing ANYTHING. I like to get things done right the first time and I want that purchase to last a while. I imagine that you are the same way. That said, I wouldn’t create a business if I didn’t think it would provide immediate, long-lasting value for my clients.
That old headshot of yours
Most of my clients come in and tell me that their headshot is dreadfully out-dated. The thought of that makes me CRINGE. There’s a great possibility that you’re missing out on opportunity, being over-looked and outshined by other people because of your poor quality, outdated headshot. Unless you have a strong network of personal referrals, attracting new clients is nearly impossible without having outstanding imagery that displays professionalism, character and quality.
Think Slicing
I recently read a fantastic article on LinkedIn titled “The Importance of a Professional Headshot”. What jumped out to me was an excerpt explaining the psychological term “think slicing”. It’s safe to say most of us inherently understand the concept but have never heard the term. In summary, within a few seconds of meeting someone (or seeing a picture of them), people create immediate, long-lasting judgments about them based on their appearance. They’ll decide everything from intelligence, social status, professional status, and sexual orientation. Frankly, this immediate judgment is difficult to override.
This has profound implications for your online presence, REGARDLESS of which field you work in. Being in LA, you’d think I’d be communicating to the ambitious ones, the people who have major career aspirations, but you’d be foolish to believe that those are the only people that this applies to. Throughout my career before embarking on my Photography journey, I worked incredibly blue-collar engineering jobs in the Northeast. I NEVER interviewed for a job and didn’t get it. In fact, for a majority of my work, I had potential employers calling me.
Job seekers, your online presence means more than you think.
Why am I selfishly bringing this up? In the article “Job Applicant, Beware: You’re Being Googled” the author Allan Hoffman states 77% of job recruiters use search engines. Honestly, this is a well-known fact. The premise of one of the most famous books on job hunting “What Color Is Your Parachute? states that your online presence is dramatically more important for the prospects of you landing your next job than you think. This applies to everybody; if you have a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you have an online presence. Even if those pages are private, your picture is going to be the ONLY thing showing up.
Professionalism, Personality and Branding
The good news; you don’t have to be massively attractive for this to work (trust me, I’m not). The goal of your headshot is to show professionalism, personality, and your brand if that’s applicable. A professional headshot shows that you care. A prospective employer will translate that as “better work ethic, better accountability”. If you work in a more creative field, this is your opportunity to stand out. Show your prospective employer or fan base who you are with no words spoken. This has massive appeal and will help you attract the ideal clients or employers. Having a consistent brand and imagery across the web is extremely important. You need to be recognizable and this starts by having quality, consistent images. When I took my own headshot, the feedback was incredible. I had so many people NOTICE what I was doing. I heard comments like “wow, that was a great shot of you”, “that really fit your personality”, “I love what you did there”. Being noticed is the beginning of any successful initiative.
A Good Headshot vs a Bad Headshot
It’s very easy to take a headshot that DOESN’T work for you. This typically happens when people under budget your headshot session. Here are the most common issues that people run into that lead to BAD headshots.
They under budget: yes, you can probably find someone to take your headshot for $100 or so. You’ll NEVER get the results that you want at that price. At the $100 price point, there’s NO WAY that the person is an actual photographer. They would never make enough money to pay for a studio, pay for insurance, pay taxes, pay for equipment, or pay for retouching. If they are bringing in a ton of volume, I still don’t buy it because they’ll never have TIME for education to improve their product, time for retouching, time to tailor each session to their customer, time to build a rapport with their customer and time to learn industry trends and keep up with what’s relevant. The mantra, “you get what you pay for” absolutely applies to photography.
They don’t pick the right photographer for them: picking an expensive photographer also does not always bring amazing results. You need to seriously examine their work to decide if how they photograph fits your personality and style. For instance: do you want bright colors, bright lights, dynamic posing, or so you want something more modern, clean, and slick? It would be best if you studied how your perspective photographer shoots. You need to seriously think about the application of your photos to determine what works best for you. Before each shoot, I have a consultation call to discuss all of these variables. If your photographer is not willing to do that, I’d be concerned.
They don’t prepare: a photographer can work magic with lighting, but we need a little bit of help. The clothes you bring to the shoot can truly make or break an image. You need to make sure your hair and makeup is solid if you’re not hiring professionals to do that job. Yes, we can fix hair and makeup in Photoshop, but we can’t undo bad hair and bad makeup without it looking fake and digital.
A GOOD headshot happens when the following happens.
The client budgets appropriately and finds a photographer that fits their style
The photographer is able to guide the client on wardrobe, hair, and makeup
The client and photographer have great rapport and the images have extra energy to it because of that
The photographer understands industry trends and can create an image that is clean, modern and relevant.
The headshot has a useful application for the client. For instance, if the client is an executive of a company, it conveys professionalism, quality and power (if applicable to their leadership style)
An experience in front of the camera
I’ve found that my sessions are more than an experience where people get their picture taken. This is an experience where people learn about themselves gain confidence and appear engaging and approachable. I don’t always love using the word “attractive” because I don’t think that’s a proper goal. Attractiveness is subjective and determined by way more variables than looks. You want to be confident, engaging, exciting and dynamic. I’m able to teach these things to my clients in front of the camera. This is a learning experience, and my clients get progressively better a being in front of the camera during the shoot. Typically people say, “I don’t look good in front of the camera” or “I hate the way I look in pictures”. However, these people have also typically never had a professional take their image. They’ve never had professional lighting set up for them nor have they been giving guidance on how to position themselves for a photograph. My sessions have an empowering effect for the client that goes way beyond the images that they receive.
Expect the unexpected
In this age, you NEED a headshot at all times. I’ve had countless clients come to be in a frantic rush because they need a picture for a magazine or press release. Imagine being in the newspaper or on Forbes and you DON’T EVEN have a good photograph of yourself. This is why cheap pictures don’t cut it, you need brilliant imagery to display yourself or you risk undermining your cause. The delivery will always be off if you can’t supplement your brand or product without the proper pictures. You don’t know when you’'ll need to utilize your headshot nor do you know how many different photographs you require of yourself. You want to be proactive in having a wide array of quality images of yourself for multiple needs.
Closing
I love what I do, and it has been an honor to be a part of seeing people grow their careers. I’ve worked with COUNTLESS people who’ve worked with me and ended up thriving after our sessions. These people succeed because they have a great mindset and are constantly curating their presence in the modern work environment. A quality headshot that works for you and conveys your personality is a requirement, and so many people put this off. Are you one of those people? Do you have a quality headshot, or do you have a go-to picture that kind of does the job? If you’re hear, I’m betting its the latter. You can always give me a call to discuss your needs. I’d be happy to talk!
-matt
