What makes you hire someone or buy their product? When you’re weighing all the options and making your final selection, I would venture to guess that a personal relationship, trustworthiness, a stellar recommendation and personality are the things that stand out when hiring someone for their services.

With so many businesses to search through on the web or through social media, you need to make sure that you stand out from the competition. And what makes you unique? “YOU” of course! Customers, especially ones that will be working with you for awhile or on a regular basis want to hire someone who meshes with their personality, gets their style, is highly creative and skilled at their job.

So really what you’re selling is YOU! Showing the person behind the business, your passion for what you do as well as your personality is so important for your website and social media. You want to draw clients in before they even talk to you and give them a feel for what you’re about.

How do you do that? Imagery. Head shots. Photos of you at work showing your personality and style. Images of you in your restaurant, shop or studio. There are so many reasons to have photos of yourself for clients to see, but below I’ve listed my Top 5 Reasons Updated Head Shots are a must for your business:

ONLINE/REMOTE BUSINESS

Many businesses operate and market themselves online such as coaches & online shops. You may only email with someone, at least at first, so you want to put yourself out there to sell your skills or show your passion behind what you sell since you can’t meet in person. Head Shots are a great way to “introduce” yourself to online customers so they get to know you and so they gain your trust. They can also learn more about your experience, personality and style so that they can gain confidence in you before moving forward with a meeting or phone call.

SHOW THAT YOU’RE A TEAM

I often sell prints to my clients and order them online, directly through software that magically sends them via the internet to my lab and then the prints show up on my doorstep a day or two later. But the part that I’m missing is the real art of creating the prints and what it takes to make them. Often my lab sends out emails throughout the year, showing behind the scenes in their production warehouse and employees working to print orders, pack and ship them out.

It always reminds me that there are real humans who take great care with my work and make sure that my prints are the best quality possible. They take the time to package them nicely and ship them to me very quickly. Just seeing the images of their team working and their big group photo tells me that they care and shows me that I have an army behind me helping me do my job as well. I’d much rather see an image of the entire staff as a group than just the owner of the company so be sure to show your entire team and the effort they put forth to serve your clients.

COMMUNICATE YOUR STYLE

The biggest part of planning any brand shoot or head shot session with my clients is not their wardrobe or hair & makeup. It’s location, location, location! The background of your image is just as important as the subject being photographed and can communicate so much about your personality and your style. Are you a minimalist and prefer white/neutrals? Or maybe you’re an artist or a painter – show your studio space and where you work. If you’re a coach, maybe you’re on the go and working remotely – show the places you work in and communicate your commitment to your clients by the fact that you work anywhere. If you’re a designer, show your office or your latest design project that also shows not only YOU in the space, but also the type of work you do. This is one of the most important components of planning a photo session and communicating your brand through imagery.

SHOW WHAT YOU DO

Go behind the scenes and show potential clients into your world and your process. People want to see how and why you create and are more likely to buy your product or service if they get a glimpse into your craft. These types of images also remind people that there is a human behind the art or service that you sell that takes great care with their work and spends countless hours creating. If you’re an artist or maker, showing that something is handmade, intricate or time-consuming immediately increases its value and therefore will get people to buy.

GET SOCIAL!

As a photographer, I have thousands and thousands of photos that I’ve created that I can post on social media whenever I want. Out of all the images I post on Instagram, do you know which images get the highest engagement? Photos of ME! Can you believe it?

I would have never guessed it myself, but people want to see me and get to know me as an artist. They want to see my personality and know what I like to do in my free time. You see, it’s not just about my images when clients hire me – it’s also about my personality, how I can relate to them and how comfortable I can make them feel. They want to know that our personalities and styles jive and what a better way for them to get to know me than posting images of myself.

For that reason, I get new head shots taken at least yearly so that I keep them fresh and have new content to post on social, update my website with and use for emails and other marketing.

TYPES OF BUSINESSES THAT BENEFIT FROM NEW AND UPDATED HEAD SHOTS OR TEAM PHOTOS:

Artists, Florists, Fitness / Yoga / Wellness, Wedding & Event Professionals, Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Small Businesses, Consultants, Coaches, Mixologists, Graphic Designers, Craftsmen, Makers, Chefs, Bloggers, Interior Designers, Creators, Realtors, Shop Owners

Are you already envisioning new images of yourself? I bet you have already thought of the type of environment that would speak to your brand or what clothing would be best for you.

Take the next step and contact me today HERE to learn more about my Headshot and Brand Photography Packages and book your complimentary consultation call!

You can also see more of my Brand Photography & Lifestyle work on my website HERE.

Ciao!