6 reasons to update your current headshot
If you’re reading this, I bet you already know that having a scroll pausing headshot is vital to your success as a business owner. There are so many reasons why one should have their headshots taken, but its important to remember that having headshots taken is NOT a one time deal. As our business, appearance and energy evolves over the years, so must your headshot. The general rule is to have it updated every 1-2 years, but there are several reasons which may require you to do so sooner.
- YOUR HEADSHOT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE YOU~ Because your portrait is often the FIRST thing a client or colleague will see prior to meeting you, its important that it leaves them with a good impression. A good headshot should exude likability and most importantly TRUST. For this reason showing up to a meeting and not appearing similarly to the person who they’ve been corresponding with online can cause alarm. Its important to represent yourself authentically. YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE YOU! As we age, our appearance changes; our hair can turn gray or white, and the deep lines and wrinkles can set in making us look wiser that we are in our current headshot. Your look can also change in other noticeable ways. Perhaps you just lost or gained a lot of weight, or colored and restyled your hair dramatically? Maybe you started or stopped wearing glasses? If you’re not looking like your headshot, it can cause others to feel misled which is an awkward start to a meeting.
- YOU’RE NOT THE SAME PERSON YOU WERE ENERGETICALLY~ With the growth of your business can come spiritual growth. Maybe your hairstyle has stayed the same, and you feel like you mostly look similar…but there IS something that is different about you. Your emotional health and well being is noticeable in your headshots, in fact, your energy is actually radiating from them. If you’re feeling like you’ve had some major energy growth in the past few months, it may be a great time to redo your headshots so that you’re in alignment with your current self and business goals.
- YOUR PERSONAL BRANDING OR BUSINESS HAS CHANGED~ This is most often the call I get from an entrepreneur. They just rebranded and while they “look” the same. Their headshot just isn’t screaming out their new brand message very clearly. Maybe a wardrobe or higher end location change is needed to meet your newer upscale clientele’s marketing demands? Maybe you’re not working for the same type of client as you were before and so you need to tweak things a few notches. Having an awareness of what ideal client you’re currently trying to reach will help you achieve an updated look.
- YOU DONT LOVE YOUR CURRENT HEADSHOT~ Maybe you had a friend who takes decent photographs do one for you…or maybe you paid the amateur down the road $50 for something to get you by affordably for a while but its not what you envisioned it to be. Here’s the thing with that… if you’re not feeling absolutely proud to display that photo of yourself on social media, publications and websites, that type of down trodden energy can show up in your business in unwanted ways. (like not having the confidence to submit a workshop proposal for fear of rejection, or simply through feelings of inadequacy in general) You should not only LOVE your headshot, but you should feel confident and proud of it. You are amazing after all!
- YOUR HEADSHOT IS OUTDATED~ So maybe you look the same, you’re confident, you look incredible in your headshot, but its looking well…like its from a 90’s pharmacy banner at CVS. Trends change, those marbled gray backgrounds are a thing of the past, as are pixelated images that come from lower quality cameras. As image quality and technology improves, you need to stay up to date with it, to avoid the risk of looking dated. If you’re image is of noticeably lower quality than your colleagues and competitors, its time to LEVEL it up!
- YOUR HEADSHOT IS TOO DIFFERENT THAN YOUR COLLEAGUES~ Standing out is usually a great thing in a flock of sheep, but lets be honest, if you’ve got a bright blue backdrop headshot and all of your colleagues that are working on the same project are in front of a white or black backdrop, it doesn’t look consistent. This can reflect poorly on your organization as you’ll look, well, disorganized. As a larger company, your business employee headshots need consistency and be similar enough that you look like a TEAM, not just a bunch of random people.
If you could relate to any of the above scenarios, feel free to reach out and give me a call so I can help you to best represent yourself and your business in the most up to date, authentic way possible.
If you’re thinking, all the above was me? Well don’t delay! You can conveniently book an appointment online on my scheduling calendar.
If you left this feeling great about your current headshot, then AWESOME!!! You’re on top of it, in that case, put a reminder on your planner to check back in with yourself in a year. Thinking ahead and planning to pamper yourself with professional hair and makeup artistry and an updated wardrobe is a great way to show your potential clients that you’re fully invested in your business and believe in your self worth.