Over the next 4 weeks, I am going to put out blogs that will be the definitive guide for you to get the absolute best headshots.  This is not written for photographers.  This is for Actors and Business professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone with a digital identity (which if you are reading this means you) to guide you through everything you need to know to ensure that the image part of your personal marketing puzzle is perfect.

The blogs will be:


Who Needs a Headshot and Why

About a year or so ago, I was considering hiring a marketing company. I went to one firm’s website and they had images of the team on the front page. Every single one of them looked stiff, with a fake smile, and like they would rather be ANYWHERE else. My first thought was, “If that is the image they are putting out for themselves, what are they going to be able to do for me?” I clicked the back button and now couldn’t even tell you the name of the firm.

Actors, you know why your headshots have to be amazing. You know that is going to be the first time many casting directors see your face. Not only should you have some printed and ready to go at all times, but they should be on your IMDB, your agent’s website, your website, Set as your profile picture on your social media (casting people do look there), Actors Access, and so on.

“…but what if I am not an actor?”

Non-actor headshots get called a lot of things: corporate headshots, professional headshots, business headshots, social media headshots. They’re all the same thing.

You’ve got a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and email account. Maybe a couple of others. Basically, you’ve got a ton of places online that you use to connect with people. Some of those people are family and friends and some may be clients, future clients, employees, influencers, and so on. I am going to call this your “digital identity”.
With that in mind, why would you want to make anything other than the best first impression?
Think about it. If your image didn’t matter in networking and social media, why would a site like LinkedIn even include a profile picture? You can list all your skills and your resume. People can endorse you.
However, LinkedIn has shown that when someone new visits your profile they spend 19% of their time on your profile image.

In the two weeks prior to writing this, I have done headshots for actors, doctors to be applying for residency positions and the application required a headshot, an entrepreneur getting ready for a public speaking event, several business professionals wanting to have a better social media presence, a headshot for someone’s online dating profile, and a new head of marketing at a large company in Louisville who was getting ready to push her department in a new direction. Every one of them said something to the effect of, “I want my image to show that I care about how I see myself and how I want the world to see me.”

A new client posted his new headshot on his Facebook profile. An event had come up where the marketing team needed a headshot from him quickly. On his Facebook post, he said, “Never in a million years did I think I’d need a headshot. But, alas…”

The simple fact is in a world that is being made smaller by social media and technology, People want to know you and they make a lot of decisions about you based off of an image before they meet you in person.
You have no idea what opportunity may spring up tomorrow that may need a fantastic image of you to market with.

I look forward to talking to you this week about your headshot session.