How To Create a Head Shot for Social Media

How to get the best head shot for your business

Part 1

Ok, first here is your home work.  Go onto Linkedin and look at the first forty headshots you see. Can you tell if it was a professional head shot or a taken by someone in the office?  Or worse, was it a selfie taken with a phone?  If it was taken by someone in the office or a selfie, how good is it?  How many have some funky coloring, like yellowish or blue or green?  How many have a window behind them that is really bright and their face is kind of dark?  How many with a messy office or a blank wall?  I could go on and on.   What does it tell you about the person you have never met and what does it say about their business?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression !!!!

So now take a look at your head shot.  What does it say about you?  Not many people really think about it. And, if they have one done, they are just glad to have it over with. Even if it is not sending the right message.  Here is what most people say,  sure that will work.  But will it?

Here are some questions I ask when I speak with a prospective client.

What do you do?

What is the image you want to project?

What do you want a client to feel when they look at your picture?

How will this picture be used?

Let’s take a look at two very good headshots and ask these questions

Things I pick up from the above image versus the bottom image.  First, the top is more casual.  For three reasons, one the smile has less energy than the bottom picture.  You can see this in the eyes and in the mouth.  Two the head is tilted slightly vs. strait up and down.  Three the collar is unbuttoned with no tie.

So which portrait is better?  I guess that would depend on what you do and how much you want to read into it.  Who would it be easier to talk to?  Who is smarter?  Who is more professional?  Who cares more about helping you?

If you can answer any of the above questions about the two pictures, you may have just understood my point.  That is, that your business portrait will speak to people about you.  And that you and I can create an image for your clients that will send the message you want them to hear.

Is this a good head shot?

Not if you are a lawyer, an accountant, a detective or a bus driver.  But, if you are an artist…ya, it works well.  Let’s look at the next head shot.

Same person different look and feel.  Could you believe she is childrens book author?  If you do, your right.  However, she is also a very prominent artist in Southern Maine.

This image is again, the amazing Danie, but as an entrepreneur.  She has owned a couple of restaurants and written cook books.  Each Portrait has a different look and feel to it.  Each appropriate for the message that needs to be sent.  This is one of the secrets to a good business portrait.