This series is for start-ups, budding entrepreneurs and small businesses. Most of my solutions are FREE or cost very little, so if you are on a tight budget, these suggestions are for you.
Also, if you have made any of these common mistakes, don’t worry! With each posting, I will tell you how to quickly and inexpensively fix the problem.
Common Mistake #3 – Bad Headshot or No Professional Photo
Years ago, before social media was all the rage, many business people did not have a professional photo taken of themselves. Now, having a good looking headshot is vitally important to your online business presence. (Also, if you enjoy participating in social media from a personal perspective, many of these tips apply as well.)
On business-related social sites such as LinkedIn, please use the best quality, most current professional photo possible. I see people with no photo, old pictures, poor lighting, unprofessional attire and busy backgrounds. Think of LinkedIn as an online resume where you want to look your absolute best in terms of content AND in terms of having a professional-looking photo.
If you have a facebook page for your business, please post professional pictures here. (If you have a personal facebook page that your business and professional contacts also see, please try to keep your pictures looking reasonably good and don’t post anything you would be embarrassed to show your Grandmother.)
If you use a headshot on your website, in your collateral materials, along with your news releases and with the articles you submit for publication, (again) please use the best quality, most current professional photo possible.
Ask around to find a good, reasonably priced photographer and make sure they will give you permission to use the images online. Occasionally, photographers run promotional packages on sites like Groupon where you can get a great package at a low price. I even noticed the photo studios in Target are offering professional headshot packages these days.
Another way to make the cost reasonable (per person) is to see if you can get a group deal for your office, group of friends, or members of an association by lining up a photographer to do headshots for multiple people during the same session. If you are totally strapped for cash, have a friend with a decent digital camera help you get the best picture possible. And, please don’t forget to smile!
If you found this article helpful, please be sure to check out my entire series on Marketing Mistakes to Avoid and How to Fix Them and also read my series on Free Marketing Tools!
As a professional photographer, I strongly second this article! Fuzzy photos, photos of you so backlit that your face is too dark to see, group shots where I don’t know which one is you, none of these are suitable for your professional image. Would you go to a job interview or a sales presentation looking like you do in your photo? That’s how your photo is presenting you to the world – make it a good first impression.
Thanks for the comments! I have seen your photography, and it is great. If you ever want to offer a headshot package, I will be happy to share the info on my Blog and via my social networks, as well. Just let me know! Thanks! Good photography isn’t expensive, it is priceless!
With the trends moving towards quality of content (content includes photos), we highly recommend for all of our clients to have high quality images on their site. Typically, if a client is not willing to pay for high quality photography on their website, it is an indicator of their perceptions of what is important.
Great blog post Lori!
from the team at http://www.heystac.com
Thanks for taking the time to read the post and respond! You guys do great work and are “experts” on this topic from a web design perspective, so positive feeback from you is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
There’s no excuse for not having a headshot these days. You can get a pretty good headshot for next to nothing if you look hard enough for a deal. I can’t stand when someone tries to add me on linkedin and they don’t have a real headshot. Instead, they’ve got their significant other cropped out of a photo someone took with their cell phone at a wedding. It’s just not acceptable these days. This is your personal branding we’re talking about here. Great article. Seems I’m late to the party on finding your writing, but you’ve got a new fan in Chicago. Lori, If you’re ever passing through town look me up and I’ll photograph you for free. 312 Elements Headshot Photography
Thanks for the comment! This is one of my pet peeves, because quality photos are not expensive…they are priceless!