A research study has identified key characteristics of great business headshots. It went on to quantify how those characteristics influence perceptions of Competence, Likability, and Influence.
Carolyn O'Reilly | Better Business Portrait Do You Show Your Face on your Business Card? A new client came into my Calgary portrait studio last week to have a new business portrait made. She needed an updated headshot for her social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) and has also recently decided to include her picture on her business cards. I find this to be a very common practice among Real Estate agents, Mortgage Brokers, and other direct sales professionals, but quite rare in the majority of other business people. I'm always curious to know how my clients make their decision whether to use their picture on their cards or not. If you have your picture on your card, please feel free to leave a brief comment explaining why. If you don't have a headshot on your card, tell us why not?? Here is a link to a great article from Entrepreneur.com discussing creating a great business card: Creating a Great Business Card | Entrepreneur.com Having your face on your card - whether it's a photograph, a drawing or a caricature - helps a contact remember you the next time he or she sees you. Images representing a product or service, or a benefit your business provides, can help you communicate your business better than dozens of words. A splash of color (rather than just black and white) is often helpful on a picture card, too. Genesis Vacations The client pictured above, Carolyn O'Reilly, runs a full service Calgary travel business specializing in groups and corporate travel. She is a travel consultant offering clients personalized service and travel expertise for all their travel needs. Whether it is personal or group travel Carolyn can make sure [...]
So your headshot or business portrait session is all over, you've made your image selections, and you've downloaded your digital files. Now what? Well of course you're going to send the digital files over to your webmaster and graphic designer to get your marketing materials updated. But you also need to remember to update the profile pictures on your social media accounts. This is something that I see my clients forgetting to do all the time, but it's really easy and hardly takes any time at all. Note - The bonus "Low Resolution" jpg files that are conveniently included with any Calgary Headshots portrait session are sized perfectly for use on most social media accounts and should not need any further cropping. Having said that, if you want your social media picture cropped differently than the image I have provided for you, please ask! I would be happy to do it for you to ensure that you have a highest quality headshot available that isn't distorted, blurry, or off-color. All of these things can happen if you aren't sure what settings to use in your photo editing software... To help you out even further I have compiled a list of links and basic instructions on how to update your profile picture on several of the most popular social media sites. Please feel free to call me if you need even more help than this. I would be happy to walk you through the process for any website! Update your Facebook Profile Image https://www.facebook.com Log into Facebook and go to your own profile (timeline) by clicking on your name Mouse over your existing profile picture Click on "Edit Profile Picture" Click on "Upload a new photo" [...]