2020 Vision For Your Headshot..!

With the turn of the decade, naturally signalled by the move into 2020, when it comes to the subject of headshots, it's worth looking at the vision you have in mind for it, and the vision your potential clients actually get...

2020 vision means 'normal' vision, measured on the kind of eye chart we're all familiar with.

Interesting to note that a lot of people think 20/20 vision means 'perfect' vision, but that's not quite the case – just as you can have worse vision than 20/20, you can have better than it as well!

Worth bearing in mind when it comes to the headshot, because on a scale of 3 options - worse to normal, to better - then ideally we'd obviously want our branding to be in the 'better' category! Normal is ok, but we certainly don't want ours to be in the 'worse' area. Unfortunately, huge numbers of people are in just that category, so let's look at what puts them there and what can be done to move to 'normal' and ultimately, 'better!'

In 2020, the whole arena of profile pictures along with branding themes, has advanced and developed, and it's important that yours does too. Instead of simply showing 'a picture of you', the headshot now has nuanced layers, communicating what you want your prospective clients to see.

With these nuanced layers coming into play then, the worst way to leverage this is to just not have a headshot at all!

It's simply staggering to see how many people, in a professional environment, have a blank space staring out to the world. Simply staggering.

This presents the worst possible image to prospects. It shows that you can't be bothered. Whether that's true or not, that's what it shows to the client, and their 2020 vision will be clear on that! They'll dismiss your profile there and then, so whatever your vision is about your offer and the value it gives, it'll never be seen.

There is no excuse for this.

If this applies to you, get your smartphone out and take the best sensible professional presentation selfie you can. This will immediately move from that 'worse' category to 'better.'

Ok, once we've got to the stage that you at least have a headshot at all(!), we can look deeper into what message you are sending out.

Ask yourself what you want your prospects to see -the answer should be based along the lines of them seeing that you are capable of delivering the result they're searching for. That's the fundamental driving point of any branding photography, to get the prospect to look closer at you and your offer.

If your photo has you drinking, or on the beach, or being silly, does this present the look of someone who will deliver that result? Context is key, obviously, industry specifics are key, obviously, but your image simply must tie in with what the prospect wants to see. It's a marketing basic, and therefore a critical element to consider at such an early stage of the engagement between you and people who might do business with you.

Right then, once we are firmly in the 'normal' section when it comes to 2020 headshot vision, we want to move into the 'better' camp. There's really only one way we can do this...

Use a professional.

However good a job you do by yourself when it comes to branding shots, you will never be able to compete with the results a professional will get. The skill and experience built up over many years making their living doing it means they will know things about taking photos that you would never think of.

Never mind the simple fact of better equipment, the pre and post-shoot briefings you'll get from any decent photographer will involve questions that either didn't occur to you, or will ask them in a way that has you taking a much closer look at your marketing message than you have done before.

If you look at a series of headshots and branding photos in your specific niche, and rate them from worse to normal to better, pretty much all of the ones in the 'better' section will be the work of professionals.

Obviously this can't be stated as 100% the case – sometimes a professional's work might miss the mark, and sometimes a DIY effort can do the job just fine, but these are very much the exceptions.

No need for you to rely on being an exception, when you can rely on the professional to do what they are paid for.

So, in the new decade, headshots can be easy to get wrong, but also surprisingly easy to get right, so that what you want your prospects to see ties in with what they actually see, and your own 2020 vision!

For more information on getting your own professional headshots Call Phill Andrew at The Image Mill, Bradford on 01274 482032