Five Tips for the Perfect Nashville Corporate Headshot

Today, your Linkedin Profile is the cornerstone of your career image and personal brand. And while it’s wrong to simply judge a person by a headshot – we would be foolish to think it doesn’t matter. The research is clear: Effective images are key to making yourself appear competent, influential, and trustworthy. In fact, recent Linkedin research shows that LInkedin profiles with photos get 11 times more views and 40% more inMail responses than profiles without a photo.

With Nashville booming – and competition heating up – you need to be on you're A-game today. So now is the time for you to improve your personal branding by adding or upgrading your corporate headshot.

 CORPORATE HEADSHOT TIPS:

1. Choose a background that isn’t distracting. You don’t want anything to distract from your face. Keep the background simple so that you are the focal point. I recommend either white or light grey. A light colored office setting will also work, as long as the background isn’t too complex and is blurred (photographers call it bokeh). This will allow your face to pop.

2. Wear what you’d wear to an interview. Wear clothes that match the level of dressiness in your chosen profession. If you’re an attorney, that probably means a suit. If you’re a web designer, don’t dare wear a tie. In short, you don’t want to be over or underdressed. Also, note that solid colors tend to do best on camera.

3. Choose a photo that looks like you – so always use an up-to-date (within the past few years) image that reflects how you look on a daily basis – same glasses, hair, makeup, etc.

4. Use an image that fills the frame and shows off your smile. Within the LinkedIn "photo circle" make sure your face takes up at least 60% of the frame. Avoid full body shots or face-only close-ups. The recommended size given by LinkedIn is 400 x 400 pixels. If you have an image smaller than this size - forget about it - it’s going to look pixelated. If that is the case, it’s time to go have a better photo taken in higher resolution.

5. Hire a professional headshot photographer. Invest in your career brand photo. It’s your first chance to communicate that you are friendly, likeable, and trustworthy. These attributes are crucial when initially engaging with prospective clients, business partners or employers. Avoid the temptation of cropping a photo of yourself from the last wedding you attended or having your spouse take a police line-up shot of you against your den wall. 

If you live in the Greater Nashville Area, the “Go To” Corporate Headshot guy is Peter Newsom (www.peternewsom.com). He can come to you – or you can go to his Franklin studio. He is affordable, reliable and makes people look amazing. You’ll thank us later.

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