It’s pretty safe to say that when you own your own business, having an eye-catching, open, friendly headshot of yourself ‘out there’ on the internet is crucial.
When your business is you, especially if you’re in a helper industry like coaching or consulting, it’s even more so.
There are a lot of great articles out there about getting good headshots whether you’re using a professional photographer, a good friend with a good camera, or if you’re really ambitious, even taking a good selfie.
But what might make for a great headshot in general does not necessarily make a great headshot that you can use in your website banner.
You might notice from my portfolio that I particularly enjoy designing website banners that feature a headshot so that you actually become part of your business design and branding.
(It’s not just that I enjoy designing things this way – it’s that it truly makes a positive impression on your audience to see your smiling mug greeting them when they land on your site.)
People want to connect a face with the voice on your website.
It’s one of the things that helps build that Know / Like / Trust factor with your audience.
I had a client get a photoshoot done recently, and I loved the opportunity to help her choose (from what had to be almost 100 shots) THE one shot that was going to work in her website banner. (This can be incredibly overwhelming, especially when you’re looking at photos of yourself, but it’s something I actually really have fun doing.)
She had chosen 2 beautiful shots as her favorites, but as it turned out, they weren’t the photos that were going to be best for incorporating into her website and banner design.
You see, when I’m designing a site, I’m looking for different things about a headshot that will work well in a banner graphic as opposed to one that is better suited for a profile picture on social media.
So in that vein, I wanted to share…
9 pointers to help you get great headshots for your business branding
- Make sure that you have continuity across all of your professional sites – your business website as well as your social media profiles. While maybe you don’t use the exact same headshot for everything, make sure you look recognizable and similar in all of the pics including the same outfit and hair style.
- Make sure you have lots of options where your full shoulders (side-to-side) are included in the frame. A lot of times, when using your headshot in a website design, it’s desirable to remove the background and place your image over some other designed background that coordinates with your website design. When your shoulders aren’t framed in the picture, it looks awkward and just doesn’t work.
- In your website banner, we most often include either head and shoulders or full torso, but it can also be fun and different to have full body shots (or from the knees up), so have your photographer experiment with how much of your body is included in the shot. I’ve had situations where the best head and shoulders shot came from a cropped version of an almost-full body shot.
- Which leads me to another pointer – it’s relatively easy to crop things out of a picture, but it’s near impossible to add things in.
- And then contrary to that, if you have a really dynamic background in your photoshoot that speaks to your brand in some way, the whole photo can serve to drive the banner (and ultimately the whole site) design. If this is a direction you want to go, make sure you have options to choose from where you are positioned off to the side of the scenery, so there are opportunities to incorporate your logo, your Unique Value Proposition, or other text that might live in the banner of your site.
- Wear things that you are comfortable and confident in and fit you well.
- Avoid clothing that has big or busy patterns – it can detract from the focal point of the photoshoot (you), and may not fit well into a dynamic, vibrant banner graphic. Solid colors give you a lot more flexibility in this department.
- Smile with an open mouth and show teeth! Studies have shown that a smile that shows your pearly whites makes you appear more competent, influential, and most importantly, more likable. (https://blog.photofeeler.com/perfect-photo/)
- And most importantly, try to have fun with it and let your personality show through.
