Whether you're a selfie queen/king or so camera shy it hurts, as an entrepreneur there's no hiding from the fact that you are literally the face of your business!
These days your audience don't just want to see you, they need to see you.
Here to tell us how to rock the selfie and get the most out of your headshot sessions is professional headshot superstar Laura Pearman…
- Right now, across all of marketing, there is a real surge for personal branding.
- Headshot trends are changing now. Where you used to see a lot of headshots cropped to the head and shoulder against a white background, you’re now seeing more in situ photos.
- People want to see the more personal side of you now, get a slice of who you are and what you do.
- A lot of enquiries we get for headshots are to be used on someone’s website. People now like to tell a story through their website, so great photography is a big part of that.
- Of course, you see a lot of headshots on social media platforms as people profile pictures.
- Right now, people are getting a bit more creative with how they use their photos. I work with a lot of professional speakers and they’re asking for ‘in action’ shots of them speaking on stage to go alongside their headshots.
- Headshots are really good for using as social media content if you’re doing a big push on a particular promotion, people are going to connect much more if it’s a good photo of you rather than a standard stock photo.
- I always used to say that in terms of creativity, you want to rock a different vibe on each social media platform.
- There is one thing to bear in mind though. If you are meeting people at networking events they will probably go off and do a quick little internet stalk on you. If they see the same photo of you on each platform then they know 100% that they’ve found the correct profile for you to connect with you.
- So now, I say you should use the same headshot for every social media platform but update them regularly.
- If you’ve had a nice headshot session and you end up with a few images, drip feed them out but make sure they match at any one given time.
- It’s really important to inject as much of your personality as you can in your headshot.
- The best way to do this is to pick 5 subject areas that you’re comfortable sharing with your audience.
- These could be things that you love to talk about, something that you’re passionate about or an interesting hobby.
- Then you can inject elements of these 5 subjects into your brand photos, your social feeds, and your headshots.
Make sure you check out Laura's checklist to maximise your headshots return on investment.
Tip 1 – I always recommend that you rinse and repeat.
- So, if you’re in a selfie moment don’t just take one photo. Take 20 quick blasts, change the hand you hold the camera with, change the angles, move around and look to see where the sun is.
- Then you can go back through them and pick the best one from the 20 you took.
Tip 2 – Make taking selfies a regular part of your life.
- As busy entrepreneurs, we don’t have time to be taking selfies all the time. So, you need to make sure that you schedule time and make the most of selfie opportunities.
- You might want to pick one day a week when you know you’ve got the opportunity to have a selfie moment, maybe you’re going to be in a great location or dressed up for an event that day.
- You also want to use these opportunities to create a selfie backlog so that if you need to post one, you’ve got a bunch to choose from.
TIP 3 – How you edit your selfies.
- I love the app VSCO, but you do need to have a pretty good technical knowledge of photography to use that one.
- More recently I started using Snapseed which is great for zooming right into your face and doing little bits of retouching.
- Don’t hammer the filters, but a bit of light retouching could help a bit with your selfie confidence.
If you want even more tip-top advice on brushing up your selfie skills check out Laura's Love Ya Selfie Workbook.
A book that you would recommend…
Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins
What is your top success habit?
I recently started a bullet journal which is a 5-minute journal I fill out two times a day.
Who do you look up to?
I take a lot of inspiration from people in the film industry as well as the music world.
How do you define success?
It’s not really about the money, it’s more about having freedom.
Here’s the big one…who do you like more, Rob or Kennedy?
I know Kennedy more than Rob, so I have to say Rob! (This is becoming a bit of a trend, poor Kennedy!)
Finally, where can folks go to find out more about you?
I’m on all social media platform as @lpearmanphotos but you can also take a peek at my website which is laurapearman.com
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