Headshots for business, or business portraits as some people have decided to call them, are a serious need for most people who must maintain their own clients. Real Estate agents aren’t the only ones who need them. Lawyers, brokers, financial advisers, accountants, coaches, sales people, doctors, therapists, in-home service providers, software developers, small business owners and entrepreneurs of every variety, to name a few, also need them.
So yes, unless you’ve got a job that keeps you insulated from clients, we all need these photos of ourselves. The funny thing is, it’s not even about standing out anymore. it’s just about having a chance of being noticed or remembered. Think about the business card. If you’ve stood in a room with 25 people all evening giving and taking business cards, the only people you’re really going to remember are the ones you can still see. The ones who gave you cards with their faces on them.
It’s social media’s fault. A business card is kind of like a little paper profile that’s immune to internet outages; “This is my name, this is what I do, this is how you can get in touch with me”. Social media, at least for the person with clients, practically demands you use a picture of your face. Your clients want to see you, not a picture of your dog or a pretty landscape you saw on a walk recently. We live in an age where people expect to see a picture of you when they’re thinking about working with you, and we’re probably not backtracking on that any time soon.
So if you’re still reading, this probably applies to you. You need to get a headshot, we’ve established that.
While the spring and summer are the times people often think about having new portraits made, for headshots and business portraits, the dead of winter might be a more strategic option. Of course, it will depend on what sorts of images you need. Obviously if you need portraits of you looking confident among a lot of blooming flowers, well, it might not work out that way. Read on, and if you don’t know what kind of business portraits you need, let us know and we’ll help you figure it out.
You have time in the winter
If, like us, you live in a place that has a winter, you know that almost everything slows down for a few months. The chill makes the knees creak, and the skyline isn’t as pretty. In short, when clients are doing less, you probably have less to do for your clients. There are fewer emails, fewer phone calls, fewer meetings. Of course, you could spend that time reading and catching up on Netflix, but come spring you’ll wish you’d planned better.
Having great headshots created for yourself and your brand takes time. You need to pick the right photographer, you need to decide what you’ll wear, and most importantly, you’ll need to understand what message your headshot needs to communicate to your clients. The winter, for the majority of folks, is by far the most convenient time to do all of this. Feeling comfortable and relaxed is also among the most important ingredients to getting a great headshot, so the extra time afforded in the winter can literally help you look better in your photos.
Your future clients are stuck indoors, but they’re looking
People don’t literally hibernate, but we do figuratively hibernate. People spend big in December, then chill out with the spending in January, and don’t really start warming up to it again until April (pun intended). Obviously, this varies dramatically by industry, but the trend shouldn’t be ignored: people spend less when it’s cold. According to the Harvard Business Review, people in cold temperatures are about 50% less likely to buy. That’s oversimplified, but you get the point.
What your clients are almost certainly doing though, if they’re not hiring you right now, is stumbling across you, noticing you from time to time, and very slowly and, probably unconsciously, building a case for whether they will eventually hire you or not. Since you intend to capture those people’s sales later when the warmth makes them feel optimistic and a little less thrifty, revisiting your branding and business portraits early in the winter gives them time for you to sink in.
Branding changes and marketing messages take time
Ultimately this is all about time. It takes time for you to find a marketing message and a brand that really fits and reflects you without giving the wrong impression—and without making you feel like you’re putting on an act. It takes time to create business portraits or headshots that feel like they’re accurately representing you in the right light. And moreover, it takes time for clients to warm up to businesses they intend to give significant amounts of money to.
If you want clients eagerly walking through the door come spring time, then you need to get started now on your branding and imaging changes for the new year. If you’re working with a brand consultant, we can work directly with them to help you get the right headshot and business images. If you’re going it alone, we can call on our 10 years of experience to offer insight into what sorts of images will go along with the direction your brand is going.
Just because business slows down in the winter doesn’t mean you should slow down too. Get in touch with us today!