Seriously it works.. I am not kidding.
Recently I had the privilege of being photographed by the incredibly talented Laura Eaton – this chick has won an enormous amount of awards for her work. She is brilliant.
You need to understand, I am not photogenic, never have been. Even at our wedding (21 years ago) we don’t have one decent photo of us together … sad but true. So when my fabulous friend and stylist, Megan Kristel from Kristel Closets nagged me to update my photo… she highly recommended Laura.
I went kicking and screaming… I tried to get it out of it … twice! Not to be deterred, Meg dragged me there (well not literally) but gently reminding me that my headshot made me look older than I really was (and it was taken 9 years ago.. yes I am embarrassed to admit I am one of those speakers who hadn’t updated their headshot). As someone who is turning 40 really soon I didn’t like the idea of looking older!
Enter the A-team (cue A-team theme music …). Of course in my usual way I wanted this to be a highly productive exercise if I was going to do it so I enlisted the brilliance of some of the area’s leading resources. Let me introduce you to my A-team:
Laura Eaton – photographic genius, absolutely everyone in business needs her to shoot their headshot! She rocks.
Megan Kristel – stylist to the stars (well local celebrities… ha ha), one of the funniest people I know and brilliant blogger (check out Diapers in my Louis Vuitton)
Beke Beau – makeup artist (we call her a magician) she makes everyone look like they belong in a magazine, she is funny, intelligent and she really is a makeup artist to stars (I am talking Hollywood people).
Darcy Law – talented local wedding dress designer (no I didn’t wear a wedding dress) but she made me a hot pink shell in my perfect pink (many of you know my personal brand is hot pink) – she is adorable.
Paul Eaton – well he just made me laugh while Laura was talking a gazillion photos! Oh and he works with Laura… they are married… happily!
My speaker buddy and brilliant ‘approachability’ expert, Scott Ginsberg (you will know him as the Nametag Guy) advises people to get their headshot updated every year, and he really does it too! He inspired me also. He even has fun with his photo – no boring headshots for him – his website is awesome and worth checking out.
So how does a headshot increase your confidence… simple….just post it on Facebook and watch the compliments roll in! I am not kidding – I tell you that I received 59 messages (yes I stopped counting after 48 hours) on the new profile photo. I didn’t think my last one was hideous… but apparently it must have been.
Productivity tip: Invest 15 minutes updating all your social media profiles with your new headshot – it is time well spent.
So there you have it, want to increase your confidence, hire the A-team, get a new headshot and enjoy the feedback.
Seriously though, if you really want to make a fabulous, productive impression on your clients and your audiences, update your headshot, you will be so glad you did.
Do it, do it now, call Laura or your fave photographer and book an appointment in the next month – it is money well spent!
