If you met a person with a custom tailored suit, fitted perfectly with shoes that are cleaned and shined, what would your first impression of this person be? Most likely, you would think, “this person has their act together.” Contrast this to someone in a cheap, wrinkled, ill-fitting suit and dirty shoes. You would probably have the opposite opinion of this person. Who would you want to do business with?
Are You A Serious Professional?
How serious are you about how the public perceives you as a professional? In this day and age of LinkedIn and other social media platforms, your visual representation of who you are as a professional is as important as ever.
When I am searching for anything on the internet and I get to a website that is poorly constructed, or that seems outdated, I immediately leave that website. I am, like all professionals and entrepreneurs, extremely busy and I don’t have time to waste on a business that can’t help me with my immediate needs. A company with a terrible website may be perfectly capable of helping me, but their website, or their first impression to me, doesn’t communicate that,  so they lose my business. They are a cheap suit. They are saying with their unprofessional presentation that the business is out of touch and that they don’t care enough to present themselves professionally.
An up-to-date, aesthetically pleasing website tells me that this business has it together and, quite possibly, can help me with what I’m searching for. It has authority. Â I will stick around and take a look. This website is a fine tailored suit. It tells me that the business is professional and on top of things and that they care about what their customers think of them.
You Are Constantly Being Judged
This is the way that all professionals and entrepreneurs are judged as individuals on a daily basis. Fair or not, our first impression could have dramatic consequences to our business. Consequences that could lead to success or failure. The way that you present yourself visually tells your prosepective clients that you are either on top of your game, an authority in your field, successful and care enough to look professional, or that you are inept and/or don’t care, regardless of your business acumen.
Why You Should Hire a Professional Photographer
This, really, illustrates the importance of hiring a professional photographer to take your professional business portrait. It takes more than a fancy camera to take a great portrait. An experienced, professional photographer has the skills to make you look your absolute best. Expertise in lighting helps define their subject, highlighting some areas, while eliminating others. Subtle posing that, again, makes you look your best, while still looking natural. Consultation in what to wear is also something a good photographer will assist with. Â Some photographers, like me, will come to your place of business or a location that is important to your business and do your professional headshot right there, on location. Looking your professional best while reflecting what is important in your first impression, these are the things that make it essential to hire an experienced professional, just as you would for any other service that is important to your business.
Your online image is the one way that will make or break your first impression to the business world and to your prospective clients. And, quite possibly, make or break your business. Do you want to be a cheap suit or a finely tailored one? Are you willing to present yourself with a simple and cheap snapshot from your iPhone? Or, do you realize that your first impression is the most important and contract a professional photographer to ensure that you have the best, most professional representation of your professional self ? What do you want to communicate to your prospective clients? Are you a cheap suit or a finely tailored one?
Here are a few finely tailored suits:
Portrait and Headshot Page on our website