Everyone needs head shots – even the people who sit in their corner offices in a sky rise with a 360 view of San Francisco. These days every business has a website – it’s the number one tool in creating a successful business – and potential customers want too see who you are, they want to feel like they’re becoming acquainted with another human being, not just some computer screen that has content blaring at them.
Another bonus of having a head shot on hand is for media opportunities, published written/virtual/syndicated opportunities, and possible business leads. Depending on your marketing/PR plan you may have an unanticipated media request to profile you or your business – they’ll ALWAYS, and I do mean always ask for a head shot. Finding a photographer with a short deadline and turnaround can be unnerving and in some cases not possible. The worst case scenario is you’ll end up with a crappy head shot that a colleague took with their iPhone, and lets face it – when it’s your time to shine you want to look your best!
I can attest to this personally! A couple of months ago I was profiled in the Wall Street Journal, as an emerging entrepreneur in the mist of a recession after being laid off, the editor asked me for a head shot – he needed it by EOD. I didn’t have any – especially being a photographer I’m always behind the lens – not in front. Additionally, the WSJ is on the East Coast so I was in even more of time crunch to produce a professional and flattering (of course you want to look your best for the WSJ) head shot. Having but a couple of hours and no assistant or even a friend to help I forged ahead and took my own self-portrait head shots. I was happy enough with the images and sent them over after nearly a heart attack of producing one.
Working with media inquiries is a delicate matter – when they contact you, you need to be on point and have their requested material readily available. If not, you could possibly miss a grandiose opportunity to get coverage on your business.
UBS Financial in San Francisco understands the benefits of having executive head shots of every team member. Their company deals with millions and millions (maybe even BILLIONS?!) of other people’s money. They want to ensure prospective clients, current clients and anyone who comes across their website is able to see who’s taking care of their investments. It’s their way of building trust and becoming accountable for their services.
Enough of my jabbering on the importance of executive head shots – without further delay, here are the executive head shots of UBS Financial:
