In the heart of Chester, Virginia, lies the headquarters of Elite Force Staffing Company—a veteran-owned construction staffing company dedicated to excellence, integrity, and unparalleled service in the industry.

Recently, Elite Force embarked on a journey to enhance their brand identity and foster greater cohesion among their team members.

As an author, you know how important it is to have a professional headshot. Not only does it help you look your best when meeting potential readers and fans, but it also helps promote your book and brand.

A professional portrait can make all the difference in presenting yourself as a serious author who is worth reading.

In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of author headshots, what makes a good author headshot, what to wear for an author headshot, and how to pose for an author headshot.

There’s a difference between great personal brand photos and good-looking headshots. Brand photos… 

• Tell the entire story of you and your brand through images. 

• Capture your personality 

• Bring all aspects of your personal brand together. 

• Help your clients and customers know who you are, what you can offer, and why they should hire you. 

Here are five locations that would be perfect for YOUR next branding photo shoot. I’ve broken them down into interior and exterior options so we can choose the perfect “space” for your unique branding needs.

My greatest honor as a photographer is when clients trust me enough to allow themselves to be vulnerable and step in front of my camera. It’s something I never take lightly. I know that my job is to ensure that my clients feel safe and nurtured in that space so that they feel beautiful and confident. Sometimes that’s a huge leap of faith. Often it means working with them to help them overcome a lifetime of limiting beliefs (just like I did). 

As an entrepreneur, you probably hear how important your “personal brand” is all the time. Having a personal brand that allows you to stand out has many benefits, from helping you connect with your ideal clients and people who need what you’re offering to help to build your reputation in your industry. A great personal branding photograph can communicate who you are, and what you stand for, and help you truly stand out from your competitors.

There’s a lot to think about as an entrepreneur. People often push “branded photos for my business” to the bottom of their “to-do” list simply because they’re too busy to think about them. While I realize that business photos may not be something you’ve been told you need as an entrepreneur and as a branding photographer, I know they are absolutely essential.

A few months ago, a Wall Street Journal article generated quite a bit of buzz in my LinkedIn feed, and I truly enjoyed reading not only the article, but all the different opinions about it in the comments.

The article was titled, “The Perfect Professional Headshot is Worth $1,000, and Maybe Even a Job.” Many professionals in my LinkedIn network shared it and put in their two cents around it. Here’s an excerpt from the article that basically sums up what it was saying:

Lots of photographers say they can do headshots. It’s the most basic type of photo any photographer takes. So it should be easy to choose any photographer to help you create a great headshot, right?

I enjoy sharing the ins and outs (and ups and downs) with you this month in this blog series on my RV life. During the first few posts, I talked about why we chose this life and the logistics of making it work for us. Today, let’s look at some of the realities of living full-time in an RV (the good and the not-so-good).

I love sharing with you through this blog. I usually write helpful articles about how to get the most out of your next photo shoot or how to use your professional photos to their maximum benefit on social media. But I’m also a fairly unique photographer because I live full-time in an RV with my husband. While I’ve referenced that occasionally here, I’ve never really shared many details, and people always ask me about it.

I thought I’d take a whole month and write a series sharing some of what I love (and don’t) about living the RV life. I’ll start with the basics this week and then delve more deeply into some of the details in the coming weeks.

Here are some of the questions I get about our RV life.

I love working with corporate clients. It gives me the chance to meet lots of amazing, interesting people. I pride myself on giving each company with whom I work a cohesive, branded look in their company photos while still making sure each executive feels like their photos represent who they are as individuals.

Social media marketing is a part of pretty much everyone’s marketing plan now, and if it isn’t, it should be. If you’re not convinced that social media is where your ideal clients are hanging out, I’ve got a few statistics that might just change your mind…

• There are now nearly 4 billion users on social media

• 57.6% of the world (4.55 billion people) now uses at least one social platform

• Globally, there are 5.29 billion unique mobile users, which means that more than two-thirds of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone

• On average, people spend two hours and twenty-seven minutes per day using social media

• 54% of social media browsers use social media to research products

• There are expected to be at least 3.9 billion people using social media worldwide in 2022 which is a 4.8% increase from 2021

I’m sure you’ve been hearing about “branded” professional photos. This is not a new concept, but in the past few years, what’s “acceptable” or “expected” in a headshot has changed. People are more and more creative, and their photos have begun to be more about expressing who they are than making sure they fit into some sort of “professional photo” mold.

As a branding photographer, I love this trend, not only because it makes the photos I capture with my clients more interesting but because it allows my clients to truly show who they are through their photos. Here are a few tips for ensuring your next photo is a window into your personality.

The number one thing you can do to change that is to find a way to stand out from the crowd with professional branded portraits. That means your personal brand is more important now than ever. People want to do business with human beings, and the more real and authentic you are, the more people will want to do business with you.

Since social media marketing is always visual, your first step toward putting yourself “out there” in a more authentic way is to get awesome, personal, branded photos that allow people to see you and see who you are.

I often think it would be ideal if your best friend was an awesome professional photographer. That’s because, the more you trust the person taking your photo, the more relaxed you’ll be and the better the photos turn out.

Getting a great photo is about a lot more than the lighting or the background or even the equipment you use. All of those things are important, but I can tell you, as a professional photographer, it’s the energy and how well you and your photographer are aligned that has the biggest impact on how your photos turn out.

Have you ever needed a photo for your blog post or LinkedIn article and searched Google Photos to find it? I’ll admit, it’s the quickest and easiest way to find that perfect image to make your content pop. You may even avoid any photos that have watermarks, knowing it’s not okay to share them without buying them first.

But did you know that not every licensed photo on the internet has a watermark? If your Google search leads you to a photo on someone else’s blog, for instance, and you download and use it without a watermark, it can lead to a huge headache for you if you’re not clear about the etiquette and rules around giving proper credit for photos you use for your content.

On my recent work trip to Virginia in March, I was interviewed for a local morning television show, “Virginia This Morning” on CBS 6. It was a little nerve-wracking, but also a blast!

During the interview, I shared with Jessica Noll my top 6 tips for getting you the Perfect Picture of Yourself. These are all simple and guaranteed to make a difference in your next photo shoot.

Having your picture taken is something virtually everyone (especially every woman) I’ve ever worked with has expressed some level of anxiety around. It’s an emotional thing to do (even for me).

It seems like all of my insecurities come straight to the forefront when I step in front of a camera and I’m plagued with negative self-talk about my hair, my face, my body, my wardrobe, you name it.

If that happens to you as well and you’re not careful, those voices can be so loud they become overwhelming and they shut you down (exactly the opposite of how you want to show up to get authentic, beautiful photos that allow the real you to shine through).

I’m here to tell you that those voices are liars. I’m here to tell you that you matter.

Let me repeat that for those in the back who may still be hiding behind their hands, afraid to “smile for the camera.”

❤️ You matter ❤️

Client attraction requires trust

It’s easier for potential clients to trust you when they see a professional photo of a confident, authentic person smiling at them from your social media profile. Good branded photos capture exactly who you are and what your business represents.