First Impressions
I had a wonderful experience last month (July 2009) … my first professional photo
session!
that for those of us who work virtually, our photo is the only visual first impression we
ever get to have on our customers and potential clients. So, even though I know this,
I still thought that my own do-it-yourself “professional-looking” photo would be good
enough … that is until I had a truly professional one done.
Last month, I had my photo shot by Danny Douglas of StudioDouglas. Since I had
never sat for a photo shoot before, I didn’t know if I would feel comfortable. Believe it
or not, as extroverted as I am, I don’t like to be in the spotlight (figuratively or literally). But it helps that I know Danny so I felt pretty comfortable sitting for him. I started off a little stiff but by mid-session, I was much more relaxed and having a lot of fun - as you can tell by my series of poses below.
So, in preparation of my big event, I decided that I needed to look my absolute best (something more than I was capable of pulling off by myself) so I pulled together a team of people to help me accomplish this. Now, before you think “I can’t afford to hire people to help me look good!” … think about the people you know who would be happy to help. I’ll share my resources with you as examples.
- Hair Specialist: first, I had my hair cut and colored the week before by a good friend of mine who bartered my VA services for hers.
- Hair Designer/Make-Up Specialist: next, I paid my friend’s daughter a nominal fee to come to my house the morning of the event to apply the make-up and style my hair. I chose this person because she was trained in cosmetology but wasn’t yet fully experienced (aka expensive). The other condition I had was that she practice on me first so I was happy with the outcome before the big day.
- Outfit Specialist: (that would be me with the help of my girlfriends) We chose outfits that looked good on me and jewelry that accessorized the whole look.
- Photographer: And that would be Danny. Finding affordable photography can be a challenge but it can be done. Some different ways to afford this is to:
And there you have it … a well-planned formula for creating a successful photo shoot and a photo that you’ll be proud to display on the World Wide Net for everyone to see.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this language with it: Virtually With You is a virtual assistance business delivering the highest quality professional administrative support services available in today's market. Karen Schatz, the founder of www.VirtuallyWithYou.com, is an administrative professional with 27 years experience in all aspects of office administration and management including web maintenance, email campaigning, desktop publishing, communications, IT and eCommerce development. Most recently, Karen has completed the Professional Virtual Author’s Assistant training and the Social Media Marketing training programs.
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- Ask people you know who have photography skills. Maybe they will offer you a discount because they know you.
- Barter your services for theirs. In this economy, I’m finding that people want to barter services more now than ever.
- Enter a contest to win photography services. In my case, that’s how I afforded this opportunity. A friend entered me into contest of Danny’s and I won (thanks Puna!).
The picture you see on the left here is my own attempt at a “professional-looking” photo that I use as my web presence. As a small business owner, I am always mindful of how I spend my dollars (as I am sure most of you are too). Now, as far as photos go, this is not a bad one … I’ve seen worse. In my profession, I’ve often heard how
important it is to have a “professional” head shot and the reason is
