Pilot Episode - Brand and Market yourself with Good Headshots (Corporate Portraits) - Teacher: Sheldon Isaac

Brand and Market yourself with Good Headshots.

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Your professional headshots being taken by a photographer are good for all of your marketing. So you have your, obviously your profile photos, you can spread across all of your profiles, but what about the other things? I have a lot of people that are CEOs and leaders and founders that I know who are using photos that I've taken of them for speaking engagements.

But guess what? That conference needs to market you before you get there so that they can sell tickets. The first thing they're going to do is going to say, We need a photo. We need a headshot of you. Because they're putting it on all of their marketing materials.

Or everyone else on that row of photos has a professional photo, and you're the one with that headshot, selfie, cropped out friend, oh, and believe me, I have seen it, They just looked out of place because they're the one that didn't have a professional photo and everyone else in that row of speakers did. So you will stand out for the wrong reason. 

Today we have a special guest in the useful content classroom. With us we have Sheldon Isaac, 

sheldon, I want you to introduce yourself and tell everyone who you are. 

My name is Sheldon of Sheldon Isaac images. I am a professional photographer based in Toronto, just East of Toronto and in Canada. And what I do is I actually help companies and personal brands build their brands with media that they can use to market themselves. Online and in print media.

I've been doing it for about 15 years. I'm a father of two lovely girls, one dog, and I have a wife of 17 years. And yeah, that's 

it So today, Sheldon, I think it's a good opportunity to talk about why professionals and entrepreneurs should have professionally done headshots. And there are a few things that we're going to cover today.

The first of which is the importance of headshots, we're going to cover some headshot do's and don'ts. And then at the end, you're going to tell us when you should really get some, some headshots done because it's important to know when as well.

So let's just get right into point number one. 

So the very first reason of why you should get professionally done headshots is that those headshots are an introduction to your personality, or at least the way you want to be perceived. And a headshot is almost like a digital handshake or a hug. And for some people, it's a digital signal of sterness or seriousness.

And it can tell people how to perceive you, what your personality is like, depending on how you take it. So over the years, we've done multiple headshots for multiple people. And some people want to be very serious in their headshots. Some people want big smiles because that's the brand. And that's the personality of their business and is their own personality as well.

And I think in order for that to be represented well, You have to know things like posing and lighting, how you light someone tends to convey a particular message. And I think it's important for anyone who wants to convey a very specific feeling, a very specific introduction to their personality.

They should get their head shots done professionally because professionals will be able to tell you pose this way, light it this way, wear this type of clothing. And so your personality could get expressed. easily. 

And that is a great point. You do want to convey a certain feeling, everyone's brand is, is, is different.

And, you know, a lot of times your brand is based on your personality. I am very light. I try to be fun, funny, and you know, not a stern, serious tone, but other people that is their tone. Maybe they want a more authoritative brand be put out there. Yeah. And the best way to do that is to start off with a headshot that at least conveys that part of your brand, and it even comes down to your colors and stuff like that, that you use, certain colors convey a certain tone or a certain mood.

And so make sure that when you're doing your, your, even your wardrobe, and even if you're just starting your business, when you're developing your color scheme with an agency or just yourself, that you have the certain mood. So yes. Great points, Juma. 

All right. Excellent. So let's hear what is one of the other things that people should know about.

The importance of headshots. All right. 

So what I want to say is social media is not easy And we know it's a slow run and it's a slow burn so I want to say something that i've never heard anyone else say is that Having a professional headshot taken and its importance is it's the first step in putting yourself out there You know when you sign up for any type of social media or anything online The first thing they ask you is for your username Your password and then your avatar, sometimes a long journey, the best way to get started is that first step and you're, and you're putting your professional photo out there is the first step in your journey to be seen to be out there.

The first step is sometimes the most important one, you know, it's, it's hard to get started. It's hard to keep it going. But if you. Put that picture up. It's a picture that you're proud of and that you don't mind being across all of your social media channels, then that's a good start. So I would say definitely, because social media is not easy and getting started and keeping going is not easy, getting a professional headshot that you love out there and up.

is a great first step. 

And I agree with that. And I think it kind of ties into a point that I was going to make later, which is that many people have a headshot. Let's just suppose they come to me or you or another professional studio and they get this professional headshot done and then they just use it in one place and they don't synchronize that headshot across.

multiple platforms. And I always tell people, listen, you've, you've gotten the headshots. You've had it done professionally. Went through all the trouble use it, use it be known in the same way across all of the different channels. And I think you're very right in saying that social media is not something easy, but to be identified easily, you have to be consistent and that's one of the benefits.

So I agree with you 100%. Let's move on , to point number three about headshots and why it's important. I think headshots make you. easier to remember. So headshots do make you easier to remember. So you can move from a digital world. into a physical world very easily.

Sheldon early on mentioned branding and a big part of your headshot is expression of your brand identity. That is the things that people can see and hear. And all those different things. So for example, in my case, I just like red and I wear red and most of my content has red in it.

So my headshot is a bit unusual. It's me black and white with a red background. But if I were to take a new one, I would also be wearing the color red because that's part of my brand identity. And the nice thing about it is, that if I were to go into, say, a conference. On the first day, I would generally try to wear the same colors I would wear in my headshot so that people could easily identify me. And they could come up and say, you're not the guy this relate guy. And sometimes people come up and say, Hey, it's good to relate.

Or they say something of that sort because they have seen me, they know that red is my thing. And from my headshot, they can easily identify and make the transition from a digital world, this headshot that they see into the physical world where we meet each other. 

And that's a great point.

And I don't know if you notice, but I wore red representing your brand. I'm a guest on your show. I'm representing your brand. So, but yes. And you, and you do it well, you know, the fact that you have, you know, the red lighting in the background, you always wear red, even the. The microphone is red.

Like, I love that. I absolutely love that. I'm going to steal some ideas from you because you're, you're definitely a branding master, but that is a great idea. And I love the fact that you, you do do that. And one of my points is. And it sort of ties into something you said earlier, but establishing trust is an important thing, so my third point would be that another way that a headshot is very important is that it does establish trust and it sort of skirts on a little bit of what we talked about earlier, but. You know, you want to have people trust you so that they get to know you and like you and then they hopefully will do business with you or network with you.

So, an example is a lady I know who's the CEO and founder of a company that produces hair products for women who have all grey hair, or encourages women to go grey. Her name is Alexis at Silverling. And her headshot is amazing. I wish I had taken it. But it is her. With her hair looking beautiful.

She's always been an immaculate dresser, but her hair looks beautiful, but it is all white and it's flowy. And it's basically if anyone goes on her company site, the first thing that they're going to see is that profile with her and her beautiful silver hair. You know, if, if the owner of the company.

Didn't lead the charge with a brand like that, it might throw you off or maybe not, you know, they don't have to be a user of that hair product, but I think she goes the extra step because her hair is gray and she uses the product. And is that's the first thing you see on her LinkedIn profile, and I'm sure she has it across all of her social media.

So I think it's great and then conversely for you and I who you know who have been photographers and if I didn't have a good looking a properly, you know lit looking headshot, people would be like, well, he's a photographer and he doesn't even have a good headshot, you know, that would definitely erode that trust, especially for people who don't know me, who have never experienced my products and how I shoot and the way I am, that might be the turnoff that keeps them scrolling right by.

Yeah, I agree with you. It's like the whole classic trope of the tailor having bad pants. You need to have a representation of. What you do so I agree with you 100%. Absolutely. The point I want to make next, I guess is my last Point, but it's the penultimate point. I want to kind of merge it with something because I, I kind of made the point earlier about having consistency across multiple social media platforms.

So I'll mention that. And so people get to know you consistently. across multiple platforms on when you have your headshot, the same across multiple platforms is easy for people to identify and know you. But what I will also add to that, and I don't know if this is one of the points that you're going to make Sheldon, but it's very important that you have a proper headshot because it actually helps you In your career advancement and makes people take you more seriously.

So when people see something that is professionally done, they say you put effort into your image. You put effort into creating how your public facing image is received. And so people immediately take you. Just a little bit more seriously than someone who maybe has the headshot of a selfie by the beach or something of that sort.

And so it opens up a doors that you might not know are closed when you have a proper looking headshot, well lit, well composed, expresses your personality. And so a big part of the benefit of a headshot of a good headshot professional headshot is that it. gives you even faster career advancements.

And so I think that that's something that is good. 

Yes. And I was mentioning this to my, my daughter. You want to dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have. And for years, when I was in the corporate world, I would always have a tie on and people would say you don't need a tie, but yes, I do I a I stood out.

I'm that guy with the tie, you know, if that's one thing I was known for is I would dress up. I would dress up even when I didn't need to. And, you know, it served me well, you know, because it came across as professional, you know but definitely you want to be seen as a professional. You want to be seen as someone who is knowledgeable.

You want to be seen as someone who is trustworthy. And you're, like you said, you're putting in that effort. To show up even on a profile picture looking good, which is the first as you said digital handshake Yeah, you want to look good You want it to be professional because that starts that sets the tone for the rest of the way everything is going to go In a type of business networking session or or even online, and hopefully Your content will be as good as your professional headshot.

So what's the last thing you have for a shell and the last thing that we can think about for the importance of it?

Absolutely. So it, and it's, it's the most obvious one, your professional headshots being taken by a photographer are good for all of your marketing. So you have your, obviously your profile photos, which Juma mentioned, you can spread across all of your profiles, but what about the other things? I have a lot of people that are CEOs and leaders and founders that I know who are using photos that I've taken of them for speaking engagements.

The speaking engagement, they're at a conference. But guess what? That conference needs to market you before you get there so that they can sell tickets. The first thing they're going to do is going to say, We need a photo. We need a headshot of you. Because they're putting it on all of their marketing materials.

I can't imagine, and I've seen it. I shouldn't say I can't imagine, but I had to speak somewhere, or my wife, she does a lot of speaking engagements, if she didn't have a professional photo to send, that's limiting their ability to market you, or everyone else on that row of photos has a professional photo, and you're the one with that headshot, selfie, cropped out friend, oh, and believe me, I have seen it, and thank God it wasn't on a big event, it was it was still an event though, and you always need to show up good, but They just looked out of place because they're the one that didn't have a professional photo and everyone else in that row of speakers did so you will stand out for the wrong reason.

Yeah, that's so true. That's so, so, so true. And and like right now I have actually have a on Google drive. I have a folder that says like I can't remember what I call it, but basically contains. All of the things people need to have, like my apparent podcast, appearance kit. It has my bio in there.

It has like a few headshots, like the same headshot, but with different backgrounds. And so it's like a kit that you put together for your public facing content. And when you want to people to put you out there and I just go in and I update it. I update the bio when new things come up. And when I'm ready, I'll be updating the headshots as well.

So I just send that link and people just go to that. And get everything they need to know about me. So that works. 

Brilliant. That is brilliant. I think that's a great idea. Everyone should do that, especially if you're someone who... Is aiming to put yourself out there, have that media kit, you know, have it ready where literally you just have to hit share and it goes off to whoever's asking for it and it has all your, you know, because they're going to ask for your bio, they're going to introduce you on stage at some point.

So you want to have your bio and you also want to make sure that you have a proper headshot for them so that they can use it and market you and fill seats so that you can speak to as many people and share your products ideas with them. So good. That's very good idea, Juma. Yeah. 

Excellent. Excellent. So now we've covered the importance of having these professional headshots done.

Let's talk about some do's and don'ts. So you've got nobody hump. You said, okay, I'm going to pull the trigger. I'm going to have some professional headshots done. You you've looked around, you've done a research. found the company. Maybe you've even contacted them. And let's just suppose that Sheldon Sheldon Isaac images, you've full of the form of the website and everything.

And he's like, okay, so let's set a date. Let's do all these things. Of course, you have your discussion and everything. But there are some do's and don'ts Let's go through some do's and don'ts. I will start with the first do, and then we'll go back and forth until we, we we get through the list of do's and don'ts that are important for getting headshots done. So I'll start with number one, right? So the first thing and probably the most important thing, and because I am a professional and Sheldon is also a professional we are going to be very biased in this regard.

Have a professional create your headshots. I know some people try to do it for themselves. Some people have these light bulb, these continuous light softboxes, and they try to do it for themselves. That is admirable, but after a particular level, if you want to be taken seriously, if you want to really relax and have someone craft the image for you based upon your needs, then have a professional do it.

So that is a do let someone else who knows what they're doing, who has experience, create your headshot. Of course, if you're, if you're somebody and you want to DIY it, feel free. But I think the people who have the best headshots are the people who. Bring themselves and give themselves fully to the process and let someone capture the image on their behalf.

And 

that's a, I love that point. That was, that, that's the most basic, you know, but one thing you did say that I love is that when you're at a certain level, you know I would hate to see someone who's a CEO. Or even C level or even higher or your founder or someone that you really want to put yourself out there and be taken seriously, not have a professional headshot or you DIY it and it's not your realm of expertise, you know, so definitely leave it to the experts.

I love that. So I'm going to come up with my first do and it's going to be something that a lot of people would say I know that, but they don't know how to do it. And it's talking about having well lit photos, photography. As a definition talks about light, right? And so, it starts with lighting.

You want to make sure that people can see you. Like, even when we were setting up for this podcast, I was messing, I have three lights going. I, which you can probably see in my glasses. But, you know, you want to make sure that you're well lit. You know, dark photos, not properly exposed. Also, when you're dealing with a professional, he knows how to make you younger.

And I'm not talking about with Photoshop. I'm talking about with the lights. Where you place lights can help take away some of these smile lines and crow's feet. And it's an art. There's an art and a science to it. So well lit photography will help your head shots make you look younger. If that's your aim or just make you really look good.

So you want to make sure that it's well lit. 

Yeah, I agree with that. I'm a big lighting junkie. And I have several lights going just like you in this room right now. that's one of the things that we learned I did printing back in the day. lithography. So, you know, we know photography or writing with light that is like you're creating something by crafting the light, you start with a blank canvas and then you add the light in on the subject the way it's supposed to be.

Let me get to the second. Do I have. For headshots. The second do I have for headshots is do please have makeup professionally done. Get your professionally done makeup. Don't call your cousin. Don't do it yourself. Let someone else who knows what they're doing because the way in which makeup appears that you see it is the it could be very different to how it appears when the photos actually taken.

We've seen this happen many times over, over the years, somebody might put makeup on and it might seem like it's too elaborate or it's overboard. This is for the ladies. It might seem like it's too elaborate and it's overboard, but when the image comes out, all of the things that need to stand out, stand out in the makeup.

And so for the men as well, men might say, Oh, just soap and water. I don't need any makeup. Sometimes the men do need some touching up in certain places in order. for the image to look its best. So I would say always when you're doing a headshot, if you want to headshot to be good, always have somebody.

If the photographer can hire them, that's fine. They can bring in someone that they know. But if you as the subject or as a person who wants the headshot is hiring a makeup artist, get someone who is a professional so that they can do you justice with your makeup. You're a hundred 

percent and I encourage it because I've seen the opposite side where they didn't I had a lady come in and She told me no, I don't need makeup.

I can do it myself. I said, okay sister Let's do it And she showed up that morning and I could see it on her face because she got a zit a huge zit on her head As she was stepping into the studio and she just I know she instantly regretted not I didn't throw it in her face But I know she regretted not having a makeup artist help her hide that little blemish but you know the the reality is is that I I aim to to help my my clients look better, but it's always good to just come in with fresh makeup, looking your best so that you don't have to worry about, putting a photo out to, to people that doesn't look amazing.

And when they come in with zits, it gives you more work on the back end, you have to go 

more Photoshop for me. That means I got to wait a little bit longer to get them to you. So let's help each other out. My, my do. I'm going to my second do is I want you guys to show your personality, you know you don't have to be afraid of smiling in a headshot.

You know, I did, I did a bunch of headshots for a company yesterday where I did all their staff. And some people, they started off by not smiling. What I did was I asked, are you a smiler? Do you ever take pictures? With your teeth showing and some said, yes, I do. I was like, well, let's do it. And, you know, I, I made sure I kept it light upbeat.

I was able to make them laugh. And I know that they're going to love some of the photos of them smiling. But had I not said anything, I guarantee they would have been like straight face. And I'd have been taking straight face photos. And then, when they post them, someone might be like, why did you smile?

You usually, you're always smiling. So you want to show your personality, whatever it may be, if you're, if you're trying to be authoritative. Then you don't need to smile. Maybe, it's not your part of your branding, but if you are, you're a smiler, people know you as a smiler. Make sure I have a social media coordinator that I used to work with.

And she has funky glasses and everyone knows Mel from her funky glasses. And , every time she does a branding shoot, she's got to have the glasses prominently showing, because that is her. That is her personality. So show your personality for 

sure. Oh, I love glasses. I love glasses so much. And I agree with that, you should show your personality.

I think, it's really a skill, like, encouraging people to bring that out is really a skill. Asking the right questions to bring that out is really a skill. Being encouraging as a photographer is really a skill using the right words. And I love how you, you notice that they were particular way and you ask the question, you inquired would you not like if, and then you left it open for them to respond.

And if so, then we can do this. And I love that. And that's the type of treatment you're going to get. When you are engaging with a professional photographer. So that's, that's really, really excellent. 

And you know what I want to say, and the reason why I asked that question in that manner is because I did, when I used to shoot weddings, I had a bride who didn't smile, open mouth, and I had to ask her are you not comfortable smiling with your mouth with you showing your teeth, and she said no, I hate my teeth, and her bottom teeth were crooked, to be honest, I didn't notice when I was talking to her that they were, Crooked or that they stood out, but it's an internal thing.

So I will ask that question that way when I'm shooting people that you never know if they're not smiling for, there might be a real reason and they're not comfortable. And I'm not trying to take pictures of you that you're not comfortable with, because I want you to take as many of them and use them as possible.

Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. Very good. Very good. So let's go on to some don'ts now. I think we're on the don'ts now. Are we? Yes, we are. We're moving on to the don'ts. All right. So I'll do my first don't. And my first don't is don't, and we mentioned this already, but I'm going to reinforce it.

Don't use selfies. or low quality photos. So don't take the photos yourself if you can avoid that. I know you think it looks great. I know your, your sister told you it's great. I know your mom says it's fine. I know your friend says, oh, that's a fantastic shot. But trust me, there's a world, there's a big gap in between what a professional photograph looks like and what a photograph that is taken by you at your house in your yard or somewhere else looks like.

And while you might be able to get away with it for some things. If you have to do things like I think Sheldon mentioned earlier, Send it to a Magazine, or maybe get featured somewhere as a speaker, it just does not cut it. You're going to stand out as the odd person out because I'm sure all those other people who are speaking and who are professionals, they have engaged some professional photographer to get their photography done.

So I would say do not use selfies and do not use low. quality photos for your headshots. 

And, and that one is ringing. Don't do it. Unless it's, if you're in a jam, I guess, sure, but that's the point, you know, you want to, you know, book a headshot session and have them in your library sitting there when you need them so that you're never in a jam that you'd have to use a cell phone photo, but , I know cell phones are you've are great.

They're handy. You might be somewhere where you don't have, you really like the background, you know, you could take it, but, you know, just keep in mind that there's obvious advantages to having a professional headshot taken by a photographer who knows what they're doing. We know the angles. We know how to direct you.

We know how to make you look your best. So those are great. My don't is don't hide parts of your face with accessories that aren't a part of your brand. So this is, I don't know if it's, self-explanatory, but let's just say you are a marketer or a seller of sunglasses. You can have your sunglasses in your headshot, you might even, change them more frequently if you have a whole line of sunglasses, but sunglasses, big hats, things like that, they, they, I'm not, I'm not trying to be mysterious.

I'm trying to connect with you. You can't see my eyes right now. Eyes are the window to the soul. And if this is a part of my headshot, you can't see my eyes. How are you supposed to get to know me or like me, or I might be mysterious, but you may not want to interact with me. So when you're covering your face with things that aren't necessarily part of your brand, it could lead to some mistrust and people might just not want to connect with you as opposed to someone who's.

showing their whole face. And the same thing goes for hair. You don't want your hair in front of your face again, unless that's part of your brand, you know, and that's part of your look. So that's just, that's my don't. 

Yeah, that's very, very good. And I mean, I always, I was, I don't know where I got this from.

Maybe from some photographer when I was learning photography, but they always used to say, well, light the eyes, light the eyes. light the eyes. And can't remember where I got that from me. I'm almost certain there was some professional guy, but, but it's important that people could see the eyes, the eyes, like having it clear.

And so nothing obscures or distracts from that. Unless of course, unless of course it's your brand. Like, for example if you were shooting daft punk, you wouldn't tell them to take their masks off. That's, that's, that's their brand. Right. You know, they have to wear the mask and everything.

But I agree with you 100%, that you really shouldn't hide or obscure your face. Okay. So my don't, my next don't is, and I'm saying this because we've had it happen to us already. And and it's not something we necessarily endorse is don't over edit your headshots. Now, what does over editing mean?

It means that you come into the studio. You have your professionally done makeup. We take the headshots, but when we are finished editing them, it does not look like you. It looks like a totally different person. And I think personally, I think that is a bad thing. I think some people, they do have things that they might want adjusted or changed.

Maybe if a hair got in their face and you might want to remove that hair. I even had one time where we were doing a whole team of executives and one of the executives, right before he came to do the headshot something went into his eye. And so he came rubbing his eye and his whole eye was red and puffy.

Literally the studio was upstairs and that happened to him in the car park. And so it was fresh. And so what we had to do, we took all these shots, right? But what we had to do is literally take his other eye and flip it. And put it over to make a new eye and make it symmetrical and all that drama.

It was a lot of work. And so I think that it is very important that if you're editing your headshots, you do it for a good reason, but don't over edit them. Don't take out every single blemish. I mean, some people are a little bit older. They may not have the sharpest of chins.

Don't just make your chin like a 21 year old. That's not really you. And you have to be Honest and truthful with yourself some editing is fine, but you don't want the thing not to look like you So it's important that you don't over edit your headshots. I 

couldn't agree more. I, I did a headshot session for this gentleman earlier this year and he took the photo and he put a filter on top of it.

And it, in my opinion, I don't think it looks great. You know, you just have to be honest with your photographer. Tell them if something needs change. It's not like you can never come back and tell us that you didn't like something. People in art, you know, they can be thin skinned, but I don't know about others, but I'm not.

And so if you want something changed, tell me. I want you to have a product literally you get from me and you post. I don't want you to have to mess with it. I don't want you to have to do a thing to it other than resize it or whatever, but I don't want you to do anything with it. So, just be honest with your photographer, tell them what you need changed and we'll do it because we have your best interests at heart and you may not know what will look.

It's best online in a professional setting based on our conversations and how you want to use it, you know, throwing a filter on or changing something with some sort of editing software may not be the best thing for that photo. 

Yeah. Yeah. I also think we've developed a whole filter culture over the last period of time, the years with Instagram and TikTok and all those different things and these beautification filters Which again, sometimes works, but for professionals, I'm almost certain it doesn't.

So, so yeah, that's good stuff. All right, so what's your last don't? My last 

don't. All right, so my last don't is gonna actually tie in to our next segment. So, it's don't wait too long to get updated headshots. We were in lockdown. A lot of businesses stopped, there's a lot of things that we just couldn't do in Toronto here, a lot of studios had to temporarily close because we couldn't, we had to, before social distancing, we were away from each other completely so there's a lot of times afterward where people, you may have gained some weight from COVID or you got in shape during COVID lost some hair, gained some hair, went grey, whatever, but if you wait too long And you don't look like you're headshot anymore.

That's gonna pose a little bit of a question mark, I've been to events where I've seen people for the first time that I've been, happened to be following on social media and they look nothing like their headshot, for a brief second, it's just like, hmm. That's kind of weird and I don't even think I think that as a photographer.

I think it's just as a person like you don't look like you're headshot, or you're a lot older than you look, in your photos, you know, and it's the same thing. I'm sure people say on their dating profiles when you show up to a date that was so was blind kind of, but you saw their profile and that's not who's there.

Check, please. Let me leave, so you want to make sure that you you don't wait too long to get your head shots taken You want to keep refreshing them so that you look like the current you right? 

good stuff.

Good stuff. We're going to talk about when to take your headshot. No, but I want to agree with you that I've seen it happen. I've been like see people online.

And then when you meet them in person, it's like, are you really?, it's been five years since they've taken a headshot. But yeah, I agree with that. Don't wait too long to do it and you're going to get into that now when to do your actual headshots. So I think it's a good idea to, to know when so let's talk about that.

No

all right. So I'm going to talk about two different things. One when to take a headshot, when your appearance changes. Maybe that's the time where you need to update and refresh, especially if you're someone who likes to network, likes to be out there, be seen, and, you know, you want to make sure that you look like you, as I mentioned earlier.

You've changed something about your appearance, or you're now in shape, or you're you you're proud of your new self or you just want to update something so you just want to be recognizable, and that's the most important thing. Whether, no matter what the change is, good or bad, You still want to be recognizable. You don't want to, I feel like you're kind of misleading people when you are not representing who you are and who you look like accurately with an updated headshot.

So you want to update that. And so you can do it once every six months maybe. Or you can do it yearly. You know, I do get clients that come to me just once a year. And they get it done, but they order a bunch so that they have applications and they can keep changing it throughout the year. And there's some people who never change, who never get older.

Yeah, there's not many of those people, but you know, maybe their appearances don't change often, but they still want to get their headshots taken and updated anyway. So it's a good idea. And I, yeah, you can talk about that point. And then I have another point about when to take a headshot. 

Let me speak to what you just said too.

Let me just say that, yeah, when your appearance changes, It's a big deal. I remember I'm looking back at some of the older pictures that we have from back in the day. Let me just say I'm not as blessed as Sheldon is, I have less hair, right? And and as a result, the headshots from back in those days, I went to a professional barber.

I have like a nice lineup and everything. But now I'm just home, especially during the pandemic. I'm just Take the clippers to the head and just, just right before I came here, that's what I did. Just shave everything all the way down. And so even that is like a thing, it might not be that your face changes, but your styling might change the way in which you represent yourself might change.

And that's something that you really do have to take into account when you want to update your headshots, Sheldon said that, you should really look at refreshing or updating your headshots once every six months all things being equal is that you want to freshen up that profile. I know some people, what they do is that they do like a full set of headshots in different outfits and they do changes and stuff like that.

And then they kind of cycle those photographs for like a year, maybe a year and a half. They cycle those photographs. So they do a branding shoot or style shoot or something of that sort. And then they cycle. But you really want to look at it every six months at least. So to make sure that it is relevant to who you are, how you represent yourself, how you want to be seen publicly, whatever is in alignment with your brand and if it matches what's happening with your face and with your style and you really want to do that.

So you have to check it. Even though you are chugging along doing other things, there should be a day where you take an audit. Let's call it a A headshot audit or profile audit and look at your headshot to see if the thing matches where you're going to and who you want to be represented. Very 

good point.

Very good point. And I like that headshot audit. I actually did a post a couple of weeks ago about do a quick audit. I want you to look at your headshot and I, I listed some criteria and definitely, a good thing is, you know, you're, you're, you're not taking just one photo at the shoot and saying, see you later, you're doing a bunch you want to, you know, hopefully your photographer has.

Found out what you're going to use it for and what you're comfortable with and they're going to encourage you to wear lots of different outfits, especially for the gentleman. I love telling them, bring a couple of blazers and a couple of shirts, if you want, if your style is wearing a tie, definitely do that and we'll switch it up.

And then you have lots of different looks, you know, a lot of different looks. you to stretch, stretch it out and you don't, maybe you don't have to come and see us as often. But it's a good way just to have that library of photos ready to go and you can use them for different things.

So definitely. And the other thing I wanted to mention Juma when it comes to Taking a headshot and when it's time to take a headshot. Maybe it's when you have something new to promote one thing I was thinking is, you know, if you are a brand that Maybe what you're selling is something that has a product line that has comes in different colors and you're introducing a new color Maybe during the marketing period you change your headshot to you wearing That color or the background is that color, you know, you can actually You know further help promote your brand by pushing that color out and all your marketing messaging will align to that talking about Hey, it now comes in purple Right?

And maybe you wear a tinge of purple or you go crazy and wear a lot of purple. You know, so that might be a time where you can change your, your headshot too, where you want to do it in line with what marketing trends that your, your company's focused on at the time, if colors are a thing, you know, or maybe the product is clothing and you want to wear some of that clothing in your branding, in your, in your headshot.

You can do so. And that might be another time to say, Hey, time to update my headshot. 

Yeah, I agree with that. 100% for promotional purposes, specialized events, specialized promotions because I mean, if you, your headshot might be great. You might have one that's great. You might have a nice portrait, but then when this new thing is coming up.

You don't want to just grab that wholesale and let's stick it into this new promotion. You might want something that's in alignment. So I agree with that 100%. Not sure I'll have ever have a purple background, but I could probably, I was thinking maybe there was one day for April fools, I think it was last year, I was going to wear a green shirt instead.

And I had this shirt and I convinced myself that I was going to do it and when the morning came, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Don't, don't throw 

away that idea. I think you're on to something just to scare, scare some people because between now and next April 1st, you're going to have 10, 000 more followers who don't know that you mentioned this.

So let's, let's hold on to that one and get a laugh, man, get a laugh, change everything, different light, 

everything. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe, on the color wheel, just go the total opposite. That's good stuff. Good stuff. All right. So I think we've, we've come to the end of the importance of having professionally done headshots as.

a entrepreneur or a business owner or a business leader. Is there anything that you want to close off with Sheldon? Any tips or anything that you want to close off with to add to the importance of, getting professionally done headshots. 

Absolutely. My most important thing that I want everyone to focus on is that a headshot potentially, potentially could be seen by thousands of people.

If you do your social media right, it will be seen by plenty of eyes as the starting point to maybe a conversation, some engagement. networking and then doing business. Keep that in mind. You want something that's professional. You want to have something that's there because I'm still seeing people with literally a profile with nothing on it.

The default photo is still sitting there. Maybe it's because they don't do a lot of business or engagement on LinkedIn. But I suggest that the first thing you do when you sign up for anything is put a professional photo up there and be seen in the light that you know Is a good light, something that you're proud of showing, because I want you to just think positively that you're going to kill it on social media, you're going to kill it with all your marketing, you're going to get lots of opportunities.

So therefore, it will be seen by a lot of people. So show up properly. 

Excellent, excellent, excellent. If people want to get in contact with Sheldon, because this conversation has been great. And I think people may be excited about getting their headshots done if they're in Sheldon's area in Canada. You can go to the website to check out what Sheldon does.

It's at Sheldon Isaac. I'm shocked that you got this URL. Like, like, like shocked. Shocked. Sheldon Isaac is like something that, you know, is probably a combination name that is quite popular. So I'm shocked you got it. And also on LinkedIn, you got it, which is interesting

So Sheldon, thanks so much for joining me and having this discussion about headshots and of course, we're going to take the contents and you're going to have it. I'm going to have it. We're going to chop it up and create some useful content for ourselves across platforms. So thanks again. And we'll talk soon.

Bye everybody.

Thank you for having me. Take care, everybody.