What if I told you that several people have met you today, but you didn’t meet them?

I suppose that sounds kinda creepy, I promise it’s not!

In today’s digital age, the days of the handshake being the fist time you “meet” a person, are long gone.

Nowadays, we “meet” people all the time. We meet many new people daily, in fact. Maybe not in a business meeting, or our local Jakarta coffee shop. We meet them online, as we come across their digital online profiles, and they meet us, as they come across ours. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, your Company Website. People may be meeting you right now.

The very first thing we notice about a person’s online profile, is their profile picture. Your profile picture is your new handshake. It’s the firm grip, the approachable smile, the confident look in the eye. Your opening line needs to be “Take Me Seriously”.

A professional headshot is the only thing that will take care of that for you.

Subconsciously, we make a decision on people’s character in under two seconds after seeing a photograph of them. Subconsciously, we don’t even realize we’re doing it! But there we have it, a fully formed opinion on somebody we’ve never physically met.

Vivian Zayas, professor of psychology at Cornell University, found that people continue to be influenced by another person’s appearance even after interacting with them face-to-face. First impressions formed simply from looking at a photograph, predicted how people felt and thought about the person after a live interaction that took place one month to six months later.

“Facial appearance colors how we feel about someone, and even how we think about who they are,” said Zayas, an expert in the cognitive and affective processes that regulate close relationships. “These facial cues are very powerful in shaping interactions, even in the presence of other information.”

So if your profile picture is a selfie, a cropped out picture of your head from a friend’s wedding album, a 90s throwback with a big ole cheesy grin/wide eyes, we need to be looking to change it for you.

I think it’s best to work on the subconscious level for professional headshots. I want the expression on your face to be genuine, so people don’t subconsciously mistrust you. The big smile screams fake, the big eyes shout scared, or unsure. But that’s okay, getting your headshot taken isn’t easy. For most of us, including myself, It’s not normal to be stood in front of a camera. But I do know how to get you looking relaxed, confident, and approachable. I want you to look like a real person in your headshot. It takes a little bit of time, some coaching, teamwork, and some beautiful lighting, and I’ll get you there.

Great to chat with you, guys. Thanks for reading.