5 Ways To Tell When You Should Update Your Headshot
This is a great question with relatively straightforward answers. Generally, it's a good idea to keep your headshot fresh and up-to-date for branding, marketing, and professional and social networks. Kinda awkward if your client, employer, or casting director sees your headshot, meets in person, and you don't look like your headshot anymore. 😬
Granted, there are caveats and exceptions to the rule. If you aren't on social media or professional networks, do not have a customer-facing job, and/or do not work with other professionals, colleagues, or clients then then you probably don't need to worry about it. But if you're a normal person in the 21st century, below are few tips to help decide when is best to update your headshot.
1) You don't have a professional or high quality headshot
If you don't have a headshot, portrait, or high-quality image of yourself, it's time to get one. I know having your picture taken by a professional might seem scary or daunting, but it's actually a fun experience and not scary at all. Not to mention it enhances your online presence and overall personal brand. To help calm your nerves, check out my other post, 'What To Expect In A Headshot Session', to learn exactly that.2) You've changed jobs/careers
If you've changed jobs, careers, or industries it's a good time to update your image to match your new career path. Let's say you're going from a corporate 9-to-5 job to and are a freelance painter now who works from a home studio, you'll want a fresh, new image that reflects you and your current endeavors.3) You've changed your style
If someone holds your headshot up next to your face, will it look like the same person? If you've changed your hair style, clothing style, physical appearance, lost/gained weight, or look considerably different from your last headshot, it's time to bring your image up to speed. Especially true if you have clients, customers, or are self employed. They'll see who they're working with and if it doesn't match with what they see online prior to meeting in person, it might be a 🚩 (red flag) for them.4) It's been a while
If your headshot is 1+ years old, it's time to start planning your updated headshot. It may seem overkill to get a new headshot once a year, but we buy new clothes, change styles, change jobs, and physically change over time (get older). I know we all have attachments to that one photo of ourselves, but it's probably really old. If you're still using an old headshot because you look "young" or "youthful", that's like a 40 year old still talking about his high school football days. Don't let another 5+ years slip away. Your headshot should grow with you.5) You simply want a new one
Even if you just had a headshot session a week ago and see a different photographer whose work you like, book a session with them, too! Granted, this could get costly if you get new headshots every week. But if you can afford it, go for it. To get an idea of how much a session costs, see my other post, 'How Much Do Headshots Cost?'. There isn't a minimum time frame between sessions, just don't go the opposite route and wait too long in between headshot updates.6) Bonus
If you have any sort of presence on social media, updated content imagery is invaluable. If you start to recycle images for posts, marketing, advertising, content, etc. it's time to book a headshot/content shoot. Also, if you're a company with employees you should keep your staff imagery up-to-date. New hires should get their headshots taken when on-boarded to keep cohesion with the company visuals. Companies should stay up-to-date annually or every two years at the latest with fresh organization-wide headshots.If any of the above applies to you and you need a refresher, book your look today. Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Ready to refresh your image?
Published: February 3rd, 2022
Written by: Tyler Coleman
Contact: tyler@typierce.com
Photo by: Ross Sneddon via Unsplash
Written by: Tyler Coleman
Contact: tyler@typierce.com
Photo by: Ross Sneddon via Unsplash