Being the face of your business

One of my specialties, as a photographer, is business headshots. I always say that you are the face of your business, whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur. If people do business with those they know, like and trust, they will want to know what you look like now, not 20 years ago or in the future when you lose weight. This presents me with a dilemma when it comes to marketing my own business: do I put samples of my work on my business cards or do I put a picture of myself, as many of my clients do? I'm not a shrinking violet by any means but I have always felt that my business is all about my clients and what I can do for them. It's not about me.

I know photographers who take amazing self-portraits and use them as a creative outlet. I am not one of them. My current headshot is one I took myself in my home studio. It looks like me; it shows a chubby older woman, with silver hair and glasses, holding a camera. Anyone who has seen my headshot would recognize me in an instant. Last year, when I was looking to update my business cards, I tried two different kinds. One had a picture of me and the other was a folded card with several examples of my work. I personally liked the headshot card, which was simple and understated. However, the folded card had the "wow" factor and I suspect it is the one people will hang on to, which is the point of the exercise, right?

I collect a  lot of business cards; I have a stack of them on the corner of my desk right now. Some of them are one sided, with a logo and basic contact information. These are less expensive, bought in bulk and often belong to people with a corporate affiliation. Those that have headshots fall into two categories: those with up to date headshots, and those with headshots a decade or more old. You can easily tell the old ones, with their dated fashion and hairstyles. They fool no one! The up to date headshots make me say, "Oh yes!  I remember talking to him/her". The out of date ones do not. There would be no point in my using an old headshot from the days when I was 30lbs lighter and had dark hair, however much I might like the picture. Looking through my stack, I realized that most of the cards with headshots on them belong to entrepreneurs. These people really are the face of their small business! 

My headshot clients tend to be those small business owners.  They need to do whatever it takes to stand out in the crowd! Just as cell phone 'selfies' and stock photography do not make a website stand out, a ho-hum business card will not be a 'keeper'. 

Which all brings me back to my dilemma: which style to use for my next business card? After all this consideration, I have decided to go with a hybrid model! I will show examples of my recent work on one side and a picture of me on the other, with my contact information! It will be interesting to see which side draws the most comment-my money is on the pretty pictures!