Want To Energize Your Web Presence? Don’t Hide Your Face, Kimosabe!

Most of my clients don’t want to use their photo on the internet. They think they’re not attractive enough. I tell them all the same thing. Unless you’re the Lone Ranger, there is no excuse for hiding your face!

People want to do business with people they can see. Having an attractive headshot online for your web site, your blog and your social networking sites is probably the single best way to bring yourself forward and be noticed.

If you own a business, an attractive headshot will make your business feel more personal and more approachable.

If you have a blog or web site or sales page online, an attractive headshot will make you seem more trustworthy to visitors.

If you’re looking for work, putting an attractive headshot on your resume and professional networking profiles gives you a solid advantage over those that don’t.

If all this is true, why do so many people skip this important step in building a web presence? The answer is found in that bugaboo word—attractive.

Most people simply don’t like their looks.It may surprise you to know that many models, actors and famous people who regularly make the covers of magazines don’t like their looks, either. They especially don’t like the way they photograph. At least, not until those photos have been retouched

Now days, it’s almost unheard of to distribute a photo before it’s been retouched. Nearly every photo you see of models, actors and famous people, in magazines, newspapers and television ads, is heavily retouched. All over the world, there are Photoshop experts making their living taking wrinkles off famous faces and cellulite off famous butts.

  If you don’t like the way you look in photos, you should take advantage of the same services. You can spend as much as you like on photo retouching. I’ve seen reports of skilled photo reotouchers getting $35,000 and up to retouch a single photo for a magazine cover. And I’ve seen photo reotouchers working from home for $20 an hour. What you pay depends on what you want done and the skill level of the photo retoucher you work with.

It’s easy to find a photo retoucher. Every photography studio has reotouchers available. So do most print shops. Photo retouchers also advertise online. All you have to do is send them a print photo or a digital photo and let them know what you’d like done to it. You can ask for simple things like cleaning up a hairline, correcting eye color and brightening teeth. Or you can ask for more complicated work like taking pounds off your face or body, changing your hair color or even pasting your head on a different body.

For business purposes, it’s best not to go too far. All you really need to make yourself attractive in your online photo is a relaxed and pleasant smile. Good photo retouching will leave you looking like you, relaxed and smiling, but a refreshed you, with no stray hairs and a sparkle in your eye. So you can see what a difference a little retouching makes, here’s a photo of me straight from the camera, and that same photo after some light retouching. I think you’ll agree that a little retouching makes the image more pleasing. And the same little tricks can make you much happier with your own photos. So stop making excuses and start making plans for putting your best face forward.

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Bonnie Boots publishes The Internet Wizards Magazine and this companion The Internet Wizards Blog to teach self-employed people and small businesses owners how to leverage the internet for advertising, marketing and promoting their business. To stay in touch with her, type your name and email into the subscriber box in the upper right corner of this page. You’ll be glad you did!

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