​Have you had a recent professional headshot taken? If not, why?
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People do business with individuals not companies. A headshot makes an impression and sends a message that you take your work seriously. Headshots have a reputation for a reason. They are a simple and effective way of enhancing your image, brand, and business. They make you seem approachable, established, and professional before a client even meets you. A good headshot should showcase your personality while representing what your company stands for. Here are a few tips to make sure your head shot is effective:

1. What to wear: Wear what you would when meeting your target audience. If that means a blazer, cardigan, or t-shirt, wear it!
2. Facial Expression: Smile or serious…or anything in between. Who are you? What represents your personality the best? If you are a serious person…in a serious profession…there is no reason to smile if you don’t want to. However, if you are a fun person that loves your job, smile!
3. Posture and pose. A good photographer will direct you. However, be mindful of your posture. Hold your head high, pull your shoulders onto your back, align your ribs to your hip bones, and tuck in your tailbone! Following these ques, you should be in perfect posture that will demonstrate confidence and success. When taking recommendations from a photographer, keep in mind this same alignment. It will assist in easy transitions between poses.
4. Intention: If you were on set for a famous Fortune cover page photo shoot, you would hear the photographer say, “think of the success of your company, think of your accomplishments…”. If the thought of getting a headshot makes you nervous, think of your intention. The result will be awesome because of it!
5. Photographer: Photographers have the responsibility to capture your professional headshot and your personality! Make sure you find a good one! If the result is not what you hoped for, challenge their edits. Also, it shouldn’t cost that much to hire someone to take your head shot. Do your research!

 
 

               Do you know about National Small Business Week? In this month’s blog post, we are discussing National Small Business Week, which takes place this year May 5th – 11th. It is an opportunity for small business owners to receive recognition. The Small Business Administration, or SBA, organizes awards ceremonies to recognize various businesses all over the country. They even have an office in St. Louis, MO!

    The SBA provides funding to help small businesses grow and educational seminars to spread knowledge. They accomplish this by working with federal departments to award 23 percent of contracted dollars to small businesses. In addition, they try to help businesses grow is by organizing National Small Business Week every year. This is a week where they offer training, seminars, and recognition awards.

St. Louis SBA award winners are:

• The Small Business Person of the year: Jeremy Buchheit, Synergy Medical , Inc.

• Rural Small Business of the Year: I Can Too Learning Center

• Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year: Locs of Glory
• Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year: Arch Engraving
• Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year: Ortmann Concrete, Inc
• Immigrant-Owned Small Business of the Year: Mediomics, LLC
• Start-Up Business of the Year: LUZCO Technologies, LLC
• Graduate of the Year: Davis Associates, Certified Public Accountants

Learn more here:  https://www.sba.gov/local-resources/missouri-st-louis