Affordable fitness coach headshots, will cost you more in the long run.
Bargain shoppers. There I said it! We are all guilty of looking to get more bang for our buck and make our dollar stretch further. This approach often works in a practical sense for our basic necessities or the latest fad.
I often tell people the Dollar Tree has THEE best knock off Pop Tarts! If I gave you a blindfold test, I’m certain you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. What’s best is the price is a fraction of what you would spend at your local grocery store.
Now, there are things that just don’t quite hold up to the par. For example the current rage of Stanley cups for your liquid consumption. I said liquid because I know some of you are pallin’ around with Jack, Jose and the Captain, not water. No judgement though! The Stanley cups can be quite expensive, especially when you’re rocking different ones for all your outfits. So naturally other companies have jumped on the bandwagon and made more affordable look-alikes. On one hand the average person can get 2 or 3 of these for the price of one Stanley.
They both hold fluid and might be leak proof, but will one of them stand the test of time and hold the thermal temperature longer?
Better yet let’s put this more in your realm for a sec. Imagine creating a meal plan for your client and everything is dialed in to meet their nutrient and caloric goals. Then your client decides for the sake of time and the 2 for $6 deal they get a McDonalds Sausage Egg McMuffin for their breakfast. I know some of you are saying, well if it fits their macros, let em. However, imagine this sort of approach for 2 or even 3 more meals for their day. Ahhh, now it’s starting to make you cringe. For the short term this is helping get in some calories but for the long run, this isn’t sustainable.
The same thought process should be applied to your business/brand. Cutting corners by using your cellphone will only get you so far to obtain your ideal client base. In the same vein, shopping for a live at home College student to take your pictures with an entry level camera will only work for a few clicks.
Nutritionist headshots. The under exposure looks far worse because there is no separation between the subject and the background. It’s even harder to make the subject out because she is matching the background.
Now time for the real life practical application. Pictured above is a Rebecca who is a nutritionist coach. She recently posted online that she can help people achieve their weight loss goals using practical approaches. I have no doubt that she knows a thing or two on how to work with clients with weight loss goals. However by her fitness headshots, it says more about her business approach.
In her fitness coach headshot, she went through great lengths to get her hair done, nails touched up and even put on a full face of makeup. What she didn’t take the time to do was find an experienced photographer. The photo looks dark, which again I will preach until my last day, shadows and contrast is a good thing. However, everything has a time and a place and an intensity. What makes this photo so dark is that she is fading into the black background. This could possibly be a better photo with some editing done to bring her out.
I don’t know her but the fact that her fitness coach headshot isn’t being utilized as on her business page speaks volumes. She isn’t even willing to associate her brand with this photo. Let’s take a look, shall we.
Notice the profile picture for her business account and her personal page. The professional picture is used for her wedding but her business profile picture has an illustration.
You’ll spend more money by trying to save money up front.
Here we can see her Instagram business page has an illustration instead of having her fitness headshot. For a time, it was not uncommon to see a logo as a person’s brand. However in today’s culture, everyone is trying establish a brand that resonates with people on a personal level by using their face/body. Now let’s look at the stark contrast between her personal page and her business page.
On her personal Instagram page her profile picture is of her on her wedding day. I want to dissect that for a bit. In most weddings there is at least one thing professional at a wedding if not all vendors are professional. She took the time to look for a wedding photographer and most likely spent at least 4 digits worth of dollars for her wedding day. She found value in her wedding day and matched that with the photographer. Now look at this on a subconscious level. Her first line in her bio on her personal page is “Nutrition Coach PN1-NC”. Her husband took the second line, and he is in the picture! Why? She wants people to see her body for her brand. Both pages direct to one another. Meaning the professional wedding photo is her sudo business profile picture.
Now if she would have invested the same amount of effort and money into her fitness headshots, she would be rockin’ that photo on all her business related socials. For now she spent money on an unexperienced photographer and got subpar photos that she is barely using. Paid for an app or a digital artist to design her a logo, which she probably wouldn’t have done if her photos came out better. Then in time she’ll probably do one of two things. One, which is the wisest route, she’ll look and be very particular on her next photographer and spend even more money on another photo session. Or, she’ll spend money on Amazon items to have a makeshift in home studio and take photos in her living room. Only to find that isn’t cutting it and eventually hires an experienced photographer. You can see how this keeps adding up.
Remember shadows in photos convey dimension/shape and mood. Here is an example of a professionally shot and edited photo with a minimal setup in Yakima, Washington.
Pilates instructor headshot