If you’re a business person, especially in a smaller company, then you should be aware of the value of the business portrait. Larger companies, for better or worse (and it’s mostly worse), tend to photograph only their C-level people.

Here’s a link to a UK marketing expert’s blog, with a post about the importance of a business portrait to your branding:

A few years ago, I hired a professional photographer to take my picture. It didn’t cost much (£200, I think) but I think it was the best marketing investment I have made.

‘Nuff said?

Six months ago, I got a call from a medium-sized, business management consulting company in Toronto. They wanted portraits of their top executives, mostly for use on their web site. I quoted about $2,000 for business portraits and they never called back. To this day, the “About Us” page on that company’s six-year-old web site is still empty except for a list of executive names. I guess they couldn’t find a cheap-enough photographer.

Point is, it’s penny-wise but pound-foolish to treat a rather important marketing tool as a cheap commodity. A good, and even unique, portrait is an important marketing investment. This is one of those things that are worth more than what they cost.

A business portrait can be a simple and quick head-and-shoulders headshot. It can also be two hours of photography resulting in a variety of images with various poses, locations and lighting styles, depending on you and your business. Talk to your photographer about the possibilities.