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"I've bought and sold more than 10 properties in my life, and worked with real estate agents on each one of them. I wish I had known then what I know now about the psychology of headshots, it would have left them with much more than just a single commission." Don Mann Real estate agents are well aware of the importance of proper staging -- and this "lookability" goes for agents as well! Are you looking to increase your attraction rate to homebuyers? Learn the differences between good and effective headshots below.  If You Want a Cheap, Ineffective, Money-robbing Headshot, Stop Reading. Based on my looking at numerous LinkedIn-realtor headshots, not to mention a lifetime of billboards and sales brochures, few in the real estate industry seem to understand and appreciate the power of an effective headshot. The psychology of headshots makes this a critical factor for real estate professionals. They all have a real estate headshot, but most of these headshots repel rather than attract prospects. They all have them, but they obviously do not know how to tell good ones from bad. My hope is to help all sincere real estate people get and use effective headshots. Your headshot is the first introduction to who and what you are. It is a handshake with your unseen prospects. You may be a wonderful, warm, exciting person and problem solver in the flesh, but if you don't win that first digital introduction of your headshot, you will never know. If you don't win that first opportunity at a great impression they will move on, and move on in microseconds, never looking back. This is called "repelling at first opportunity." Many treat their business headshot as a perfunctory requirement and spend little effort on them. Their mantra is, “Make it quick, I’ve more important things to do.” Yet studies prove that a headshot is one of the most potent human interaction tools there is. Ignore them at your financial peril and personal risk. Your modern, real estate headshot is critical to your success in today’s overwhelming digital, image-driven world. As prospective clients search for agents online, their first impression is with your real estate agent headshot, whether online or in print. It is entirely possible to make headshots that when people see them, they want to stare at them, not to look away, but want to get to know the person, and work with them. We call this “lookability.” These are extremely rare in the world of portrait photography, while we at Don Mann Photography make them every day. It is my gift to those who trust me enough to create high lookability headshots for them. The awesome thing is that lookability is not beauty. It is the ability of a picture to show the real person behind the face, beautiful or not, in such a way that it draws people in to want to work with them. This is the Holy Grail of all marketing images, and you can have one of these top, 1% headshots on your business card, your mailers, and on your website. Your business life and your personal life can reap the bountiful rewards of such power. All found in a simple, but extremely rare, high-lookability headshot. The right headshot can make you seem friendly, approachable, engaging, confident, trustworthy, and professional. That means it’s worth the investment to make sure you get your real-estate headshot right, the first time. And if you don't have one, maybe even swallow your pride and fears, and get one. So how can you ensure your headshot puts your best face forward? Here are a few pointers to help you get the perfect shot. People Overwhelmingly Buy Through Real Estate Agents First, let’s look at some facts. A 2018 study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found 87% of home buyers purchase their home through a real estate agent. It’s evident there’s a large market for real estate agents. But how can you reach prospects? Most agents rely primarily on personal referrals, and it is key. But before prospects contact you, they will research you. And that is where your headshot makes or breaks that potential connection. 55% of people will search online for reviews and recommendations before making a purchase, with 47% visiting the company website, 26% checking out the physical store, and 23% of people talking with friends and family. (KPMG) Based on these numbers, 55% of friends and family referrals will be researched on the Internet. Others suggest 70-80% will online research before they make a purchase/engagement decision. This means 55% to 80% of your prospects will research or confirm their willingness to work with you by Internet research. And the primary thing they look at is your headshot to consider you. Based on this data, with an ineffective headshot most real estate people are leaving at least 55% of their potential business on the table. What would your life look like if you had 55% or even 80% more business? Let’s dream for a moment. Imagine what your life will be like WHEN you have our jaw-dropping headshots working for you 24x7 to improve your fortune? Our headshots feature you with confidence and approachability to draw prospects favorably to you. Headshot Impacts Can Last For Years Besides pictures of babies and puppies, people love pictures of other people, especially headshots. A poor headshot will make the viewer go from “open” to “Ugh!” If it is an agency website, a mailer, a brochure, a print ad, your business card or a For Sale sign, you will never know how many a poor headshot is not just being ignored, but actually repelling potential clients. And those poor impressions can last for years! When a prospect goes to your agency website, what do they see? Just your face or a sea of faces? Most agency websites are like a cattle call with a maze of faces. You are not just in competition with every other agency and their agents, but also with your own agency team. If that prospect sees a sea of agents, how are you going to stand out? So we are talking about your headshot first, then other supporting material surrounding your image. If your headshot shows you as confident, approachable and trustworthy, your viewer will respond back to you with those same emotions. Your awesome headshot keeps them looking longer and selects you out of other images around you. They will choose you over others. Headshots with high confidence and approachability will be remembered long after the first time they saw your face. And that image will be associated with good, positive emotions for years, making it the perfect sales tool. Numerous studies now show how viewers look at headshots and make their decision in milliseconds whether to stay or move on. If your headshot does not win this super-quick attention battle, you have lost your opportunity with that viewer. Headshots with those critical engagement features are as rare as hen’s teeth. While anyone with a cell phone can take what they call a headshot, few know how to work the light for you, and even fewer know how to coach and then capture those compelling headshot expressions that upgrade your future. Yet most realtors are happy with a headshot that fills in a form, or has what they consider a good headshot. And since few spend all day reviewing headshots, they have no idea what makes an effective marketing headshot. What they usually use for comparison are what they see on TV or the Internet, where effective headshots are as rare as cats barking. So their standard is bad headshots, not good ones. These are the people that tell you your headshot is “good enough, there is more to life, move on.” And you are left with a headshot that repels opportunities for years to come. A simple test is the typical school headshot picture. Parents are happy if their child has a nice smile, but none consider if that image evokes approachability and confidence in the viewers. And few photographers are aware of what it takes. Especially in a production mode where each child sits for 2 minutes or less in a chair for their picture, or each real estate agent in a production-line headshot session, so they spend only 30 seconds on one of the most important marketing tools there is. Now you know why top actors and models spend days on their headshots, their very working lives depend on them. But There Is Hope Do you want more calls from prospective buyers, more calls from property owners for you to list their property? More buyer calls, more listing calls, more deals closed! More calls for you to join investor teams. More access to financing and suppliers for your projects. Or simply more MORE! All this is made possible by our compelling, proven-results, top 1%, headshots! If done right, a great headshot can enhance the feeling of intimacy between you and your viewer to build trust and acceptance. The viewer sees you and wants to work with you, and if a prospect, they now want to contact you. All this while you are not there! Bigger Than You Think I just discovered another headshot concern. Our neighbors just listed their house, and of course we looked up the listing. On the house’s page there was a small headshot of the listing agent. In fact all you could see was that she was maybe smiling. If you then clicked on that picture, you got a headshot the entire size of the cell phone screen. Wow, she looked terrible. It was an obvious cell phone shot with poor lighting, and rather scary. It repelled both of us at the same time. Short change your headshot and you short change your life. A prospect has no intention of trying to work with someone who ignores basic details! I routinely get post-card real estate mailers. In these the agent has their little business card headshot blown up 3 to 5 times. And, boy are they repelling. Grimaces, fake smiles and red eyes abound. Not one ounce of approachability or confidence in them. My heart goes out to these agents who invested good, and hard-earned money, into repelling potential listings. The first response to me was maybe I need to list my house, but I will look elsewhere for a listing agent! In these images these agents look predatory, fearful, ready to make money off of me, but not willing to listen to me, or look for my best interests in what is the largest financial transaction of my life! No way, not when I see the face of a shark and I see myself as their chum! All from a rather typical, ineffective, money-robbing headshot. We Do Have Answers for You.

COVID-19 IMPACTS: With stay at home orders in my immediate region – Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, much less most of the world – our portrait photography creation has been curtailed until these restrictions are relaxed. The good news is that most of my photography can be done at distances of 6 feet or longer, so we can maintain our social distancing. For our individual headshot business, we can move outside for greater safety. With all the job changes, our door-opening, connection-building, professional headshots are more important than ever. While I don’t think anyone could notice, as always, for any clients who feel our COVID-19 shots limited them, we will be happy to re-shoot as a gift, once the crisis is over. I can wear a mask, even gloves and a lab coat as I did for many years in high technology, while my subjects can remain without PPE for the shoot. And if they want shots with a face mask on, no problem. They can arrive and depart with them, especially face masks. Of course frequent washing of hands/disposable wipes is part of this. For studio shoots we can go outside for most shots. And of course, we have a great property for model comp card shots and general portraits. Our make-up artists can work just as the salons in Georgia are doing now. Of course we put in a HEPA filter that serves the studio. The biggest impact is on our coverage for indoor group shoots such as events, meetings, and some indoor commercial shoots. The biggest difference is less close shots with 15-50mm lenses, and more with my 70-200mm or longer lenses. I even have a 600mm from my nature photography. At a 6 to 10’ appropriate social distance we can get great shots as needed. We expect group shots limitations will be gone by June or July, so we can book them even now. The biggest impact on me has been my network marketing. For now inside group meetings are off, but I can do some cold phone calling, even exterior commercial shots, especially if owners can turn on some interior lights. For example we prefer to do restaurant or other business shots before service start and then add the staff portraits after the staff arrives. So bringing in a few staff should not be a problem. I have to confess the crisis has not been all bad for me. My son and his family live with us. I get to spend many days playing with my 5 year old grandson – time that can never be replaced, and I wish I had done more of when my children were smaller. Now he did take over my office to do home schooling on my large monitor. Even golden clouds can have a black lining! QUESTIONS Phone: 302 - 561 - 5555 | Email: Info@DonMannPhotography.com | Rates & Booking

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