The best bookkeeper in Sydney

I think one of the best testimonials I’ve ever heard is for Hannah from https://hbookkeeping.com.au

My friend, who is a successful business owner, who had been let down by bookkeepers in the past. She is very focused on her business, on running it, and setting it’s strategic direction, however, she doesn’t have a love for bookkeeping or accounting. Each year, her accountant would chase her up for paperwork in order to lodge her tax return.

Things changed when she engaged Hannah to do her books. Suddenly, everything was easy. Hannah had everything running smoothly. On 4 July, the payment summaries and the completed books were done and ready for the accountant. The accountant called my friend and said “who even are you to be this organised and who is your bookkeeper, I want their name as these books have been well put together”.

I don’t think you can get a more glowing recommendation than that.

I had the pleasure of taking Hannah’s updated headshot. If you use Xero and you’re after a bookkeeper in Sydney, please give Hannah, who is based in the Hawkesbury, a call

6 Steps to choose your thumbnail on a Facebook video

Most video programs that create an mp4 file, such as iMovie, select a random video frame as the thumbnail of the video. This can be frustrating. As they say, first impressions matter, so what if the thumbnail is not a flattering one, or doesn’t best represent your brand?

The good news is, you can change the thumbnail as you upload your video to Facebook, simply follow the steps below

Step 1

Click on ‘create post’ and the create post pop up will appear

Step 2

Select the video you want to upload

Step 3

Click on ‘Video options’

Step 4

Scroll down to ‘change thumbnail’

Step 5

You have three choices, you can ‘choose suggested’ (though if you were happy with the suggested one, you wouldn’t be on this screen!), you can ‘upload an image’, or you can ‘choose from video’.

To upload a thumbnail, select that option and continue to upload image

Step 6

If you would rather choose a thumbnail from the video, select that option and then you can scroll through the available clips on either the left side or using the filmstrip below the video, marked below

Now you’re ready to post your video with a thumbnail that attracts attention for all the right reasons!

6 tips to writing your 'About me' video

ONE: BEFORE YOU START WRITING

This is the most important step. Ask yourself, what is the goal of this video. Why are you making the video? Who is the audience? What are the key takeaways that you want to convey? What call to action do you want? With the answers to these questions in mind, you can write your script

TWO: NOTEWORTHY TIPS

1. Your video should be between 30 seconds and one minute. One minute is the maximum attention span for most viewers watching an about me video

2. Your about me is not actually about you. It’s about your client. So make sure when you writing your about me, it’s about how you can benefit your potential client. It can still be genuine and engaging. An example would be, instead of “Hi, I’m Louise and I have a degree in accounting and have completed my CPA. I have been in business for 10 years”, you could say “Hi, I’m Louise and as a CPA with over 10 years experience, I would love to help you solve your tax problems”

THREE: INTRODUCE YOURSELF

In a few words, introduce yourself to the viewer and tell them a little bit about who you are and what you do

FOUR: ADD DETAIL

Write about what you do that stands out from your competition. Talk about what you do well and how you add value to your client. You can talk about ways that you can help your client, or you can speak about your clients pain points that you can help remove. There’s a balance between making sure that you cover off everything you have to offer, and making your video short and engaging. It’s better to group offerings into categories and talk about that if the content is getting too long

FIVE: SPEAK ABOUT YOUR WHY

This part of the video gives the viewer a sense of who you are and your personality. You can speak about any particular areas that you specialise in, particular clients that you can help, how long you have been in business and what drives you to do what you do

SIX: CALL TO ACTION

You must end letting the viewer know what you want them to do next. Using verbs is the best approach, for example, ‘call now’ is more impactful than ‘ready to call?’ You can offer something to further engage with the client, like ‘click here to download a free guide’

The difference between headshots and personal branding photos?

If you’re here, then you’re wondering what is the difference between headshots and personal branding images. 

Headshots have been around for a long time. They were mostly used for corporate executives and are what the word suggests, a portrait of a person’s face. The headshot is typically cropped from above a person’s head to around their chest. It is used to identify the person, up closely enough that the observer could pick the person out if they met them in a room. 
With the boom in entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, online businesses and a greater web presence in general, headshots are now needed by most people in the workforce.

Headshots are a necessity, no doubt about it. You need a good, well lit headshot, on a clean background for things like Linkedin, websites, business cards, email icons and for marketing such as speaking events. 

Personal branding photography takes headshots to the next level. Your clients want to know who the person is behind the business and what the business represents. We can do that much more efficiently in a visual way using branding photography. There’s no limit on what personal branding shots can look like. For some people, they are fabulous portraits in various outfits, for use in your marketing and social media advertising and content. You aren’t limited to the crop typical of a headshot, so we can take contemporary images of varying crops, in as many outfits as you wish. We will be mindful of your branding, your message, and your colours when we are selecting outfits and poses. Some people may have a more corporate edge to their brand, such as a lawyer or investment banker, others may prefer a message of warmth and understanding, like a therapist. Whatever your message is, we create branding imagery to match your message.

We can also take lifestyle photos of you working within your business, perhaps with your products, meeting clients or working in your office or workspace. The sky is the limit

Whether you need headshots or personal branding shots, you’re in the right place. Contact me to book your session.

Is your headshot killing your job opportunities?

Surveys show that 92% of employers search for candidates on social media during their recruitment campaign, 93% of recruiters will use LinkedIn to discover talent and 89% of recruiters have hired through LinkedIn. What is the first thing they see when they search for you? Your profile picture, of course.

In our fast-paced world of wanting information and wanting it now, your picture can very quickly establish rapport with the person recruiting. Equally, a bad headshot or a controversial picture can stop your opportunity dead in its tracks.

Possibly the worst thing you can do is to have no profile picture at all. Social media today interviewed recruiters, and when asked what made them not click through on certain people, having no profile picture was one of the reasons cited. To have no profile picture is to say nothing about yourself, which is not what you want during your job search campaign.

Another common mistake is to take a snapshot that you like, such as the one of yourself and your partner at Jim's wedding, and crop it to show your head. It's still not a professional headshot and it doesn't fool anyone! Often the lighting in these photos are poor, and so you either don't look your best, or you think you look your best because it's so dark, no-one can see your wrinkles!! The outfit is often not the one you would choose for your headshot and there is no care shown to the brand and message you are trying to send.

I've often seen inappropriate pictures for the profile shot. Pictures out socialising, possibly holding a drink. Whilst there's nothing wrong with unwinding and having fun on the weekend, it's not the picture you want to paint with your potential employers. Especially, when your competition has a great headshot exuding confidence and professionalism.

I also recommend cleaning out your social media for your job searching campaign. Lock your social media down, so that people don't read things meant for close friends, and so they turn their focus to LinkedIn, where everything is work related and the message you want to send. It's a great idea to make your profile picture the same on each social media platform, so that people searching you can find you easily, and know that you are being transparent.

Another mistake is the DIY headshot. Everyone has a camera and everyone is a photographer, right? Not so.

A professional photographer will have the best equipment and will have lighting. They will know which focal length lens is the best one to use (no-one likes to look heavier than they are!). A professional photographer will know the rules and where to place the lights and how to pose you. Your photographer will also work with you to create a photoshoot that matches your brief, the message you are trying to convey. Some professions have positive and negative stereotypes, and we are considerate of this when we are photographing you. A counsellor needs to look approachable and empathetic, and a CEO needs to look confident and smart. We work with you, develop a brief to match the message you want to convey and we organise the lighting and shoot around that.

It is true that people form opinions within 7 seconds of meeting you. The same can be said of your picture. Your recruiter is comparing potential candidates, so give them reason to pick you out from the crowd of applicants to move forward with.

Top 6 reasons everyone needs a professional headshot

1. Job searching

On average, people will have ten to fifteen jobs in their lifetime. 92% of employers look to social media during their recruitment campaign. Your potential employers will be searching the popular social media sites trying to put together a picture of who you are. The first thing they find is your profile picture. Does your profile picture send the right message about you? Does it convey to potential employers the message that you wish it to convey? It’s a great idea during your job hunting stage to use the same professional profile picture on all of your social media accounts. This way, the potential employer can easily recognise you. Make it easy for them to find you and build the picture that you are the person they are looking for.

2. To stand out from the crowd

Have you ever searched LinkedIn for a person you are interested in? Have you ever encountered this profile picture? People are 14 times more likely to click on your LinkedIn profile, if you have a headshot. Too many LinkedIn profiles have this default profile picture and when you are scrolling through the lists, people who have a picture stand out from the crowd. People who have professional pictures automatically draw the eye away from everyone else on the list. Stand out from the crowd and you will be seen.

Social media today interviewed recruiters, and when asked what made them not click through on certain people, having no profile picture was one of the reasons cited.

3. For your business card

A study done at the University of Texas (Metcalf 1997) found that people remember 10 percent of what they read however, they remember 50 percent of what they see and hear. If your business card has a visual reminder of you, you are more likely to be remembered by people you are networking with than if you had just your name and details.

4. You have 7 seconds to make a first impression, what impression are you making?

When people see a picture of you, they will make their first impression within seconds of seeing it. You must make sure the picture you are putting forward is your best one. A cropped image from a wedding might be a nice photo of you, but it fools no-one. Everyone knows it’s a cropped photo from a wedding! It says that you aren’t very serious about the message you are putting out there and there is absolutely no room to make it about your brand.

5. People do business with people

People are more likely to hire you if they can see the actual person behind the business. Once a person sees a picture of a person, they automatically start building trust with your business.

6. It’s such a cheap investment

For as little as $200, you can have a professional headshot that reflects your brand and speaks the message you want to convey!