My enewsletter always includes a picture of myself. It usually also features a photo related to this month's content.

Now, I am as unhappy with photographs of myself as the next person. What you see on my newsletter, my Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and my website is what I consider the least offensive recent photo of me. It's no accident that a professional photographer took it.

(His name is Robin Reid and he does awesome stuff. This was just a candid shot at an event; imagine what he could have done in a studio shoot where the mandate was to make me look good!)

I don't like sending you my photo every month. I'm not Lady Gaga, for pity's sake. I'm not after the paparazzi. I'm not (very) self-obsessed.

I'm just following my own advice, because it works.

People like pictures.

More specifically, people like pictures of faces.

Even more specifically, people like pictures of the faces of the people they're dealing with. They like seeing people behind the words, the pitches, the invitations, the alerts.

Corollary: People like pictures of you.

Pictures - photographs of you and your staff - help people make the personal connections that are the currency of truly effective communication.

The solopreneur's enewsletter needs a smiling photo of the businessperson. The executive director's column on the website needs a photo of the ED. The vice-president's column in the print newsletter needs a headshot of the VP.

Do everyone a favor - yourself most of all - by having a pro shoot such photos. Professional portraits are not that expensive, and you will use these photos over and over again.

Have the photographer take photos of key program staff as well. Their smiling faces should accompany their names whenever they are listed as article authors, conference presenters, award winners, initiative leaders, or whatever.

If your website lists staff members, their headshots should be there too - and not just executive staff. Who do your constituents and clients deal with? The person who answers the phone and signs people in at the door is easily as important to them as the CFO.

These photos don't have to be print quality. They also may not last long. In this case - and only if you intend never to use these photos in large format or in print - you can do it yourself.

I wanted to refer you to a website that gives some basic portraiture tips, but a search reveals that basics is more than I, for one, want to know. (Didn't I buy a point-and-click camera so I wouldn't have to know about apertures?)

So I wrote eight bullets about how to get cheap but good thumbnail photos with a decent point-and-click camera. If you want them, email me. (Highlights: Never use flash. Always get close. Don't let the subject wear an Aretha Franklin hat.)

So now I'm back to the main point: Get some great headshots of you and your staff, and use them whenever and wherever you can.

You're not promoting yourself. You're promoting the great work you do.

This is no time to be shy or humble or self-conscious. You're putting a personal face on your work. You're allowing people to feel that they know you. Staff headshots are just one of an arsenal of ways to build authentic connections with clients and constituents.