Having a good portrait of yourself makes good business sense

~ First posted June 25, 2011, updated October 3, 2011.

Having a good, up-to-date portrait of yourself is important no matter what profession you are in or ambitions you have.

First, you never know when the media might come a-calling wanting to feature you in an article. You’re doing yourself a favor, and the media outlet, by having a photo on hand. Because deadlines and budgets are tight, editors and producers don’t always have the resources for getting an image made for their stories quickly. Then if by chance they are able to assign a photographer to make a picture of you, there’s no guarantee you’ll like the image.

Second, as you probably already know, to help maintain your professional reputation, having a strong, smart online presence is crucial. If you are using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites, you’re expected to include a picture of yourself. If you're ever asked to speak at a conference, someone will ask you for a picture for their website and materials.

You’ll want to use an image that communicates the qualities you want the public to know about you. Depending on the nature of your work, you might want to have more than one portrait so that each can be in sync with a different aspect of who you are and what you do. How to keep your identities from sending conflicting messages is a conversation for another time.

And third, as the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but who's got time to read a thousand words? Reading a picture is faster. Portraits communicate in seconds qualities of a person words can't. They transcend language. Images are more show and less tell, which is what effective communication is about.

Hmm. Yes. While this is all true, what about cost? Getting a portrait made that works can be pricey. If you're needing one and cost is a concern, consider coming to my next BizPics shoot Sunday, November 20.  The shoot will include a variety of images being made, the services of a stylist and a bit of fun. Providing good portraits at a good price is just one way that Kring Lerner Group is working with individuals, entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized business and non-profits to be successful. We're currently in touch with some social service agencies who assist job-seekers to see if we can devise a plan for offering their clients' headshots at an even lower rate. Stay tuned for more on that.

Above, from left to right: Holly Rotman-Zaid (upper left) Catherine Johns, David Lindgren and Sally Chapralis (lower right) participated in the April and June shoots.

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Oakton Street Road Diet Follow Up Meeting - September 27, 2011

This in from the Skokie Chamber of Commerce...

On Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 3 p.m. the Village will host a meeting for Downtown Skokie business and property owners to present the results of the "Road Diet" test conducted on Oakton Street in Downtown Skokie during May and June 2011. The meeting will be held in the Petty Auditorium at the Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton Street.

In addition to presenting the test results, the Village seeks comments and recommendations in order to provide the Village Board with a sense of the business community's perceptions of the program.

RSVP to info@skokie.org or call 847-933-8257 with the number of representatives attending from your business or property. 

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Adaptable Baked Apple Pancake

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Nothing beats eating an apple immediately picked from its tree, but with apple-picking season upon us, now's a good time to get lots of apples, pull out some favorite apple recipes, experiment with some new ones and have some fun.

Similar to the one's made at Walker Bros., this apple pancake is a treat. Friends and family will be grateful to you for making this dish, assuming you are willing to share.

Here we go...

2 tablespoons melted butter, or as much butter as you prefer
4 tablespoons brown sugar, or as much as you prefer
1 teaspoons cinnamon, or as much as you prefer

2 apples, peeled and pared

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour, or slightly less if whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon vanilla, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 or 415 degrees F.
Pour melted butter into a pie pan or a small baking pan, allow the butter to coat the sides of the pan
Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon on the butter
Place apples on top of the sugar and cinnamon
Whisk together eggs, milk and flour and pour over apples
Bake for 25-30 min. Inhale through your nose for the last 25 minutes.

The pancake will come out of the oven puffy and sizzling. You might enjoy watching it deflate. While Walker Bros. serves their pancake upside down, with the apple and sugar side up, you might like yours with the baked top up. The annoying part will be waiting for the pancake to cool enough so that you can eat it.

Prepping the apples is the most time-consuming part of this recipe, so sometimes I peel and slice them up the night before and store in a air-tight container in the refrigerator.

This is a great recipe to experiment with. Consider substituting the apples for raspberries and blueberries, or even bananas, all of which require less prep time. Consider doubling or tripling the batch depending on the size pan you use and your personal prefer. Consider adding cinnamon to the batter, or skip it all together.

The batter is the same one some cooks use to make crepes and a dish my family has made for generations, schmorn.

About Schmorn...

Schmorn is made by frying the batter in a frying pan generously lubricated with corn or olive oil and sliced into marble-sized pieces with two dinner knives and stirred as it fries. My mom and grandmother usually served it savory, seasoned with salt and pepper, but consider powdered sugar.

If you experiment this recipe, and try some variations, I'd love to hear how it worked out for you.

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