The answer to the question is a question. "How are good photos taken?" (exclude random, lucky shots).
Here's how I do it:
I get to understand what you need
assist in choosing what you are going to wear, help you to prepare (grooming/makeup)
set up professional lighting right where you are (home or office)
help you pose (not everyone is comfortable posing) to bring out the best in you
take multiple photos so that you have a choice for selection (you only pay for what you select, not all)
assist you in selecting the best portrait (yes, I don't dump everything on your, making it your problem)
retouch the selected portraits to suit YOUR taste
give the portraits in the format that YOU can use on different social media platforms
I don't skip any of these steps unless you want me to. All this skill, additional effort and time understandably come at an additional price...additional compared to a photo taken in a studio (in India) for instance. This is how it goes:
you groom the way you think is right
go and get clicked and
pay a paltry sum and get your photos
This is as simple as it gets - or too simple to give you the best headshots you deserve. You pay much smaller amount to a local studio but you don't have much control on any aspect. Don't get me wrong, for some people, many actually, this is sufficient, but definitely not for all, it is a popular (aka. janata) service.
If you are not in 'the many', you are keen to get a really good photo of you that you are proud to show others, have on your website profile, just know that there's a service that can give you just that, yes, '10k Portraits Photography' - that's the name. You get value for the money you pay, a great headshot of you. If this is what you are looking for, just know that I am here, waiting for your call