Tips to Shoot better Portraits at home or anywhere else

Here is a portrait of my daughter, Umika. This was shot at my home in alpharetta, GA last week when the light was soft, cloudy weather and i was working from home.
I have always recommended people to use the natural lightening and make it work.
Here is a decent example of that.
You can see here that i didn't use any artificial lightening and instead shot this in my balcony.

1. On one side was the overcast sky, working like a light box for me, and on the other side was the purely white wall also acting as a reflector. The result, a nicely lit face of Umika. Here is a summary of few tips for taking portraits: 
2. Don't shoot directly in light on the face which can take away the details. unless, you can of course control the light. 
3. Try to shoot during mornings, late evenings or during overcast days so that light is not harsh.  
4. Focus on eyes. 
5. Take multiple shots. Select few best ones only. don't get attached to each photo you take. I would have taken umikas 15 shots out of which i selected two above. 
6. Rather than artificially posing, i let the kids be free and capture natural shots. The outcomes are better than way. Only check- have a fast lens to avoid any challenges with shutter speed.