Shooting People – LinkedIn Profile Picture – A Guide
So why you should have a professional photographer help you with your LinkedIn profile picture and what should you avoid?
Most business people these days are on the online business network, LinkedIn, I suspect a few people reading this have followed the link from it to this post. Your profile on the site is your piece of digital real estate that allows you to connect with other professionals and employers, if you’re there looking for a job.
You only get one chance to make a good impression, so of course you should give yourself the best chance to show yourself to your advantage.
It makes perfect sense that you use a photo is current, so if you used to have long hair and you’ve had a cut or if you’ve lost a large amount of weight then an up to date photo is a sensible choice as how do you expect people to recognise you.
Don’t wear sunglasses or use a photo that has obviously been taken while you are on holiday. Of course you’ll look relaxed but you can look too relaxed!
Make sure the image is a close up or if it’s cropped that it doesn’t get too grainy, ideally it should be high resolution as you’re going to have to crop to 400×400 pixels anyway. Your face should fill over half the frame and the best to have a pain or neutral background.
You should be the only person in the photo, but don’t use one that your Uncle Jimmy took at a wedding and you’ve cut out the person you were standing next to, the edge of that hat or disembodied hand is distracting.
Don’t use a selfie, just don’t.
Make sure you smile, for some reason people get self-conscious when asked to do this, the best thing to do is start with a fake laugh which will end up with a genuine one.
If you have a dress code at work then your profile picture should reflect it, if you normally wear a suit and tie then a photo of you in your gym gear isn’t really going to look good the same as if you’re a gym owner posing a suit is going to be a little weird. If you don’t really have a dress code then smart casual is the best way to go, just wear what you would to go to a networking event.
Make sure your picture is visible to the whole LinkedIn universe, not just your contacts. Go to Your Profile, click on the photo and then on Visibility, that will open a pop-up menu where you can choose Public, that way people can find you via external search engines as well as on LinkedIn.
Of course the best way to get a great photo is to use the experience of a professional photographer, I did. Get in touch and I’ll put together a photography package that’s right for you and will give you images you can use to create the best first impression. Give me a call 07506998855 or email me steve@steveedwardsphotography.com and let’s get going.
