Your LinkedIn Profile photo should not be an afterthought. Invest in a professional headshot to show your best face to the world.
The human brain processes images 42,000 times faster than text. Or it may be, according to 3M research, 60,000 times faster.
Whatever the figure, it's very fast.
So your profile photo and header image literally make an instant impression, and it's processed by the lizard brain. The part of the brain that process images is full of cognitive bias, primitive instincts and emotions.
People connect with other people. So please don't be tempted to use your company logo instead of your face. Apart from looking dumb and desperate, it's specifically against LinkedIn's terms & conditions, so could get your account shut down.
Use natural lighting
Dress for your work
Smile
If your photograph is seen just 20 times a day online, you have 7,300 opportunities a year to make no impression, a bad impression, or a good impression. All this before you have even opened your mouth, or anyone has read a word of what you have to say.
That's 7,300 potential contacts.
Or 7,300 potential customers.
Or 7,300 potential advocates.
Or 7,300 people ignoring you completely.
You want your headshot to convey warmth, empathy, trust and personality and professionalism. It's important to get it right.
Rather poor
It's OK
Fantastic
There's a great free online tool which lets you upload your headshot and then download variations with the background removed. You can even change the background colour to match your outfit, your eyes or your company's colour palette.
The tool is called Profile Pic Maker at https://pfpmaker.com/ and works on mobile phones or desktops. The desktop experience is better for customising backgrounds. You can also download matching header images to go with your new look headshot.
Another great free tool to add ‘wraparound’ text similar to LinkedIn's ‘Open To Work’ or ‘Hiring’ wraparounds is at https://www.trevisanconsulting.com/photo-generator/ from Melanie Goodman.
You can see the result in my photo to the right:
If you are a member of a company team, it's always been difficult to achieve consistency for headshots, particularly if you are in different parts of the world. But there's a new AI service at https://headshotpro.com which allows you to achieve a cohesive look and feel for your headshots. All done online and at low cost.
As well as looking great on LinkedIn, your website team photos can look as if they were all taken in the same place. You can even match clothing styles and colours.
There are many aesthetic considerations like the quality and size of the image, the lighting, way you dress, the background focus and colour, and the way it's cropped. But there's still usually a crucial decision to be made - which photo portrays me best?
Which image conveys my personality and character most effectively to the outside world? Asking friends, family and work colleagues to select the 'best' image of you may throw up all kinds of contradictory signals - and those that know you best are often not the most objective critics.
Step 1: Choose two or three headshots you feel best portray you, and have them on your computer ready to upload.
Step 2: Sign up for a free account at photofeeler.com where you can choose either to buy credits with a fast-track paid option, or, by voting on other people's photos, you gain credits to use the free service.
Step 3: Upload your photos and submit them for human beings to vote on.
Then, just listen to the wisdom of the crowd.
I found that my preferred photo (also preferred by my wife) was not the one best rated on Photofeeler.
So the photo I chose for my profile was the one that the crowd liked best - not my choice.
Once you've uploaded your photo, it's important to remember that you can set options to control who can see your image. Click the visibility control at the bottom left of the panel as shown when you click on your profile photo.
Yes, I know, it's not obvious it's there, even though it is a vital control.
Nobody feels confident connecting to an anonymous 'grey person' image, so it's worth remembering that for making new connections, it's considerably more effective to have your profile photo showing to everyone - so make it at the very least visible to LinkedIn Members.
I choose to have my photo visible also to search engines and other services. You may prefer more privacy — but it's important to check these settings
Remember that you can also adjust your photo to zoom in and crop it, and to adjust contrast, saturation and colour if needed.
I am not a big fan of LinkedIn's photo effect filters, but you can use these to enhance an image that perhaps lacks impact otherwise. You can even straighten photos where the horizon might be off kilter.
