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 60,000 times faster than text and 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
So your profile photo literally makes an instant impression, and it's processed by the lizard brain. That part of the brain is full of cognitive bias, primitive instincts and emotions.
So what people see when they come across your photograph influences how they feel about you. And that's before they've even read a word on your profile. They have already made some subconscious assumptions about you. So a good image is critical for a good impression.
People connect with other people. So please don't use your logo instead of your face. Apart from looking dumb and impersonal, it's also against LinkedIn's Terms & Conditions. Dress for work, smile, and make sure there's no distracting background.
If your photograph is seen just 21 times a day online, you have 7,665 opportunities a year to make no impression, a bad impression, or a good impression, before you have even opened your mouth or anyone has read a word of what you have to say for yourself.
That's 7,665 potential contacts.
Or 7,665 potential customers.
Or 7,665 potential advocates.
Or 7,665 people ignoring you completely.
You want your headshot to convey warmth, empathy, trust and personality and professionalism. It's important to get it right.
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 palette to match your outfit, your eyes or your corporate or online colour scheme.
The tool is called Profile Pic Maker — pfpmaker.com and works on mobile phones or desktops. The desktop experience is better for customising backgrounds and you can also download matching header images to go with your new look headshot.
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. The AI can even match clothing styles and colours, as well as lighting patterns.
Aside from the 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, there's still usually a crucial decision to be made - which photo portrays me best?
Sometimes a headshot is at its best showing you in your working environment - in a hardhat offshore, or on a stage with a microphone in front of you. They key consideration is having relevant context, especially when seeking a new position.
Pro Tip: You can also use your header image on LinkedIn to complement your photo with a company logo, or a background illustrating your working environment.
Which picture conveys your personality and character most effectively to the outside world? Asking friends, family and work colleagues to select the 'best' portrait of you may throw up all kinds of contradictory signals — and those that know you best may not be the most objective critics.
So here's the solution: ask the public what they think.
Step 1: Choose two or three photos 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, and to appraise your photos.
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 (a few years ago, before I grew a beard) 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 element at bottom left as shown below, and set it to make sure you don't appear as a grey 'ghost' to those outside your network of connections.
Nobody feels confident connecting to an anonymous image, so it's worth remembering that for making new connections, it's considerably more effective to have your profile photo visible - so make it at least visible to LinkedIn Members.
I choose to have my photo visible also to include search engines and other services. You may prefer more privacy.
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 filters, but you can use these to enhance an image that perhaps lacks impact otherwise. You can even straighten photos where the horizon is off kilter, or see if you can get more profile hits with your face turned upside down.
Remember — your photo on LinkedIn can often be the first impression you make -– and people on LinkedIn may never meet you in person! So it's worth a bit of care to ensure it does you full justice.
