3 Tips For The Perfect LinkedIn Profile Picture

Let’s face it, most people are stalkers online. Before you call the cops to get a restraining order, let us explain..

When people do business in the modern age, most people do their research on the person they are dealing with before even considering taking the next step. Where is the first place they go? Google.

When they Google your name guess what pops up first? Your LinkedIn profile.

Once they look at your profile, what’s the first thing they will look at? You guessed it, your LinkedIn profile picture. That’s why it is so important to get this right, not to mention that LinkedIn gets over 1 billion searches a day and on average your profile will get 50 views a week, it’s super important for the cold people who are looking for people with your skills.

So if you put yourself in the shoes of your customer and viewed your profile picture you would be impressed. Before we go into what to do here’s a few example photos of what NOT to do.

Now you know what must not do, in this article we will share with you the 3 top tips ensuring you have an amazing profile picture that will help turn your profile views into business.

1. Be Consistent With Who You Are

Firstly you need to think about your brand persona and how you want to be represented by your picture. If you want to be seen as approachable and smart casual then wear smart casual clothes.

If you are a higher level executive in a more serious role then you are better suited to wearing a suit and making the setting of the photo more professional – in a board room for example. Think about what you want to be known for and be consistent with your photo as well as where the photo is taken.

2. Make Sure It’s Up To Date

The big one here is that your photo is up to date, don’t use a professional photo that’s older than 3 years. There’s nothing worse than going to meet someone in person that you have met on LinkedIn who look like they are 35 in their photo only to find out that when you meet them they are over 50 and look nothing like their profile picture.

3. Make Sure It’s Professional

Invest in your photo, go see a professional photographer and tell them what you are looking to achieve, tell them about what you’re all about. A good professional photographer who is creative will be able to advise you on the best setting location and dress.

Whatever you do don’t get a friend to take a photo of you with your iPhone in front of a white wall that you see a lot of people do. You come across as cheap and that you don’t care. How you do one thing is how you do everything so don’t make your first impression your last.

We remember working with an accountancy firm whose staff all had terrible photos. All wearing suits no smiles looking miserable standing in front of a white wall that someone had taken off their phone.

Then when we met them they were all a friendly bunch and easy to get along with. Their photos were completely inconsistent with who they were. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake as it can be the difference between someone deciding to do business with you or not.

To round things up to make sure you invest in your photo, it is a key critical component to the success of your LinkedIn campaigns. Remember to let your personality shine through, you want to look approachable and someone they would be interested in chatting to.