Guidelines for choosing your business portraits photography for LinkedIn Profile
1. Choose a photo that actually looks like you.
Don’t try to make yourself look like a superstar. This is for business, people want to know authentically who they are dealing with. Don’t try to create or choose an image that makes you look like a model and is not true to how you come across in person. It is also best to use a recent photo, choosing a photo of yourself taken when you were much younger is probably a poor choice because people will realise this when they meet you in person and wonder why you are insecure about your age or looks. You are fabulous, be yourself.
2. Your Face should take up at about 60% of the frame.
Crop the picture from the top of your shoulders to just above your head so that your face fills the frame so that people can see you nice and clearly. A full length body shot viewed at that small profile pic size ends up saying more about the outfit you have chosen than it does about you.
3. Consider your facial expression.
Smile with your eyes. You want to appear warm and friendly as well as professional. You don’t have to force a big grin if that does not feel natural to you but you do want to come across as approachable. You want clients or employers to believe that they can have a pleasant conversation with you.
4. Wear what you’d wear to work.
Wear clothes that match the level of dressiness at for your industry and the type of clients you want to attract or job you want to land. You don’t want to be over or underdressed. Alsosolid colours tend to do best on camera rather than loud patterns.
5. Choose a plain background.
You don’t want anything to distract from your face. Keep the background simple so that you are the focal point. This means using a plain colour, white or grey. You could also have an out of focus background (office, bushes, etc.) that is not too busy.
Having a good profile picture on LinkedIn increases your response and referral rates. Invest in your profile picture. It’s your first chance to communicate that you are professional, friendly, likeable, and trustworthy. These attributes are crucial to getting prospects or employers to engage with you. Think of it as your first step to building your personal brand on LinkedIn and making yourself stand out.
