My gift to you as a thank you for listening to my interview with Marie Fratoni for the Get Clients Everywhere Summit. I am excited to be able to give you this FREE GIFT of powerful information. These are key points that will help your LinkedIn images be more powerful and reflect your personal brand message. As i said in my interview, know your message, ask yourself the question, what do I want people to know about me, when they see my image. Let this be what guide you.
7 Ways to make your LinkedIn profile photo stand out
Everyone is on LinkedIn now. Often this is the first place someone sees you. It is the new first impression. Yes, you still need to know how to shake someone’s hand. but by the time you actually shake their hand, if ever, people already have an impression of you. In a world of virtual convenes we often choose whether or not we are doing business with someone before we, if ever, meet. This is why our business portrait, headshot, profile photo, whatever you choose to call it is so very important. Below is a list of things I go over with all my clients when choosing their business image.
1) Intention
Know what your personal brand is as it relates to your business. Think about what you want people to know about you when they see your image. Ask yourself what make me stand out from others in my field? If being approachable is important, you want to have very open body language. If you are a detail person, wear clothing with clean lines and avoid patterns. If you want to come off as confident, keep your shoulders back. Whatever the message is, take a deep breath and feel it, really own it. Your body language will reflect what you’re thinking about. And that’s the moment that sets you apart.
2) Clear eyes
It might be true that your eyes are the gateway to your soul. One thing is for sure, people connect with you through your eyes first. So you want your eyes to be clear of obstacles. Keep hair out of your eyes - no stray hairs, or styles that cover one eye. This is a great sexy look for Facebook, but not for your professional portrait on Linked. If you wear glasses make sure there is no reflection on the glass that blocks the ability to see your eyes. Look into the camera as if you were talking or listening to your client. Avoid squinting your eyes or turning your head for a side glance.
3) Crop the top of your head
I know this isn’t what you expected. The truth is you see it all the time in magazines. You may have never noticed it, but subconsciously you were pulled into those ads for jewelry and make-up. If the point of a headshot is to connect with potential clients, the quicker someone can connect to your eyes the better. When the top of your head is showing, the natural eye path is to look around the top of your head then go to your eyes. Cutting just the top off your eye path takes you directly to the subject’s eyes, which allows for connecting quicker with an overall more intimate feel.
4) Make sure you can see your neck and shoulders
Images that do not have a neck and shoulders give the appearance of a floating head and the feeling that there isn’t a foundation. When you crop your images square for LinkedIn make sure you include this so your clients feels you have a firm foundation and are not floating all over the place. This is one of the biggest issues I see on LinkedIn. And now that you have permission to crop the top of the head you will have more neck and shoulder room.
5) Off center
Another conditioning we have from over the years is to center our heads in the middle, however a more appealing feel is having the head off center. Photographers refer to this as the “rule of thirds”. If you divide the image in three parts. The subject should be centered on the line on either side. With Linked in the left side is better, since the profile photo is on the left side of the LinkedIn page.
6) Color
Wearing a bright color grabs people attention. You also naturally go to what is different. I tell my clients to think about their brand color. Also your eye goes to the area with the most contrast, so a black and white image with good contrast will stand out. If you take a color images and just desaturate it, this will mostly likely not work. Most colors are just different gray tones. You will want to pump up the contrast to get a good black and a good white.
7) Professional
Another huge issue I see on LinkedIn are selfies or images clearly cropped from a wedding photo or a picture with a friend. It is obvious that you didn’t take the time to be intentional about your image. This gives the impression that you take shortcuts.
There are a wide range of prices for photographers. Invest in finding someone you connect with. Think of the business that could be passing you by because your profile photo didn’t look professional or say the right thing.
Lorikay Stone is a well-known national business portrait and event photographer based in Atlanta. With three decades behind the lens, she thrives on capturing what ignites her clients. With a degree in Graphic Design, she has an extraordinary understanding of light, color and body language messages. Combining her technical skills with helping clients own their greatness, in the moment, she has helped propel hundreds of people toward their dreams.
Call or email Lorikay Photography today for a FREE consultation on your current headshot. And How it can work better for you.
678-485-9690