Your LinkedIn profile photo is often the first impression a visitor to your profile has. Studies have shown that even new-borns, with their eyesight limited to about 12 inches, can recognize a face, and, in fact, prefer to look at faces.
No excuses – you must have a photo!
You will immediately lose credibility and trust if you don’t have one.
When choosing a Profile Photo ask yourself one Question
DO YOU MIRROR WHAT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE EXPECT?
Your photo needs to be your best picture. Do you appear professional and approachable?
Think about the audience who will be looking at your profile – this may well be the first impression they get of you, so think about how you want to be perceived. Mirror what your audience expects to see.
We recommend a well-lit head-and-shoulders shot. Make sure your photo is in focus and shows your face clearly, with a background that does not create a distraction. It should convey professionalism, authenticity, and an approachable appearance.
WARNING: We strongly recommend you avoid props, company logos, family members, selfies, Everest summits, fighting with tigers or pictures of you late one night in a bar!
Once you have settled on the best picture make sure you are sharing it as Public (People who are not signed in and find you through search engines (e.g. Google, Bing) or All LinkedIn members and not just your connections.
All too often profile Photos are not displayed to anyone other than first degree connections and so a profile will look unfinished, unprofessional and won’t attract viewers to want to find out more about you.
Chris for example has gone to the trouble of finding a unique Banner and probably a professional photo but nobody other than his 1st Degree Connections can see it.
If Chris is your ideal buyer persona, I would use this as an opportunity to add value and send a connection request.
It can be done on your Desktop or Mobile (I prefer Mobile as the script I use is saved and auto suggested when I type phrases saving me time)
Dear Chris
I was researching my 2nd degree network and I noticed we have some mutual connections. In the spirit of LinkedIn would you like to connect? I’d be more than happy to share your content to help increase your visibility.
Regards
Steve
Almost all of the time the person connects and when they do I send a message to say, “It’s good to be connected Samantha, let me know if I can help with anything”.
No pitch, no hard sell, not click and sell, no tell me your key challenges, no advancing. The key is to win the connection, you have just met. It is the very start of the nurturing process.
To check if your profile is set correctly, follow these instructions
Mobile (iPhone)
Click on your Profile Photo
View your own Profile
Click on ‘View or edit profile photo’
Then on the Tab at the bottom left-hand side of the Photo. This will say Public or All LinkedIn Members or Your Network or Your connections (Only LinkedIn Members connected to you).
This is where the problem lies. You should have it set to Public or All LinkedIn Members.
Check yours now!
