By Kathryn Eyring, Owner, Knockout Marketing

 

 

 

 

 

Haven’t we all been told about the importance of “first impressions?” When we look at someone’s profile picture, we make a “snapshot” decision on whether we want to engage with that person as a prospective friend, customer, or even a date – depending on the type of website where we are viewing the photo. Therefore, we need to consider our photo two ways: 1) How do we want to be perceived or what do we want to say about ourselves? and 2) Who do we want to draw in and be interested in us?

Keeping the first question in mind, do we want to be thought of as a silly cartoon, an ugly beast, a child, an animal, or a design? Some of our viewers will never meet us in person so when they picture us in their minds, they’ll conjure up whatever image we’ve provided to them on our profile. Consider this an opportunity to present ourselves in line with the reputation we are trying to build.

Considering the second item, wouldn’t we want to present ourselves according to what we think our prospects will be attracted to? If we want to be a magnet for professionals, should we display ourselves anything less than that? On the other hand, are we trying to draw in an artistic audience? In that case, we might want to showcase our creativity where it will be appreciated.

Social media is used by people of all ages and walks of life. Even though we want our friends to view us, is it “safe” for our employer to see us in that photo? Our next profile viewer might be that of a best friend or an enemy, a spouse or an ex, an employer, an employee, a neighbor, a family member or a complete stranger. So let’s be smart and think a little bit about that image we display to the online world.

Kathryn Eyring, owner of Knockout Marketing, provides onsite assessments and training to businesses to help improve their initial presentation or first point of contact to the public. She also provides training for a wide variety of topics to improve employee presentation to customers. Topics include projection of confidence, posture, body language, conversation skills, and more that all lead to better customer relations.

What Does Your Profile Photo Say About You?