3 Steps To A Better LinkedIn Photo

If LinkedIn was like Tinder, would your customers swipe left or swipe right?

I know a few Millennials, and scarily a few Gen X friends, who use Tinder to, well, hook up.

If you don’t have a great pic, then you are immediately ‘eliminated.’ Sort of voted off the relationship island before you ever washed ashore.

Your picture is the first step to moving toward ‘hooking up’ with your customers and prospects.

If they swipe left, then you’d be left in the dark and your chances to connect with them and their network would end right there.

If they swipe right, then you are headed in the right direction with your relationship – as a thought leader, subject matter expert, or as a sales person!

The Research Tells Us A LinkedIn Profile Picture Can Open Many Doors

• Profiles with pictures generate 11X more views than those profiles without a photo. We know it’s a numbers game, so the more people who look at your profile, then the greater chance you have at connecting! (Source: LinkedIn)

• LinkedIn profile photos with smiles or laughs get the most views, love, and attention. (Source: PhotoFeeler)

• Who’s Viewed Your Profile remains the #1 feature for the second year running with 76% of respondents picking it as a favorite feature. (Source: Forbes)

This research paints the picture that you need to have a great LinkedIn profile picture to make a connection with your customers! Without a photo, you are not part of the billion annual LinkedIn searches. If you have an atrocious photo, you will win a place on my LinkedIn profile photo Wall of Shame. And, those who have seen my personal branding workshops know the only thing that honor generates is laughs!

3 Things You Can Do To Get Your Customers To Swipe Right!

1. Take A New Picture Every Year. Connect your network to your freshest face every year! And, make sure to laugh or smile in your photo!

2. Take a professional-like photo. If you cannot secure a professional headshot, then enlist a friend to use an SLR or high-quality smartphone to snap 100 photos, so you can choose the best one.

3. Run your photo by 5 people in your network. Forget about asking your Mom or brother what they think. Ask someone in your network what they think of your smiling face in your new photo. This request will get the best and most authentic view of you.

The Big Picture Lesson When It Comes To Your LinkedIn Profile Picture

The bottom line is that you need an excellent picture to succeed on Tinder or LinkedIn! Focus on taking the best one so you can get the most action! That’s it.

Photo Source: flickr user heyjohngreen

P.S. Your Next Steps! I am the author of MarketingThink.com, a social media and social selling coaching blog. Please sign up for email delivery of my posts and pass this sign-up link to your friends and co-workers, who you think might benefit from reading these ideas.

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P.P.P.S. Thanks to Kyle Tuverson (@ktuverson) who suggested this blog post’s idea.

This article originally appeared on MarketingThink.