When it comes to LinkedIn 1st impressions count
If you’re connecting, commenting or simply have a fairly dormant profile the 1st thing people see when they look at your profile is Your Name, Your LinkedIn Headshot and Your Professional Headline
You wouldn’t turn to a networking meeting looking like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, have dried cornflakes around your mouth and baby sick all over your shirt
And yet on LinkedIn people are committing LinkedIn faux pas and doing the online equivalent
Ahead of our LinkedIn Profile Perfection workshop in Altrincham, South Manchester on January 29th myself and Award Winning Photographer Martin Hambleton have a discussion about the 5 Reasons You Might Need A New LinkedIn Headshot
We share personal anecdotes, experience and our thoughts on each of the reasons below
1. You really don’t like your current headshot
Martin: Would you send an email that had mistakes in it, or that said something you didn’t want it to? Of course not. So why would you post a photo that was unflattering, or was sending out the wrong message?
Everything that you say, post and publish is reflecting on you, your business and brand. So why would you even consider using something that you don’t like, or that doesn’t reflect those things?
Alex: I remember one headshot I had back in the day. It wasn’t a bad photo as such. Technically it was a great photo. But it was black and white and I come in technicolour, but worse than that I was about 5 stone overweight. I just couldn’t use the photo so I picked an older one from 3 years ago that wasn’t representative or technically great, but it worked as a stop gap. It’s not the right thing to do and shortly after I made the effort to lose weight so I could have a photo that looked like myself and I was 100% happy with
2. You’ve had a radical change of image / look i.e glasses / beard / hairstyle / hair colour etc
Alex: My glasses have become part of my look now, but I remember the 1st time I started getting headaches and went to Specsavers. I had visions of the playground 30+ years ago when people with glasses got called Speccy Four Eyes. After I got used to it and felt comfortable with wearing glasses, I knew one thing needed to change. I needed a new LinkedIn headshot to show what I actually look like now. I’d say now when I deliver Social Media Training I often have to double take with the person I’m meeting as their hairstyle or hair colour has changed or in the case of men, they have significantly less hair. Your photo needs to look like you
Martin: I’ve got a session booked with someone because I’m wearing my hair longer than I was doing a year ago. It began as an experiment, but I’ve decided that I like having longer hair and will stick with it for the foreseeable future, so I want my profile to reflect me in 2020. So, it’s time to get a new one! Any future clients will want to get an idea of me before we meet – and as I’m happy with my current look, why wouldn’t I want to share that?
3. Your current one was taken on a smart phone and doesn’t look professional
Martin: I’m a fan of iPhone photography but it just doesn’t cut it for headshots I’m afraid. The best headshot captures a moment; a smile, a look in your eyes; the ‘real you’. The shutter button on a phone is too slow and unresponsive to capture that fleeting moment well enough. Yes, it’s fine for selfies and down the pub moments, but this is neither of those things. This is business. Time to show you mean business and are a professional. That photo of you is the first thing that potential clients will look at when they look you up, so that first impression needs to be the right one doesn’t it?
Alex: I work in Social Media and my headshot for many years was a smart phone photo. Worse than that it was a smart phone photo on an Iphone4 so you can imagine the quality. As a former journalist I’ve learnt from the very best photographers, so the idea and concept behind the shot was actually great, it was just poor execution. I let myself down as it really didn’t look as professional as the professional service I offered. A smart phone is not a replacement for a professional shoot
4. Your current one was taken at a wedding / on holiday and your partner is half on it / half cropped
Martin: It’s like I say above – it’s about showing how professional you are. Of course, you’re entitled to a private life, but the key there is ‘private’. If you mix private and work by posting a photo of you on a sunlounger enjoying a beer ….. are you actually telling me that you are thinking of your holidays when you should be working …….. or that down time is more important than what you do for a living? You’re sending out an unprofessional message; and why would you want to do that?
Alex: I spend so much time supporting others on Social Media that the one place it’s all about myself is the LinkedIn Headshot. No one is sharing the limelight with me on that respect and yet many feel that a cropped wedding photo or one from a night out is suitable for a LinkedIn Headshot. As much as I’m sure your wife or husband are lovely I don’t want to see their ears popping into the edges of your LinkedIn headshot and I’m pretty sure they don’t like their special moment being used to sell to Bob from accounts
5. You feel your current headshot is too stuffy / too informal
Alex: Your headshot should reflect your personality. Look at mine – it’s smiley, friendly and approachable. It’s exactly what I exude in real life. I don’t do overly formal and never will so it’s the right headshot for me
Martin: Don’t mistake ‘professional’ with stuffy or formal. Just like dress codes have relaxed, so has how you look in a professional portrait. If you’re a t-shirts and shorts kind of person, wear those and show off that relaxed personality. It’s all about showing a bit of the real you to the world.
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Join us on 29th January for our LinkedIn Profile Perfection Workshop at Altspace – more info here
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* Twitter
* Facebook
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Skype
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 500+ LinkedIn testimonials and is Ranked Number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.
Archives
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- November 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
Leave a Reply