It’s not that important, it’s just a profile pic right?!

If you are still using a photo of yourself from 10 years ago, or that one from a mate’s wedding where you’ve zoomed in on yourself or, *gasp* even worse you don’t have a photo of yourself on your profile THEN you are wasting valuable online real estate to connect with potential clients.

Letting people see YOU helps them begin to trust you, helps them connect with you and helps bring some personality to your business online.

Cos, hate to break it to you – the service or product you have isn’t unique. There’s ten a penny people out there selling what you’re selling.

What DOES set you apart is YOU, you are your business’ secret sauce…and you shouldn’t really be keeping that a secret!

Showing your face online is SO important with an own run business. Having a great photo of yourself (that you love!) in that profile circle is a great first step to building connections and building your business.

People buy from people and we LOVE to see faces – so don’t hide yours away!

Now I’ve hopefully convinced you that you DO need a profile photo – what ‘s gonna make it a great photo?

Make it recent. We aren’t looking to catfish anyone here so using that decade old photo isn’t gonna cut it. Yep, maybe we have all aged or our body has changed but y’know what? You as a person have certainly changed for the better over the years and an out-of-date snap doesn’t do justice to the experience, knowledge and growth you and your business have had in those years – and all that you can bring to your clients!

Make it positive – eye contact is great, and a confident expression. You don’t have to smile, if that’s not you, but also we don’t want to look like we’re off to the gallows right?! (though that MIGHT be how you feel about having to get your pose on!)

Make it YOU – wear what you wear. How do clients see you on zoom? Do not dust off that suit jacket if they’d never see you in it ‘for real life’. Just because it’s a headshot, you no longer have to sit up straight at a 45* angle on a white backdrop to be professional. It’s 2024, being yourself is the new professional.

Here’s some of my top practical tips to help you nail a new profile photo:

Take your time – set aside a clear window in your schedule to dedicate to getting the shot. You don’t want to feel rushed, and you want to feel energetic and ready for it, so choose a time of day when you feel your best.

Get some help – either a trusted (patient!) friend, a tripod or hire a photographer. If you’re DIY-ing it the tripod will be essential to help you get hands free and elevate your photo away from that selfie vibe.

Fake it – at least to get you going! A fake laugh will help you relax and ease into more natural smiles.

Location, location, location – firstly, choose somewhere you won’t be interrupted or feel self-conscious setting up for a photo. It could be in your home office, your garden or a quiet side street with a great textured wall. As it’s a profile photo your main focus is your face, so that will fill the majority of the photo space but some thought should be given to the location, as it can also be used to add in more personality and show your vibe to your audience. (ie, you’re a beach lover or you love walks in the forest)

Most importantly (especially if you’re photographing yourself) is to find good light. If indoors aim to place yourself facing a window so you can be bathed in natural light, turn off any overhead lights as they’ll create spots on your head or deep shadows under your eyes and nose.

If outdoors avoid direct sunlight, as you’ll squint or bleach out your face with too harsh light. A great trick is to hold out your hand (palm away from you) and move in a circle to see how the light lands on your skin; what it looks like on your hand will be how it goes on your face too!

Finally, have fun with it! Take your time, try things out. The more you take photos of yourself, the more confident and comfortable you’ll become, and the more confident you’ll appear in the final images – which is a GREAT attribute to show potential new connections!

If you’d like more help with taking your own photos you can download my free video tutorials:

How to Nail Your Selfies:

https://katien.aweb.page/p/bbeee40f-55c1-4a01-a4ba-df85e7f1a51a

My Top Posing Tips:

https://katien.aweb.page/p/d6a25708-1a72-4eeb-acd0-4d1abe2cc10d

Katie recently guest blogged over on the VACT website, where she shared her knowledge on “How to inject more personality into your photos for your biz – Taking them from ‘meh’ to marvellous!”  You will want to have a read of this to up level your profile pictures.