We are seeing dozens of profile pictures on social media, resumes, messaging apps etc everyday. Some are new people and some have changed their old ones. So we used to see these pics, but they are still catching your attention!

When you see someone’s profile picture for the first time, even if you have met the person, you may consider if they are trustworthy, smart, honest etc. So we may judge them from a simple image. I don’t want to challenge if this is right or wrong, I want to warn ourselves, “they are important!”

So if you have one (or many on different sites and apps), you should be concerned how you have taken, chosen and put one.

Who are you?

If you are a singer or you are CEO of a firm with 1200 employees, you are not meant to consider same guidelines for your profile picture.
Even a rock star and a pop star may not use same rules for their profile image, though they are both singers.

my focus in this article is on business people or people who are concerned about their professional business relations.

Who else should be in your profile picture?

No one! forget about having your child, nephew, partner or parents in your profile picture! You should be alone, and do I need to say, there should be youin your profile image, not your beloved one or people who influence you?

No Nature pics, No quotes

Have you recently heard of a great quote from Steve Jobs or Nelson Mandela which inspired you? well, it shouldn’t go in to your profile picture! maybe a tweet, or your social media status would be a more proper place to spread the word.

No Selfie

Selfies are cute and trendy. Many can be very attractive, but business-wise, they are not very suitable. It would be better if you ask someone to take a picture for you, preferably a professional person with a quality camera. But a simple photo with proper quality using a mobile phone is still good.

Backgrounds

What is seen behind you is sometime as important as yourself. Since it represent where you have been and your taste. It even may share some of your personal information. So be cautious about the backgrounds.

Not too close, not too far

Also not too loud laugh, not no-smile. Smiling in your profile picture can project your ability to communicate properly.

Body language is also very important. Linked hands, head up or down, placing hands in different positions etc. I am not going to discuss them here, but you should be aware of their importance.

Same photo everywhere?

Why not? it will deliver more integrity for you, as a personal brand.

Frequent changing?

Noway! While it is good to have many pictures of yourself, it is not a good idea to post them all on your profile picture. Instagram or Facebook posts are more proper to do so.

This post has originally published on my Medium account.
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