The Marketing Mentress: LinkedIn Tip # 50 - Does your headshot look like you?

How long has it been since you have had a professional headshot done?

Do you look like your headshot on LinkedIn?

How inviting does your headshot look? -Or is it scaring people away?

Are you smiling in your headshot? Did you know that your smile is your brand?

Try an experiment. Click on one of the groups that you are a member of on LinkedIn and do a member search. Check out all the headshots. Make a mental note of the ones that seem to resonate with you best. Do they look pleasant; have a smile; have professional dress?

What else about the headshots seems to stand out for you?

Then check out their other online systems, website, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc. You can also do a Google search for them to see what pictures you can find. See if their headshot looks like the one on LinkedIn.

Have you attended a live networking event and met someone you thought you had never met before? You reach out to shake hands and introduce yourself, and before you can say anything, they say, "Hi (your name goes here)! It is great to meet you in person; we are connected on LinkedIn!"

You look at them and cannot recall any memory of ever having met them in your entire life!

Then they tell you their name. Suddenly you remember a sharp looking 40 year old you have recently connected with on LinkedIn. The picture you remember is 20 years younger than the person you are shaking hands with! Your mind is in a whirl trying to be sure you are making the correct association, so you ask them what their business is and get them talking about themselves.

Yup! Everything matches with your memory, except the headshot.

The first time this happened to me, I was totally blown away by how the person had aged! It make me scramble to keep my wits about me so that I did not say something that would embarrass them...or me!

At the same time, because they were not honest with me about their headshot, I couldn't help wonder if they would be dishonest in their business dealings as well. I never did business with the person because of this lack of being forthright on their part.

Have you ever had this happen to you?

Get a fresh new headshot every 2-3 years max!