A trained set of eyes to co-pilot your journey
How do I make the most of the photos that I have?
Sometimes you need a fresh, professionally trained set of eyes to help with the process.
When it comes to selecting the best images to leverage for specific marketing and promotional needs, it can become a real challenge.
Which headshot works best as a social media profile photo?
Which photos should I use for podcast appearances?
Which images are best for my website?
How do I select the right photo for a blog post?
What’s the best image to leverage for speaking appearances?
Needless to say, culling through your photos to find the ideal solutions for each area of your online presence can be a giant pain in the ass!
Despite the challenge, it’s important to be purposeful in your selections.
Your photos - all of your photos - represent a digital introduction to those who need your help, and they visually punctuate the sentiment of the stories that you share with them.
For example, let’s say you’re looking to update your social media profile photo.
You’ve identified 4 potential images from a string of images that could fit the bill. Here’s a couple images from a recent virtual client session to help illustrate the point:
While all 4 of these are clean images that clearly illustrate aspects of his personality, 1 photo in particular works best as a profile photo based on the type of emotion evoked from his facial expression.
In the first photo (from left), Jason looks focused and determined and presents himself as an expert in his space. However, to some, he may come off as too serious and not empathetic to use this image as a profile photo.
This photo would be better suited as an image that visually punctuates a story about working through adversity found in a social post or blog article.
While the first image lacks warmth, the second makes up for that in spades. This is clearly a candid smile that displays his fun and free side. While it’s a great smile, it’s also huuuge.
While this type of photo is a wonderful one to share on social or as a blog thumbnail that compliments a story that reflects joy and happiness in his life, it’s not the best choice for a profile photo.
The necessary balance between being affable and a confident expert is what’s missing here.
You can see the confidence in photo 3.
His smile is more under control and the direct eye contact with the camera reinforces that vibe. But, this still wouldn’t be my choice as the main profile photo.
What’s missing?
His eyes, while locked on the camera, are open a little bit too wide.
While this expression works well for a content post related to confidence or creating connection with your audience, the wider eyes subconsciously read in our minds as overeager. You don’t want to seem overeager in your profile photo - it could be interpreted as desperate.
You want a mixture of confident, likeable and approachable - but you don’t want bloodthirsty eagerness, either.
Which leads us to the last photo - the one that puts it all together.
His smile is nice and wide, which signifies comfortability and confidence. His eyes are lively, engaged and clearly smiling along with his mouth. And his posture and head angle are all well-suited for a profile picture that goes across all of his social channels.
This photo is an ideal “hi, nice to meet you” profile photo - one that works well based on who he is, who he serves, and why he does what he does.
As you can see, It’s not enough to simply invest in photos - you also need to be willing to spend the time to learn how to leverage them strategically.
This is the type of work that I do with my clients who are in the Persuasive Expert Photo Program.
Not only do we capture a compelling and persuasive image content portfolio of photos that display a range of expressions that fall widely across the emotional spectrum, but we also cull through them and identify the best ones for specific marketing needs.
If you’re looking for this type of help with your image content, I’m a phone call away, :)
For more information on the Persuasive Expert Photo Program, you can check that out here.