Dos and Don'ts for your LinkedIn profile picture (as a freelancer)

The profile picture is often the first impression people get when they find out about you on LinkedIn. A good picture reveals your personality, makes you shine, shows your professional image, credibility and helps you differentiate from your competitors. Especially important for freelancers!

Read on

• to get tips for a good picture,
• how to be more comfortable in front of a camera and working with a professional portrait photographer.

How do you take the best picture??

This sentence makes me look like the best professional me possible (and helps me choose the right clothing, apply the right amount of makeup and do my hair the right way) for a profile picture:?

“Look like you are about to meet your most important client”.?

I also asked my photographer friends for tips on how freelancers can have a good profile picture.?

LinkedIn profile picture and professional portrait photographer Berten Steenwegen Bert Steenwegen gives these 11 tips:?

1. Make sure your picture is sharp?
2. There should be good light, not too dark, nor too light
3. The face needs to be clear
4. Use a neutral background
5. Don’t use props, items that connect with your profession (I disagree here, I think it can make you stand out and connect you with your job as a whole. Bertens' argument is that it takes away the attention of you as a person.?
6. Wear neutral clothing - here I also disagree with Berten, I think if it fits your brand you can wear clothes that connect with it.?
7. Smile
8. Have eye contact with the camera. This breeds trust.?
9. The picture needs to feature you only, no cut-outs!?
10. The picture needs to be recent.?
11. The picture should not be a selfie.?

Read more about these tips in Berten’s LinkedIn article available in Dutch here.?

Apply Gestalt to your LinkedIn profile picture

Applying Gestalt principles to your LinkedIn picture was suggested by Creative Director and Photographer Sean Hayes. The gestalt theory of perception attempts to explain the way the human brain interprets information about relationships and hierarchy in an image based on visual cues like proximity, similarity, and closure. Read more about Gestalt on TopTal’s blog by Cameron Chapman here.?

The most common LinkedIn profile picture mistakes:

When I asked my network in a poll what the most common mistakes on LinkedIn profile picture are, the results were these:

Others:?

• Outdated picture
• Unrecognisable
• Featuring logo
• Too generic, not creative (=boring?)
• American corporate style fake, with unflattering backgrounds
• Pictures with 2 people, pets...

How can you feel more comfortable in front of the camera??

“Being photographed focuses the subject's attention on their appearance to others. They feel exposed, naked, under scrutiny” - Simon Blackley, Portrait and event photographer

Photographers Alex Harris, Simon Blackley, Andrea Handl, and Frédéric Paulussen all agree that trust is essential when working with professional photographers. You should pick one that?takes time to get to know you and coach you through the process of taking the picture.?

See all the tips in this LinkedIn post.

Thank you for contributing: Agnés Gelin, Berten Steenwegen, Erendiz Ates, Mike Louagie, Alex Harris, Astrid Van den Maagdenberg, Frédéric Paulussen, Jo Vandermarliere, Sean Hayes, Peter Decoster, Simon Blackey, Katia De Wasch, Andrea Handl, Mic Adam, Ghislain Bruyère

Want more tips on how to use LinkedIn as a freelancer?

Connect with me on LinkedIn, follow the hashtag #LinkedInforFreelancers?and check out my?workshops?or book a?1-to1 session?with me.

Check also my other freelance specific articles?with tips for your LinkedIn profile:

• Effective LinkedIn headlines for freelancers. With examples.
• What do you put in the About section of LinkedIn as a freelancer?
• 10+ LinkedIn background photo ideas for freelancers