Show Your LinkedIn Photo a Little Love

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Karen Hendricks

By Karen Hendricks

Branding has become personal. According to a recent article in Forbes, “The term branding has long been relegated to companies, but today almost every individual has a personal brand… a digital footprint in the sands of time and space, crowd sourced by friends, colleagues, and bosses.”

Perhaps the most important personal branding takes place on LinkedIn, social media for professionals, with our profile pictures playing a starring role.

Let’s face the facts, pun intended, and review 10 simple guidelines to be sure your LinkedIn image is picture-perfect:

Use an image that depicts you looking into the camera as directly as possible. Think about how you would approach a potential contact or employer in person—you would establish eye contact, look at them directly, and smile.
The correct image size is a minimum of 200×200 pixels. Don’t upload an image that is smaller. You can upload a larger image size (500×500 pixels, for example), as long as it’s square in dimensions.
Use a professionally-taken image if possible. LinkedIn is social media’s professional marketplace. Your image could form a first impression by a potential employer, and it’s the image your colleagues and network will associate with you.
If you don’t have a professionally portrait, then ensure your photo has a clean, plain background.
Don’t lurk in the shadows of LinkedIn by leaving the standard gray shadowy image in place of your real photo.
The photo should be a headshot; not a full body shot.
Wear a complimentary color but avoid busy patterns. Dress to impress!
Use a current image; nothing more than five years old at most.
Don’t use a logo or graphic design for your personal account; that would be appropriate on your company page however.
Smile! Your photo should be warm, genuine, and professionally pleasant.

Perusing LinkedIn, here are a number of faux pas I recently spotted in profile pictures (try not to LOL):

Sunglasses.
A pair of sneakers. Yes, you read that correctly. Simply a pair of sneakers as a profile picture. I don’t believe he/she was a professional athlete either.
Lots of gray “blank” LinkedIn photos. How will people recognize you?
A child’s hand caught in a woman’s hair. Whoops, it must have been a family photo, with the child cropped out. Ouch.
A smiling couple. Who is the contact—the man or the woman?
A man photographed with his dog. (He wasn’t a K9 officer or veterinarian!)
A man posing with his motorcycle.
Photos obviously taken during a summer vacation. Is this an image you want to project to your professional contacts?

Now for a few samples of outstanding images I gathered, with permission, from a few of my contacts on LinkedIn:

Jen and Joseph, below, both stand out against plain backgrounds, with pops of color in their professional attire, and friendly smiles. Perfect!

Jen

Joseph

Meantime, Geoffrey and Trish, below, successfully incorporate a dash of professional personality into their profile pictures. Geoffrey, an artist, is photographed with one of his works behind him. Trish, a marketing strategist whose company name includes the word “Strategic,” strikes a thoughtful, reflective pose and evokes the feeling that she is indeed strategizing. Great personal branding!

Geoffrey

Trish

What does your “personal branding” and profile photo say about you? Show yourself some “LinkedIn love” and update your photo to reflect your professional personality!

Sources:

LinkedIn Help: Profile Picture

Forbes

Instagram for Artists

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Karen Hendricks

Social media is intertwined with our daily lives, personally and professionally. For freelancers or those of us who are self-employed, social media is a fantastic way to share the stories behind our work, to network with others, and promote our work to a wider audience.

The rise of Instagram and its beautiful, visual platform, presents the perfect opportunity for artists of all types to promote their works. It’s visual storytelling at its best. That’s why I’ve created a two-part class “Instagram for Artists” offered through the Adams County Arts Council, Gettysburg, PA.

Continue reading →

Communications: Inspired by the WY Sky

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Karen Hendricks

By Karen Hendricks

Logo design is a process aimed at capturing the essence of a business through words and art, thoughtfully blended together to clearly convey the name and purpose of the business. Many logos go a step further and somehow capture and convey an intangible quality or emotional response to that business, perfectly reflecting the business’ “personality.” This identity or logo of a business plays a central role in all marketing and branding efforts. Continue reading →

5 Ways NYC Inspires Writers, Marketers, PR Pros

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Karen Hendricks

Rose sculpture and city reflection, MoMA

By Karen Hendricks

What does the phrase “recharging my batteries” mean to you? I’d describe it as:

Needing a boost of energy; a fresh perspective
Seeking a change of scenery; a change of pace
Feeling the need to “get out of a rut”
Breaking free of schedules, calendars, or commitments
De-stressing

Visiting New York City always always recharges my batteries and leaves me energized, ready to tackle projects anew. During a recent visit to the Big Apple, I noted the top 5 ways that I believe NYC inspires those of us in the creative fields of writing, marketing or public relations: Continue reading →

Small Businesses Struggle with Technology

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Karen Hendricks

Even with the marketing muscle of social media campaigns such as “Buy Local” and “Small Business Saturday,” a recent survey found that America’s small businesses are severely struggling to keep up with technology trends. The Score Association, a nonprofit organization based in Herndon, VA that partners with the U.S. Small Business Administration, released a number of eye-opening statistics in early January:

Only 51% of small businesses have websites, despite the fact that 97% of consumers regularly search for products and services online

Analyzing the 51% of small business who currently have websites:

82% are not utilizing social media
93% of the websites are not compatible with mobile devices
27% did not include a phone number on their website
68% did not include an email address within their contact information

Researchers at Score found that many small business owners are dismissing their web and social media presence because they feel as though they don’t have time to develop these resources, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. However, the same study finds compelling reasons for small businesses to devote the time and energy into improving their virtual presence:

91% of consumers have visited a store based upon a positive online experience
96% of consumers surveyed research products or services on their mobile device
73% of mobile searches trigger calls, store visits and sales

Small business owners always account for at least half of the attendance at my social media workshops. It is so rewarding to provide them with the tools they need to succeed on-line! I’m excited to announce several upcoming classes at Gettysburg’s Adams County Arts Council, along with a new location—the PA Guild of Craftsmen, Center for American Craft, Lancaster. Here are the class descriptions, locations, dates and links for more information… hope to see you there! The Art of Social Media

Wednesdays, January 21 – February 11, 6:30-8:30pm (a 4-class series)
Adams County Arts Council, Gettysburg PA
Communication today is multi-faceted. Whether you’re communicating for business or pleasure, in this class you’ll learn to navigate social media channels, select the “best fits” for you, and enjoy connecting with friends, colleagues, and/or customers. Includes how to set up a website or blog with WordPress, plus Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, and Snapfish for photo storage.

The Art of Social Media will also be offered as a weekend workshop:

Saturday, April 18 & Sunday, April 19, 10am-3pm with a lunch break each day
Center for American Craft, Lancaster PA

And for those of you who like to plan ahead… Facebook 101 (10am-12pm) & Twitter 101 (1-3pm):

Saturday, August 22
Center for American Craft, Lancaster PA
Brush up on your skills by taking one class or both!
Small businesses account for one of the fastest-growing segments of social media due to its free availability and effectiveness.
Facebook 101 is a 2-hour workshop. Learn how to best utilize a media staple—Facebook—to showcase your arts/crafts or small business. The session will provide practical tips and helpful how-to’s, geared towards developing and maintaining a Facebook business page—often thought of as a mini-website. Time for personal Q&As is included during the class.
Twitter 101 is the focus of the afternoon session, designed to help you develop a comfort level and strategies for tweeting like a pro! This session allows time for your personal Q&As.

The “Visual Vocabulary” of Social Media

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Karen Hendricks

Social Media Week NYC – Buzzing with Energy

By Karen Hendricks

One of the prominent themes woven into last week’s Social Media Week NYC was the increasingly growing use of photos on all forms of social media. Images now comprise 40% of the internet and 70% of all social media channels. Wow.

A few more statistics:

In our lightning-fast-paced society, people process images 60,000 times faster than text.
During a recent survey, two out of three people said images are more powerful than text.
Six in ten people report they are taking more photos than ever before, thanks in great part to cell phone cameras.

What does all this mean, for those of us involved in Marketing and Social Media?

Images are compelling: Our eyes can certainly “read” images faster than text; our eyes are drawn to images. Photos can trigger emotional responses. A picture is worth a thousand words. Social media strategists even know which colors our eye prefer–a recent study of Instagram photos revealed that blue-tinged images receive 24% more “likes” than red-hued images.

Feedback from social media images is valuable: Major companies, including retailer Nordstrom, are adapting their marketing campaigns based upon direct feedback from images on social media including the number of “likes” or “pins” garnered by photos of new fashions. Nike is even designing custom shoes based upon fans’ Instagram photos.

Images need to be put into context: What are we losing as we shift (from text to visuals)? Answer: Context. Images, although powerful and emotional, can be taken out of context. When we post images, it’s up to us to provide an accompanying message.

It doesn’t mean we don’t read anymore. Yes, images are the driving force of social media. On Facebook, more people engage with photos than text posted alone. The entire concept of Pinterest is based upon the pinning of images. But “combining text and visuals is much more effective,” according to Will Palley, Trends Strategist for Marketing Communications giant JWT. The length of text shared via social media depends on the time of day. During the workday, brief is better. But on weeknights or weekends, when people are relaxed and have a bit more time, successful communications can include more details.

We still love a great story. Storytelling is still a “very deeply basic human interaction,” shared Ji Lee, Creative Director for Facebook. It’s just that more and more of our stories shared via social media begin with a compelling image. And that’s changing the dynamics of news-gathering organizations everywhere. “One of the biggest challenges to journalists today is adapting storytelling techniques to a visual standpoint,” explained Jim Roberts of Mashable. Journalists need to tell stories that grow out of a great visual.

Ownership is an issue. The idea of intellectual property changes per generation. While people of all ages seem to know that text is copyrighted and owned by the writer, there is a learning curve with images. Many people think they can just “grab” them from the internet or social media. Millennials, or Generation Y, perhaps due to their freeness in sharing photos on Instagram, especially do not recognize that photographs do indeed belong to the photographer and should not be used without permission. (All photos in this post were indeed snapped by the author!)

Panel Discussion – “Reading is No Longer Fundamental: The Shift Towards Visual Vocabulary” – #SMWJWT

Credit for these social media insights and tips are thanks to two workshops primarily:

Social Media Week NYC’s Reading is No Longer Fundamental: The Shift Towards Visual Vocabulary
Social Media Week NYC’s The Changing Face of News Consumption Hosted by the WSJ

Social Media Week, February 17-21, featured more than 800 events in eight cities, drawing more than 25,000 attendees total.

Given the topic, I have to include one more visual! – Social Media Week NYC took place at Highline Stages, 15th Street.

Top 5 from 2013

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Karen Hendricks

Happy New Year! Best wishes for 2014!

Many thanks to all of our clients, fellow business owners, writers, marketers and PR practitioners who read and enjoy our articles. We appreciate your business, friendship and camaraderie.

In case you missed one, here are our 5 most popular articles from 2013… showcasing a mix of our marketing and social media work, along with freelance writing pieces on regional and statewide levels:

1 – Handmade in PA: Foxxy Moxxy

2 – “Buy Local” this Holiday Season

3 – Everyday Hero: “Angel” Traci Lochbaum

4 – Word Clouds… in the Forecast

5 – 5 Tips for Business Blogs