As we continue to be in a national lockdown it is hard for businesses and individual to commission photography for their LinkedIn profile pages. We have written before about how you can improve your LinkedIn profile photo by letting us improve it with our post-production service. This only applies if you have a fairly decent headshot, to begin with. As you are unable to commission a professional headshot here are some tips on doing it yourself. Do not try and dig out an old picture of yourself probably taken on holiday or a selfie with a famous landmark behind you. This sort of portrait is fine for other social media but not on a business platform like LinkedIn. Ideally, you can get another person to take your headshot. Selfies are usually taken at an odd angle (camera too low) and with your arm raised it tilts your shoulder at an odd angle for a headshot. Stand against a plain light background. A white wall is ideal. Also if you can be facing a north-facing window so you have soft even light on your face. Never stand in direct sunlight as you will have harsh shadows on your face and will be squinting. Try and stand at a 45% angle to the camera with your head twisting slightly to the camera. Make sure you do plenty of variations so you have a good selection to edit down. Do not smile in all the headshots try a few with different expressions. One of our best tips for your LinkedIn profile photo is to make sure the person taking your photo is as tall as you and ask them to keep the camera at your eye level. This will make the headshot look much more professional. Having the camera too low has the effect of looking up under the person’s chin which is never a flattering angle.
When you have selected your favourite headshot for LinkedIn profile photo look at cropping into it so that it sits well in the format of the LinkedIn circle. It is a small space so a tight crop sits better.
LinkedIn Profile Photo Sample
Another overlooked photo or image on your LinkedIn profile page is the banner which sits just behind your profile picture. Many people just leave this as the default LinkedIn banner image. This makes the profile page look unfinished and not professional. Ideally, you can find a logo, corporate photograph or illustration that represents your business. You will need to crop the image to the landscape format for the banner. If you have any problems doing this then please email and we can assist you.
