You do not get a second chance to make an excellent first impression with your LinkedIn profile photo.
We have often mentioned the importance of how your LinkedIn profile photo must appear professional but it seems some people are still failing to put this into practice. When it comes to the content on your LinkedIn profile page, many business people spend ages working on their introduction, skills and career highlights. Once they have all this in place, they might consider uploading a profile photo. So here we go. They might flick through the selfies on their phone, dig out an old picture of them on holiday or at a wedding and find one they luck and that is the job done. The only thing worse for your profile page is leaving the picture as a default setting, as this looks like you can not be bothered to finish your profile page. A bad or amateur profile photo of you makes your page look unprofessional. It might not have cost you anything, but it will cost you when a potential client or employee looks at the page.
Remember, when anyone looks at a website, the first thing their eyes land on is the photos. It’s the quickest way the human mind can get information about what they are looking for and gauge if it is worth investing time in reading the rest of the content. So an amateur profile photo is the first thing your viewer will look at, and that first impression will discourage them from going any further.
When people get quotes for professional LinkedIn profile photos, they are put off by the cost, getting to a studio and investing the time and energy on something that is only a tiny photo in the corner of a profile page. They tell themselves that people will look past the picture, and once they read how great they are in the copy, all will be OK. But why run the risk. In comparison to getting a new job or securing a good client, the cost of a decent professional LinkedIn profile headshot is a minimal outlay. If you are using Linkedin to promote yourself as a high performing professional, then do everything possible on your profile page to look like one.

Guidance on how to find the right professional photographer for your new corporate headshot.
When you decide to get your LinkedIn profile photo taken professionally, you have to find the right professional photographer. Do not assume that all pro photographers will be able to capture a quality headshot for you. As with all fields of industry and business, you have different sectors and specialists. There are many kinds of professional photographers such as landscape, travel, lifestyle, product, sports, nature, artistic, and portrait. Each photographer may be brilliant in their own field, and you may love their work but do not assume they will have all the skills and experience to capture your LinkedIn headshot.
You need to find a portrait photographer. When searching, remember you want to find the style of corporate headshot you want. Do not choose a photographer because they are the best value, and you hope they will be able to copy the style of another portrait photographer you prefer but can not afford.
When searching, you can find the average costs for a professional LinkedIn photo in your area. We have researched our own pricing and have seen prices from £90 to £375 for a single corporate headshot session in London.

You will have your budget, and as you have made a good decision to get your profile photo taken professionally, then spend what you can to get it right. Choose a couple of portrait photographers who fit with your vision of what you want. Ask to see a few of their last photoshoots as well as their portfolio. Check out their reviews, and there is no harm in asking for a discount if you have a friend who also needs a new LinkedIn headshot and can come along to the session at a reduced rate.
Another thing to make sure you have included in the commission is that a fixed amount of the images will be retouched/airbrushed, and edited. They need to be formatted and ready to be uploaded to LinkedIn. All professional portrait photographers should have pro editing software. Get this service included in your commission, and do not try to edit the headshots yourself as this is a skilled process and can easily look wrong if processed incorrectly.

Choosing the right professional photographer for your LinkedIn profile picture.