How to look professional on your LinkedIn profile page

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Here we look at how to look professional on your LinkedIn profile page.

Your profile photo must be captured by a professional corporate portrait photographer. It is critical that you get this right. Your profile photo is the first thing potential clients or employers will look at when they check out your profile. Make sure it is a photograph. Do not upload an emoji or a painting of yourself. LinkedIn is for business people, and only proper corporate headshots should be uploaded if you want to be taken seriously on your profile page.

Your LinkedIn profile photo should be at least 400 x 400 pixels. LinkedIn will handle 7680 x 4320 pixels, but your upload size is limited to 8 MB. I’d recommend as many pixels as you can get away with in order to have a clean and clear image. Remember, when you upload your photo to LinkedIn, it is cropped automatically to a circle, so allow for this with a wider crop.

The next very important upload will be your LinkedIn background photo. It must be relevant to your business, and never leave it blank, as this also looks unprofessional. Your background photo should be formatted to fit the banner dimensions of a JPG or a PNG file. Less than 8MB in size and 1584 wide x 396 high in pixels. If you commission a corporate photographer, they will be able to format your profile and background photos in Photoshop. We know this is an added expense, but this is your business shopfront, and the more you invest in it, the bigger the rewards.

Keep your intro to the point and not too long. Don’t bombard people with information. Precise bullet points about you and your business. Try and avoid the usual business cliche terms that we all see and read on people’s profile pages. Potential employers and clients will have read thousands of profiles, so make yours stand out from the crowd by coming up with your own unique description of your merits and accomplishments.

If you need any further tips on how to look professional on your LinkedIn profile page, please get in touch here.

LinkedIn profile photo for your profile page.

LinkedIn profile photo for your profile page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LinkedIn background photo for your profile page.

LinkedIn background photo for your profile page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is included in our LinkedIn profile photo service

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Here we explain what is included in our LinkedIn profile photo service in London.

Once we undertake a professional LinkedIn profile photo commission, we allow 10 minutes of set-up time where we locate the quietest part of the client’s offices in London. We bring a professional digital camera, a portrait lens, studio lighting and a background roll and stands. Each LinkedIn profile photo session last approx 15 minutes, and in this time, we capture a wide range of expressions and stances. Clients have the option of changing their wardrobe as this gives a greater selection to choose the ideal LinkedIn profile photo. We normally capture high res jpegs and offer the clients approx 40 images to select from. After the LinkedIn profile photo session, we send the client our invoice along with a set of preview images via our WeTransfer site. Once the client has settled the invoice, we send all the high-res jpgs to them.

Once the client has selected the headshot they want to use for their LinkedIn profile page, we offer a variety of post-production services. We will retouch and edit the LinkedIn profile photo so that we remove any unwanted scars or spots. Also, we can tidy up any skin flaws and eyeballs. We do this in a way so that it is very subtle, as you must never be able to see that the LinkedIn profile photo has been worked on in Photoshop. We can tidy up any loose or flyaway hairs and remove nasal and ear hair. We often clean up men’s shaving cuts, as a lot of men will have a shave on the morning of their LinkedIn profile photo! On dark clothing, we usually remove any signs of dandruff.

Although we capture on a white background, you can never produce a pure white web friendly in camera. We can, however, add one in post-production. White is the most common background we add. We can of course, add any background you require. But you must specify this prior to the LinkedIn profile photo commission as if it is shot on a white background; it is very tricky to replace this with a dark background and visa versa.

We hope this answers the question of what is included in our LinkedIn profile photo service in London. If you have any further queries, please get in touch.

 

What is included in LinkedIn profile photo service in London

What is included in LinkedIn profile photo service in London

A list of things not to do if you want a good LinkedIn profile photo.

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Here is a list of things not to do if you want a good LinkedIn profile photo.

The first thing we would suggest that you never use for your LinkedIn profile photo is a selfie. The reason being is that selfies are all good and well in a social or family context, but not when it comes down to looking professional on your Linkedin profile page. Also, selfies are often taken at weekends or on holidays when your clothing is not appropriate for LinkedIn, and your surroundings will not be indicative of your workplace. The way selfies are captured means that your stance will all be wrong as your shoulders are at odd angles as you need to raise your arm to capture a selfie. Capturing a selfie in a mirror is another common way of taking a selfie, and this results in your phone being in the picture, which again is not the right look for your LinkedIn profile page.

Another common mistake on a list of things not to do if you want a good LinkedIn profile photo is not to use a photo taken by a friend or a partner. They might fancy themselves as a photographer and might have taken some half-decent pictures of local wildlife or the odd sunset, but this does not mean they are a competent corporate headshot photographer. Your LinkedIn profile photo is your business shopfront, and you need to invest some time and money in making sure you look professional on your profile page. So forget about cutting corners here and go onto LinkedIn and find a professional corporate portrait photographer. Check out their portfolio and get samples of LinkedIn profile photos that you like and ask the photographer to work in the style you like.

Prior to having a professional LinkedIn profile photo taken, decide on what you want in the background. Some people prefer a simple white background. At the moment, we are finding that people quite like to have a London cityscape as their background as this shows any employer or potential client that they work in London.

A list of things not to do if you want a good LinkedIn profile photo.

A list of things not to do if you want a good LinkedIn profile photo.

Can I use a selfie for my LinkedIn profile photo?

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People often ask us can I use a selfie for my LinkedIn profile photo? We will tell them yes if they do not care about their LinkedIn profile page, as it will make them look unprofessional. Selfies are fine for sending to friends and family or using on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, but LinkedIn is a place for doing business, and you need to look professional and serious about your career. Selfies send out all the wrong signals as they are rarely taken in a work environment and are usually captured at social engagements. Also, selfies mean that you are holding your phone out in front of you, and therefore the photo is not at a natural angle. So the answer to the question, can I use a selfie for my LinkedIn profile photo? It is a no if you are serious about looking professional on your Linkedin profile page.

Selfies might seem like a good alternative to commissioning a professional LinkedIn profile photo, but when you add up the cost of a decent LinkedIn headshot against the savings you might make with a selfie, then you will see what a mistake it is. So a professional LinkedIn profile photo captured at a studio or London office with a corporate portrait photographer will set you back anywhere from £150 to £300 plus VAT. This seems like a lot of money for a simple profile photo, but you have to look at the long-term damage a selfie could be doing to your career. Say you are looking for a new job or pitching for work from a new client. The first thing they will do is look at your LinkedIn profile page. The first thing they will see is your LinkedIn profile photo, and guess what? This is where not having a professional LinkedIn profile photo starts to cost you more than £150.

Do any of these selfies look like they should be on a LinkedIn profile page?

A professional LinkedIn profile photo in London offices.

A professional LinkedIn profile photo in London offices.