Should you put your photo on your website?

I spent many years working hard to be anonymous on the internet.

I also spent many years wondering why it was so hard to get people to know who I really was or what I was about. Lesson learned.

Now of course I wonder if it's because I'm good at what I do or because the the glare from my bald head lulls potential clients into a suggestible stupor. Sigh. Always a question.

Elizabeth: "It is a handshake in a 3 x 3 box."

I love that comment.

I was watching the Academy Awards on Sunday and I was noting that the photos that they were showing of the deceased people...stars and the like were often sooooooo old, I mean we are talking black and white photos when men had pencil thin moustaches and women wore pill box hats. I always think to myself that it is odd that there is not a more recent photo to be had of Deborah Kerr lying around.

I find it humorous when you encounter someone that has a photo on their business card or web site that was clearly taken back in their heyday of 1983. A 25 year aging process is noticable so you need to keep photos fresh.

I think a photo is generally a good idea, but only if it has a smile :o) (your photo is great, Banu) It's just like someone coming into your shop - they want to see a friendly face. It's one more reason for them to stick around and find out what's going on or what's for sale.

I understand the different perspectives on photo/no photo, especially in light of security issues. My preference, however, is to see the face of the person with whom I might be doing business. And if I’m meeting someone in a restaurant, it helps to know who I will be looking for. On the other hand, as a life coach, I have worked with clients I have never seen.

As a new member of the Biznik community, I liek that I can scan the member list and recognize the faces of people I already know. Plus, I feel a greater connection to a photo than a generic icon.

A bit off topic, but I met my husband through Great Expectations, long before internet dating became popular. Clients went to an office and scanned through binders filled with laminated bios and photos. Though the bio was on the front, and I usually read that first, I quickly flipped to the other side to catch a glance at the photos. And there was a video interview to watch. It worked…we’ve been married almost 12 years now. It all started with a photo.

I am an attorney in solo practice and I have my photo on my website. The attorney-client relationship starts with trust, and I believe that having my photo on my website conveys (subtly) that I can be trusted. Some clients have looked me up on Facebook or MySpace prior to meeting, which highlights the importance of careful editing of the information and photos you post at those sites.

I look very young which I believe is a positive for prospective clients who want an energetic lawyer with fresh ideas. However, sometimes I wonder if I don't lose the occasional client who sees my picture and automatically assumes I am a recent law school graduate with no practical experience.

so who's coming to Andrew's event tomorrow? i know i'll be here..:)

Somewhat related . . .

I'm taking the Document Design for the Technical Writer class at Bellevue CC.

One week, the assignment was to collect a few examples of well-designed documents. Among other things, I looked through my collection of Biznik business cards and picked some.

Totally without thinking, every one I picked had a face. Andrew Sengul, Justin Baker, Benjamin Curtis, Nancy Hanauer, and Kevin Selkowitz.

OK, Nancy's has kangaroos, Justin's has a bee, and Kevin's has a drawn figure but they all have faces of some kind.

I almost took Howard's but I figured his would show up three or four times anyway . . . kidding, Howard.

Not only do I have my photo on my website, but it's on my business cards, as well.

To me, it's a leap of faith to hire a person to do something for you (especially a therapist...a person you're allowing into some sacred ground with you).

People want to suss you out, to feel you, to see you, in order to decide if that leap is going to be rewarded.

My potential clients want help. I want to help them. Whatever I can do to shorten that gap they have to leap when deciding to trust me, I'm gonna do!

BTW Suzanne, Andrew was not only my inspiration for my biz card, but he also produced it for me.

It is difficult to succeed and generate word of mouth advertising, which is one of the most effective marketing techniques small biz owners can employ. Using your "face" is one great key to success in this area.

Your "face" can subtly serve as your brand, logo, guarantee, and demonstrate at the same time that you are willing to put everything on the line to stand behind your service promise by gambling public embarrassment. What better way to establish trust than that?

We may not be able to put our finger on why we may trust someone's face over their wordy sales copy, other than the fact that if they do not come through with what they promised, they have nothing left to hide behind.

A few months back, I engaged in business with a company that did not full-fill my expectations after the first 90 days. I stopped using their service. Recently I was contacted by the same sales rep and encouraged to "come back". I told him that I would re-consider and then invited him to join biznik.

Interesting that he joined but does not display his face on his profile. Is this an indicator of how much credibility I should put in his sales promises and claims of service performance?

...Howard

I think it's a wise move for indie biz owners to have their photo on their website. I assume that if they don't they're just really unattractive and I wouldn't do business with them, anyway. JUST KIDDING!! (Can you tell I have aspirations of doing stand-up?)

I like seeing who I might do business with. There is a small degree of trust established that way, before we've even met. I've been hired by families, who have never even met me, to come into their home and work with them and their babies. I wonder if that would have happened had I not had a photo and all my credentials listed. It does help that I've been fingerprinted in three states (for State Teaching Certificates...I bet some of you were thinking unlawful activity), so anything on your website that helps to establish that trust is wise, in my opinion.

I used to have my photo on my business card, for the first 6 years of my biz and up until last year when I created my logo. (Suzanne, thanks for the compliment by the way, as I drew the 'roos myself.) At that time, only real estate agents had photos on their cards. Mine was a photo of me signing to a baby. I was featured in Seattle Magazine and bought the rights to the photo and splashed it all over everything linked to my biz. My branding was me, in the beginning. Again dictated by the nature of my unusual biz and the trust parents needed to feel to hire me. I always got compliments on the card and now that I have swichted to the kangaroo logo, I get a lot of compliments on that, too. I think a key is being memorable and true to your business. Besides, I had to take the photo off the card, as I am way cuter now than a few years ago (hee hee!) and my hair has changed color a dozen times since. ;0)

As a side note, the qualty of your promotional materials makes a difference, too. Those perforated business cards you get at Office Depot and print on your home computer are horrendous. So are, in my not so humble opinion, the cards from Vista Print with the stock clipart that say on the back "This card was printed for free at Vista Print". Ugh!!! No one will take a business seriously with this option, and I still see these. Potential clients comment on a regular basis about the quality of my biz cards and postcards (brochures are so 1990's, you know) because they're both thick and have a great finish and I paid a few extra bucks for the rounded corners on the postcards. Moral of the story, try not to skimp there. I did in the beginning and am glad I found an option that looks classy, and that's easy to do with all the reasonably-priced online printing options.

Nancy

www.hoptosignaroo.com

This is great to hear the pros and cons here. Until just recently, we never had our photos on our site. But with both our design company and our online marketing company, we have decided to put my mug on it. Although I am not particularly fond of my photos, we went with the casual, northwest look. AKA - coffee mug in hand. Actually was taken at a coffee shop in Renton.

Since we have put my mug on ads, and on both of our websites, we have received a lot of good comments. (this is not necessarily my "looks" causing these comments). But since we have been in the Puget Sound area for 15 years with our business, people know me as much as they know our business name. So yes, I think it's a great branding tool, especially for solopreneurs.

And I'm also in agreement with Carol and Jeff here. Yes, I too spent so much time working with clients I never met face to face. In fact a couple times I finally met them under different circumstances, and would say "Oh, we finally meet!"

But again, I'm finding myself more and more responding to the websites where I can see who is behind the business!

A few more comments after rereading more of this thread...I want to comment on Susan's comment about making yourself vulnerable with a photo on the web. I have considered that risk as my website lists where I teach and when but (knock wood) after 7 years of a photo being posted on my site, I haven't had any wackos stalk me b/c they stumbled on my photo on my business site. I'm a single woman who has done online dating, so I'm more concerned about the myriad of repercussions being visible in that arena could bring. Ah...so many heartbroken men. (Again, just being funny and full of myself here!)

Some of you would likely be surprised to know that your picture might be floating around on the net without your knowledge. Alumni associations and various groups often post newsletters online where people in photos are identified. Google yourself from time to time (including a Google image search) and you might be surprised to see what's out there in cyber space about you! I did this recently and found that a blogger in Israel downloaded a podcast from a talk radio show that I was on recently but he also posted my photo on his site, without my permission, and some of his info about my topic of expertise and my biz was inaccurate. None of it was negative but he was giving me credit to starting the practice of signing with hearing babies, and sadly I can't take credit for that. I emailed him and he removed the photo at my request and corrected the inaccurate text. I also stumbled across my Seattle Magazine photo that I mentioned above on a college student's website (looked like a class project) about signing with babies.

It was shocking to me that people would just copy a copyrighted portrait and use it w/o permission, as was the case in these two instances. In the latter case, there was no contact info on the site and I was too lazy to pursue it via the website registration info as I rarely use that photo for promos anymore, anyway. I shouldn't be surprised really, as I have had competitors copy and paste several pages of my website text to their own and think they could use my original copyrighted advertising text as their own. Amazing, huh?

The internet being what it is, I think you have to be aware that putting yourself out there in photo form in almost any manner may result in the photo used without your permission or other vulnerabilities that you may not have thought of, but if the benies outweigh the costs to spark a relationship with clients then smile, cross your fingers and hope for the best!

Nancy

www.hoptosignaroo.com

Hot topic. With everyone making valid points...there's a reason why I was never any good at debates!!! (that's another topic altogether!)

I'm much more interested in what the person says/presents as opposed to what they look like. In other words, it's the actions that speak to me...whether they have 2 heads or are green is irrelevant. I feel better doing business with them if I trust what they are saying or doing, and I have a need for that product/service.

However, for those who are highly visual, I can see how this is important. It comes down to preference.

I must admit, as some of you have said, that I like looking at photos that show the personality of the person, but, that it is not the factor that influences my decision.

For those of you who like photos, I guess it's time to say "cheese"...

Hi Marianna,

Good points, and I have a question: for me, the photo isn't about what they look like, but whether they are present and vulnerable, and willing to 'show up.'

So my question is: if you were hiring someone from a very small business, does it really make zero difference whether you ever saw a photo of them or not? This is an honest question.

Hi Mark: (I hope all your questions are 'honest'.... :} ) (hope you realize I was teasing!)

No, it doesn't make a difference to me.

Weird! :) Not that you're weird... I just can't quite comprehend it. For me, it would be like walking into a retail store, and having whoever is helping me hidden behind a curtain, or in a back room somewhere...

I sort of see the photo as a SSL or BBB button on a website. I feel a bit more safer about ordering [doing business] from that website.

-Andrey

Hmmm....I have always had the fear that people would not take me seriously because of my perceived age. I look much younger than I am which is a curse and a blessing all at the same time. In day to day situations I have been accused of truancy and I actually had to show my drivers' license to prove to an officer that I was an adult.

I also have this issue (for 10+ years now) with a stalker and I never wanted this person to have an image of what I look like now, especially with a general idea of where I might reside from info they gather from my website (or here).

Edited:

I would like to add that my business has been growing and expanding year over year without the photo on my website. It was only at Dan's request that I added my photo to my profile here.

Wow Jennifer! Scary stuff! Yeah... your Biznik profile is the 6th google result for your full name.

-Andrey

Some random thoughts:

Jennifer, I hope that your "situation" has been resolved. Your experience is certainly one to consider.

It boils down to personal choice...what's important to a lot of people in this thread is the photo. I understand why - it's a form of “connection”, for one thing.

Personally, a photo certainly adds interest, although it's not a requirement of mine when I am looking to do business with someone. To me, it's the actions and the rapport I feel with the person - either in print, person or on the phone.

We all have different learning styles and values. If the customer/client wants/likes/needs to see a photo to feel comfortable, I'm willing to meet that “need” and post a current photo on my website.