If you walked into JC Penny and the sales person came up wearing a clown mask, dressed as a kitten, or thugged out in a ski mask would you walk out of the store or buy everything in it?
People connect with people to establish trust.
When you have a photo of someone other than you on your profile, some funny picture, a logo, or no photo at all there is nobody available for people to trust. There is no face to put with the name and it basically kills 99% of your business.
A good photo is one of you, if possible interacting with your business or wearing a logo shirt, or professionally dressed. You should be looking directly at the camera and smiling if possible, and the lighting should be such that people can see and recognize you. I see too many photos on SFI that are nearly blacked out from poor lighting or poorly chosen Photoshop filters. They make you feel like you are dealing with a seedy person selling Rolex Watches out of a back alley. You know it can't be good.
I hear a lot of people getting scared about their picture being taken and used by someone else, the problem is those people always seem to have photos on Facebook, or Pinterest, tag themselves in friends photos of them etc.. in the places most likely to have a photo copied or stolen. They keep photos on their phone or pc and tablet and never realize that hacked devices are a major source of those stolen images.
You have to practically disconnect your offline life from your online life to lessen the risk of someone using your image and then guess what happens? Ever seen the site People of WalMart? Yep anyone with a cell phone, tablet, or camera can snap a picture of you out in public, home in private, or at work and post it online. So don't fear what you can't stop from happening. Your business will face enough challenges without facing this one.
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If you walked into JC Penny and the sales person came up wearing a clown mask, dressed as a kitten, or thugged out in a ski mask would you walk out of the store or buy everything in it?
People connect with people to establish trust.
When you have a photo of someone other than you on your profile, some funny picture, a logo, or no photo at all there is nobody available for people to trust. There is no face to put with the name and it basically kills 99% of your business.
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