You are almost certainly on LinkedIn, the professional social network, which was recently purchased by Microsoft for the modest sum of $26.2 billion USD. When you\u2019re logged in, you probably often encounter this picture instead of a real face on a good number of personal accounts.<\/p>\n
What goes through your mind when you see one? Do you think they are a newbie who hardly knows anything about social media? Or maybe someone who hasn\u2019t had time to complete their profile and put their picture in? Or someone who has a reason to hide his or her real identity? Or perhaps refuses to be clearly identified, or who simply is there without really wanting to be.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately these profiles remain \u201canonymous\u201d for a long time, if not forever.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a shame. Actually it\u2019s almost appalling.<\/p>\n
LinkedIn, like other socio-professional networks, was created to promote trade, contacts, jobs searches and meetings between business people and professionals. If your presence on this platform is a “non-presence”, you\u2019re harming yourself as much as you are your business. You\u2019re sending a signal that you don\u2019t want to be there and that your company is not willing to do business with anyone on social networks. Above all, you\u2019re sending the message that you don\u2019t want to be contacted. So why be half there, or a quarter there?<\/p>\n
Also, ever notice the titles of many of these anonymous people? Presidents, vice presidents, officers, directors, vendors and other key corporate positions are represented, without a photo. Sometimes, without even a company name or logo link, which can very easily lead you to conclude that the company doesn\u2019t even exist.<\/p>\n
Are you ready to do business with faceless people? Would you accept an invitation from an anonymous contact? How could you possibly recognize such a person at an industry event? Why would someone neglect a simple photo and deprive themselves of potential business relationships?<\/p>\n
Still skeptical? Here is some proof for you. The heat map (The title picture of this blog) represents what LinkedIn users first look at when viewing profiles on LinkedIn. The picture is the number one area, followed by your professional title. This also applies to other social networks in general.<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t have time to fill out all the profile information fields on your LinkedIn profile (including your professional title without a spelling mistake!). Set aside a minute or two to take a nice relaxed professional photo to accompany your profile. That it in itself is a good invitation to make contact. And in business as in the rest of your life, don\u2019t forget to smile. Its much more inviting!<\/p>\n
What is less inviting however is the LinkedIn news feed. As mentioned, in addition to enabling Job searches and meetings, LinkedIn was founded on the principle of networking between business people and professionals, as well as the exchange of expertise.<\/p>\n
There was a time where members could submit questions to the community that now has 433 million members, and get an answer quickly. In fact most of the answers were quick and relevant. The more answers and better quality of answers a person provided, the more they became an expert in the eyes of others and the LinkedIn algorithm. Hence, the need for a photo to be well recognized by other members.<\/p>\n