Marketing Makeover: Twitter Profile, Part 1 – Your Picture

May 13th, 2009 by Cristina Favreau

The Marketing Makeover series is designed to help virtual office professionals avoid common marketing faux pas that interfere with their success, put their professionalism in question and hinder their credibility.

If you don’t use Twitter as a marketing tool to build, grow and sustain your professional virtual online business, you can totally ignore this post!

I spend too much time stalking a lot of time analyzing people’s Twitter profiles and have been witness to a great deal of atrocious marketing practices by virtual assistants and non-VAs alike.

Do you realize the key role your Twitter profile plays in marketing your virtual assistance services? Your profile is the social media equivalent to window shopping — If I don’t like what I see displayed or your showcase doesn’t draw me in, I won’t bother seeing what else you have to offer. I’m moving on to the next shop.

People visit your Twitter profile and make a split-second decision whether you are, in their estimation, worth following (getting known, liked and trusted) or not.

A large part of their conclusion is based on what they first see when landing on your Twitter profile page — your picture.

Are you making any of these blunders on your Twitter Home page?

Uploading a picture/an image of:

  • your logo (branding schmanding — loosen up, this is social networking for goodness sake!)
  • nothing (showing the default o_O image)
  • an animated cartoon or avatar
  • pets/animals (you’re missing or hardly in the picture)
  • family members
  • unidentifiable ’stuff’ in the frame (book, info product, etc.)
  • hand(s) covering part of your face
  • a cut off or stretched out image
  • overly suggestive photo
  • when you were a kid
  • you 5+ years ago
  • you straight-faced, serious or non-expressive, frowning
  • your eyes not looking straight in the camera
  • people (as in more than one person — which one is you?)
  • a stock photo
  • a speck that is supposedly you
  • words/text
  • glamor shot

I totally get that it’s your profile and you can do whatever you want with it. If you don’t want to change your profile picture just because I say so, you’re right and you probably don’t even need to read the rest of this  post.

If you do want to improve the effectiveness of your Twitter profile, keep in mind your goal for being on Twitter.

When using Twitter as part of your VA business visibility and credibility strategy, remember this marketing fact: it’s all about building relationships and connecting deeply with other human beings.

Now that I’m done ranting, here are kudos to a few VAs on Twitter who got it right (sorry, I couldn’t include all of you):

Notice how they each express their personality differently, yet you get a sense of their professionalism and you’d probably recognize them at a networking event.

Find someone who’ll take a picture of you with a digital camera (or use a webcam if nothing else), wear your most flattering color, slap on a little makeup (if that’s your thing), look at the camera, smile — and Click! Take a few more shots and upload the best one to your Twitter profile.

Remember, working virtually adds an extra layer of impersonality. People want to know they are dealing with a real, living, breathing human being. Make it easy for your potential clients and referral partners. Make us believe you’re professional but not impersonal or “all work and no play.”

Category Marketing Makeover | Comments

  • Marie-Renée
    Dear Cristina,

    Thank you so much for your post. It made me realize that I had set a Twitter account but hasn't done anything with it. Shame on me : I had my logo as a picture! So I put a not-too-old picture of me instead. I also add information as well.
    Oh! And I'm following you now... :-)
    Did you know that I'm thinking of you as a VA Guru? :-)

    MR
  • I agree totally. In fact, the picture I have on twitter is old and well, not flattering! LOL! But I've tried and tried to upload my new (professional) headshot and it tells me it's too big. If someone can help me to resize that picture to fit twitter's dimensions, let me know.
  • Donna Toothaker mentioned this post and, I agree, the photo is a major part of a personal and professional brand! Thanks for pointing this out. I'm not a VA, but I'm a communications professional with my own firm. I am so careful to make sure my Twitter and LinkedIn photos are my professional one. I cringe when I see people post poor quality shots or casual pictures. This is why it is SO important people understand why they use different social media tools and which "brand" they will put forward. Even for Facebook, which for me is more personal, I never post pictures I would not want the world to see. I challenge people to check out Google Images from time to time and see if their internet pics are showing up! Nice post.
  • In many respects I agree as well and I really like Julie Bestry's comments (very much the direction I was going to go in).

    I'd like to add that for artists and photographers, sometimes their Avatar can match their profession without including them and still look professional. I think that in and of itself speaks volumes about who they are. PLUS, if they include their website/blog link that either contains a picture of or has a link with a picture to (their "about" page for instance), by not putting their picture directly in their avatar, it also drives traffic to their website.

    I have a very eclectic friend who is a very prolific writer who does not enjoy having her picture taken if she's looking directly at the camera but has a lovely Avatar (with her face looking down) that defines her and still looks professional. That's an example of what I mean.

    Bottom line, I think it's OK to put an Avatar that defines you that can still look professional. Depends on the person and what they are using Twitter for.

    Just my humble opinion.

    By the way, I really like @laurenhidden 's avatar. That's very artistic and professional all at the same time. Very nice!
  • Thanks for the mention Christina!

    Once I found my momentum with Twitter I realized that I needed to treat my profile like a mini-website. It has to compliment your personal branding strategy or why bother?

    Chris @twitartdotcom did the custom background he did for me - best hundred bucks I could have spent!

    Cheers.
  • Christina, I have to agree with you on all of this--up to a point. Use of a logo in a social networking arena only seems to make sense if the profile belongs to the company and not the individual, as is the case with large companies whose marketing/social networking representatives might change over time. For small companies and solopreneurs, like virtual assistants, coaches and professional organizers, a personalized approach (with a photo) is far more likely to inspire someone to feel comfortable to follow you and possibly hire you.

    A "grown-up", professional photo communicates that you are a grown-up professional. A photo of your children or pets communicates (i.e., it's inferred, even if not intentionally implied) that your professional life is secondary to your personal life. Sure, kids are great, but if you're using social networking for business, think of your profile as your résumé. You wouldn't put Rover's picture on your résumé, would you?

    The only area in which I disagree regards the use of graphic or avatar. A small number my colleagues have had professionally-designed avatars of themselves that look strikingly like them and yet are ageless and cheery in a compelling way. On Twitter, @JohnTrosko and @declutteryou's Scott Roewer have chosen effective avatars. It's them (John & Scott), "only better". My colleague Kim Oser, @putitaway, previously used this to similar effect.

    In general, though, I agree that a well-written, professional profile must be matched with an authentic, professional, classy yet charming photo that draws the uninitiated reader/follower/prospect closer. I know a few of the VAs whom you profiled, including @JanetBarclay, @OfficeQueen (Tracey Lawton) and @DonnaToothaker, and you're correct--they got it right. And so do you, Christina.
  • Sweet! Thanks, Cristina! Proud to be included in your list! And all very well said, too! Great post!
  • I love this post - thanks for the kudos! I started my Twitter career with a professional headshot as my avatar, but I realized that wasn't "me". I put a candid photo up there because I want to be genuine and I want people to see the real me. Take it or leave it :)
  • Yay! Glad to see I made it to the "got it right" list. Thanks! :)
  • Thanks so much for mentioning me :-) I really appreciate that! This is a great article and certainly is on spot! One other thing to remember is that people view Twitter profiles and backgrounds in different resolutions on their computers. Be sure to account for that if you are building your own in PowerPoint or Photoshop.
  • Thanks Cristina! I was telling my TAG members a couple of weeks ago that they need to include their REAL picture on their Twitter profile - and why! And here's another little tip I shared with them...

    If you gave yourself a nickname when you signed up with Twitter (like I did @officequeen) make sure you include your REAL name in your profile so that someone searching for YOU can find YOU!

    ~ Tracey
  • Thanks for confirming the whole name topic... That was the Twitter profile topic I tackled this week!
  • Great article, Cristina! I changed my picture (it was a couple of years old!) But I had new one taken at Summit so it was time to change it. Thanks!!
  • Love your picture. I would totally recognize you at a networking event if I saw you (is it cheating because I met you before??)
  • Thank you for mentioning me! I am absolutely thrilled and you are absolutely correct in your analysis of why VA's need to take their Twitter image seriously. Thank you for this informative post.
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