Your profile picture helps you gain trust. And trust is an absolute necessity if you want to do any serious business on the internet. This is why your profile is so important. People need to know who they are dealing with.
Your “About Me” page
In you blog, you need to have your “About me” page created. This doesn’t mean you have to put all your personal information out there for the world to see. But, it you should have some personal information related to the niche your blog is in.
People need to know who they are dealing with
You have to remember also, there are certain things that just don’t change about business—on or off the internet. When it comes to trust, people need to see who they are dealing with. For example, would you feel comfortable doing business with someone who was wearing a mask, or just wouldn’t show their face to you?
Well the same applies to the internet. You need to let people know that there is a real live person on the other end just like them. That’s why a picture is so important. Of course we all love our dogs and cats J, but for business—you need to have your face.
You may have amazing content, but if your profile is missing or for some reason does not seem strait forward—you’ll lose out on a lot of business.
Just a simple picture is fine. It needs to be friendly. Make sure you smile. For business especially, a nice head and shoulders picture works well.
So, you can include this picture in your “about me” page of your blog. You should include it on your You tube channel header and on your Facebook business page.
If you have a membership site that you belong to, make sure you complete the profile. This is very important, as it effects the response and help you’ll receive in that community. It’s almost impossible to get help when you’re incognito 🙂
People react to what they see
We are designed to instantly react to what we see. Your eyes relay what you see through the retina and optic nerve directly into what is called the Limbic system of our brain.
Lymbic System
To put it simply, the Limbic system just reacts. It has a lot to do with our emotional reactions and our memory. The reasoning functions on a higher level are left to the cerebral cortex which layers over the Limbic sy
stem.
So, even before you reason on something you see, your brain can already formed a reaction.
This is actually for our protection. If you see something dangerous, there may be no time to reason. Your Limbic system is designed to respond instantly and save you from being harmed.
Gut Feeling
This is why you may get that gut feeling about someone you just met. Perhaps you don’t trust them. It may be that subconsciously your Limbic system has processed certain negative actions of the person. So, consciously you are unaware of anything negative, but that gut feeling which stems from a subconscious level is still there.
The converse is also true. If you present yourself as an open honest likeable person, people will automatically form a gut feeling about you.
So, always make sure you are personable. When they see your profile picture and you share a little about yourself, it makes them much more confident about doing business with you.
There are so many other tips, methods and training that you can learn. If you’re looking to build your blog into an authority site, I recommend looking into the “Wealthy Affiliate” platform. Follow this link to read my review…
Thank you for this very useful post. I know that some people feel uncomfortable about this topic. But I also understand it’s a very good way to build trust. People definitely react to what they see, and if they don’t see at least a picture of us, they’ll feel distant and disconnected. It has an immediate effect on their brain.
Thanks Ann. A picture is a small detail, but it makes a big difference.
Very informative article. It is true, a lot of people don’t understand the importance of the about me / about us page. Showing your true face, background and experiences is essential if you want to gain visitors’ trust and turn them into loyal customers. The link to the “About Me” page should also be quite visible in my opinion.
That’s true Horatius. The about me page is one of the first pages I check, when I visit a website for the first time.
This is quite an interesting post here and I must say that I really appreciate all that you have shared here. Well! In all honesty, I must say that I found this post a lot more interesting because you have shared cogent information’s that can prove to be the difference and solidifies our mark on the internet. This is really great to see here and thumbs up to you
Thank you.
I totally agree with you on this one! When I am on a website and I see that the content is by “admin” and there is no profile photo showing or the photo is not an authentic photo then I don’t usually trust the website. I really love to see who I am dealing with and I want to see someone that looks authentic.
Lynne, I can’t agree with you more. The internet can be a scary place at times. It’s really important to show there is a friendly human on the other end. Thanks for your comment.
As a reader of an article or post it’s always nice to put a face to a name. It creates a level of trust and helps identify you as the writer to your audience. Plus, it’s a great way to express yourself and for others to formulate their impression of you. A profile picture can really benefit your blog. Wonderful information you provided.
As Roy Rogers said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”. 🙂 Thank you Lindsey.