Are You Using Your Avatar Correctly to Promote Your Business?
Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 5:00AM
Unless you are a neophyte to Social Media, you already have an avatar for your business. An avatar is the alter-ego of you, the writer; some representation of yourself when you are on the computer and the image that you want to project to the internet world. However, people do not seem to be aware that avatars can be very important and form a first impression of you by your readers. Whatever avatar you put up as your representation is going to define you and your business, so it is extremely important that you carefully choose what you want people to see. If you are not using an appropriate avatar for the correct situation, you could lose your potential reader and ultimately, business from that potential client.
For example, see what you think of these avatars. On Facebook and more so on MySpace, many people seem to have what you would consider "fun" pictures as their avatars. This seems especially prevalent with the younger generation where avatars are often times groups of seemingly very drunk people all holding glasses of alcohol. Definitely a "fun" avatar of a great party person, but would that be the image of what you want to portray to the world in order to get business?
Or, you may have a dynamite business. You want to connect to as many people as you can, but could anyone really take you seriously as a potential business partner if your avatar is that of you with your shirt off (male) or with your boobs hanging out of a low cut shirt (female)? While you may feel an avatar such as that may show off your best features, you may find that the business you are looking for just does not happen. Those avatars may attract lots of people. However, most likely those people you attract would not be the type of customers you would want for your business (unless, of course, that is what you are trying to sell!).
What then would be a good avatar for your business? Here are some suggestions:
- Your Head Shot
Obviously, a head shot of you is the simplest and safest avatar you can have. But it doesn’t have to be a boring shot of you just staring into the camera. Have some fun with it. Use a prop. Smile or laugh. Remember, your avatar is going to define your personality and make people remember you. Bring your personality into your avatar so that your readers want to get to know you better.
- A Body Shot
While a body shot may be more interesting than just a head shot, you have to watch out that you are not too far away so that there is no definition of you. In that case, you may as well not have an avatar! Remember, these pictures are tiny little squares, so if you use a body shot, make sure you can be clearly seen. Again, do something exciting. Use a prop. Dress in what your business does, or be doing something so interesting that your reader has to say, “Oh cool. That person is someone I want to get to know better”.
- An Illustration/Item or Object
Remember, people want to connect to you, the writer, not with your favorite pair of shoes. If you have an object or illustration as an avatar, people can not see your personality. They will not be able to get a feeling of who you are. Many times, people will remember your avatar but not your name. Therefore, you want that avatar to be you when you start to build your relationship with your reader.
- A Logo
There are times when a logo can be perfectly acceptable as an avatar. The key is whether you are your business or whether your business is independent of you. For example, Coca-cola’s avatar is not a picture of Coke’s CEO, but rather a picture of their well recognized logo. In that case, the business is Coke, not the CEO. But using a logo for a one person law office would not be effective. In that case, the lawyer IS the business. A head or body shot would be much more appropriate an avatar in that situation.
Obviously, these rules would not apply if you are just using Social Media to have fun and maybe just blog about yourself. Then your avatar can be as fun as you want it to be. In that case, you are not trying to build any relationships but rather just sharing. But remember, for business purposes, Social Media is all about building relationships. Your avatar is the very first step in building those relationships, so choose wisely. Your business could depend upon your choice!
Why did you choose the avatar you have?
Reader Comments (22)
Another great blog Candace!
Avatars are essential to convey to our friends & followers a bit more of ourselves. I was fortunate to have some great photos taken last year for my profile as a new member of Women Network NT http://www.womensnetworknt.com/ I am usually the one behind the camera, so I don't have many photos of myself that I really like... Anyway, Janine from WWNT took such great pics that I love so much I now use them all the time.
I believe that's the key to having a great Avatar/Gravatar - you have to be happy with how it represents the essence of you & your message.
ps - I am this week's feature writer for Confident Woman Australia http://www.confident-woman.com.au/todays-confident-woman/ - the invite prompted me to start writing 'my story' and now Rachel Green, from Confident Woman Australia has encouraged me to write my book! lol I do Love social media and the amazing relationships I am making.
warm regards
Bron
This is great advice. I use logo avatars for my blog and business plus a headshot for general purposes (like Twitter). An avatar is a simple and effective way to promote your brand. Plus, Gravatar makes it a breeze to leave your signature avatar when you comment on blogs.
I'm a bit behind on this one! I do use a logo but I never really thought about an avatar otherwise. Might have to reflect on this! Thank you for another highly useful post. Judy
Candace this is an important point you are making. and its a great reminder that appropriate does not mean boring. My avatar is a head shot. Nothing exciting, just my face. But it does give me recognition. I admit I do like to see who I am connecting and engaging with!
Jen
Having an avatar is so important to building awareness and your brand. I agree with the other posters who mention Gravatar to manage their avatar. It keeps things simple.
Thanks for a great post! My first time here but I'll be back!
Thanks for all your comments.
Welcome Sherryl.
Jen- that is the distinction between you being your business. You are your business so your headshot is totally appropriate. However, for Our Little Books for example, both my business partner Julia and I (plus virtual staff) are part of and work on the business. But we are not the business, so it would be weird to have one of our faces up there. So in our case, the logo is appropriate to represent Our Little Books. The same would apply for Melissa and Judy.
Bron- right on! (or should I say, write on!)
Just an FYI- an Gravatar is an avatar that follows you around the internet (sounds a bit stalkerish, doesn't it?). But it allows you to have your avatar show up whenever you post without you having to do anything. Helps in name/avatar recognition.
I use a head shot EVERYWHERE and always did before I started my business. To be honest if I'm 'talking' to a person on SoMe I like to see their face and only their face - I feel more connected that way. For now my photo was taken with photobooth but I feel it reflects my personality - I'm smiley and relaxed. I have recently developed my brand and blog 'Lou Loves Learning' and you've got me thinking that I could develop that - though my shot does already have our book shelves behind me so that will do for now.
Thanks for your blog - I enjoyed it.
Really like this article. My avatar (pick of a shoe damaged by driving unprotected) is actually going to probably replaced my expensive corporate designed logo in some instances.
I chose a head shot for my Twitter, Facebook and all other sites, so people could connect with me as a person. Largely, I did that because I talk about personal topics, like sobriety, for instance, and I want people to have a face to learn to trust. On my fan page, however, I used an avatar of a gate, as that is what I do... gates. I am the gate lady, the author and photographer of the book "Opening the Gates of the Heart: A Journey of Healing." Perhaps a headshot would have been more appropriate, but since the book is one of photographs (and prose) of gates, I thought this an excellent way to show case my photography.
Carolyn CJ Jones
http://www.gatelady.com
Candace,
Terrific topic! In fact, I just wrote an article on the same subject titled, "What's Your Social Media Avatar?" (http://bestbizpractices.org/2010/07/07/what%E2%80%99s-your-social-media-avatar/).
I loved the specific suggestions you made!
Susan
Even though we're told one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, we are wired to make numerous judgments and decisions based on what we see. Having a good avatar (or profile photo) is essential for any users of social media if they expect to have a fruitful time. Thanks for the great list of tips for a better avatar.
good post + you raised excellent points on avatar-selection. one other good point is to have some consistency across the different social media sites, avatar-wise. while one may have 10 different headshots that they love, it isn't really business-savvy to use six different avatars on facebook, twitter, linked-in, your blog, other blogs, online communities, etc. by using the same avatar across most of the internet, you can really do some amazing branding!
There has been much discussion about this from many people who claim to be social media experts. A claim, I might add, I find a bit amusing for a fairly new field. Have you ever seen the number of people who are experts on how to use Twitter? The numbers are mind-boggling.
You, however, raise solid and coherent points. And offer good suggestions. AND you have a sense of humor! Bravo!!!
And Thank You!
As I've been lucky enough to have Ann Evanston from http://www.warrior-preneur.com/ as my coach I got the avatar lesson early on in my foray into social media and blogging. I've chosen a head shot (new one coming this week) as my avatar, as I am my business and I believe as Ann teaches that people want to connect to a person. So yes, An avatar is important to me!
This is just great! Of course...a few days ago I thought ""Avatar" was the name of an online calendar program...and now I have one. (Long story, don't ask!) I've used my head shot and it is the same in all of my social media and printed materials so it really helps with my branding. Great information - thank you!
And...I couldn't agree more with the booze pics on FB...what are people thinking? "They don't realize that image matters whether in person or online. So much easier to make a good first impression than to work extra hard to overcome a negative one. Also, try to make sure you send the message you want to be heard. There's going to be so many miscommunications anyway since we're human...why start with a crazy party photo when you're a businessperson?
Brandy Mychals
Jewelry for Your Target Market
www.BrandyMychals.com
so interesting, Candace. I am such a neophyte in this social media world, and am in awe of all the wonderful advice from bloggers like you. thank you for opening my eyes to another important aspect of social media.
ps: as a vocabulary lover, I love your word of the day game on fb!
Candace more great practical advice so easily overlooked.
Great adivce and its so true, our avatar tells a lot about us and the image we're putting forth.. I tend to follow folks on Twitter that have a picture rather than a logo. I go on Twitter to talk, I want someone to talk back, faces do so more than logos!
Should we keep the same avatar for all of our social media accounts? Is there a good time to change your avatar? I was thinking that eventually I will age and may need to update the picture. Do you think it is important to age the picture since many of your followers may never actually see you in person?
What are everyones thoughts?
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments about the importance of an avatar. I think close up head shots are the best. And that your avatar is consistent on all social media platforms. It really is another form of branding. People will remember you and recognize you when you meet in person if you have a good headshot. Pictures give impressions...I know I have 'ignored' friend requests on Facebook when the picture wasn't quite right. I guess it all really depends on what you are using social media for...if it is just to keep in touch with your friends and you are under 18...go with the party shots. But even if you are only using it to keep in touch with your friends, I hear HR departments are looking up prospective hires on Facebook.
Hey Candace, when I was ready to get my first formal headshot for my business, I wanted it to be fun,but still convey that I was a serious business owner. One of my clients is a photographer and we used his dog for the photo. I put peanut butter on my face and had him lick it. It's cute,but classy.