Small Business Blog

Our profile photo or more accurately, our “avatar” is our online face. Whether using Referral Key, Twitter or Facebook; what we choose as our avatar picture is often the first impression others get while business networking.

Using a Logo

Pros

• Business logos can specifically communicate something about the services you offer.
• Most businesses have several people operating within that entity  so, a business logo keeps representation fair and equitable.
• It may actually be easier to recognize business logos rather than the millions of head shots we see online every week.
• Business logos are more professional and can convey a certain credibility beyond a publishers individual tastes and preferences.

Cons

• Unfortunately, the slew of marketing schemers and spammers have tainted the traditional logo. While the spammers sometime use personal photos (of other people usually), more often than not, we are greeted with a stock photo such as a hand waving cash or a man with a mega phone. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to pull away from these entities and inevitably legitimate businesses can be overlooked.
• A good logo does takes some time and thought to pull off. DO NOT USE A STOCK PHOTO. So many people are producing content on the net know that we are beginning to see the same photos being used by many businesses. Seeing the same photo screams unprofessional. You’d be much better creating your own images even if they don’t look air brushed.

Using a personal photo

Pros

• Personal photos are well… personal!
• Taking a personal photo is relatively easy.
• You’ll develop a personal brand beyond your current business venture.
• You will be responsible for the content you publish so others can more easily associate you with your work and not co-owners/colleagues/etc.

Cons

• It is not necessarily clear from the initial interaction that you are a business.
• You are subject to people’s prejudices. I don’t necessarily mean racial but more mild forms of prejudice such as “He/she has no taste look at what they’re wearing.” “He/she looks stupid I am not going to click this profile.” “Too old to be relevant, too young to be professionals,…….. the list is endless. We all make these split second decisions when we see someones profile whether we admit it or not.
• Your personal and business reputation online have the possibility of conflicting with each other.

The Verdict

I think a combination of “personal branding” and spammers have rendered the logo the lesser of the two. Whether logical or not, people tend to associate a face with trust. I’ve noticed  that many of the most popular bloggers who also run businesses have switched from the logo to the personal photo in the last few months. This is one of the many changes new media is likely to create; the fracturing of brands and the emergence of personal brands.

What are your thought?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under Business Networking, Small Business Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.