Have you ever wondered what your website or LinkedIn profile photo says about you? Or have you been torn between two photos and unsure of which you should use? There’s a fun new tool that can provide data to help you decide!
Since I never do much that isn’t backed by data, I was excited to learn about the new PhotoFeeler tool that has users rate your photos based on different attributes. It’s free and only takes about ten minutes from start to finish to get results.
Here’s How it Works
First, you join the site by using your LinkedIn login and you can either earn credits by voting on other users’ photos or you can purchase credits. Purchasing 100 credits for $12 will get you statistically significant results when comparing two photo options. If you prefer to vote to earn credits, each vote that you cast gets you one credit. Earning 100 credits would take about ten minutes of voting.
Then, you upload your photo or photos and run a test, choosing the category, entering your job title to give context, and selecting how many votes you’d like for each photo. I recommend at least 30 votes per photo to get solid results. Finally, they will email you when your test is complete and voilà, data-driven decision making!
The site is also used for online dating, where the criteria include how smart, attractive and trustworthy you seem. For LinkedIn photos, the ratings are based on how competent, likable, and influential you seem. For financial advisors, I actually recommend doing a test for both dating and business so you can get results on trustworthiness as well as competency, which we know are two criteria investors rely on when selecting an advisor. Don’t worry, the photos are private so no one gets the wrong idea.
See The Results
Take a look at the test I ran below. I had been using the photo on the right because I thought it seemed more professional. It turns out I was wrong. I updated my profile with the photo on the left, which I like better anyway.
While there are caveats to the reliability of this tool for small sample sizes, if you run a large enough test, you can get objective data that helps you improve your profile and website. Go to photofeeler.com to check it out and please share your results with me, I love this stuff!
To learn more about how advisors can use LinkedIn to generate referrals, check out The LinkedIn Guide for Financial Advisors, available on Amazon now.
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Claire Akin is a former advisor, turned marketer, who may turn back into an advisor again in another decade. She runs Indigo Marketing Agency, a full-service marketing firm serving financial advisors. Claire holds her MBA in Marketing from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego as well as a BA in Economics from UC Davis. It’s her goal to help advisors leverage technology to grow their businesses.