Fascinating faces on business cards

In a previous post ‘How visible is your networking?’ I explored the idea of putting a photograph on your business card. I have found four examples of people who have done just that!

This is done solely to show who the cards belong to.  How many times have you got home, looked at the business cards you collected, and wondered what the owners looked like? Only the ones that made the most impression probably stuck in your memory. Ironically, it is the most rememberable ones that do put portraits on their networking material.

Mary Flavell is a flamoyant lady who takes over networking events by storm (she is not called the Queen of Networking for nothing). She always looks immaculate and her gushing friendliness emphasises her willingness to get to know what you do, and to see how she can help you. It seems only right that she should have a photograph of herself on her card, although once you’ve met Mary, it would be very difficult to forget her.

Graham Jones is well known as The Internet Pyschologist, and all his media includes a photograph of him, so it’s not surprising there is one on his business card. He has rigidly stuck to this branding, so much so that you only need to see the colours and his portrait at a distance to recognise his company. That’s why its a good thing to choose a particular photograph you are happy with and be consistent with its distribution, both on- and off-line, to enable instant recognition – all good marketing ploys.

Ophelia Messer is a lady who I’m sure was reluctant to put her photo on her business card, but I’m very glad she has. Another rememberable networker, recognition plays a major role if she is to be successful in recruiting for her business. Her invitation for ‘call me now for an informal chat’ is made much easier because of her welcoming grin; such call for actions are more personable if you can see your contact.

And finally John Cassidy, who for a photographer of the rich and famous (he does capture ordinary mortals to make them look fabulous too) it would be strange if he didn’t have a self-portrait on his card. It does, of course, make him look georgous, yet he has chosen a more down-to-earth representation of himself in his social networking. It’s always a good thing to get a chance to show off your expertise through your networking material, and John’s picture has done just that.

How visible is your networking?

I’ve been working recently with my photographer friend John Cassidy, mainly to get some proper portraits done of me, and to get a better understanding of how important it is to present yourself professionally to the outside world.

One idea we explored together was the idea of putting a photograph of yourself on your business card. Now if you had a series of pictures you were truly proud of, that showed you in your best light, wouldn’t you be pleased to put one on your networking material?

Why should you adorn your business cards with your face? It’s not to show off or try and get into the limelight. It’s because so many cards I receive fail to represent whom they came from.

When you’ve got home from a networking event and you take a look at the cards you’ve collected, how many of them can you remember who the owner was or what they did? Sometimes the information on the card doesn’t give you any clues, as so many descriptions are ambiguous and are full of jargon, and unless you were really efficient and wrote down on the back of the card they can become an enigma.

Now if there was a photograph it could jog your memory and you’d be more likely to retain the card for future reference, and should you meet up again at another meeting the possibility of recognition is more likely.

Therefore it is important to get a true representation for your networking material. It’s no good hiding behind another persona; you don’t want to give the wrong impression so that the reader forms an incorrect opinion of you, either good or bad.

Seth Godin’s blog post “The power of a tiny picture (how to improve your social network brand)” confirms how important it is to create the right kind of picture about yourself. He makes a number of very valid points to consider, such as backgrounds, true likeness, accessories, cropping, etc, plus loads more relevant to social networking. Don’t muddy the waters with fancy gimmicks, keep it clear and simple so that people can truly understand who you are.

Portrait power showing your personality

Pictures of Rachel

Sometime last year I met up with a friend who showed me her husband’s latest toy – a whizz-bang digital camera. It could do everything except make a cup of tea.

At the same time my friend was moaning on about her pictures of herself and how terrible they looked. I said she really needed to get some professional ones done – but apparently her old ones were! Ooops. So I decided to do an experiment. We had an hour, so I decided to have a go with this fantastic camera.

The first half hour we messed about because she needed to relax and calm down, change her clothing into something she was more comfortable in, play with the tools of her trade and discuss exactly what she really wanted. The next half hour I took pictures. Most of them were unacceptable, but the beauty of a digital camera is that it doesn’t matter, you can easily delete them. But some of them were really good, capturing her when she wasn’t expecting it (no cheesy grins in posed positions here) and showing my friend in her true light as a warm, funny and exciting person.

I thought nothing of it, until she told me the other day that she has used them on her website and as photos in social networking sites and PR portraits. As a result her workload has increased dramatically, her expertise has soared and her publicity presence has improved immensely.  All because she had used some pictures that truly reflected her as a person and not some stiff board with a stuck on smile.

My next problem is how to create this for me, as I can’t point the camera at myself and press the shutter…

Facing up to Christmas too!

As a continuation of my last blog regarding portraits on business cards, I’ve just read a blog which suggests including your portrait on Christmas cards so that the recipients remember who it is from, considering how many other cards they will receive at that time of year. And to save it becoming fodder for the paper-recycling box, include another item as an aide memoire or provide an action so they contact your company in the New Year.