***Social Networking Tip: Attract New Clients and Boost Your Visibility with a New Profile Photo

Facebook gives entrepreneurs the chance to make profitable connections and boost business by becoming highly visible. One great online visibility strategy is to frequently upload new photos to Facebook, Twitter, and photo sharing sites like Flickr.

Sharing photos online has many advantages that pay off well, equaling nothing short of sizzling Sizzibility in the long run. (Sizzibility is what I call it when you add Sizzle to your Visibility!)

From a purely technical point of view, adding new photos is great for your online visibility because it puts you at the top of “the feed” on various social networking sites. For example, each time you add new photos to Facebook, everyone in your network will see that you’ve added them. This gives your contacts the chance to comment on your pictures which puts them at the top of the feed. Those comments back and forth also work on connecting you even closer to your friends. You can also tag others in the photos to increase exposure even more. See how nicely this works out for everyone?

From a relationship building angle, photos help your network see more of who you are and what you’re like behind the scenes. You can include photos of you working with clients, meeting people in person, conducting a workshop, or doing something that is related to your professional expertise.

But don’t forget the personal side too. Many successful social networkers use candid photos from time outside the office to deepen the understanding of who they are as a whole person. You might include pictures of your travels, family photos, or you engaged in a pastime or hobby. If your work centers around helping others create meaningful lives, then use photos of your life to prove you practice what you preach.

What’s even better is that you get to set the boundaries around what you’ll share. So if you’d rather leave your family out of this, that’s fine. If it’s something that you think would give your contacts more reason to be interested in you, then by all means include it.

That being said, you want to exercise wisdom and good judgment with photos. Vacation pictures are great, but anything risqué may not be the best to bolster your credibility… unless you’re in some kind of business where that would be a great selling factor. Once again, you get to decide.

When it comes to adding photos to your social networking pages, follow this simple rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t show it to a business contact at an in-person networking event, then best leave it out. However, if it’s something you feel could help develop relationships with business contacts and find things to connect on, then by all means go for it.

Social networking is an artful combination of connecting with people and maintaining high visibility. By using photos, you speak to your contacts in a visual language that may be exactly what they needed to “hear”! nn