It’s an old, old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. One thing about such old sayings, though, they are usually true! If they were not true, such sayings would not have stood the test of time.
What does this have to do with making money? Well, keep reading.
No matter what kind of site you have on the internet, I believe that by sharing a picture of yourself, you will make more money.
How can that possibly be true… I am ugly, why would a picture of ugly old me help me make more money?
Well, it’s simple. Because your potential customer can see your face, and connect the offer being made on the site with a real person, not just some faceless unknown person hiding behind the website!
For example, let’s look at my sites. I have websites of all types. I have e-commerce sites. I have informational sites where I share free information with readers. I have paid informational sites… well, not really exactly, but I have sites where you can pay money to buy my books in order to gain additional information. As far as I can recall, I don’t have any site where my picture is not included on the site.
I have been told by people that I am egotistical to put my picture on all of my sites. Some people say that I only do that because I like to see my picture on the website. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that by putting my picture on the site, people make a mental connection with me. I have found, and been told directly from customers that by seeing my picture, they trust me more. People feel that I am their friend. Even if they have never met me, they know what I look like. In most cases, they know what my wife looks like, and they even know what my kids look like. Because they “know my family” they think of me as a friend, and they feel safe and secure in doing business with me. I’m a friend, after all.
My sites did not always have my picture. Back when I first started my first e-commerce business, WowPhilippines, I had no picture on the site, other than pictures of the products that I was selling. Business was good, no complaints. A couple of years down the road, I got thinking that having a personal picture would be appropriate so that my customers would know who they were dealing with, so I added a photo and a short message to the customers. Know what? It worked great. My business increased, and I got a lot of communication from customers that they liked it!
If you have an e-commerce site, a blog or whatever on the Internet, I firmly believe that having your picture shown on the site is a real plus and something that your readers or customers will find comforting, and put them at ease in their dealings with you.
You say you’re ugly? No problem, it might even be a plus! Your customer might like it even better to know that he is better looking than you are! Just kidding…
I agree with you. Perhaps the next time I upgrade my sites, I will add one to my book page. There’s much to say about creating a relationship with people as a way to grow your business.
Hi Tom – I really do believe that a picture of yourself helps make that connection to your customer and/or reader. It has been proven to me time and again, it would seem!