Smile and Say Cheese!
Don’t forget your author photo!
Yesterday’s blog post talked about the many benefits of filling in the blanks on your Expert Author Bio. One thing that wasn’t mentioned, however, was the importance of uploading an Expert Author photo (like the one to the right) as well. As a matter of fact, you must have both your author photo and bio uploaded in your profile in order to have a public Extended Expert Author Bio URL.
Follow these steps to upload your author photo:
- Log into your EzineArticles Expert Author Account
- From the Author’s Area, click on the “Profile Manager” drop-down menu
- Select “Edit Author Photo”
- Click on the “Browse…” button and select your picture file
- Click the “Upload Photo” button
Remember:
- Photo must be actual photo of YOU or have YOU in the photo
- We will accept renderings, drawings or non-photo images if they are of YOU
- We will not accept company and/or personal logos, symbols, crests, avatar images, violent, sexually-explicit or offensive material, or copyrighted images
- Photo must be .jpg or .jpeg file
- File size must be Less than 100k
- Your uploaded photo will automatically be scaled to approximately 160×200 image size (size will vary depending on aspect ratio)
- To update a photo simply select a new photo and select upload photo. This will replace your previous photo if one exists
Need some expert advice for getting a great photo? Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, has written a special article for EzineArticles.com authors on tips for improving your author photo. Read it here: “Why a Good-Quality Photo Should Accompany Your Articles”
Bottom Line: Having an author photo not only adds credibility to you as an author, it’s also a requirement if you’d like to have your extended author bio show up on EzineArticles. So find a nice photo of you, or take a new one, and get it uploaded today.
Teri –
When uploading an author photo, you are associating that image with the brand created by your articles. We would advise against using photos of another person (like your husband or son), because their image could be associated with the brand long-term, and this may not be favorable for them in the future.
If you must use a male pen name for your niche, you may want to leave the photo blank. However, the best option – and the one that appears most credible to your readers – is to always represent your own brand. This would mean updating the pen name to be a version of your own name, and using a photo of yourself.
Alternate authors are great way to keep your niches and brands separate and organized, but still ‘own’ each niche. For each alternate author, you could use a version of your own name (for example: Teri H. Cooper, Teri Cooper, or something gender-neutral like T.H. Cooper), and a different photo of yourself.
– Marc
June 20, 2012 at 10:16 AM[Reply]
Guess I don’t understand the branding plan you’re suggesting. My own photo for female pen names is fine of course, but when it makes sense to use a male pen name (and I know for a fact that other article marketers sometimes publish under opposite-gender pen names), I guess I’ll just leave the photo blank.
Thanks very much for the feedback.
June 21, 2012 at 11:29 AM[Reply]