Are you one of those people that upload a new avatar every day? (Chris Brogan comes to mind.) Or do you still have your high school yearbook photo up there?

Are you consistent across all platforms, or do you have different avatars in different spaces?

Also, I see most of us have a cropped photo of our face, but not everyone. What’s your thought on that?

I agree with @joanmuschampfagnani - I tend to keep the same gravatar only because I feel that people recognize me from it and it is consistent across the board. However, on the day that  a picture is taken of me that I think is both professional and reflects who I am, then I would probably change it across the board… but keep it for a while for the reason I just stated.
As for my personal Facebook (which I use solely for personal reasons) and my phone screen saver (and the pics in my house come to think about it!), I change those regularly for variety and to reflect the current moments in my life!
So business and person – totally different! 

@rich-brooks @joanmuschampfagnani @melissaagnes

I agree with Joan and Melissa — I had professional business portraits taken and I purchased the license to use 4 different shots. I usually use “Laura in pink blouse” (see my SME avatar).

I think it helps establish brand identity to use the same photo across all platforms, and to use that photo for a year or two, as long as it’s a good, CURRENT photo that represents your brand message.

When people meet me in person, I often wear pink (because that’s a good color on me), and they immediately recognize me from my avatar photo.

I did an interview with a professional photographer and wrote an article titled, “15 Secrets for the Perfect Business Portrait.”

The article is geared to help those who are thinking of having a business portrait taken but aren’t sure if it’s worth the expense.

@debbielynnava

Thanks, Debbie!

If you’re trying to set up a gravatar, I wrote a tutorial on that, too. The article was written a couple of years ago, but I think the setup process is basically the same.

I think they allow you to change your avatar image on SME Networking Clubs. Don’t they??

@laurachristianson Thanks for the tip. The problem is an old gravatar I thought was permanently deleted, not creating one.

Happy Friday all! My picture is consistent across all SM platforms as I feel the consistency will assist in my branding.  If and when that happens, I may feel more inclined to change it up every now and then. But for now, it stays – besides it took almost 200 attempts/pictures to find one that works!

@robertbaker

Oh, that makes total sense for your brand! Very homey and comforting. Thanks for letting me know.