--closed--

Personally, I don't understand the focus on a person's avatar. Hasn't got much to do with the value of what they have to say, and a rather large percentage are bogus anyway.

I mean, come on. We all know Jim's roaddog avatar is fake. He's really an armpit poodle!


Paul

Love this thread. It's interesting to see the varied viewpoints.

People Buy From People.

Personally I think that by adding in a real photo (better with a baby) of yourself, personalises your business relationship.

Believe it or not, this really is a photo of me! Not some stud glamour model, not retouched or airbrushed either - can you believe it? Not everyone, I know, is blessed as I am.

On the other hand, your photo can certainly LOSE you business. I live in a very rural area, where most people pick their tradesmen out of the local free weekly paper.

There is one guy, who's an electrician, apparently, who has his photo in his ad for his services. His friends ought to tell him . . . Bad choice of photo.
There's a picture of a mid 20 something guy; cropped hair, single earring, and a threatening scowl on his face. Looks like a prison mug shot. My wife and I, and some of our friends have discussed his ads. Without exception, all the women said they'd be scared to let him in the house, and most of the men said they'd lock up their valuables (and daughters) if he was working there.

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity - wrong!

It doesn't matter if you're not as beautiful as me, as long as it's the real you. Do try to put a smile on though. THAT makes an enormous difference! A photo really can make that trustworthy connection.

If you don't, what are you going to do with a video?

As for Alexa - well ... As we all know, her valuable contributions to the Forum are worth their weight in gold. She's totally knowledgable and professional, for which we all respect and admire her.

.... and her photos make an old man very happy (or should that be, Makes a happy man very old).

Finally. Isn't using your own photo part of running an honest business? After all, you're not hiding behind some random avatar, so perhaps you have nothing to hide from - period.

Cheers
Alan

PS, Never trust a man with a beard.
Must go and see if I can borrow a baby (or kitten?).

.

Dang! And here's me thinking that you really are a little yellow man shaped like a star.

In answer to the OP... yeas I do. I must admit that when I don't see photos or real locations then it makes me suspicious... especially new arrivals.

With more senior members, I am not too fussed.

I'm not so much hung up on the photo as I am the profile and username.

If your username sounds like you dropped your lunch on the keyboard...

And your profile looks like you're in witness protection...

And your avatar is some copyright violation cartoon character...

I'm going to have a hard time trusting you.

On the other hand, if you use a real name or company name or even a screen name that makes some kind of sense...

And you offer at least few details on your profile...

And your avatar is your photo, a company logo, or even none at all...

It's much easier to start the trust process.

It's even easier if you have a record of solid contribution, with or without an avatar.

Like many people here, I'm here to interact, chat, learn, discuss, and so on. Ok, it's true I have one item in my sig-file (removed from this post) from which I do earn some money, but I'd been here for over 2 years before I added that, so nobody can suggest it's my "reason for being here".

Your question makes me curious, though: what proportion of the forum's members do you think are here to do business? Your question kind of implies that you think it's 100% or close to 100%? I don't have a specific figure in mind, myself, but I would have thought it's way lower than that.

I think I benefit from it, and my ability to do business elsewhere is certainly enhanced by my presence here, but that's clearly not "doing business here", is it?

Noooo, of course - none taken ... and likewise.

One reason to use your own pic (especially in discussions like this) is that you get to (secretly) think you're better than us "Avatars" /Kidding.
: )

Awwwwhhh! Damn! I swear I thought I looked trustworthy! It's because of the serious face, right?

To me, that "Evie" was fairly obviously a fake photo, but that was just me. Of course you can never be 100% sure.

I think people who've been online a while and no forums can generally tell when someone's using a stock photo or photo that isn't them.

There's one guy I see on here all the time and I don't think he's using a real photo and he has nearly 1000 posts, but I'm not gonna say who it is, because like I said you can't be 100% sure.

edit: Also, it doesn't even necessarily matter, as some people on the internet want to be anonymous. There are things that can go wrong when people are truly claiming to be one person and they are not, of course.

I think with the popularity of facebook, twitter, and other social media sites, you are better of building a reputation around your real picture and name.

In this way, people will follow you across all the platforms and you will gain credibility on new platforms much easier.

lol... I wish i had the time!

You could always swap with my younger cousin - she's called Shannon too. Knows squat about IM, mind you, but if your target demographics include image-conscious 16-year-old girls, she'll have you 500,000 chatty, freebie-seeking subscribers before you can say "Yuz w0t3var". :p

Riggs, when was the last time you had your eyes checked? :p

(Hey, with a setup like that, someone had to take the swing. Just joking...)

Kindly add your signature so that we can visit your website. It's to your benefit.