Here's the problem with social media: It's turned everyone into his (or her) own personal PR agent.

社交媒體有個問題：它把每個人都變成了他(或她)自己的個人公關(guān)代理。

Think about a businessperson you know, preferably someone with a reasonably high profile. Find his photo on the company website, or the photos he uses for promotional purposes. Most of those photos look pretty good, right? (Except the ones where the person's face appears to have been cropped out of a photo taken at a party.)

想想一個你認(rèn)識的商人，最好是一個比較高調(diào)的人。找到他在公司網(wǎng)站上的照片，或者他帶推廣目的的照片。這些照片大多數(shù)看起來很不錯，對吧? (除非這個人的臉看上去像是從一次聚會合影中被裁剪出來的。)

Now go to his or her Facebook or Twitter profile. Or do a quick image search.

現(xiàn)在再去找一下他或她的Facebook或Twitter的個人資料，或者快速掃一眼照片。

Do the photos you find look like the same person?

這些照片和你認(rèn)識的這個人一樣嗎?

Not quite... and the disconnect is often more than a little jarring. The George Clooney you see in the profile photo turns out to look more like, say, me. (Now that's a jarring disconnect.)

不是的……反差經(jīng)常不是只有一點點。你在個人資料照片中看到的喬治·克魯尼其實看起來更像，比如說，我。(這就是一個巨大的反差。)

Of course you should try to look good in your photos. The research is clear: People want to do business with attractive people.

當(dāng)然，你應(yīng)該盡量讓你的照片好看。研究結(jié)果很明確：人們更樂意與好看的人談生意。

But don't try to look too good, because people also want to do business with real people. Plus, someday you may meet your customers; even if you won't, while they're checking out your business your potential clients will probably do a quick search on you, too.

但是，也不要讓照片看上去太好看，因為人們也想和真實的人談生意。而且，你可能將來會遇到你的顧客;即使你沒有遇到，當(dāng)他們在審查你的公司時，你的潛在客戶也可能會對你做一個快速搜索。

Either way, potential customers will eventually find out you're not quite as handsome, quite as trim, quite as young, and definitely not quite the focused-yet-sensitive-artist-with-a-knowing-but-whimsical-smile as your photos make you seem.

無論如何，你的潛在顧客最終會發(fā)現(xiàn)你其實沒有像照片上看上去那么帥氣，那么端莊，而且不是照片上那個帶著世故和奇特的笑容的藝術(shù)家，看上去既專注又敏感。

Instead: Use personal photos that flatter but don't mislead.

反之，使用討喜但不會讓人誤解的照片。

Pick photos that look natural. Think about how you will look when you first meet a customer and try to match that look. Avoid disconnects between photos and real life (or website photos and Facebook photos) as much as possible. Look good but look real.

挑選看上去自然的照片。想想看當(dāng)你和顧客初次見面，他或她努力想把照片和本人對上號的時候，你會怎么樣。盡量避免照片和本人(或者網(wǎng)站上的照片和Facebook上的照片)的過大差異。讓照片好看而且真實。

Otherwise, when customers meet you they will naturally wonder what else you're hiding or misrepresenting.

否則，當(dāng)顧客見到你后，他們會不自覺地懷疑你是不是還隱藏或歪曲了其他什么事情。

Never use stock photos. Stock photos look cheesy. And they don't fool anyone. The worst photos of the real you are better than any stock photos.

絕不要使用證件照。證件照看上去很劣質(zhì)，而且它們騙不過任何人。真實的你的最差的照片都比任何證件照要好。

Don't misrepresent your facilities, either. Ever seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Ever walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame? In photos many landmarks look a lot different simply because the surrounding areas are usually cropped out. While you're at it, check out any other business-related photos. Certainly show your facilities to their best advantage, but don't over-do it.

你也不要歪曲你在的場所。你見過比薩斜塔嗎?走過好萊塢星光大道嗎?在照片中，許多標(biāo)志性建筑看上去很不同，僅僅因為周圍的區(qū)域經(jīng)常顯露出來。當(dāng)你在建筑物前，查看一下其他所有和業(yè)務(wù)相關(guān)的照片。當(dāng)然要以最好的角度展示你在的場所，但是不要過度。

And always remember you're not a celebrity. Actors, musicians, and performers earn their livings based at least partly on how they look. In most cases, you don't. You make your living based on what you do, not how you look. Keep that fact in mind where your photos are concerned and you can't go wrong.

時刻牢記你不是一個明星。演員、音樂家和表演家至少在部分程度上是靠臉吃飯的。多數(shù)情況下，你不是。你是靠你做的事情，而不是你的長相謀生的。在關(guān)于你的照片方面，牢記這個事實，你就不會出錯了。