Today’s audio diary is called Smile And Say Cheese.

I’ve been looking at the picture that I used for my book cover, for when I’m a guest in someone else’s inbox magazine or when I’m speaking at an event.

And I’m looking at it and I’m thinking, “Hmmm, I need a change.” This picture has been around a while, and I don’t feel that it conveys everything I want to convey anymore. I think it was good at the time when I took it a couple of years ago, but now I’m ready for something different.

So I’ve been looking at pictures of headshots of folks that are out there. And the ones that are really resonating with me are the pictures of the people when they’re doing something they love. My friend Joe Polish has a picture where he’s holding a heart from his “I Love Marketing Podcast.” I’ve seen other speakers; and one speaker was a veterinarian and she was holding a dog. I’ve seen other people just embracing in activities that they really like.

So, I’m going to challenge you to take a picture for your professional reasons, not the same old headshot but something you really like doing, something that really says who you are.

At the same time, I’m going to commit to getting it done. I don’t know what that picture is yet, I think it will come to me. It might be a picture of me with my kids; it might be a picture of me and my tennis racket. It could be a picture of me just outside or on the beach, because you know how much I love being on the beach.

But I want it really speak to people that says that this is somebody who is warm, trustworthy and wants to help. And I think you need to find a picture of you that says the same message to your community. So let’s do this together. It will be a lot of fun.

Download as an MP3