I just watched a short video about having an avatar to get peoples attention so I thought I would write this quick post about it.

If you want to be successful at internet marketing it’s essential to have an avatar to get peoples’ attention. Although the word avatar has other meanings, on the internet an avatar is a graphic that represents the user. It can be a real-life digital photo of yourself or a cartoon image.

If you are serious about  branding yourself and making money on the internet there are good reasons why you should not use a cartoon image which I will explain further on.

When you register on a number of different sites you are often asked to upload a photo of yourself when you create your profile. This is your avatar.

In forums you often see pets or other animals being used as avatars. Others are just plain weird as you may have noticed. I think they are missing a trick here because I am put off by that. What about you?

Some sites like Yahoo Answers let you choose an avatar from a selection they present you with.

Why do you need an avatar to be successful?

If you put something in front of people that you want them to click on, share or even buy they are more likely to do so if you can get their attention and they recognise you. The best way to do this is to have the same picture your smiling face in as many places on the internet as you can.

People respond much better to a smiling face than anything else. Even if you hate the way you look, and most people dislike something about their faces, you should still use a picture of your smiling face.

If you are very shy or hate the way you look you might be tempted to have a cartoon picture created but it really gives the impression that you are hiding the real you. I know an internet marketer who used a cartoon image for many years but when he finally decided to show his real face he found it made a huge difference to his business.

It’s been proven scientifically that people are drawn to smiling faces and are remembered better. So even if you are not recognised at first your smiling avatar is stored in the memory of people who see it and when they see it again they will remember you.

Register your Avatar

Once you have your avatar you should register it at Gravatar.com. You upload your photo to the site and add  any email addresses you will be using on the internet and a few details about yourself.

I started using a different email address recently and wondered why my avatar was not showing up. I had forgotten that you have to register all the email addresses you want to be connected to your avatar  Gravatar.

Once you do this your avatar will follow you round on the web when you post on a site or comment.

For example, you have probably noticed that when people leave comments on blogs their picture is often shown next to or just above the comment.  You may have also noticed that some people have left comments but they don’t have their faces showing.  You might just see a random avatar that is automatically inserted by the blog.

Also, it will save you uploading your photo and providing all your details when you sign up to  the growing number of sites that have Gavatar enabled. Once you have registered at Gravatar you become a recognisable person and not a faceless commenter or blogger.

Where to use your Avatar?

Use your avatar on your Twitter profile, Facebook profile, Google plus and any other social networking sites you use. And most importantly you should create a Google profile and use it there too. https://profiles.google.com/

If you link from your blog to your Google Profile then from your Google Profile to your blog it signifies that the owner of the Google Profile is the author on the blog.  If your site shows up in the search results your  avatar will then appear next to it.  Learn how to do it here:
http://www.google.com/support/webmaster/bin/answer.py?answer=1408986

The more places you use your Avatar the more likely people will recognise you and the more likely they are to click on things you put in front of them.  You will become known as an authority in your niche, you will get more traffic and be more successful.  Are you using an avatar?