You’ve probably read a lot of material that hints at the type of photos you should be posting in your social networking profiles.  I’m going to be straight up with you and tell you that, yes, you can screw up your chances big time without even trying to.  Online pickup does take a little bit of work, but my goal is to share with you the easiest most effective way that will get you results.  There is so much focus on the profile photo (which is important as well), but think of your photo album as your “assistant,” or commercial, because after all, you’re marketing yourself.

Your photo album should consist of carefully selected shots that tell a story about yourself.  You’ve heard that a “picture is worth a thousand words.”  It better be saying the right words.

One of my readers sent me a message saying that he’s been doing everything right… sending those one-liners, cool profile photo, etc… but his results were not as great as he expected.  I checked out his profile, and indeed he had the right posts, nicely-crafted bio, and all that — until I checked his photo album.  The “story” his profile told was that of a sorta-nerdy, sorta-sarcastic, yet way cool dude to be around, who seemed to have a lot of female friends as well.

His photo album said the opposite.

In his “Mobile Uploads” album, there were at least 5 bathroom self-portraits posted, shots which looked like they were taken mere minutes of eachother.  And in each, he is gazing into the camera lens.  That might work with women, but not you, guy.  I’ve learned that solo photos of guys, where he is not looking directly into the camera, fare better than those which he is.  It creates an action, even if it is simply a distraction.  It lends character.  And when your profile is working for you, even when you are asleep, you need to build all the character you can.

We’ve already established that action photos – where you are photographed playing a sport, or doing something cool -are necessities.  But what about photos taken when you are out and about?  Sure, you’ve got a photo of yourself taken at your favorite bar.  You’re wearing your favorite shirt.  And yeah, you even like the way your facial expression turned out.  Without seeing any part of the background, that could have been taken anywhere (including your basement).  That photo does not tell a story.  Now, if you posted the one that was zoomed out a bit where the woman can get an idea of where you were at, that tells a story.  If there were people there, especially hot women, they make grand fixtures to any photo’s background.  That too, tells a story.  You see where I am going with this.

What kind of story your photo album tells is entirely up to you.  But make sure it tells one.  Your words are a powerful tool in the game of online pickup.  But you’ve heard the saying, “photos or it never happened.”  You seem interesting, you sound interesting, but you’ve gotta play the look too.