Advertise below your facebook profile image!

ACEO'S cute and quirky

Most of us have square profile pictures on our facebook pages - but why?  Facebook allow images up to 600 pixels in height.  They also allow us to edit the thumbnail so we can choose a perfect avatar too.  What a waste not to play with this extra space!

An avatar, or profile picture advert, is a very simple way of creating a little extra space to advertise your latest offer, or just let people know a little bit more about your facebook page and what you do. Or you could simply use this extra space to add some images of your work!

Make the most of your facebook profile picture!







Many pages use this added 'length' as prime advertising space, other's use it creatively to make their facebook pages look great.  Using a longer profile picture, (if done well) can make it look professional - Not on the High Streets profile picture is fantastic - their page really pops out, so much more than if they had stuck to a square profile picture.

You can change it regularly, mix it up and all without ever having to change your thumbnail.  Noths thumbnail looks great.

This idea works particularly well for seasonal offers and newsflashes.  Visitors to your page, your regular facebook fans and new fans have something interesting to look at or learn about on your page. 


Handmadeology have cleverly added an extra dimension asking fans to 'Click the Pic'.  When you 'click the pic', just like with any profile picture you are taken to the profile pic details, just add details of your offer in the description.



Thumbnails


The important thing is not only how good the long image looks but how the image will look when it's in thumbnail version. When you post as your page or on your page.

You will need an area on your tall image that is perfect to be cropped square.

Handmadeology as you can see above, have made a clear square area, which looks just like a normal profile picture. This makes it look as if they have somehow managed to find some secret space to add those arrows and extra text, but in fact it's all one image.

You can create an advert like this without it altering your 'display' avatar in any way, by just creating a long image with your existing avatar at the top.  It's not too complicated to do with software like Gimp or Photoshop.

How to make your own long facebook profile





Use GIMP (great software - download for free) or Photoshop to create your advert.  I've created one for Craft Blog UK to give you an idea of what you could do. I decided I wanted to use the space to let people know that I actively encourage sharing of their latest blog posts on my page.

The ideas are limitless and depend only on your level of design skill. Just try to be creative and always remember to have an area that works well in thumbnail format too.  Ask for help if you are stuck!  I'm sure we can all pull together and give each other some ideas and technical tips.

You need to create an image that is 180 pixels wide by a maximum of 600 pixels high.  When you create a new file in gimp or photoshop, these options will present themselves, I went with 180 x 450.



If you don't want to change your existing avatar just copy and paste your existing square facebook profile pic into the blank image and drag it to the top.

You then have space below this to play with.

Text, images, colour? You can add anything here at all. Save it then upload to facebook!  I like to save my files as png files rather than jpg or bmp files - they look cleaner when uploaded.



Remember to edit the thumbnail when loading up your new profile picture!


What do you think?  Will you take a few minutes tinkering with your profile pic and make use of this extra advertising space?

Have a great day and please ask if you have any queries - if I can't solve them, someone reading will be able to I'm sure :)

Hilary x

PS - If you have a Craft Blog - please do add your latest post to my wall! Craft Blog UK Facebook Page

PS - I know my floating head looks a bit odd, I'm going to revisit this when I have a little more time!