Custom avatar problem.

I found the following after a quick search on the internet;

To have your Apple email contact avatar seen by recipients, you need to enable and customize Name and Photo Sharing in your iPhone or iPad settings. This feature allows you to share your contact photo and poster with others when you send them an email or iMessage. To do this, go to Contacts, tap "My Card," and set up or edit your photo and poster there. 

Step 2: Enable Name and Photo Sharing 

• • • After customizing your poster, tap Continue.
    • Turn on Name and Photo Sharingif it isn't already.
    • Tap "Share Automatically" to choose to automatically share your information with everyone in your contacts, or select "Always Ask" to be prompted each time.
    • Tap Done to save your changes. 

Important considerations

• • • The recipient must also have Name and Photo Sharing enabled for their contact information to be displayed.
    • Your photo will appear to them if they have you listed in their contacts with your correct email address and they have Name and Photo Sharing enabled.
    • If a recipient doesn't have your contact information or have Name and Photo Sharing enabled, they will likely only see your initials or a generic icon.
    • This feature is separate from your Apple ID photo, which is for services like iCloud.