A photos speaks a thousand words... (What does this one say to you? It's telling me that I should have dessert tonight.)
Yes, if at all possible, I love to include photos with my blog posts. I think it catches a reader's attention, and it helps set the tone for the post.
Okay, so where do you get photos to put in your blog posts?
Some people just do Google searches and look for images there, but that's kind of dangerous. If you make the blunder of posting a photo that is copyrighted...watch out! There is an increasing number of people taking legal action for copyright infringement of photos.
A second popular option is Flickr.com. I've used that site a lot, and it has worked fine for the most part.
For a long time Flickr was the only place I would look, but then I found Fotolia.com and very quickly became spoiled for any other photo site!
I never realized it before because I didn't really know that there were any other options, but now that I've been using Fotolia for a while (mainly using it for posts I do for my clients' blogs) I'm realizing that in the past I made finding photos for blog posts harder than it needed to be.
1 - Drool-worthy, inspiring photographs.
The Fotolia photos are taken by professional photographers who are trying to provide customes with images that they're looking for. I've also found some great photos on Flickr, but the photo quality on Flickr is hit or miss. You just have to sift through Flickr to find photos that are acceptable.
Many times I've been browsing around Fotolia, and I ran across a gorgeous photo that made me want to write a blog post that would justify using the photo. Okay, so that's the reverse of how things usually work, but that just shows you how inspiring these photos are.
Isn't this one gorgeous?
2 - Time saving.
Usually I'll have some sort of idea in my mind of how to search for the right photo. I have a word or phrase that I type into the photo site, and then usually I'm greeted by several pages of photos to sift through. Let me tell you how easy it is to find the right photo on Fotolia. The hard part isn't finding the right one--the hard part is picking one, because there are so many "right ones".
Another thing--Not all the photos on Flickr are available to be reprinted. You need to check that the owner of the photo will allow that. This means more time spent searching for reprintable photos.
With Fotolia, every photo is up for grabs. If you see something you like, you can get it.
I loved this one at first sight...
3 - You can reprint the photo without giving attribution.
I love this part--you see, with Flickr, if you do find a photo that can be reprinted, you need to credit the owner of the photo (that's just the right thing to do).
On Fotolia, since it's a stock photo site and you pay a small price for the use of the photo, there's no need to give a link to the owner of the photo or give any sort of credit.
Just to get this out of the way--I'm not affiliated with Fotolia. I just really like their site.
The photos don't cost much. If you have a professional blog (you know, like one that's associated with your business or one that you hope to monetize) then it really is worth it to spend a few pennies for a great photo that you can reprint without any stress.
How Can I Get The Free Professional Photos?
I have begged Fotolia to give me at least a few free subscriptions to their stock photo service so that I could offer you guys the chance to try things out. They said "Yes"!
This is a nice deal--you can have access to their gorgeous photos for a couple weeks and not have to pay anything!
I only have a few of these special subscription to offer though...
If you want to try Fotolia out for two weeks for free leave me a comment on this post and be sure to enter your correct email in the form so I can email you the special code.
Then, let me know what YOU think.
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