Keep your blogs eye popping by including a picture or two. If you're blogging about a listing get out there and take some pictures of your own to use in your post.
Sometimes you just need a row of mailboxes or a holiday photo of sorts. Maybe a shot of the NYC skyline. Do not Google "new york skyline" and use any image that pops up. Most are copyrighted and can get you in trouble. Never use an image you do not have proper authorization to use; and if you're not sure then err on the side of caution and don't use it!
Freedigitalphoto.net is a great site to find stock images for almost anything you can think of. A simple spam captcha is the only thing keeping you from downloading your image in seconds. I use this site 90% of the time and just love it.
Flickr: Creative Commons allows you to search and find images free to use. Type in your subject in the top right search bar and hit enter. Then, click Advanced Search in blue under that same box. Scroll down and check the "Only search with Creative Commons-licensed content" and then hit search again.
Wylio is pretty cool too. You can search for any image, once you're logged in via Google. It allows you to resize your image if you choose to do so on their site. Then, you download the image to your computer with the photo credit automatically attached to it. Easy as pie!
If you need to crop, merge or add text to an image try using iPiccy. It's free, no registration needed and allows you to make the perfect picture for your blog post. You can change the colors, size and so much more. Save it to your computer and then easily upload your image, banner or icon to your posts.
The message here is to include pictures in your posts. Don't get frustrated if you can't find the right one because you make an image your own in iPiccy. Rest easy knowing you're not ripping anybody off.
Kerrie La Guardia
Community Manager
ActiveRain
