If you’re looking for just the right image to use on your website or books, you can find photos and illustrations online at reasonable prices.
Here are just a few of the ways you can use stock photos and illustrations:
• Illustrate blog posts to reinforce the message and break up large blogs of text.
• Use images on covers for books and ebooks.
• Find arrows, buttons, guarantee seals, and other graphics for web pages.
The toolbox photo on this post came from my favorite stock image site, iStockPhoto.
Bigstock is another good source. Right now, Bigstock is offering a 50% discount on the first image purchased by new customers. I’m not sure if the offer has an expiration date.
Other good sources for photos and illustrations include Dreamstime and Crestock. On Stock.Xchng you’ll find free photos mixed in with links to paid images on iStockPhoto.
All of these sites offer royalty-free images that can be used for marketing purposes, but check the license agreement if you have any questions about the specific uses that are allowed. The cost is usually about $2 to $3 for small photos suitable for online use. Prices are a little higher for larger, high-resolution photos and for illustrations, but still reasonable.
For free photos to use in blog posts, check out the Creative Commons section of Flickr. Use the search box on this page to look for an appropriate image. When you find a photo you like, check the License section in the right column to find out how you may use the photo and what attribution is required.
For more tips on buying and using images, see this article.
Now, go forth and illustrate!
This is a reprint from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.