Favourite Free Image Sources and Graphics Tools for Small Business Marketing


Wondering where to find free images for your newsletter or blog? These are the most common sources we use for free images:

FREE:
FREE with Attribution:
Here are some graphics tools we use often:
Of course, snapping your own photos is always a great choice!

photo by Live to Create Photography / Flickr

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Do You Know If What You're Doing Is Working?

Image
If you aren't looking at statistics at all, how do you know if your online marketing efforts are paying off? You don't need to have a complex Google Analytics set-up to keep an eye on trends. Yes, hard numbers are good to know but trends give you strategic information. Anita Kirkbride and I used a similar chart to the one above when we presented at BlogJam 2015  - back then the top line was 9,000 pageviews per month instead of 20,000. I can tell you exactly what I changed at key points (at Anita's urging) which had a direct effect on my blog readership: June 2011 - I started using social media. September 2012 - I started blogging more and sharing posts more frequently on Twitter, in particular; results were obvious by December . December 2013 - I started posting daily enewsletter tips on Twitter and LinkedIn. 2nd half of 2016 - I started posting daily newsletter tips on Google+. I've tried lots of other tactics, too - some have contributed in little ways
Keep reading »

Let's Play like Adults

Image
Yesterday I politely wrote asking to be removed from a mailing list after receiving a promotional email that was ugly, far from CASL-compliant, and for products I’m not interested in. I even included links to CASL info in an effort to help. I received this response a few moments later: “Please do the same for me.” This childish reaction came from an older man who had attended a free email marketing training I put on last spring at the request of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. He sells products to my target market. Do you think I’m ever likely to recommend him to anyone now? Email marketing isn't a game, it’s a business strategy. I firmly believe we should unsubscribe from mailings that aren't of interest to us. I read many newsletters from people who don’t read mine. It’s not a “tit for tat” thing. Email marketing costs money. Why would we want to waste our efforts sending messages to people who don’t want them ? Go ahead, unsubscribe from the things you don’t w
Keep reading »

Uncommon eMail Marketing Advice

Image
When it comes to email marketing, the most important lessons aren't necessarily common sense. I've had a few a-ha moments along the way. If you are struggling to get results from your efforts, perhaps you'll find the reason and solution here. #1. While you might say you can sell to anyone, you can't create an email campaign that will appeal to everyone. Don't waste your time trying - diluted content is boring. Identify the best niche within your overall target market and create your newsletter for them. #2. Give subscribers what THEY want, not what you want to give them. Start with what would be useful or interesting for your target market , then compare that to your goals to find a sweet spot. #3. What can you give your subscribers that they can't get anywhere else?  Identify that, find a way to deliver it, and you've got it made. #4. Don't hide your unsubscribe link. You want your readers to know they can signal their lack of interes
Keep reading »

Quick Tip - Avoid Hidden Format Problems

Image
When you're inserting content into your newsletter, website or blog, you're often copying it from other documents.  I suggest you always compose in Word (or similar) to take advantage of its spelling and grammar-checking functionality. Your formatting in Word may not be the same as your default formatting in these various applications.  While there are a raft of applications that make it easy now to do your own newsletter, website and blog, most of them are converting your content to html code in the background.  When you copy in text that is already formatted, you're possibly creating problems behind the scenes .  As well, you'll end up with differing fonts and sizes that all have to be corrected before you publish. You can avoid the potential for problems by stripping off all formatting before you paste into the application.  An easy way to do this is to use Notepad (or similar).  You simply open a blank notepad document, paste your content into it, then copy
Keep reading »

Getting Back on Track

Image
If you're feeling - like I am - that you need to get focused for the next quarter, perhaps my list of planned activities below will be helpful. Business development: Continuing to refresh and work a business plan is a top priority, but sometimes it can get lost in the daily grind. I have several activities I'm keeping alive and making progress on by using a simple project management tool (Trello). I recommend reading The Phone Lady's post with advice about how to reach your revenue goals this year. Website refresh and audit: It's a good idea to do an audit of your website quarterly. It's even better if you pay or beg someone else to do it for you - they will see things you won't. Over the summer I've been working with Alison Knott on a brand refresh that you'll see roll out in September. A full audit will be part of that process. Masterminding: This continues to be an important road to business development and growth for me and my company.
Keep reading »

People DO Sign Up for Newsletters

Image
“Nobody signs up for newsletters anymore.” I heard as I sat in the audience during an Infusionsoft presentation. I gritted my teeth. The presenter went on to say that newsletters are all about what’s happening with the company and have no value. A filling popped out. I kept my mouth shut till I could get home to my keyboard. Here's why... I was chatting with a new client recently and asked her if she had a chance to look at the newsletter examples in my online gallery . She told me she had actually signed up for several of them. This is just one example that shows people still want interesting and useful information delivered to their inbox. People say YES to value. When they know you deliver value on a regular basis, they'll sign up because they won't want to miss it . In fact, stats say that 1 in 5 people actively seek out and sign up for newsletters to get the information they want. Creating that perception of value happens over time as you consistently mee
Keep reading »

Sh*t Happens!

Image
I recently had to take a week off work unexpectedly and dash off to Ontario when my step-son went into the hospital. An hour before we hit the road, I was emailing clients and friends with promises of finishing up projects as soon as I arrived at the hotel room. Silly me! After a 20 hour road trip, all I wanted to do was get to the hospital. That remained my priority for the next 4 days and thoughts of newsletters and websites were long gone. On the day I left, my friend said all my clients would surely understand if their newsletters were late going out. After all, they have families too. There is no doubt in my mind that all of my clients would have been supportive and accepted my apologies... if that had happened. But that didn't happen. The newsletters went out. The emails got answered. New sales were made. It was an unplanned test and we passed. Yay! Last year I was smart enough to bring on a superwoman (Danielle) to work with me. Because we’ve been getting so bus
Keep reading »

Is Anyone Looking You Up?

Image
In the normal course of my day, I am constantly looking businesses up online. If I am going to talk to you, meet with you, consider buying your product or using your services, I've looked you up online. Increasingly, I am finding content that I am certain you do not want representing you. Maybe you think you do not need an online presence. Maybe you have an old website that you think is working to the extent you need it to. And maybe you are wrong. Think of all the reasons you Google a business: looking for a product or service looking for a location looking for directions or a map looking for a policy preparing for a meeting If you are using an online search to find what you are looking for, it stands to reason that others are as well. Many, many others. What do you want them to find when they look? We've said it before and it is worth repeating. Google your business at least quarterly. Set your website as your browser's default home page so you are seei
Keep reading »

What's Your Stumbling Block? Blogging Survey

Image
Ever since I wrote this article -- Where Do You Get Stuck? -- a couple of years ago, I've been on a mission to come up with solutions to content creation obstacles. coming up with ideas adapting your ideas for writing starting to write finishing writing editing and proofing finding or creating graphics keywords and publishing Aside from talking about this a lot with small business owners, I've also been circulating a survey on my social media feeds. If I know where people most often get stuck, I know where to focus my problem-solving efforts. Here are the survey results so far: survey results as of Jan-4-20 If you haven't yet responded to this survey, I'd sure appreciate it if you would -- it's only one question. You can click here to do that now. If you're suffering from any of those first three obstacles, using writing templates will help enormously. You can get a workbook here that includes 15 templates. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Storage for Great Ideas - Back of Book (BOB)

Image
Do you often flip to the back page of your notebook to jot down content ideas ? If not, start! When I'm teaching small business classes about online marketing, I insist they start a page in the back of their notebooks for jotting down ideas for blog or social media posts. This page will extend beyond one, but it's the start of something great. BOB (for back of book) becomes a new friend... your idea catcher . When you are looking for something to write about or post, check your BOB for ideas. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »