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What Are Your Website’s Pictures Saying About You?

Posted by Rhonda Jai on August 6, 2011 at 7:30pm

People often say “Pictures are worth a thousand words!”. I say, “Pictures on your website or blog are worth a few seconds”. If you include at least one illustrative picture on each page of your website or blog posts, you will help grab your visitors’ attention and keep them engaged on your site longer.

Now let me back up! Using professional images that are clear and not distorted will help keep your readers engaged! One of the worst things you can do to hurt the credibility of your website or blog is to display images that are distorted and/or have improper resolution. Doing so shows a lack of professionalism and your visitors will not take you or your website/blog seriously.

If you are using photos or images that you have taken yourself, make sure they are NOT blurry, distorted and/or are too dark or light. Make sure your images have a resolution of at least 72 to 92 dpi.

Where to find professional images for your website/blog

My favorite site to use is Fotolia.com. Fotolia.com has lots of fabulous pictures and they start from $1.25. As a matter of fact, I purchased the picture accompanying this post from there and added an overlay to it using my photo editor.

Find Professional Images For Your Blog That Only Cost $1.25, Click Here!!

Regardless of whether you buy your pictures or use your own, just make sure to use ones that will help portray a professional web image and add credibility to your site.

Want to increase your audience reach and engage visitors even more? Learn more»

A Bird’s Eye View on Wedding Dresses

Posted by carla on March 1, 2009 at 9:00pm

A Bird’s Eye View on Wedding DressesHow this Photographer sees it

The Wedding dress is one of the most important details of the day. Everyone wonders “what is the bride wearing”? “What is she going to look like”? Therefore having seen hundreds of wedding dresses as the owner of a photography business I wanted to give some thoughts and advice that I hope will be considered regarding this most photographed item on the wedding day.Let’s start with that trip to the bridal salon, I recently spoke at a seminar and mentioned that mothers are probably not the best person for the bride to take when shopping for her wedding gown unless mom is a fashion icon and she knows a lot about wedding dresses. I felt like that woman in the bible who had just been caught in the act of adultery, I really thought I was going to be stoned to death, a few of the mothers in that room were more than a little annoyed with me. .My point simply was that mothers are often driven by emotions, this after all is their baby getting married and they may be a bit overwhelmed by all of the details involved in selecting the one item that sets the Maybe your mom didn’t have the wedding of her dreams but wants that for you; it is only natural that she will be a touch emotional, mom may not see that her daughter may spend the big day looking like a gigantic wedding cake, or a throw back from the Victorian era. stage for this big dayAdditionally the bride is often under enormous pressure to make others happy and may not have the intestinal fortitude it takes to stand up to mom and say I don’t want this, especially if mom and dad are shelling out any of the money for the wedding.Obviously not every dress looks great on every one, you must consider your height, weight, complexion, hair & eye coloring when you make this significant purchase. Would your body type look great in a strapless dress or a ball gown? Would your skin coloring favor white, ivory or eggshell or another color? Do you like beading if so how much? What about lace? What about the fabric? Chiffon or satin? What fabric works best for you? Trying on several different styles of wedding gowns, made by a variety of manufacturers can give you a great sense of what is available in the market place. The things I havementioned are but a few of the many considerations in selecting this garment. Finally you may have to make alterations make sure to ask the bridal salon what they can and cannot do. You must be precise and specific about what must be done to avoid very costly mistakes especially in the area of alterations. Brides go alone, or take a very trusted friend not the whole crew of screaming girlfriends with you to the bridal salon. You may also keep in mind that loved ones and friends won’t want to hurt your feelings about how you look as you try on your wedding gown.You may also keep in mind that loved ones and friends won’t want to hurt your feelings about how you look as you try on your wedding gown. A quick note most salons have a sales staff that will give good advice but keep in mind that the salon is in business to make money.Don’t make the decision in a hurry; don’t buy the first thing you try on, and for heaven’s sake don’t just try on one dress. When selecting your wedding dress also consider the season of your wedding. A sleeveless dress in February in Aspen probably won’t cut it, so don’t forget the time and season of the year. Best wishes on finding the dress that best represents who you are on that all important day.Go to the shop when you’re restedGo when the shop is slow, take a day off work if necessary, Friday evenings and Saturdays are almost always busy and you may not get the kind of service you requirePlease have the right undergarments when you go, most shops have the proper bras but it would be worth the investment for you to buy one for the purpose of trying on gownsOnce you make the decision on the dress come prepared to put a deposit on the gown.Other Points for Great Wedding Day Photos:Rest the night before the wedding puffy eyes show in photosGet a great makeup artistGet something to eat; a hungry bride is not a happy brideHire a wedding planner at least for the day of, stress really does show in photosRelax and have a great day!This article provided by Carla Rein of MorningStar Photography to reach MorningStar go towww.morningstarphotography.com

How to Attract More People To Your Profile Page on Social Networking Sites- Pt. 1

Posted by Thedy B on December 30, 2008 at 12:49am

If you are spending more time on social networking sites and not seeing enough results, this series of blogs and my upcoming ebook is for you!(c) 2008 Hits A Million, LLC all rights reserved. Please do hit the "share button" to send or email this to your friends but only I can copy and paste this.First impressions matter!! It's hard to overcome a first impression! People will quickly sum up their impression of you in less than 7 seconds. First impressions also stick. You will be quickly labeled, good or bad: Oh yeah, that's the girl or guy who had _______ on his profile. Or a visitor to your page might even forget your profile! You want exposure! You want people to talk about you! You want people to tell others about you!How do you do that? Give people an experience when they come to your page! They will stay longer. They will tell their friends to check out your profile. They will tell others to listen to your music if your music is available and something that they like. They will offer to collaborate with you if they are in the music business. They will ask you questions and the like. In other words, your visitors will become fans of you and your music. To do that you have to make the most of your profile.But many people believe that merely joining a social networking site is the magic key to winning and getting noticed on social networking sites. It isn't. Putting up several profiles on various networks will make you more googleable. You do want/have to be googleable!However, you will only be googleable if someone simply searches for your name in Google. You want people to be able to find you by searching other generic terms like "music artist" "recording artist" and the like. Additionally, people will find YOU only if your name is distinguishable enough. I'll talk about that more in a later blog. But you want to set up GREAT profiles on the social networking sites that you’re on.And when visitors get to your profile, what do they see?No profile pic.No activity.Hardly any comments.For musicians, a music player up with no music (which makes NO sense).For musicians, music that is not goodNo professional looking pictureLittle or no friendsFor musicians, nothing showing people like your musicNo insight into who you are through blogs, pictures, or videosNothing showing you value personal/professional development such as professional affiliations with PROs, groups, and the likeNothing showing you like peopleNothing demonstrating that you want people to talk to youNo graphics whatsoeverAn ugly backgroundOr here's the overboard king/queen:Too many gadgets on your pageToo many pictures of yourself that all look alike, e.g. all head shotsMaking all 5 of your music players and your videos auto play.An about me page with toooooo many paragraphs about yourself on it.Profile colors which make the words on your profile unreadable.These are mistakes because again first impressions matter, because you want to engage people, you want people to want to engage you, you want repeat visitors, you want referrals, you want respect in the industry, and you want to appear professional yet approachable. Having nothing up on your profile won’t cause repeat visitors. Having too much on your profile won’t make visitors stay because it takes forever to load your profile page. Make your profile interesting. With all of the great things out now that you can simply copy and paste, there’s no excuse for a boring profile. Just don’t overdo the bling!Continue reading my other blog posts on this topic and get ready for my upcoming ebook on attracting people to your profile page.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.