A picture is worth 1000 words, and so much more

So a few days ago I went crazy, not too crazy, but I went hunting for relevant stock images to incorporate into my pages to break up text content and give some eye appeal. I can't begin to tell you how much happier I was with the pages and how excited I was getting.

Then I sat in on the photoshop webinar and learned about making your own images and banners to make them unique, page and content specific and add your personal touch to your work and really make everything from content to images to banners all very cohesive.

It was something I realized made a huge difference. Even if you just take a basic stock image and overlay your website tag, logo or URL to make it look like it belongs makes a huge difference. It lends more credibility than a page full of images that look stock. Stock images have a cheap feel after seeing some nice custom ones.

Also, I was replying to some profile comments and looking over the people I'm following I noticed that most of them have profile pictures. There are many members with stock profile images and that's fine but I noticed myself feeling more comfortable leaning towards profiles that have pictures.

I guess it makes me feel like I'm connecting to, replying to or helping a real person and not just a web presence. Maybe the connection feels more real, I'm not sure why, but I just noticed how big of a difference a picture made. I'm more eager to interact with someone when I can picture them sitting on their computer like I am.

So I guess wether it's a banner on your website or a picture on your profile, the right picture can make a huge difference. Like the quote says, a picture is worth a 1000 words, but so much more because it can convey a feeling. Either a feeling of connection, a feeling of trust, a feeling of professionalism or even a feeling of "cheap and scammy" with the wrong pics! Haha