They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and finding that right image can sometimes be crucial. Whether you’re illustrating a book or reporting on a breaking news event, capturing the essence of written words in one picture can be difficult. It’s easy enough to go to Google and type in what you need, but just because you find something on Google Images, doesn’t mean you can use it. Google pulls photos from various websites, and many of these photos are copyrighted and belong to someone else, who may not appreciate you taking their photos and “borrowing” them for your blog. Since not everyone has access to a professional photographer and a studio, does this mean you can’t have photos on your site at all? Of course not, as there are many options for bloggers and webmasters to acquire images for their sites.

Free

The best things in life are free, right? Perhaps. There are sites out there like MorgueFile.com, that provides images (some from professional photographers) for free. Public domain images are another source for free photos. These images are basically pictures whose copyrights have lapsed or expired, because their original owners have not opted to renew their licenses. Keep in mind that, unless the author specified that his or her work is “public domain”, in the United States, copyrights can remain in effect for up to 120 years.

Other options are works published under the Creative Commons (CC) License. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization created specifically for artists to be able to share their works with others for free, without the need for lawyers and legal documents. Depending on the terms of the licenses, a work can be used for various purposes. The most liberal licenses allow you to modify and distribute their photos for any purpose, but most will ask for the very least: a) attribution (giving credit to the original artist) and/or b) non-commercial use (you can’t make money off the image.) While this may seem like a good idea, if your website makes money or if you have Adsense on your blog, you may not be able to use images with CC licenses.

Commercial/Paid

If you’re planning to have a very specialized, high-end website that will make you thousands of dollars a month, then there’s no need to skimp on photography! Many artists and photographers sell their images (or their services) for a fee, and you can be guaranteed you’ll have a one-of-a-kind picture.

However, for most people this may not be the case. There are websites out there that own images (or allow people to sell their images) at affordable prices. Royalty-free images are the most common among these and can be quite inexpensive. When you purchase royalty-free images, you can use it for an unlimited amount of time, make as many copies as you need (and as often as you want) and the images can be distributed all over the world. Best of all, the images can be suitable for all mediums – whether you need high-resolution billboard photos or small, web-safe graphics.

One such website is Fotolia, where they offer royalty-free images for as little as $0.75 per image! There are millions of pictures available today, so head over to Fotolia now and find that perfect image!

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At the end of 2008, I had an opportunity to read many blog posts from Internet experts making their predictions for 2009 and guess what was at the top of their list: Social Media Marketing. It is anticipated that Social Media will grow at unprecedented rates in 2009 and beyond as more and more businesses seek to leverage this powerful new marketing channel.

A further prediction is that Social Media Marketing Services will be in very high demand through 2009! Most businesses either lack the time or expertise to effectively carry out all the necessary Social Media Marketing Activities and will be seeking to delegate these tasks to skilled Social Media Marketing Specialists.

VAClassroom.com has recently released a high calibre 7 module training program based on the seven hottest Social Media Marketing Services requested by businesses today including:

- Social Media Strategy and Action Planning
- Social Networking Profile Set-up and Management
- Facebook Marketing
- Twitter Marketing
- Online Video Marketing
- Online Reputation Management
- Social Media Content Distribution

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program offers a self-directed training system for Virtual Assistants and Online Professional seeking to offer these in-demand services to their new and existing client base, or anyone looking for more knowledge of Social Media Marketing. The program features 8 modules, 30 videos, an interactive and supportive learning community, comprehensive resource guides, assignments and a Social Media Marketing Specialist Certification.

Claim your seat now Social Media Marketing Training and don’t miss out on one of the most important training opportunities you will take this year.

Did I read that correctly? WordPress is so big now that that have their own TV show?

Well, not really, they have developed an online learning center called wordpress.tv

It’s chocked full of tutorials for both self-hosted and WordPress.com sites. They call it “a visual resource for all things WordPress!”

I LOVE that. I’m a visual person and I learn much quicker if I can see it done rather that read how to do it.

So grab a snickers and a soda and watch wordpress.tv.