How to Use Creative Commons Photos- The Why

We all understand the importance of adding photos and labeling them properly into our blog posts. Adding just 2 images can increase the time someone stays at your blog by up to 300%! That means if the average time is around 30 seconds, we can get someone to stay up to 3 minutes by adding them. This is an important thing to note because not many people can read 500 word blog posts in under 30 seconds.

The reason this works is because consumers scan posts for the important points. If a photo is there, that consumer’s eyes are drawn to the photo and they will study it. If the photo is good enough to get their attention, they will read the content.

How to Use Creative Commons Photos- The What

There are several ways to get photos for your blog. Some are legal, and others are not. Let’s first address the not so legal ways. Many times when I ask a client where they found the photo for their blog, they say that they simply did a Google search and the photo appeared. They liked it, so they copied & pasted it into their post. Whatever you do, don’t copy & paste a photo from the a website without permission! When you copy & paste an image that you do not have permission to use, you are begging for a lawsuit to come your way. I have seen and heard countless horror stories of people who have been sued for several thousands of dollars for doing this.

The second is to take the photos yourself. We all now own some sort of digital camera or smartphone that has a camera built in. Use those to snap photos yourself and load them into your blog. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to get good pictures for your blog. But what do you do in instances when you don’t have a photo of your own? You can turn to photo sites where you can purchase the photos for a few dollars each, or if you are on a tight budget, you can use a creative commons licensed photo.

An Example Creative Commons photo I took.

What are Creative Commons photos? To understand completely, visit their site here & read what is CC? Basically, they are pieces of content that someone else has agreed to allow others to use under a common agreement that you will give the credit for the piece to the originator through proper recognition as required. Giving proper credit normally means placing a link back to the photographer giving them credit for the original work.

Creative Commons Photos- The How To

So how exactly do you go about finding the photos and using them properly? Well instead of writing it out, I decided to do a short video over on my site that shows you step by step how to do this. Simply follow the steps and you will be well on your way to finding great photographs to use in your blog posts.

I hope this helps you to find great photos for your upcoming works that are both functional & free. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me for more help.

Photo Credit by Trekkyandy

Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors

Our very own Steve Pacinelli sat down with Ernie Graham, the creator and CEO of Peep.ly, to review this exciting new tool.  What is Peep.ly you ask?

In a nutshell Peep.ly is a web service that discovers commonality between a prospect and a real estate agent. Commonality could be a friend in common, you both like yoga, or you both went to graduate school in Chicago.

Why should you care about something like this?

As Agents, we use discovered commonality every day with our potential new clients and existing ones. Why? Because this is how we’re wired as human beings. We like to do business with people that we have something in common with because personal capital creates quick trust and enduring loyalty.

Peep.ly just simplifies this process by digitally matching the profile of the client to agents to find this commonality fast. Think speed dating on steroids that creates high quality leads just for you.

Watch this video to find out how Peep.ly can work for you on an individual level or for an entire brokerage.  We go live into real examples for how the service can be used on a day to day basis.  Let’s face it, the “find an agent page” on a company’s site is almost useless.  This can replace that entirely with something that will help like minded people connect.  There is little or no “extra” work added to your daily schedule to use this product.  Put all that effort you put into social networking to use for you.  This is a system that will help you find that elusive ROI, if you haven’t been seeing it already.

The end of the video will contain information on how to sign up for the FREE BETA!  Yup, free.  It will also tell you when the beta starts (you heard it here first). Of course Ernie will be charging for this product eventually, but we want our fans to get the first crack at it to see if it’s going to be worth its weight.  If you want to try out a live version of this service after watching the video, go here and click the agent match button on the left.  Please leave your responses below and provide us and Ernie with your review about this new way to communicate with your clients.

This week’s Tech Savvy Talk focused on Mobile Marketing for real estate agents and the most important apps to download NOW for iPhone, Android and Blackberry users.

QR Codes, Augmented Reality, Google WalkAround Jack, Tracking Expenses, Cloud Documents and more were all discussed. Your life as a Realtor is becoming more mobile, is your marketing? We hope you enjoy this awesome show hosted by Chris Smith and Greg Grospitch of Tech Savvy Agent. For any questions or comments feel free to leave those below!

Sat down with Scott Pierce yesterday and discussed some of the new features in his Listing to Leads program!  We all know we need to generate more leads from the internet but most of us don’t have a road map to help us get there.  Scott discusses some new enhancements on his product and gives two fantastic tips that anyone can use towards the end of the (slightly long, sorry we get excited about new stuff) video.  Are your “call to actions” up to snuff on your internet marketing campaigns?  Found out how to put them in check using Listings to Leads!

Don’t forget, listen until the end for 2 great marketing tips!

I had the privilege of interviewing Grant Gould who is the co founder and VP of SpatialMatch.com recently and he sure is onto something here when it comes to redefining how we think about IDX.

SpatialMatch is built differently from any other IDX solution on the market because it takes a consumer centric approach around lifestyle not a house first mentality.  For years and even still now the primary search functions of the various website portals out there have focused on the home specifically.  If you need to find a 2 bed 2 bath in a certain city or zip code and in a certain price range you are not short on options.  However, what if schools, dining, amenities and proximity to public transit are the most important factors on your wish list as a buyer?  Where would you look?

There was not a solution out there, until SpatialMatch, that lets you start with lifestyle and end up on homes!  In our above interview Grant explains why he designed SpatialMatch.com that way and why it just makes sense.

I recently went through a move as did Steve and we both were more concerned initially with safety, schools and amenities than we were with what homes were on the market.  Bottom line is that SpatialMatch allows you to find the right homes for your lifestyle and by offering this to consumers browsing your site you will reach a more emotional connection with the buyer.  SpatialMatch also provides you all of the analytical data showing what parameters, or Decks as they call it, mattered most to that buyer allowing you to really have their emotional needs front and center when contacting leads.

Spatial Match and Grant were recently featured at Inman News Connect in San Francisco in Start Up Alley and have their software plugged into Inman’s Most Innovative Brokerage The Good Life Team’s website now!  Take a spin and see what you think.  You can also attend a live demo here or watch a recent demo.

I am SOLD that this is going to be the way consumers will find properties in the future having just gone through the process and adding SpatialMatch, or a comparable solution, to your website will not be optional!  If you have any questions for Grant feel free to leave those in the comments below.