You decided to create some bling for your business or personal social media page but have no idea how to find the time to take photos or create drawings. Getting the quote or message on the picture and posting it is not the issue, right? How do you find that perfect image without spending a fortune?
Stock houses used to cater to big accounts and pictures could sell and resell for hundreds of dollars. That was good for the photographer or designer, but not advantageous for the small businesses. It’s one more thing that has undergone serious changes with the adoption of the internet.
If you query “stock images” you will get many results. Some of them offer lots of freebies, so the list is worth going through. However, if your time is at a premium, you might want to limit your search. I have been really happy with the work on www.dreamstime.com and www.deathtothestockphoto.com .
The premise is simple: designers and photographers offer their work for a small fee and you get to use it royalty free. There are some limitations, but for the most part, you buy it and use it as you like. Most of the images are priced very reasonably, under $2.00 each so you can afford to get a few and fancy up your space. This is a quick and easy way to acquire an image library for your business so that you always have great presentations and posts on social media and your website.
For a list of more recommended sites you can try Stock Photos that Don’t Suck at https://medium.com/design-ux/stock-photos-that-dont-suck. The list is updated frequently, so check back when your needs change.
Enjoy your pictures!
More work by Deborah Linnekin can be found at www.norcalnomad.net