Day: July 30, 2008

More than once recently, I have had to play image cop with some websites I work with. It seems really easy to do a Google Image search and find the photo you want to use for a piece of website content.

I don’t want to get into the copyright issues, those aren’t too debatable. But I think it speaks to the greater value we put on the content we create. I am consistently asked for information on free stock images.

With sites like istockphoto.com providing some quality (high standard) artwork starting around $1, good art is not out of reach for any budget.

(Of course I mentioned that to one client, and later saw an iStock image with the copy-protection watermark well in place)

Here is the question worth thinking about. Is the content worth $1?

If you are looking for free or stolen art, the answer is probably no. If you are not intersted in investing in the content, why would you expect your visitor to invest their time into its consumption?

It does not mean you have to pay for an image every time. If you have something in your catalog already, or have a great free source, that’s great! But if you are only choosing the free source because of the cost, you are not putting any value on the content itself.
Give your content the respect it deserves.

My buddy Aaron just gave me a traveling blog award. Although it appears to be a thinly veiled chain letter concept, I love the idea. Primarily the idea of sharing what you are reading!

So, while not passing on the award may remove the award from my resume, I DID want to post a few of the highlights from my RSS Reader. Of course, Aaron’s is a highlight…

The Resurgence is a great blog by Mark Driscoll. Although it seems to be going through a bit of a shift in content type, it remains a great source for discussion on things of faith and culture. They do a good job of working through issues of cultural relevance, while remaining Biblically faithful.

Church Marketing Sucks  A great resource for effective church communication.

Kevin D. Hendricks  Kevin is a freelance writer who I had a chance to work with once. He also contributes to the CMS blog above. His personal blog muses well on a variety of topics. One of my favorites is his project “Start Seeing Art” where he collects information on public art displays around the Twin Cities.

Rich Sommer I went to HighSchool with Rich. I think I even beat him out for a part once (not because of skill, but I was a Senior and he was a Sophmore). He is a normal family man from the mid-west, living life as a Hollywood Actor (his show just received a nice collection of Emmy Nominations). It is a kick to read experiences at award shows and cast parties, through the eyes of a boardgame playing father and fellow drama geek from Stillwater.

Seth Godin A marketing guru. Consistently great stuff.

Joyce’s Joyous Jottings Joyce is new to blogging. She picked it up while chronicalling her husband’s battle with a brain tumor. She now blogs with brutal honesty about her new life alone, and the ups and downs that come with that. I can’t even pretend to relate, but appreciate what I learn from her spiritual maturity.

All my family blogs I had to throw this one in. A good chunk of my blog reading is in keeping up with my siblings. But there are 5 of us, and a number of inlaws. Including all of them would have taken up most of my “top 7” posts.  But from the Army Pilot brother in South Korea, to the missionary couple in Poland. From the almost married sister in Illinois to the professor and his wife in Michigain, I love keeping up with them around the world (on 4 continents last week)