Level2wo

Should You Have Images on Your Blog?

I think the resounding answer, for the most part, is yes. Images on blogs not only help in terms of aesthetics for the user/reader of your blog, but they can also help optimize the blog through the labels/titles of the images. While I haven’t put any images on Level2wo’s blog, I really should. It helps, but right now I just simply don’t have the time.

See, writing for blogs takes a great deal of time, in particular coming up with new, relevant content that will be interesting to your readers. Finding pictures and images to post on your blog isn’t all that difficult, but if you want consistency, it does take time if you aren’t familiar with the different ways you can format the pictures/images to the correct size. If, for instance, you’re using Wordpress or Blogger, or a similar blogging tool, it’s relatively simple to get the pictures and images to the right size–but if you’re like me, who is more of a writer than someone like, say, a designer who is used to cropping, and shrinking, and sizing, and other ‘ing’s’, then you know how difficult and time consuming making a pretty blog can be. I leave that to others, unless i’m feeling lazy.

But there are plenty of sites to get inexpensive or even free stock photo to post on your blog. Images and pictures help get the message across, especially when you consider that there are plenty of people out there who are more visual than textual. My advice is try it. If you have a blog already and don’t post images, give it a go. Label the images appropriately, as they can help build traffic to your site. Not overnight, but keep at it for the long haul. Images, my friends, are added help. And we all know the value in that.

Truth In Marketing

Today the thought of the ‘truth’ within marketing messages popped into my head–not sure why, but I did find it interesting, and thought I would spill my thoughts onto the blog. You’ve seen the commercials, or the ads here or there, but usually in the ‘Best Of’ clips from foreign commercials, or magazine advertisements, but never from here (here being the U.S. of A!). And that got me to thinking—in particularly, thinking Why? Why not here? Why don’t we have truthful ads (implied, they are so honest, and perhaps not flattering, but they are damn funny)?

 I don’t know. Personally, I like it when a company makes fun of themselves. Wouldn’t it be different (and perhaps memorable), if Coke put out an ad or commercial that said, “Coke. We’re not as sweet as Pepsi, and we’ve got more fizz. We’re better.” Or how about, “BMW…you can afford the 320 and your friends will think you make a lot of money”?

I think I want to see guts in advertising–not shock. I want to be entertained, but I want to be entertained with the truth. I don’t want to be lied to. I don’t want to have my messages sugarcoated, or camouflaged, or any of that nice stuff. I want the raw, hard truth, the good, the bad, and definitely the ugly. Marketers? Can we do that here, in the good, old, U.S. of politically-correct A?

Keeping Up with the Techies 

It’s tough keeping up-to-date on all of the new technologies, all of the latest versions (like this WordPress one here, that I haven’t gotten around to yet), and still working a normal workday and having a little left over for an actual life. Time management is turning into one of the most important elements of my life, and it definitely gets a little overwhelming. I remember the days when all I worried about was writing, reading, and editing. Now, those are the fun things that make up my day–not the normal things that make up my day.

Where does it end? I’m not sure. I don’t see any sort of trend–except for maybe dropping out and doing something else, far, far away from technology and marketing and writing. But I don’t see that happening. Not for me, anyway. My brain doesn’t work that way anymore, although sometimes I wish it did. But I’m not alone. I’m sure you’re reading right along, nodding your head, saying, Yes, Yes, YES. Take a break. Close your eyes. Relax. Think about nature. The computer will still be here when you come back.

Blogging–In General

Blogging is an odd thing. Well, not that odd, but when you’re in the business world, I think you tend to think a little bit too much about what should be in the blog, how to write for a blog, should you uses images when posting blog entries, and it all tends to put a halt to what you should really be putting your effort into, i.e., actually blogging!

I know this because i’m guilty of it myself. I tend to want to be smarter than I am when posting on blogs. I want to do a lot of research, make sure i’m ‘in the know,’ when it comes to the latest trends, make sure I have jazzy pictures for my readers to ooh and ahh over, when really, while it does add value, the readers come to learn something or to be entertained by my point of view. But I forget that. I push aside the reality of why I would go to someone’s blog. It’s not for the news–because if I wanted the news I would go to CNN or Fox (please, no need for comments here), or Drudgereport.com (again, no need).

I read blogs because while i’m learning i’m being entertained. If i’m going to a copywriting blog, I want to learn how to improve my copywriting, but I also don’t mind an occasional joke or two about how the copywriter submits gibberish on page three in the form of a lore ipsum line or two, or rags on his editor, because he/she knows that his/her editor will never make it that far down the page. If I go to a blog about politics, I want the blogger to take a side, and bash the other side, because that’s going to entertain me, or anger me, and I want those ups and downs when I’m reading a blog. But what about business blogs, you say?

Business blogs can still be informal. You won’t get a slap on the wrist for not being stuffy on your business blog. The key is to know your audience, write entries that educate them-not only about your products and services, but also with the background of becoming a ‘thought leader’ in your industry, and be yourself. Obviously this is a generalization, because there will always be certain audiences that require a little more tightening of the belt when it comes to lax blog entries, but for the most part you should be able to have a little fun writing your blog. If you’re going to be devoting the time to write for a blog, time you probably don’t have much of to begin with, the writing should come easy. And that, my friends, requires loosening the tie some.