Finding Images For Your Blog With a Favorite of Mine: Snapwire
Updates!
Starting on July 9th Snapwire is going to have a promotional discount. Photo buyers who wish to try Snapwire can receive an introductory 30% discount using promotion code PRSAVE30. Discount will be valid July 9th – July 31st, 2014 and does not affect photographer earnings.
Snapwire has launched Snapwire Snaps – a blog with free high-quality photos from Snapwire photographers, updated every week with 7 new images. You can download photos individually or sign up for the email newsletter that contains a link to download all 7 photos in a single .zip file. The photos can be used for anything you wish, even for commercial purposes.
A picture is worth a thousand words. When used creatively, images can boost success of a blog post and increase engagement in social media. But sometimes finding images for your blog can be extremely hard. You want good photos that both fit the topic of a post and that are legal to use. Here’s a simple solution to this problem.
Where to Find Images?
The number one rule is: avoid using random pictures from Google Images and pasting them on your blog. You might unknowingly use a copyrighted image and get sued for using photos you don’t own. A photo is someone else’s art, and unless you have gotten an express permission from the copyright holder, you don’t have the right to use it.
You can go the traditional route and get images from one of the stock photography websites. You’ll have to spend some time searching for the “perfect shot” there. Most of the images you’ll see will be relevant, but might not be an exact match for your vision. And even if the photo you ended up with is really great and is exactly what you were looking for, it most likely is already being used on tons of different websites and blogs, over and over again. If you want your blog to stand out, you’ll want to use authentic custom images for it.
What is Snapwire?
Snapwire is platform that connects visionary photographers with brands, publishers, bloggers, small businesses, and creatives around the world. With Snapwire you can get photographers to shoot customized photos just for you.
How Does This Work?
As a blogger, you post an image request on Snapwire and photographers respond by submitting their best photos. You get unique images that match your vision, and the winning photographers get awarded and paid.
Here’s the step by step instruction on how to do it:
Step 1 – Create an Account
Visit www.snapwi.re and create an account – it’s quick and easy. There is no fee for buyers to join and you’ll be able to request photos right away.
Step 2 – Create a Request
Answer a few questions about the photos you want, and publish your photo request immediately. You can set your price, deadline, and creative vision. You can also add inspirational images to the request, so that photographers can visually get the idea of what you are looking for. Photo request can be as low as $3.
Step 3 – Invite Photographers
Snapwire is a great community of photographers of all levels: from amateur mobile photographers, to professionals who shoot with their DSLR cameras. As a buyer, you can follow photographers you love and personally invite them to participate in your requests.
Step 4 – Review Submissions, Nominate Photos and Communicate With Photographers
Snapwire will send you daily email update with new submitted photos. You can review submissions at any time and nominate your favorites. Nominations help narrow down your preferences, rewards photographers with recognition, and tells others what you’re liking. You are free to post any important updates to your request whenever you like.
Step 5 – Purchase Photos
You can purchase photos at any time while your request is running, or wait until it closes and purchase at the end. Buyers can optionally purchase exclusivity for an additional fee. Photographers keep 70% on every photo sold on a Request.
Alternative Step – Explore Collection
If you don’t have time to run a request and need images right away, you can search Snapwire’s Collection. The company curates photos from every request and hand selects the best ones for inclusion in it’s growing exclusive stock photo library. With Snapwire Collection you can easily access high res, high quality, authentic custom photos that satisfy your creative desire.
Now that you know how to get custom images, you are ready to go and create your first photo request www.snapwi.re
