Use Your Digital Camera to Help Draw Readers to Your AC Content

You can use your own digital camera to create photos that draw readers to your Associated Content articles, increase your page views and raise your clout. It's easy to do. This article examines why you should include photos with your articles and then discuss how you can get photos for your articles.

Why You Should Include Photos

My article is fine without a photo, you say. Why should I go to all the extra work to take or find a photo to include with my writing?

Photos get your articles read. Readers who read your articles are more likely to return and read more of your articles, more likely to email your article to friends and family, and more likely to blog about your article. All of these things increase page views and ultimately, clout.

Here five reasons why photos can work for you:

1.Visual Learners. There is a large and growing body of research that indicates that up to 1/3rd of all individuals strongly prefer for visual learning. Readers who fall into this category will not stay with a text-only Associated Content article for long and likely will not return to the Content Producer page of a writer who uses only text. It only takes a few seconds to lose a reader.

2.Photo Text Gets Read First. I remember from my days in marketing and advertising writing that photo captions are the most important part of the story. (This is true for even non-visual learners.) Imagine the front page of a newspaper with text only-how many readers do you think that newspaper would they get? (The only paper I know that does this is The Wall Street Journal-and even they have black and white drawings.) If you don't include a photo with your article you miss the opportunity to further draw your readers in to the story.

3.Scannability. Using photos makes your articles more scannable. In today's busy world readers may only glance at your article for a few seconds to find out if there's something there for them. If they can't find that something to capture their interest, they're gone. This is especially true for web articles whose readers are used to the high-impact, multi-media environments of YouTube, iFilm, Squidoo, podcasts, and streaming video.

4.More Likely to Get Featured. Putting a photo with your article makes it much more likely to be featured on the "Editor's Picks" or "Top Rated" lists at Associated Content. Being featured on one of these lists gets your article noticed. Typically when I come to Associated Content I look at the buddy articles first, my CP page second, then I go to the Home tab and scan these two lists for interesting articles.

5.Avoid Being Undiscovered. I have a confession to make. After I go to the "Editor's Picks" and "Top Rated" lists I go to the "Undiscovered." I go primarily to make sure I don't have any content on there. Over several weeks, I've noticed that, without exception, the articles on the "Undiscovered" list have no photos. So, add a photo, stay off the "Undiscovered" list.

How to Get Photos for Your Articles

You don't have to be a professional photographer to make photos work for you. I take a lot of the photos for my articles myself using an inexpensive "point and shoot" digital camera.

One advantage of taking the photos myself is that I don't have to wait for an email from a photographer at a stock photo site to give me permission. Another advantage is that I can get the exact photo I want. I do a lot of product reviews and specific products aren't typically on stock photo sites. It's a copyright infringement to use a photo from the manufacturer's site. I can, however, place the product on my dining room table and photograph it myself.

Here are some nonprofessional photography tips that I've picked up (these are easy for even a beginning photographer like myself):

1.Lighting is Key. If your home is like mine, it is difficult to get enough light to take good photographs. Here's some fixes: open the blinds, put a desk lamp over the product, move the product so it's under the light, use a flash.

2.Contrasting Backgrounds. You want the object you are photographing to stand out from its background. A dark object on a dark object will not photograph well. This may mean you have to use an artificial background to make your object stand out. I have had success with placing a sheet of kid's construction paper in a contrasting color behind the object. Avoid busy backgrounds.

3.Beware Reflective Backgrounds. At a minimum you will need to turn off your flash. Adjust the angle of your photo to reduce the reflection from the object you are photographing.

4.Beware Body Parts in the Photo. Not only does this go for putting your thumb in front of the camera lens, but also for getting a shadow yourself in the photo by leaning over the object as you take your picture and blocking the light source.

Resources for Finding Photographs on the Web

There are also many great resources for free photographs on the web. Be sure to read and follow the fine print about any usage restrictions. On some sites, each photo may have its own usage restrictions.

When you download a photo Associated Content lists the following sites: www.freestockphotos.com, www.geekphilosopher.com, www.bigfoto.com, www.firstgov.gov, and www.sxc.hu/index.phtml.

Here are some additional resources: www.morguefile.com, http://www.imageafter.com, and http://www.freephotos.com.