A Good Picture is Worth a 1000 Dollars

Hiya all. This is another articles in the Friday series ‘How to make money blogging’ for Craft Bloggers. I hope you enjoy it. A picture is worth a thousand words. You knew that. Now let me rephrase that: a good picture says 1000 times ‘This is a really GOOD SITE!! You must go and have a LOOK!!!!’. Bad pictures do the opposite while mediocre images are ignored.

So, in other words: a good picture is effective click-bate! IF your picture is compelling, beautiful, compelling and interesting, Facebook readers, Twitterers, and Pinterest pinners’ curiosity will take over and not only pin your image creating an extra link to your article, they will actually click the image and come over and visit your site. Convert this additional traffic to ‘people clicking your ads’ and ‘people buying your products’, than you realize that a good (excellent) image is worth money to you!

It is for this reason that I INSIST that all guest bloggers write their post with at least one or two eye-candy – quality images. The bulk of the FineCraftGuild traffic comes from a few good images that I compiled myself. Yes, really. It is THAT IMPORTANT.

How did I do it?

With PicMonkey! Despite owning Photoshop, I’m a real fan of the photo editing site PicMonkey. In fact, all the photos that rang among my ‘most popular’ photos at Pinterest, were made by me using PicMonkey! And, I find myself using PicMonkey more and more.

I can access it from various locations that I’m working from on my laptop. t’s just so fast and easy. And, best of all, it has all this built-in creative suggestions that Photoshop does not have. Let me name a few:

1. Easy collage option, with pre-set layouts.

2. Easy Facebook banner template.

3. Cute compatible sets of seasonal clipart, fonts, filters, icons, doodles and doodidats relating to the current seasons and themes: St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, etc. This allows you to very quickly built seasonal images for your blog, newsletter, and more.

4. The image quality is really high so that you actually could design your own cards, labels, etc. for printing. (See this lovely card for Audrey as an illustration).

Oh, and the list goes on.

Free vs. Pro?? What’s the difference?

I started with using the free version of PicMonkey, but soon found that actually the paid (low cost) Pro version of PicMonkey had the best features, cutest icons, and prettiest fonts, flourishes and filters. You will find that you will almost instantly start getting your money’s worth as you can render more traffic to your site. Not just from Pinterest, but from other visual social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, G and Twitter alike.

Which is why I choose to write to you today about it today. Right now, PicMonkey has an offer letting you try the Pro version FREE for 2 months.

I am writing you about PicMonkey today as part of my How to Make Money Blogging – series for craft bloggers. For TWO reasons.

BAD original photo

I don’t dare
to show you…

But it was before I did the cropping, color correction, light correction, fun logo and stamps, night stars, birdies, post stamp waves and product text.

PicMonkey Photo Recreation

(Based on this photo,
this pattern outsells
all my other patterns)

1) I have found that there are many really talented creative bloggers who (still) post ‘shockingly bad’ photos of their work, despite knowing that.

OK. The reality of blogging-life is that sometimes we all take bad photos. But my good news is, that they don’t need to STAY BAD and be posted in their ‘shockingly bad’ state. PicMonkey gives you the tools to fix your bad photos and make them into good images. Furthermore, into effective images: add a couple of design elements plus a title, and voila’: the featured image for your blog article looks great and is ready for publishing.

Tip for FACE enhancements: in the PicMonkey filters, have a look at the face enhancing images! If you are have a pale day, PicMonkey let you boost your skin tone color, add a blush, lipstick, fix your eyebrows, and more! Seriously.

PicMonkey can create a much more beautiful version of yourself. And fast too! (Or, when it’s Halloween, PicMonkey lets you make a Dracula version of yourself. Try this, and have fun!!)

This is the MAIN POINT I want to make today:

Sign up for PicMonkey Pro and use it!

You will make more money blogging by doing so.

Making even More Money with PicMonkey beyond having better Images….

This is the other point I want to make: In addition, building upon last week’s article on why you must join Shareasale, let me point out that PicMonkey also has an awesome affiliate program for you to look at. It’s easy to set it up. The terms for the affiliate program are generous: a 50% commission rate, and a super-long 90-day cookie.

Once you have set yourself up with a Pro PicMonkey account, and want to make money with their affiliation program, then sign up here. Once you have joined Shareasale, opt to join the PicMonkey affiliate program. Share a few words on how you love PicMonkey for your own blog, etc. and submit your application. After they approve you, you can pick the links and banner you want and feature these on your website. Choose an above the fold ad spot for best-converting results.

And then, when your readers fall in love with PicMonkey also and opt for the paid (albeit currently free for 2 month_ you’ll end up with a nice 50% check in the mail.

How to Make Money Blogging for Crafters – a New Series by FineCraftGuild.com

1. How to Make Money Blogging – Goals for 2015 – with free downloadable charts
2. Craft Blogging Success Tips
3. Why you Must Join Shareasale

4. Today’s article.

Disclaimer: affiliate links included.

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Rose (follow my blog rather than me..)