I try to make a point to find resources like those in this link that provide free stock photos but not because I hope that picture will make people more interested in sharing my post with others.
Don’t get me wrong, I want people to share my stuff as much if not more than the other guy but I like pictures because of the old saw about them being worth a 1,000 words.
The point and purpose of the images in my blog post is to help tell me tell a story and or make a point. It is not to be just another shiny object.
Remember when I asked what would happen if you stopped blogging?
I didn’t ask just because writing about blogging always generates more engagement. Nor did I ask because I was trying to position myself as an authority figure.
I asked because I was reminding myself to pay attention to the words I put on the page and to my goal to be more than just another shiny object.
The blogosphere and the Internet are filled with shiny objects that do a damn fine job of distracting people but I am not interested in being a distraction.
I don’t write to be just another shiny object.
What is the point of writing words that don’t move people to do or feel something.
Every time I write something I think about whether it is going to make someone smile or think. Every time I write I wonder if it is going to resonate with people.
And every time I write I pay attention to whether I am bored or interested in what I am writing about because if it is boring me how I can expect you to want to read it.
That busted up ship in the picture above caught my attention because shipwrecks interest me. I look at the pictures and wonder about what stories it could tell.
Remember I am the guy who likes knowing the backstory.
That brings us back to our discussion about what purpose I want the pictures in these posts to serve. The first is always to complement the story I am trying to tell followed by whether it will help make it easier to share.
Why do I Care?
I care because I want people to be interested in consuming my content. I care because I want people to come here because they want to see what I have to say.
The focus on marketing our material is important but if you aren’t providing substance it won’t matter. Your readers will point and click there way out of here as fast as they came in.
There is no benefit in being just another shiny object.
Ask my kids what dear old dad says when I edit their school work and they’ll tell you I always say to give their teachers a reason to read.
What do you think?
I hear you on this and very much agree. I want to move people. Sometimes to laughter, sometimes to tears, all the time to thought.
@Lardavbern:disqus Love that last part, all the time to thought–there is the punch.