How to Add Graphics to Your Social Media Text Posts

You might be surprised to know we pay thousands of dollars in photography licenses per year to illustrate your websites. We also have to pay a special, more-expensive resale license which you don’t have to worry about, but just know, we got you covered. If you plan to provide your own graphics or do your own, site be sure to budget for this expense.

Some of the place we use for stock photography include:

http://Dreamstime.com

http://Istockphoto.com – We used them for years, then they simply got too pricey.

A few more we haven’t used include shutterstock.com and stock.adobe.com.

You can also get free photography but it often comes with strings. In some cases, you need to provide attribution for the photo or add some copyright text in order to use it. Most of the free sites do not have any search capabilities, so if you’re looking for a red-haired construction owner on a job site, it might get hard to find.

Here are a few free sites:

https://picjumbo.com/

https://pixabay.com/

http://www.gratisography.com/

http://nos.twnsnd.co/

http://picography.co/

A couple of quick do’s and don’ts when using photography:

• Don’t use clip art or cartoon graphics unless you have a whole theme going. It looks way too 1990s and amateurish these days.
• Do include a lot of people in your photos. People reviewing graphs and charts on paper or screen makes for a better shot that a picture of a graph.
• Don’t use graphics you found off the web unless you understand licensing and/or have paid for it. Most graphics are not free. It’s a copyright violation to use any photos off the internet that you haven’t paid for. If you get caught you will get a cease and desist letter from an attorney, and worst case, may owe years in back license fees. We’ve seen istockphoto.com and gettyimages.com go after people.

Including graphics in social media is far more popular than just having text posts all the time. This is an area you should begin to learn or outsource to someone that works with graphics.

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Sandi Smith Leyva, CPA, CMA, MBA, and founder of Accountant’s Accelerator, has helped thousands of  accountants earn more, work less, and serve their clients better through her innovative coaching and training services.

Sandi was named one of the 2015 Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor, one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders for 2016 by CPA Practice Advisor, one of the 2013 “Ones to Watch” of Accounting Today’s “Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting” and was a 2013 Community Choice Honoree of the Small Business Influencer Awards held by Small Business Trends. She won a 2013 Stevie Award for “Maverick of the Year,” and her work has also been noted by CBS News, PBS, Dallas Morning News, San Jose Mercury News, Accounting Today, Journal of Accountancy, Today’s CPA, and The Practical Accountant. She is a regular contributor to CPA Trendlines.

Sandi is one of a handful of women in the world who has co-piloted a tiny six-seat, single-engine airplane over the oceans and around the world. Her book, Following Amelia: A Modern Day ‘Round-the-World Flight, describes her death-defying adventure along with the two award-winning humanitarian trips she managed to fit in along the way.

Sandi has authored several books, CPE courses, and over 500 articles for clients such as Microsoft, Intuit, and the American Institute for CPAs. She writes BizBoost News, a client newsletter for accountants with strategic business content.   Her latest books include Five Simple Steps to Get More Clients, More Profits and More Free Time for Accountants and QuickBooks ProAdvisors and  P3: Pricing, Packaging and Positioning.

Sandi is a CPA and holds an MBA in IT from the University of Dallas. She also holds a MS in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience. In her spare time, she loves hiking, traveling to remote places, and empowering women from poverty to prosperity through her nonprofit.