In the recent lessons, we’ve been talking about building your website. Some of the most common questions that I’m asked regarding the website building process are questions pertaining to pictures and graphics.
So today we’re going to talk about graphics…
(Watch this video…
Main points:
Design Guru Ryan – http://designgururyan.com
Brent and Joe – http://www.minisitefrog.com
Karl Warren – http://ecoverninja.com
James – http://www.minisitestudio.com
(Prices ranging from $197 to $997)
-Be cautious about using random freelancers
(See video for examples of my sites)
One or two well-placed photos can go a long way in turning a bland HTML page into something that captures people’s attention.
1) Use your own.
2) Public domain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources
Just beware of “non-commercial use” clauses, and don’t waste time looking for a perfect image in the public domain when you could quickly license one for under $2.
3) License it from a stock photo site.
Such as…
Istockphoto
gettyimages.com
photos.com
stockphoto.com
shutterstock.com
IstockPhoto – my favorite source because…
– they have high quality standards
– they have a great selection
– they’re cheap! starting at $1.50, or less if you’re buying in bulk.
Be aware of license terms – generally you can not use it in an item for resale unless you purchase a special license.
(See video for demo of obtaining and using a photo from Istockphoto)
Ecovers help sell your info-product, because they help your prospect conceptualize it. It builds more value in your product (as long as the Ecover isn’t really ugly).
-You can buy a custom Ecover for $67-$100 for good quality.
-Or you can make your own. I make all my own Ecovers. I used to use Photoshop with action scripts. Now I use a simple software program called Ecover Engine…
Recommended product:
Ecover Engine enables you to make great Ecovers, even if you have no graphics skills at all. You can make Ecovers for ebooks, software programs, audio recordings, videos, and more.
You can grab it at a special low price at:
Click Here to go to Ecover Engine
Action steps:
1) Decide what kind of graphics strategy you want to use for your website. For example…
-The “intentionally ugly” look
-The minimalist few graphics look
-Professionally designed graphics package
2) Put some images/graphics on your website.
In the next lesson we’ll be looking at how to put video onto your website.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.
Have a great day!
Hi Eric, I am alive, Enjoying every minute of your lessons. I was wondering if you had the lessons 100 in e-book style with all the links on it. I would really like that very much. — JAD
Where can I get a good ebooks with resale rights? I went through many different websites that offer ebooks with resale rights, but they all don’t sound like sth that will be sold by many people. Plus, the website itself is offering the same ebooks to other people, so I don’t see how those kind of ebooks can get sold.
It’s hard to seperate the gems from the junk because there’s so much junk. Usually the best ones are “exclusive offers”, and are created by marketers who write their own ebooks, or who directly hired someone to write it. I personally sell this kind of good quality PLR from time to time. One place where you can sometimes find good quality PLR is the WSO forum on the warrior forum (beware there’s a lot of junk there too).
Hi Eric,
I’m looking to get a single home page designed (non sales letter). Do you have any graphic designers you could recommend outside of the ones you have listed above? I’m a little leery of the eLance route, so I’m curious as to your thoughts.
Again, many thanks!
-Dave
Hello Dave,
You might want to try Naveed, after the Instant Product Engine launch dies down:
http://www.ecoverguru.com/
Is your ecover engine Mac friendly?
Hello Madeleine,
Unfortunately, Ecover Engine is Windows-only.
The solution that has the most promise, is to use the Boot Camp software and install an addtional Windows Operating System, that you can switch back and forth from.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/compatibility/
Hi Eric,
I like your E-cover engine. It looks simple work with it.
How to remove a video from a blog that is closed?
Thank you! Marija
You would need to log into the admin panel of that blog, and delete the post or simply delete the video from the applicable post. If it’s a WordPress blog, you may find lesson #34 helpful.
hi thanks for the information. it is well worth it
Hi Eric
It is long overdue to take the time to tell you that I attend all your lessons which I very much appreciate. It gives me a very important inside how the marketing on the internet works.
I lost a lot of time and an amount of hard cash due to my lag of knowledge.
Many thanks for all your lessons and tips.
You are so right, especially with the Penguin update. Actually – although there seems to be? no rhyme nor reason to it – absolutely horrible sites are ranking on the first page of Google. I was looking at sites for a laptop computer and the first pages of google are littered with absolute crap sites with no visual appeal, and almost no content – just affiliate links back to amazon!
This made me think, “Why am I waiting to learn how to build great sites for amazon? Why not just throw something up and see if it sticks?” Obviously some sh*t is sticking!
Hi Eric what about your expert opinion on using common page property files (especially graphical files ) for different pages for Example example.com an example.com/services.html and all other 25 sub pages uses same image for its logo and back ground image. If I uses common page property files for all pages from a single location, it will be good for easy loading. for secondary page views. Am I right ? can you say few words about this doubt? Brahmadas, Biz and Legis
Hello Brahmadas,
That is fine when your images or other files are located at the same site.
Otherwise, you run the risk of the images and other content not displaying, should there be server problems at the host website.
You would also want to monitor how much of a strain is being placed on calling up those same files again and again. Usually this ins’t a problem, but if you have a high traffic website, this is something to keep in mind.
Otherwise, it definitely makes editing and website changes much easier!
higuys ,why you stop sending the great lessons?
Hello Elkbir,
Eric will still be completing 100 lessons. The next lesson will be sent to you soon. You can also visit the following link to see the latest lesson updates and revisit earlier lessons:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/category/lessons/
Here is the direct link to lesson 41:
You may also simply change the number at the end of the link, to go to a different lesson number (example: /lesson1, /lesson2, /lesson3, etc…).
If your email happens to block some of the lessons, we recommend that you view this tip on whitelisting an email address:
Once again you knock it out the ball park.
Thank, man
Mark
Eric, I have learned how to record my desktop in video training Lessons. I help people learn software on there computer such as Microsoft Word, Access and so on. I have been recording my voice in my recording studio and added it to the recorded desktop lesson, which is taking a lot of time. I am having problems with recording my voice at the same time I am recording the desktop lesson. I am not able to hear my voice. I have windows 7. and still my voice is very very low and I can’t hear myself. These videos you have done are great. If you don’t mind would you tell my what you used for a mic to record your voice while recording your desktop. I would greatly appreciated it. And I will understand if you don’t want to share this information. Thanks Sylvia
Hello Sylvia,
Here is the link to Eric’s lesson called, How to Put Audio on Your Website:
Eric has recorded lessons using this very basic USB microphone:
Dear Eric,
Thank u very much for all the educative lessons.
Apart from my sent e.mail box, is there any other place where I can save the lesson materials like my personal computer desktop. This will enable me to make reference to the lesson materials even if I am not connected to the internet.
Best regards,
M.O. Falola
Hello Moses,
The videos are only available for viewing at this website. But, you may return whenever you wish, to review any lesson again.
As a professional writer who does web copy for my own website, as well as others’ websites, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking 12 to write almost everything. You can get it for a reduced rate on Amazon. If you’re a student, the student/teacher version is really inexpensive, and it’s the full version, but they do verify student status before issuing the activation code. Great recommendation!
Just an idea on graphic design. I use three sources to design my own: for text, I use http://logotypemaker.com/logo-design (free/paid depending on icon – I use free icons, and then drag them off the design if I don’t want it incorporated into my logo, transparent backgrounds are available for free, too), I use GIMP to make images have transparent backgrounds (http://www.photo-info.co.nz/articles/removing-image-backgrounds-gimp) and then I assemble everything in MS Publisher.
I use Ecover Creator Pro for my cover designs. For it, you develop a graphic in another program, then import it. It can be found free with newsletter registration. It has a number of templates so you can do any format you want (3D box, spiral bound book, hard cover, soft cover, etc.) I do all of the web design in wordpress. If you use free templates off random websites, use Theme Authenticity Checker (free) – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tac/ to check for spammy links and encrypted and malicious code before you activate it. (Base64 code can be very bad and give a hacker full back end access to your site.)
For images, you can also use pictures that have a Creative Commons license. Most of these are free and can be used for anything as long as you give credit to the source.
You can view some of my sites:
http://www.theultimateplr.com
http://www.williswriting.com
http://www.recreateyourselftoday.com (still in development)
http://www.mobilenotarybham.com
Hey Eric I bought those word press plugins for $27 but I have no idea on where to sell them..and If I find out how do I get them to a site, just copy and paste?
Hello Joseph,
Please contact our helpdesk at:
http://www.ericsupport.com/
We’ll be able to provide you with a tutorial there that will help you out!
Thank you for the lesson. I am a little behind in my lessons. I am having trouble placing a capture page on my wp site
Thanks for the very good tips Eric best wishes JORGE
Hey Eric,
These lessons are amazing.
Thank for all your help.
Marc
Hi Eric, Really enjoying the course.
It may be going back a few lessons, but but with regards domains for my Niche product, would you advise not using a subdomain URL? As opposed to a specific individual domain for my website.
I am really torn between have a main site with a number of products on it and then using a sub-domain from it.
Thanks
Keith
Going back a few lessons to setting up a website, the following from ithemes regarding web design terms might be of interest to some:
https://ithemes.com/web-design-terms-you-should-know/?utm_source=iThemes+Updates&utm_campaign=055a06bf14-09_12_2019_Comm_Updates_Web_Design_Terms&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_35856077f7-055a06bf14-301517265