You’ve thought about using images in business — but you haven’t because you’re “not artistic,” right?
See if my story sounds familiar …
When I was little, and my mother needed to keep me amused, one no-fail recipe was to sit me on the kitchen floor with a box of crayons and some brown paper grocery bags.
She’d ask me to draw pictures on the bags, and — since she then used the bags to throw out the trash — she’d tell me “the garbage men were going to love seeing my drawings when they picked up the garbage.”
I’m pretty sure it was my first graphic design job, come to think of it.
We were all artists once
All of us have stories about how we created art when we were little. Whether you enjoyed drawing, finger painting, creating clay creatures or making mud pies in the back yard, you made something from nothing all the time.
But at some point, you probably stopped.
It seems to happen most often around 8 years old. We become self-conscious, and suddenly begin judging our creations. We hold them up, compare them to our classmates’ work, and think we fall short.
A few people continue to make things, and — mostly because they’re putting in hours of practice — become more and more proficient at making art that’s interesting. They become the artists.
It’s not because they’re born with special talent. The main reason they’re artists is because they’re more obsessed with making art than the rest of us, and are willing to spend the time needed to become really good at it.
What does all this have to do with running your business?
Images in business are more important than ever
It turns out that one of the best things you can do for your business is to go back to expressing yourself visually. Marketing is — at its most basic level — communication.
People are attracted to information that’s visual first, the text comes second.
Content is still crucial, but adding relevant images will leave a lasting impression.
Images make people stop scrolling through their social media feeds.
They can help increase the time a visitor stays on your website, which is good for search engine results.
Well-made, branded images in business collateral — in digital form or print — will supercharge your marketing.
Here’s why:
- Written data is processed in a smaller — and more crowded — part of our brain than images, which means images are comprehended faster and more easily than words.
- In the social media arena, images are shared more often than text. They give your message wings, and help it spread.
- A well-chosen image can become associated with your business and will be remembered long after prospects forget your tagline or your “25% off!” coupon.
Related: Create Your Core Website Content
Visual content is shareable on social media. Great images can inspire your customers to become brand ambassadors — who doesn’t love to have their friends think of them as amazing social media curators?
In a distracted world, images make you stand out.
In a marketplace where attention is currency, you can’t afford not to use them!
Related: 5 Easy Steps to Create Stunning Content Marketing Images [Examples]

Want more design advice?
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17 thoughts on “The Business of Images in Your Business — Why You Need Stunning Visuals”
I completely agree with you on “Marketing is More Visual” concept. Very true, it reminds of the days when I used to read fancy ads on the newspaper. We are often attracted to the visual representation. I bet if you are using the right images you will convert better.
More engagement = higher conversion, right? Whatever gets people to stop and pay attention — and images are proven to do that — is worth putting some effort into.
Hi Pamela,
I’m so glad you asked how you can help with images. My biggest problem is I only have photoshop.com online in order to edit images. It does not create images. I would use gimp or another free software if recommended. I love being able to do things myself, so creating a colored opt-in box and adding nice fonts or a nice logo/image would be great. Thank you for your valuable and informative posts.
Tina
Hi Tina,
Have you tried iPiccy.com? It has a “Painter” tab that gives you a blank canvas where you can draw a shape, then take it into the other iPiccy tools to modify it with textures, images and other effects. It’s easy to use and fun!
“Marketing is more visual than ever” that is a blunt truth! My greatest challenge is finding images that fit my concept. Where do I find high resolution pictures and creatives at a little price or free high DPI pictures?
There are two stock photo sites I use a lot: istockphoto.com, and bigstockphoto.com. They have high-quality images that aren’t too expensive.
For free sites and other options, you might want to visit this post.
Tina – you could try using a free ‘drawing’ programme – Inkscape. It’s the free equivalent of Adobe Illustrator – but it’s intuitive to use but is powerful and has most of the functionality of Illustrator.
Caroline
That’s a great idea, Caroline. Thank you!
Do you like Inkscape? I used it a couple of years ago to try it out, but I don’t know anyone who uses it on a regular basis.
Pamela – I really like Inkscape for the reasons above. I have a ‘bit of a mission’ with it as I do think it’s a best kept secret.
Caroline
Thanks ladies! I will take a look at the software programs you are suggesting. I am starting a total facelift of my hypnosis and improving the wellness site. All ideas are appreciated!
I have another question Pamela. You made mention of Boxshot 3D, I believe, in your webinar. Why is this system so good? What is it used for primarily?
Caroline
Caroline, BoxShot3D allows you to create three dimensional images of your digital products. So if you have an ebook, or audio recording or anything that’s basically digital that you’d like to represent, BoxShot3D makes it easy to create nice-looking and very realistic images.
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