Snagit screen capture software by snag it will capture anything you have on your computer screen.   I find i use it often to create images that combine pictures, words and other objects – to communicate what I need to relay quickly when I am outsourcing tasks.   This way I can create a visual representation of what I am looking to have completed.  It’s quick. It’s efficient.

Some of the special effects make it fun to use too.

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Big Stock (formerly called BigStockPhoto) is a subsidiary of ShutterStock.com.  Over 5,500,000 images ranging in prices starting at $1.00 per photo

How to use Bigstock?  Sign Up and start a Bigstock account for free. Charge up your account with credit packages starting at $15.

Image downloads start at 1 credit. Bigstock images can be used in almost any creative project. It’s always free to search and download preview images.

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• Sources for Low Cost Graphics
• Clip Art Resources

http://www.html-kit.com/favicon/ offers a free Favicon creator from and image.

If you are a wordpress user – you can then use All in One Favicon plugin to quickly add it to your blog.

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FreeDigitalPhotos.net provides free photos for web use with proper attribution.  when you are looking for images or graphic design items that can help you illustrate a point or a concept for your blog or web – using this service may be a preferable cost alternative to purchasing the image.

If you are needing images to use in print such as doing mail outs, brochures, flyers etc – you can also get those very reasonably priced.

So here you are – just one more resource for finding the images you need and want.

Courtesy FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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• Sources for Low Cost Graphics

Finding low cost graphics for blogs an websites can be easy if you have the right resources.

If you are doing things yourself:

My main source for royalty free graphics is Istockphoto.  Depending on the size of the image you are charged a certain number of credits to purchase an image.   Most small images for the web are just a dollar or two – and a large file for printing may cost you 10 to 15.  All in all – great value when you need to create an impact in your marketing material.

Another source is 123rf.com

123RF has a very large selection of free images they offer which are offered on a time-limited basis – definitely worth taking a look as the “just right” image may be right there waiting for you.

If you are looking to have someone help you with your graphic marketing materials there are a number of sources for which you can find economical help depending on what your needs are:

Try these folks:

99Designs.com

99designs connects clients needing design work such as logo designs, business cards or web sites to a thriving community of over 17,000 designers.

Elance.com

Elance is not just for graphic design – but also great to find writers here.

Guru.com – also has a very large freelancer data base

Outsourcing your design work can save you a lot of time and frustration if you are not an expert with graphic programs and up with best practices – and at the same time – it can also cost you some time and energy when working with outside suppliers.

A couple of quick tips:

Don’t just accept the 1st offer you get in response to your request – as some of the folks on these data bases – respond to everything – and sometime they don’t  read what they are responding to.  I often put a codeword in the post – and ask any reply to include the code word in the response – that way I know I am not getting just an auto-response.

So some smart best practices are often a great idea.

Things like:

• not paying full balance until the work is completed to your satisfaction – Keep the funds in escrow ready for the work to be completed
• not writing a positive recommendation until the work has been completed
• find someone who you like and who is efficient – and then use them
• be very specific about B timescales, quality required, layout etc – and renegotiate after anything changes

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• Big Stock – another Source of Royalty Free Images
• No Cost Images for Blogs,Websites and Forums Part 1
• Outsourcing – scripts, php Graphics

The Marketer: Mind Technologies

The Marketing Blurb: Visualize Your Thinking and Organize Your Work
The Product Link: Visual Mind

What It Does:

Stand alone software, 30day free trail available

What it does: Does the mind mapping thing -You will want to have a look at Visual Mind’s product comparison chart before you purchase – to make sure you all the tools you need – pay particular attention to the export functions. To have the most flexibility – choose the business version.

What they do have that is a nice add-on is a program called the realizer – it helps you do “chunk” sideways brainstorming, and you can get this kind of tool elsewhere for no cost – so this may not be a big priority.

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The Marketer: Gael Ltd, Scotland

The Blurb: Bring Clarity and Purpose to Individual and Group thinking and greatly enhance productivity

The Product Link :Mind Genius

Stand Alone Software, free evaluation trail available

What it does: With very similar functions to MindManager by Mind Jet – Mind Genious too exports to Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint, MS Project, PDF, HTML files. Different views are available – including a nifty – map explorer view – which for anyone who is used to used to exploring and working with windows explorer – will find it an efficient way to organize thoughts.

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The Marketer: Mind Jet USA

The Blurb: Work Smarter, Think Creatively, Save Time – Everyday

The Product Link :Mind Manager

Stand Alone Software, low cost trial available – integrates with outlook, excel, Gyronix and more

What it does: This is one of the best known and coach friendly mind mapping software programs available.

I have been a daily user of Mindmanager since 2001, and have purchased every upgrade since then. This is one of those indespensable tools that helps me organize my day, track committments, projects, sessions, meetings and brainstorms. Creating images, pdf, and word documents are a snap with this program.

The program itself is a bit pricy for some – but this is one of those life- tools that I could not do without. I use Mindmanager with Gryonix to help me tame my inbox. What used to take me hours to do – now takes me minutes.

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The Marketers: Open Source

The Blurb: Open Source for Clip Art. 7000 images as a resource.

The Product Link:www.openclipart.org

Open source, Download, No Cost

What it does: Gives you zip file with 7000 clip art images.

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• Big Stock – another Source of Royalty Free Images
• Sources for Low Cost Graphics

- Gimp – Powerful graphic design program
http://www.gimp.org/
Available for all major and a bunch of minor operating systems. This is the
granddaddy of free graphic software.

- Gimpshop – Open source “substitute” for Photoshop

http://plasticbugs.com/index.php?p=241

Windows, Mac and Linux versions are available.
You can find a lot of good info and resources for Gimp stuff at:
http://www.gimp-savvy.com

- Photoplus – More free graphic software
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com
will let you use some Adobe filters.

- Pixia – Yet another free graphic design program

http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/

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