I think you hit the key … find a way to connect them to your project.

@ Kiefer

Thank you. So true. So many decisions are really emotionally driven. That’s not always a good thing, but it’s good to know how we work.

This is a common practice in sales; get the person emotional about the product and price becomes secondary.

I write a fitness blog and have noticed my readers hang around a little longer since I have included pictures.

I think it’s also the suck you in factor. Especially the right picture. I also like that the right picture can help make a post sticky. You might forget the post or the punchline, but then remember the visual.

@ Daphne

The law of attraction in action. It’s funny how out of so many pictures there’s some that just seem to stand out. They’re oustanding. I look forward to your eBook on personal creeds.

I’m a fan of creeds. I sent an email of my personal credo to my team a couple years back to test how well I could guide the team simply through principles while I was out of the office. I haven’t hunted it down yet, but now I’m curious. I wonder if it’s like a bad hair style that looked good at the time, but looks funny to me now.

@ Giovanna

Indeed they do and I agree. Passion and purpose go a long way. I think the secret to passion is when you connect at the values. There’s certain things that just jazz people. For example, for me it’s action and adventure. It’s also excellence. It’s also knowledge. It’s beauty. It’s also road trip

@ Juliet

It was seriously tough for me to shift to images. I’ve been a long time fan of text only info. Sort of like, be brief, be bright, be gone.

This works great for things like a knowledge base, especially with developers and engineers. It doesn’t work well for the masses though.

I think what I learned is …
1. A picture is a great way entry point and soft landing.
2. The right picture can truly supplement the text.
3. People need to feel good. A picture helps.

I think the ultimate goal is to help people remember a post with either a visual or textual take-away. For example, for this post, I think people can either remember the picture of the heart in hands or the prhase “win the heart the mind follows.”

I think of it as information engineering

Interesting what you say about pictures on blog posts. I hadn’t really thought about it – that much.

I don’t use pictures on my posts. I guess the main thing that deterred me from using pictures was the comments that I frequently saw on sites using images:
“Great picture!”
And I wondered if the writing had even struck a chord. Perhaps that doesn’t matter. At least the reader gained something from the blog…

Oops, I was an engineer too – perhaps I should consider that

Juliet

Good point about using pictures to get the message of a post across. Coincidentally I just used the same picture you chose for this post for an eBook on personal creeds that I’m making now!

I like your point on compassion. My favorite leaders are the ones that have a knack for making you feel like you’re the most important person in their life right now. I find this trait in the best coaches too.

@ Melissa

Fun’s important. It has to feel good. I like the pictures you pick. They’re always evocative.

@ Stacey

I was flipping through your blog again and it’s obvious you choose really thoughtful pictures. They’re full of life and they convey a lot.