Featured images and I have a history. As small a thing as they may be to use, I regularly found them being the reason why I had trouble actually publishing my posts. So much so in fact, that as part of my commitment to publish every day this year, I shunned the use of them until I could get rid of this block I had in picking an image. I don’t know if it is just my nature, or because I fancy myself as an amateur photographer, it became a point of pain and frustration for me.
Seriously, if you go back and review my post about featured images, you will see it was a big deal for me, and letting that pain go, has allowed me to post freely and with joy. This is starting to change however for a couple of reasons.
First, I worked through the Desk Community 5 Days to More Engaging Content which helped point me to places where I can find create commons content.
The second thing I did, was something Russ Sanderlin mentioned he does which is to look for an image for a post for no more than 90 seconds or so. If you can’t find an image within that time, move on and schedule your post.
These two things have helped me tremendously. So much so in fact that most of my recent posts have had a featured image, and I think, it makes for a more complete post. The great thing is, as long as I stick to my guns, and not freak out if I don’t find an image, I am able to have wonderful images and published posts.
Image Credit: Chase Elliott Clark