Free Creative Commons Zero Licensed and Public Domain Images | Nathan Ives | Digital Products Platform

Free Creative Commons Zero Licensed and Public Domain Images

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Free Creative Commons Zero Licensed and Public Domain Images | Nathan Ives | Digital Products PlatformOwning and maintaining a high quality website can be an expensive endeavor.  Today’s high expectations demand fast loading speeds and attractive graphics.  But an attractive website doesn’t have to be expensive.  There are numerous free image resources available to add imagery and a splash of color to your website.

Creative Commons Zero Licensed Images

Creative Commons Zero licensing means that the creator of image or graphic deeded the work to the public domain and waived his/her rights to the work under copyright laws.  Consequently, you many copy, modify, distribute, and use the image or graphic for free – even for commercial purposes.  (Learn more about Creative Commons licensing at CreativeCommons.org)

Numerous websites feature high-quality, high-resolution Creative Commons Zero licensed images and graphics.  These stunning images and graphics can be used to bring your website, ebooks, training courses, or any other digital work to life.  Here are thirteen sources of Creative Commons Zero licensed images and graphics:

Public Domain Images

Photos taken by officers or employees of the United States government as part of their official duties are generally not subject to copyright restrictions on reproduction, derivative works, distribution, or display unless the image falls under an exception.  (Learn more at USA.gov)  Expansive libraries of United States government photos reside on Flickr as well as other images released under Creative Commons Zero licensing by the owner.

Depending on your needs, you may want to search for photos having other Creative Commons licenses (various restrictions apply) on Flickr.

Final Thought…

Whenever obtaining photos from online sources, be sure to confirm the website and individual photo’s licensing terms before use.  It’s your responsibility to honor copyright and licensing terms when using others’ works just as it is their responsibility to honor yours.

Nathan Ives | Digital Products Platform

Maximizing Engagement by Minimizing Required Data

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Nathan Ives | Digital Products PlatformLanding pages, including sales pages, capture personal data to enable follow-up engagement.  This data represents investments of trust and time in you and your business; an investment that must yield a significant enough return to be made.  Thus, it is imperative that you balance the amount of data required with the value offered.

Achieving Balance

As business owners, we naturally want as much data about our potential customers as possible.  We believe that having this insight will enable us to optimally market to and convert our website visitors into paying customers.

Website visitors, however, hesitate to share their personal information.  They worry about the security of their data and whether it will be used abusively.

Achieving the balance necessary to gain the engagement of potential customers involves several points:

  • Credibility: Website professionalism communicates a seriousness that instills confidence provided data won’t be abusively used (aka spam)
  • Privacy Policy: Your documented commitment to potential customers guaranteeing the security and appropriate use of their data; including not selling it to third parties
  • Offer Value: Personal data requests that are proportional to the perceived value of the offer and reasonably necessary for its delivery assures visitors that their data is being appropriately used

Proportional Value

Examples of proportional offer value to data requests include:

  • Online Comment Submission: First Name (optional), Last Name (optional), Email Address (optional)
  • Weekly Newsletter, Webinar, Training Video: First Name (typical), Last Name (optional), Email Address (required)
  • Reusable Template, eBook, or Benchmarking Report: First Name (typical), Last Name (typical), Title (typical), Company (typical), Company Size (typical), Email Address (required), Phone Number (optional), Other Information (optional)
  • Paid for Product or Service: First Name (required), Last Name (required), Title (optional), Company (optional), Company Size (optional), Email Address (required), Phone Number (optional), Address (required – physical product / optional – digital product), Payment Information (required – typically collected by the merchant services provided), Other Information (optional)

Final Thought…

Remember that the time to complete the data submission will be a cost that is also considered by visitors.  As such, evaluate the use of option selection lists to speed data collection when developing forms.  When such lists are used, always provide an ‘other’ option for those whose circumstances don’t fit the selections provided.

Digital Products Platform - Email Naming Conventions

Email Naming Conventions

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Digital Products Platform - Email Naming ConventionsEmail serves as a primary communications channel in our digital world.  While your email address will be aligned with your website URL, its prefix is an important part of your branding strategy.

Email Address Styles

Your email address says a lot about your business.  Below are several common naming conventions and what they communicate with illustrative examples using my name, Nathan A Ives, and the website, StrategyDriven.com, located in the United States:

Small Personal Business

  • First Name @ yoursite.xxx (example: Nathan@StrategyDriven.com)

Midsize / Large Business

  • First Initial Last Name @ yoursite.xxx (example: NIves@StrategyDriven.com)
  • First Initial Middle Initial Last Name @ yoursite.xxx (example: NAIves@StrategyDriven.com)
  • First Name . Last Name @ yoursite.xxx (example: Nathan.Ives@StrategyDriven.com)
  • First Name Last Name @ yoursite.xxx (example: NathanIves@StrategyDriven.com)

Very Large Company

  • First Initial Last Name @ Country Initial . yoursite.xxx (example: NIves@us.StrategyDriven.com)
  • First Initial Middle Initial Last Name @ Country Initial . yoursite.xxx (example: NAIves@us.StrategyDriven.com)
  • First Name . Last Name @ Country Initial . yoursite.xxx (example: Nathan.Ives@us.StrategyDriven.com)
  • First Name Last Name @ Country Initial . yoursite.xxx (example: NathanIves@us.StrategyDriven.com)

Country initials are two letters representing a country such as United States = US, United Kingdom = UK, and Canada = CA.

Secure

  • First Initial Middle Initial Last Initial Random Number @ yoursite.xxx (example: NAI123@StrategyDriven.com)
Business Name Considerations | Nathan Ives

Business Name Considerations

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What’s in a name? Your business’s name will likely be a first point of contact for your customers.  Consequently, it must engage and connect your customers with your products and services the moment they see or hear it. Besides the communications aspects of your business name, it must be communicate-able.  When identifying your ideal business […]

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