Do you have a media library? In fact do you even know what one is and why it might be a good idea to get one?
Today I’m going to share how I keep on top of visual content, where I find it (if it’s not something I already have) and where I keep it.
So… a media library…
It sounds all a bit grand but its literally somewhere to keep all your pictures and quotes so that you always have them to hand.
So when you need to post on instagram you’re always going to have images, when you’re writing blog posts you’ll always have something to share!
STEP 1.
Have you got some form of cloud storage that you can access where ever you are?
No…well let me tell you what I use.
Dropbox
I started with one of their free accounts (download yours here) and as time has gone on, Ive used it so much that I ended up upgrading to 2TB of data!
So basically I have it on an app on my phone, I have it on my desktop and my iPad. I save ALL my photos to dropbox (very similar to iCloud) and it means I always have access.
It also means when we get to the part where you’re finding new photos you can save it direct to dropbox too.
Organising the folders
I have one folder that’s called Content in dropbox.
Then within that folder I have a folder called photos and one called quotes. Then within those folders I have two folders in each.
One folder is for new stuff I find and the other is for things I’ve used, and as i use a photo I simple move it into the used file.
Its ok to reuse images. People rarely look right back through your feed and see that you’re reusing an image. So you might not notice it, but I often reuse images.
STEP 2 – Finding amazing images
So now you have everything in place you need to start finding some images. Or if you have had a branding shoot you’ll need to save the images into your photo folder.
- Pixabay
- Unsplash
- A blog post I go back to again and again.
- Adobe Stock (you have to pay for these ones)
STEP 3 – Creating brilliant Quotes
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t use Photoshop to create my quote images. For a start its much more complicated than it needs to be, but also I’ve found the following are so much better for it (and I can do them while I’m using my phone or iPad)!
STEP 4 – Creating your own images
You could spend a couple of hours creating your own images (even if you’re just using a phone).
Grab a friend and go for a coffee. Take photos of you enjoying a coffee, the coffee itself and anything else interesting in the coffee shop. Its also a great way to be able to tag other businesses too!
You could even go as far as creating extra folders in dropbox that break it down into the types of images…
- Food photos
- You
- General office/notebook etc
Hope this has helped you and showed you why it’s important to have a bank of images you can call on, and more importantly how to do it!
