I'm starting a revolution..

by Tim on April 21, 2010

We tell you time and time again that branding yourself increases your results on traffic exchanges. So much so that many exchanges include your photo on their splash pages. StartXchange even has them on the surfbar, in the forum, and around the site.

Well I'm starting a revolution..

Recently I changed into this whole orange colored theme, and so I updated my photo naturally. Well what I forgot about was having to update that photo across all the exchanges I use and all the services I use.

Today I've decided enough is enough. Let's all use Gravatar. I already use it on my blog, and so does pretty much every WordPress blog, plus tons of other types of sites.

What is it? Simply put it's a Globally Recognized Avatar. It's in their name. You upload your photo to this one site, and then every site you use pulls from that photo. It's based off your email address (but done in a way that your email is protected). So when it's time to update you log into Gravatar and upload your photo once.

Now I know this isn't much of a revolution, because thousands of blogs already do this. But I am hoping to start a revolution inside our corner of the internet. Let's get these owners on board using Gravatar. It's free, simple, and makes it way easy for us to brand ourselves. Plus a side benefit is the owner doesn't have to pay for the bandwidth or web space (that'll get em to switch hehehe)

{ 19 comments }

Mike Gartner April 21, 2010 at 11:30 am

+1 for Gravatar!

Walter Mulder April 21, 2010 at 11:34 am

Now that is a very smart idea!

GimmeADream April 21, 2010 at 11:37 am

Nope! Not me! I happy enough with the photo I now use. People know my avatar now. And besides, my site is still down from the last change I tried to make.
Wynn

Lucie Bellemare April 21, 2010 at 12:08 pm

With Gravatar, you don’t need to change your photo, just to upload your current one on their site…

Mike Gartner April 21, 2010 at 11:55 am

Thanks for helping me with Gravatar on my blog Mr.Tim :)

Lucie Bellemare April 21, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Hi Tim,

That’s a very good idea!

I’ve already uploaded my pic to Gravatar. It is a bit strange seeing no pictures while surfing SX! Mine will be one of the few pics out there today! LOL !

Thanks!

Lucie

Doug April 21, 2010 at 12:30 pm

Vanity, your name is Tim

“pretty much every Wordpress blog, plus tons of other types of sites.”

“it’s a Globally Recognized Avatar”

YOU are starting a revolution?

Joining one maybe- you can not take credit for everything”

To me branding should be about the service or products-not our pictures

Just a thought

Tim April 21, 2010 at 1:09 pm

Which exchanges use Gravatar? If you read my last paragraph..

As for branding, if you have a product or service that is yours then yea, but if you are promoting for commissions it’s been proven that branding yourself works ;-)

Stephen Whittle April 21, 2010 at 12:41 pm

Hey that’s how revolutions start — one step at a time! Easy enough sign up process — thanks Tim!

Stephen Whittle (swhomebiz)

Jackie O April 21, 2010 at 12:56 pm

I’ve had my picture here for years and it works fine everywhere else. I shouldn’t need to join yet another site just to have it loaded here.

I think joining Gravatar should be an option, not a requirement.

Greg April 21, 2010 at 7:09 pm

Couldn’t have put it better if I tried Jackie… so I didn’t :-)

Patti/silverdark April 21, 2010 at 1:53 pm

What a Great Idea Tim! Now I only have to update my photo at one place not all of them!
Thanks for the Info
Patti/silverdark

Barbara Eyre April 21, 2010 at 3:37 pm

Funny you posted this topic today, Tim, because I just did Gravatar for the first time last night after seeing it mentioned when I created my RAPBank account. Weird how those things coincide!

But what you bring up is a great idea. Consolidate as much of your business as possible. Saving time on maintenance items = more time for projects and new ideas.

Jon Olson April 21, 2010 at 4:24 pm

Love it! Great stuff man, we’re even adding Gravatar to ILH now *Austin rocks!*

Very cool stuff man, great suggestion.

And as you know, I’m all for easy and personal branding LOL

Marc April 21, 2010 at 6:29 pm

I’ve been thinking along those lines for a while now (just slow to implement).

But I’d suggest we go for twitter and parse the image from there.

….there’s always one ;)

Jeff Henshaw April 21, 2010 at 6:40 pm

I don’t like it. It’s hell on earth to obtain a username that’s not already taken.

I use different email addresses for different blogs and for different purposes, so it’s probably of no use to me.

I’ll give this a big thumbs down!

Just my thoughts,
Jeff.

CJ April 21, 2010 at 7:08 pm

I sighned up for this and uploaded pic…… but my pic was so not clear it was horrible! really i looked kinda scary lol….. it just did not work for me…. i dunno what happened… but it was so un clear. so i just deleted it……

Lynn McCutcheon April 21, 2010 at 8:57 pm

I have one for my WP blog but for some reason couldn’t get it to turn up thru the site so I just signed up both my emails I normally use.

Took about two minutes or less. Painless. No prob.

soph142 April 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Crying here!!!!!
My image (not a photo of me lol)
Well I was happy with the image & it got hits from surfing, banners etc
Searched my computer + photobucket for getting it back
Utoh – no luck!
So do I spend time learning & hopefully earning?
Or finding time creating a new avatar?
Ugh! Love 99% of what you do Tim but not this one

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