Gravatar, branding and you
Okay I know it is a pain trying to keep up with everything you hear about each and every day. Today I am going to address something simple for those that actually participate in the conversations going on in the blogosphere.
See the defauilt on WordPress blogs is to use Gravatar for comments. Most people don’t go through all the settings when they create a new blog so the vast majority of blogs will look for your gravatar when you comment. Besides the gravatar system works and even though I do go through the settings I still use it because it is one of the more popular ones.
Gravatar allows you to link your email to your picture and have it display when you post a comment. Just go to http://gravatar.com and follow the directions to tie your email address and picture together.
Now I would much rather have people reading my comments see my picture to the left rather than the default gravatar image to the right.
It helps people know who I am especially as I use the same picture on Facebook, Twitter, MyBlogLog and any other social network where I can add a picture to my profile.
Now for you bashful types it does not have to be a picture of you. It can be whatever avatar you use to brand yourself with on the social networks and forums. I have a buddy who uses a fish graphic on Twitter and went to his picture and people ignored him because he was no longer the grinning fish and they did not recognize his tweets.
The whole reason for this post is that on average less than half of the commenters on this blog have a gravatar. I work hard to make sure that people adding to the conversation here get the maximum reward for it and this will increase the value you get from commenting here. So go get your avatar set up at http://gravatar.com so that all my commenters get maximum branding. It only takes a few quick minutes.
As always your questions and comments are appreciated.
Mike Paetzold
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14 comments
Brett McEllhiney on February 12, 2009 at 8:51 am
Thanks for bringing this up Mike,
I often wondered where the images came from and why I was always just a white ghost on a gray background.
I am now setup, although the little white ghost may have been better.
Thanks,
Brett McEllhiney
Brett McEllhiney´s last blog post..Build a Niche Marketing Business – Step 8: Get The Right Type Of Hosting
Mike on February 12, 2009 at 8:55 am
No the more people see you the stronger your brand unless of course you just spam people then it pays to be the ghost
You don’t so will benefit from the branding.
R.Brian Burkhardt
Twitter: yourfuneralguy
on February 12, 2009 at 11:09 am
Mike,
This was very helpful I have a gravatar associated with one e-mail address, and did not realize a gravatar could be associated with multiple E-mail addresses. This helps me because I use different e-mail addresses in different niches.
I do have 3 questions.
1.How can I add a facebook widget to my Blogs?
2.How can I add a gravatar widget to my different url’s?
3.Does there have to be adifferent gravatar for each URL.I havea wordpress.com blog where it is easy to add a gravatar. I am having difficulty figuring this one out for wordpress.org blogs.
Lonnie Minton on February 12, 2009 at 11:37 am
Mike,
Thanks for this tutorial. I have seen your picture (Gravatar) and others. I looked around in WordPress but didn’t see a way to get the images to display.
Using your post, I will check it out and implement it on my blog.
Thanks,
Lonnie
Lonnie Minton´s last blog post..4 Easy Ways To Build An Effective Opt-In List
Earl Netwal on February 12, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Another great tip Mike. But to be honest I am posting mostly to see if I have already done this or not.
Earl Netwal´s last blog post..Which is Worse no Meta Tag Keywords or the Wrong Ones?
Fred Lotgering on February 12, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Hi Mike,
Great post. I had my gravatar done a while ago. Branding your name goes best with a picture. Using it also same in all social networks. Actually once in a while I let people know the link to set it up as you just did.
Fred
Fred Lotgering´s last blog post..List Building and Relationship Marketing
Jit Uppal on February 12, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Great post Mike!
It really is important that we take advantage of any opportunities we can to brand ourselves and the more consistent we are (with our pictures and profiles) the better.
Jit
Jit Uppal´s last blog post..Viral Tweets – A Very Powerful New Tool for Twitter
Luca
Twitter: rsonline
on February 12, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Hi Mike,
I’m the bashful type you talk about but I’m going to start branding myself. Thanks for the link gravatar.com
I’ll be doing more and more Social Marketing so it’s important to get known.
Joel Osborne
Twitter: JoelOsborne
on February 12, 2009 at 8:38 pm
You are right, there is a lot more to having your image online then you might first think. When I first started, I didn’t think there was a need for a picture of myself… but once I started realized how much I “see” of others, it made me understand the power of branding.
Like you mentioned about the guy on Twitter, a big name guru changed their picture and I didn’t know who it was at first. I could have easily passed by and not read their comment. I think we need to be careful about changing our picture, maybe changing it slightly over time so that there is no big change all at once.
Joel Osborne´s last blog post..How Is A Recurring Income Possible?
Andre Arnett
Twitter: learningaffil
on February 12, 2009 at 8:42 pm
I guess it is time I get a picture of myself up on my site. I hope I don’t scare away my readers. Thanks for the information.
Travis Millward on February 14, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Thanks for the tip Mike. This was something I had never even considered. I have my picture in MyBlogLog, and figured that was good enough. I didn’t realize how quick it would be to set this up.
Thanks again
Jana on February 23, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for the great blogging tips on the call with Jason
Michael Roark on March 12, 2009 at 10:24 am
Learn something new everyday here.. Heck usually more than once a day! Thanks Mike!
Michael Roark´s last blog post..World of Warcraft 1 to 450 Enchanting Guide
Commenting on other blogs | WordPress Made Easy on December 13, 2009 at 9:05 am
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