This question is from : @BeauBehan :
Answer:
Hi Beau,
This is a great question and I think you are going to love the answer.
The reason why is that the same answer that gets your photo on this site will also get your photo on other WordPress sites that you comment on.
That includes both WordPress.org and WordPress.com sites.
What’s the difference? WordPress.org sites are self hosted through third party hosting solutions like hostgator.
WordPress.com sites are hosted by WordPress themselves. The advantage is that it is free and easy. But there is a lot more to be said for controlling your own site. Such as ‘owning’ the cyber real estate and being able to add advertising to your site. So, I suggest you get your own site instead of using a third party’s free platform.
WordPress.com does not allow advertising on their free sites. And I’m not sure if they allow it on their paid sites but I think they might.
How Do I Add the Picture?
This is a very easy / simple thing to do. Just go over to Gravatar.com and use the email account you will be using to comment on All Things Pondered or any wordpress site (using the native commenting system or comment luv) to register.
It is free!
And then upload a picture to your free account there.
After that, anytime you comment on All Things Pondered, using that email address, your picture will display with your comment.
I am not sure that it works retroactively such as on the comment you left here. But, I think it will. I guess we will find out as soon as you register your Pic.
Better To Use A Picture and Not an Avatar If At All Possible
A lot of site owners are little bit leery of comments in the first place. This is because of the prevalence of spammers who generally leave comments with little to no value. They are only there to get a quick link back to their site.
You want to distinguish yourself from the spammers by showing that you are legit.
A picture is generally going to be viewed more favorably by the majority of site owners than an avatar (graphic of some kind).
Having said that, something, even if it is a graphic and not a picture, is better than nothing at all.
Many of the spammers won’t use a picture or register at Gravatar.com precisely because they don’t want anyone to know who they are or to find them.
What Do You Use Dave?
Good question, here is the picture I use for my Gravatar:
I will be the first to tell you that this is an old picture. It is about 5 years old at the time of this writing. It was taken by my future (at the time) wife. I like it so I continue to use it. The lighting was good – in my opinion.
I use this picture on when I comment on other websites. This tells people it is me. And they will recognize the picture as being me. Hopefully, I am someone they like and trust.
Look Professional
While I acknowledge that many people are into blogging for fun, there are many others who make blogging into a business, including myself at All Things Pondered.
When you go to a site to comment, you want to show that you are a real and interesting person. You also want to leave quality comments. This shows that you are not just there to get a link.
A picture helps to show that you care and you are supportive of other website owners. This can go a long way towards building up relationships.
Those relationships can add up to cool opportunities such as the guest post I was asked to do at Luke Peerfly’s site.
That post, on his high traffic site, is most likely going to bring more traffic to All Things Pondered.
In return, when people see the link above, many will visit his site. That’s team work and a quality relationship at work!
The more, high quality relationships you have, the better.
It is All About Relationships
You see, life is all about your relationships! The quality of your life is directly related to the quality of your relationships. If you think about that for 10 minutes (or less) you will conclude that what I just said is accurate.
Want to be a millionaire? Build quality relationships with millionaires. That is a poor example actually. You should seek to have a higher standard than money for yourself. Many millionaires are not good people.
If you want to know more about how to be a better person, read my favorite book, Zhuan Falun.
I digressed. The point was that by showing yourself to be a quality person, through your gravatar picture and your quality comments, you have a better chance to build those all important online relationships.
It is really no different than the offline relationships that you build. It is all about quality. And you need those relationships to thrive online and offline.
Thanks To Beau
Let us all say thanks to Beau for his question by following him on Twitter and saying ‘Thanks’ : @BeauBehan
Thanks for your question Beau.
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