Home
Tutorials
Site Reviews
Gallery
Store
   

Have you ever wished there was a consumer guide for graphic sites on the Internet? Well wish no more. Here you will find useful information that will help you in your decision making process when trying to decide if you should pay for a graphics group membership.

The site reviews will not make personal attacks on the appearance of the graphics, or the artist who created the graphics. But I will be very vocal when it comes to certain aspects of a site that may seem unreasonable, unfair, and borderline unethical. It is my professional believe that unethical practices be exposed for what they are. I will update this section. Once a month some updates will contain more information than others. Not every site is the same and some may actually take longer for me to evaluate. I hope this section will help you greatly.

Copyright Services - Are they for you?

Recently I have been asked by a few graphic site owners and artists about the use of copyright services. These questions ranged from the reliability and price difference to the protection that these services offer. The common factor in all of these questions is that there is some confusion as to whether or not to use these services. This section will clear this confusion and should give you a better understanding of copyright services.

If you make graphics then you are always concern about people "stealing" them. The best way to prevent this is to obtain a valid copyright. But you aren't quite sure how to do this. There are two choices for obtaining some kind of proof of a copyright. You can use an online copyright service or you can file for a copyright with your government. Before you get a copyright look at the descriptions below so that you will know what you are getting.

Copyright Services:

Copyright Services fall into two categories: Registration with the government and notarization by a company. Some copyright services only notarize your graphics and provide you with a certificate number that is unique to their service. You will not find this number in any government records. It's very easy to pick out these types of services because they are at a very low cost such as $12. The other type of copyright service will actually file your art work with the government for a sizable fee such as $59 or more. Either way great care needs to be taken when looking to use a copyright service. During my research I discovered a copyright service site that offered a copyright package for $129.00. Because I have filed for copyrights in the past I could not figure why they charge so much since the U.S. copyright is only $30 for visual arts.

Copyright Filing with the Government.

Filing directly with the government is the only way you can register a copyright in the U.S. or in Canada. Anything less than filing with the government will only be considered as a copyright notarization. Many times you can almost tell right away which companies file copyrights with the government because the price to use their services will be higher than it would be if you were going to file directly with the government. I have found that direct copyright filing with the government is the best option for The Graphics Site Guide (GSG). GSG will never recommend to a graphic site owner to copyright their originally created images through a copyright service that is not filing the the copyright with the governments copyright office. It is not certain that a copyright notarization will have the same legal force in cases that involve two different countries.

Incredible Offer

I design many web pages with different themes and I'm always finding a need for really nice graphics that I can use on my site. I can tell you from experience that graphic CDs can collect quickly, especially for me. Since the majority of the web sites that I make requires a professional feel and look which means I need a great source of photos or photo objects. During one of my purchases I discovered something incredible. I was able to purchase an inexpensive CD software that gave a free 1 year membership to ClipArt.com. I was amazed at their graphics collection they had everything I need and more.

The site is great. Every since I've joined their site I've seen the same images that they offer in magazines, booklets, advertising and other web sites. The latest graphic sitting was from the BBB (Better Business Bureau) magazine. The bad news is that the store that was selling the graphics no longer has it. As a matter of fact I got the last copy when I purchased my CD. But I have been able to get my hand on 3 Clip art CDs with the free membership offer and I'm trying to get my hand on a few more. Click here for more info about how to get 1 year free membership to ClipArt.com
 
 

 

Each site is rated in 3 Categories which are very important to the quality of a web site. The highest Average that a site can score on each is a 10. I recommend that you still check the site for you own evaluation and not to solely go on what you see here. For more detailed ratings click here.

* paid membership 1=Avoid, 5=Ok , 10=Best Value
Web site
Terms
Feedback
Graphics
Avg.
3
N/A
5.5
  
8
N/A
7.5
  
10
5
10
8.3
5
N/A
5.5
  
Freeimages.co.uk (photo stock)
6
N/A
5
  
3
N/A
5.5
5
5
6.5
 5.5
         
 
 
Not all low ratings are bad. It could be that one site has more resources available than another. There are some really nice graphic sites out there so many times it's like comparing a small business to a giant corporation. The size of the business will not affect the terms. Terms are terms no matter how big or small the business is. If you want to be removed from the listings then Click Here: Remove Me

Recent Site Owner Concerns Sunday, January 1, 2006 11:47 AM

LOGOS and ADVERTISING UPDATE: As promised in November's 2005

Advertising Tips: This section will be updated often throughout December.

  1. Know your target market: This is important to any business regardless of size and purpose. Knowing who you want to provide a service for will help you to get the most out of the advertising that you are already taking part in. If you sell fantasy graphics then join a fantasy graphics group. If you sell backgrounds then join a group that is focused on creating backgrounds. This will become a resource for you that will allow you to find your target market more quickly.
  2. Create a very attractive logo. Make sure the logo looks very professional and exciting this will help to draw potential customers to your site. But be careful where you place your logo. If your logo is on a site that has a bad reputation then you could suffer the same.
  3. Invest some time in researching the qualities that make a great looking web page. This requires a bit of reading but you will pick up valuable techniques on how to use keywords that will help maximize your search engine listings.
  4. Pay others a piece of the profit. This is very popular and very affective. By paying your current members as well as non-members a little for every new member referred by them. This can create a great advertising machine that will allow you to get the most out of your advertising efforts.
 

FREE SERVICE OFFER

For a limited time you can have your web site analyzed for keyword density, keyword use, and receive tips on how to improve the use of the keywords and search engines.
 

Graphics Site Guide Quality Logos

This is a sample logo presented to sites that are quality focus in the areas of customer service, presentations, and additional service offers. Sites with this logo have been evaluated and have shown the desire to put quality 1st.
This is a sample logo presented to sites that have gone beyond the average expected services. Customers that see this logo can expect to get more. Sites with this logo tend to go the extra mile for their customers.
This is a sample of logo presented to sites that are currently being evaluated and are in the process of making improvements in their sites in order to provide a better service and a more satisfying experience for their customers.
Sites featuring the GSG Quality logos have gone through or are currently going through extensive evaluations and communications in regarding to making improvements. These sites have shown, through their actions, their desire to give their best.
 

Past GSG Articles:
Nov.2005