I’ve always advocated the use of images to break up text on the screen and draw attention to your words. After, all a picture’s worth a 1,000 words right? Well yes, but, here’s an interesting thought. What if everyone is using the same photo? What then?

Since I opened my design house (Monkey C Media) in 2004 I’ve become acutely aware of how common stock images are worldwide. One micro-stock house is iStock.com – which of course is an inexpensive place to buy royalty free stock photography and images. It’s a great tool for finding just the right image to place on your postcard, website, in blog posts, and even on your book cover. Unfortunately, the secret is out.

It’s kind of creepy. Everywhere I go I see the same five people advertising myriad products and services. They are on billboards, in magazine ads, on the home page of medical sites, attorney websites, family counseling sites, and believe it or not, I’ve even seen these same people posing as the legitimate owners of various companies. These people really get around.

Stock images are a necessary evil; they make it possible for anyone to buy relatively high-quality images to promote themselves. So, what do you do? First, check and see how many downloads your desired image has had before choosing it to represent your company. Second, look into a more exclusive stock house like Getty Images where the images will be more expensive, but the usage way lower. Third, consider hiring a photographer. When it comes to your brand, the investment will be worth it.