Welcome to My Blog

Let’s face it: A job search is, typically, anything but fun.

It’s almost as if it carries its own five stages of grief. At first, there’s denial of its demoralizing nature. Then comes the anger over either radio silence or rejection from prospective employers. Of course, there’s bargaining — “I promise to never complain about work again, if I can find a new job!”

That’s often followed by depression, and the idea that one is simply just unhireable. Then, there’s acceptance: “This is awful, but I have to keep trying, anyway.”

But we have good news. It is possible to have a little fun with your job search — and maybe even make yourself a better candidate in the process. The magic, it turns out, could be in your cover letter.

It may be true that only 26% of recruiters have deemed cover letters important, but that doesn’t mean yours has to contribute to that statistic. In fact, it might be that cover letters are deemed insignificant because so few of them stand out. Here’s an opportunity for you to exercise your creativity at the earliest stage of the recruitment process.

Personalization, after all, goes beyond replacing the title and company name in each letter you send to recruiters.

What does that look like in practice, and how can you make your cover letter stand out? We found six examples from job seekers who decided to do things a bit differently.

Note: Some of these cover letters contain real company names and NSFW language that we’ve covered up.

7 Creative Cover Letter Examples

1. The Short-and-Sweet Cover Letter

In 2009, David Silverman penned an article for Harvard Business Review titled, “The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received.” That letter contained three complete sentences, as follows:

Source: Harvard Business Review

One might argue that this particular letter is less than outstanding. It’s brief, to say the least, and the author doesn’t go into a ton of detail about what makes him or her qualified for the job in question. But that’s what Silverman likes about it — the fact that the applicant only included the pieces of information that would matter the most to the recipient.

“The writer of this letter took the time to think through what would be relevant to me,” writes Silverman. “Instead of scattering lots of facts in hopes that one was relevant, the candidate offered up an opinion as to which experiences I should focus on.”

When you apply for a job, start by determining two things:

1. Who might oversee the role — that’s often included in the description, under “reports to.” Address your letter to that individual.
2. Figure out what problems this role is meant to solve for that person. Then, concisely phrase in your cover letter how and why your experience can and will resolve those problems.

The key here is research — by looking into who you’ll be reporting to and learning more about that person’s leadership style, you’ll be better prepared to tailor your cover letter to focus on how you provide solutions for her. Not sure how to learn more about a leader’s personality? Check out any content she shares on social media, or use Growthbot’s Personality Profile feature.

2. The Brutally Honest Cover Letter

Then, there are the occasions when your future boss might appreciate honesty — in its purest form. Livestream CEO Jesse Hertzberg, by his own admission, is one of those people, which might be why he called this example “the best cover letter” (which he received while he was with Squarespace):

Source: Title Needed

As Hertzberg says in the blog post elaborating on this excerpt — it’s not appropriate for every job or company. But if you happen to be sure that the corporate culture of this prospective employer gets a kick out of a complete lack of filter, then there’s a chance that the hiring manager might appreciate your candor.

“Remember that I’m reading these all day long,” Hertzberg writes. “You need to quickly convince me I should keep reading. You need to stand out.”

3. The Cover Letter That Explains ‘Why,’ Not Just ‘How’

We’ve already covered the importance of addressing how you’ll best execute a certain role in your cover letter. But there’s another question you might want to answer: Why the heck do you want to work here?

The Muse, a career guidance site, says that it’s often best to lead with the why — especially if it makes a good story. We advise against blathering on and on, but a brief tale that illuminates your desire to work for that particular employer can really make you stand out.

Source: The Muse

Here’s another instance of the power of personalization. The author of this cover letter clearly has a passion for this prospective employer — the Chicago Cubs — and if she’s lying about it, well, that probably would eventually be revealed in an interview.

Make sure your story is nonfiction, and relatable according to each job. While we love a good tale of childhood baseball games, an introduction like this one probably wouldn’t be fitting in a cover letter for, say, a software company. But a story of how the hours you spent playing with DOS games as a kid led to your passion for coding? Sure, we’d find that fitting.

If you’re really passionate about a particular job opening, think about where that deep interest is rooted. Then, tell your hiring manager about it in a few sentences.

4. The Straw (Wo)man Cover Letter

When I was in the throes of my own job search and reached one of the later stages, a friend said to me, “For the next job you apply for, you should just submit a picture of yourself a stick figure that somehow represents you working there.”

Et voilà:

I never did end up working for the recipient of this particular piece of art, but it did result in an interview. Again, be careful where you send a cover letter like this one — if it doesn’t match the company’s culture, it might be interpreted as you not taking the opportunity seriously.

Be sure to pair it with a little bit of explanatory text, too. For example, when I submitted this picture-as-a-cover letter, I also wrote, “Perhaps I took the ‘sense of humor’ alluded to in your job description a bit too seriously.”

5. The Overconfident Cover Letter

I’ll admit that I considered leaving out this example. It’s rife with profanity, vanity, and arrogance. But maybe, in some settings, that’s the right way to do a cover letter.

A few years ago, Huffington Post published this note as an example of how to “get noticed” and “get hired for your dream job”:

Source: Huffington Post

Here’s the thing: if the Aviary cited in this letter is the same Aviary I researched upon discovering it, then, well, I’m not sure this tone was the best approach. I read the company’s blog and looked at the careers site, and neither one indicates that the culture encourages this — or lowercasing proper nouns like “Google,” for which I personally cannot forgive the applicant …

However, Aviary was acquired by Adobe in 2014, and this letter was written in 2011. So while it’s possible that the brand was a bit more relaxed at that time, we wouldn’t suggest submitting a letter with that tone to the company today. That’s not to say it would go unappreciated elsewhere — Doug Kessler frequently discusses the marketers and brands that value colorful language, for example.

The point is, this example further illustrates the importance of research. Make sure you understand the culture of the company to which you’re applying before you send a completely unfiltered cover letter — if you don’t, there’s a good chance it’ll completely miss the mark.

6. The Interactive Cover Letter

When designer Rachel McBee applied for a job with the Denver Broncos, she didn’t just write a personalized cover letter — she designed an entire digital, interactive microsite:

Source: Rachel McBee

This cover letter — if you can even call it that — checks off all of the boxes we’ve discussed here in a remarkable way. It concisely addresses and organizes what many hiring managers hope to see in any cover letter: how her skills lend themselves to the role, why she wants the job, and how to contact her.

She even includes a “traditional” body of text at the bottom, with a form that allows the reader to easily get in touch with her.

7. The ‘We’re Meant for Each Other’ Cover Letter

This last cover letter example is a special one because it was submitted to us here at HubSpot. What does the letter do well? It makes a connection with us before we’ve even met the letter’s author.

“Content Marketing Certified” indicates the applicant has taken the content marketing certification course in our HubSpot Academy (you can take the same course here). Our “records” indicate he/she did indeed give an interview with us before — and was a HubSpot customer. 

The cover letter sang references to a relationship we didn’t even know we had with the candidate.

The letter ends with a charming pitch for why, despite him/her not getting hired previously, our interests complement each other this time around.

(Yes, the applicant was hired). 

Take Cover

We’d like to add a sixth stage to the job search: experimentation.

In today’s competitive landscape, it’s so easy to feel defeated, less-than-good-enough, or like giving up your job search. But don’t let the process become so monotonous. Have fun discovering the qualitative data we’ve discussed here — then, have even more by getting creative with your cover letter composition.

We certainly can’t guarantee that every prospective employer will respond positively — or at all — to even the most unique, compelling cover letter. But the one that’s right for you will. That’s why it’s important not to copy these examples. That defeats the purpose of personalization.

So get creative. And, by the way — we’re hiring.

A PR campaign can have a long-lasting impact on your brand’s reputation and public image. But it must be well-planned.

An effective PR campaign is more than just a press release on a new product or a fundraiser to raise brand awareness. To create a remarkably effective PR campaign, you need to take some big extra steps.

If done right, your PR campaign can attract national (and positive) media attention, boost sales drastically, and create a positive relationship between your company and the public for years to come. To help you reach these heights with your next PR campaign, we’ve compiled ten effective tips.

10 Pro Tips for Running an Effective PR Campaign

Before Releasing Your Message

1. Set a Goal, its Limitations, and Metric of Success:

It’s important to start with a big-picture goal. What do you hope to achieve with your campaign? Do you want to reach a new audience? Do you want to boost sales on a product? Do you want to build a positive relationship with the public?

Once you’ve chosen a big-picture goal, narrow it down further — for which product in particular do you want to boost sales? For what do you want your brand to be known? Take into account how big your budget is and whether there should be a deadline. By laying a campaign roadmap, you’re giving yourself a focused metric to measure your success.

2. Know Your Audience

Before you can choose how you want to deliver your PR message, you must decide who you want to receive it. Take the time to establish which customer persona you want this campaign to reach. For instance, if you’re targeting families, you might want to create a campaign that expresses a family-first message, or demonstrates why the brand cares how its product affects loved ones.

3. Choose the Right Platform

Once you’ve decided on a target persona, you’ll want to choose your preferred platform for delivering your message — for instance, does your ideal audience prefer TV or radio? A press release or a press conference? This information will help you strategize everything else.

4. Find Your Creative Angle

No one says you can’t run a successful campaign on small news, like a company award, but your story must be interesting to the public. Luckily, every story has a creative angle. Look at it from the public’s point of view. Why should they care? If your business just won the award, “Best Cycle Studio in Brooklyn,” ask yourself what about this award is important to your customers. The right editorial hook is often what makes someone want to learn more. For example, “We Won Best Cycle Studio in Brooklyn, Beating Out Big-Names like Soul Cycle, Only 6-Months After Opening.”

5. Write an Exceptional Press Release

If you want journalists to help you, you need to help them. Rather than writing a press release like a promotion, i.e. “Our New Phone Is Now Available,” write one with a strong news angle: “One Local Cell Phone Shop Hopes to Compete with Apple’s iPhone.” See the difference? The first press release option is really just an advertisement. The second option is a story. Include relevant quotes from employees or industry leaders, and include all the necessary information a journalist might need.

6. Distribute Wisely

Once you’ve figured out your newsworthy angle, distribute to media publications that are relevant to your industry. You can even send the story to local TV or radio stations. It’s imperative you’ve done your research on media companies by visiting their website and seeing how much your industry influences the publication’s news stream. Remember, media outlets don’t care that you’re opening a new Italian restaurant — but they do care about an interesting story, like, “Convenient meals for large families is an untapped market in [this city], and a new Italian restaurant is heeding this demand.”

7. Build Relationships with Journalists

While this is a more long-term approach, you can certainly start building relationships with journalists during your campaign. Instead of sending your story to a generic news desk, identify the names of journalists who most often write about topics related to your industry. Email, call, or even try reaching out to specific reporters via their Twitter handle with your story, so you can begin building a long-term relationship with someone who might be willing to write about your company again in the future.

After Releasing Your Message

8. Link Building

Once your story begins spreading throughout the media, it’s critical that you take advantage of the traction you’re getting for a long-term boost to your website’s domain authority.

First, check out Fresh Web Explorer and Google News — with Google News, you can even set up an alert for your company so you don’t need to check the press manually. Whenever you see your company or campaign mentioned, send an email to the journalist who wrote the article, or the publication itself. Here’s what you can say:

“Hello,

I hope you’re well. I’ve just finished reading one of your articles entitled [insert title here] — an interesting and enjoyable read!

I’ve noticed during the article you mentioned [insert campaign or company name here]. I was wondering if you could add a link to [insert link here]. Hopefully this will give your readers additional information if they wish to research them further.

Let me know if you can help!

Kind regards,

John Smith”

By phrasing this as a benefit to the publication’s readers, you’re giving the journalist a good incentive to add a link back to your site.

9. Social Shares

Similar to link building, asking media outlets who published your article to share it on their social channels is an effective method to attract a large audience to your campaign. For instance, if your story is picked up by Cosmopolitan, why not try to reach some of their 2.2 million Instagram followers? 

Since social media moves fast, you’ll want to email a publication immediately when your story goes live to ask if their social media manager might be willing to share it while it’s still fresh.

10. Write a Company Blog Post

If your campaign is successful, you’ll likely see an increase in visits to your website. Capitalize on this increased traffic by writing your own blog post, detailing the same information you wrote in your press release. This will enable your business to provide relevant information to people who want to learn more about your campaign and the services you provide.

PR Campaign Examples

Now, let’s take a look at some PR campaigns that crushed it using the steps above.

1. Burger King called attention to National Bullying Prevention Month by staging two different types of “bullying” and seeing which one bystanders cared more about. Check out this creative and moving analogy in the video below (full disclosure, I teared up a bit). It’s clear Burger King did its research on Bullying Prevention Month’s target audience, and delivered the campaign’s message on the platform best-suited for the high school demographic.

2. When a company makes brand changes, users often end up feeling frustrated, particularly when they don’t understand the reason for the change. When Airbnb launched its new “the Bélo” logo, some Airbnb’s users were critical of the change. To combat criticism, the company produced a video explaining the story behind the new logo, and even created a “custom experience” so Airbnb users could personalize their own Bélo logos.

To alleviate frustration further, Airbnb’s corporate CEO, Brian Chesky, sent a webinar to active users explaining the purpose behind the logo change. This is an effective strategy for building stronger relationships with an audience, who will likely support your brand more if they feel properly informed of big decisions. Plus, Airbnb turned their company news into a story that interested media outlets by affiliating the new logo with a bigger message.

3.AXA, a French multinational insurance firm, needed to spread awareness to Chinese parents that wearing seatbelts is necessary for their children’s safety. To do this, AXA produced a video and education program involving various schools throughout the country. Over six-months, more than 125,000 children and parents learned about seatbelt safety in one of these education programs. After the campaign, a study showed 77% positively linked AXA with the citizenship campaign, and consumers considering AXA insurance increased from 25% to 34%. See? PR can make money! This campaign exemplifies a PR strategy that established a goal, spreading seatbelt-safety awareness, and determined specific metrics to report its level of success.

4. Before the #IceBucketChallenge, I barely ever heard anyone talk about ALS. In an attempt to use PR to spread awareness, the ALS association created the #IceBucketChallenge, which instructed one person to record a video of themselves dumping a bucket of ice over their head and then nominate three friends to do the same through social media. It became remarkably viral — several celebrities, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, participated, and it spread rapidly via social media. In 2013, ALS association’s campaign raised about $2.8 million in donations; in 2017, the year of the #IceBucketChallenge campaign, the ALS association raised over $100 million. The ALS association determined an effective platform to deliver their message, and also chose an incredibly creative angle for optimal virality.

5. In 2003, Dove chose to use real women in its advertisements rather than using stick-thin models to sell Dove products, and called its PR campaign, “Campaign for Real Beauty.” The brand produced the campaign with an advertisement featuring six ordinary women in their underwear– which was unprecedented and thus a creative angle to take. The campaign helped Dove improve its brand reputation by drawing attention to their unprecedented ads, and boosted sales by 700%.

Image credit to Dove Real Beauty Campaign.

When a video pops up on your Facebook feed, what do you usually do first? My guess is that you take a peek at its length, ponder whether it’s worth your time, and let that thought process influence whether or not you press play.

Once you do actually press play, how many times have you abandoned the video just a few seconds in and scrolled down to the next post? I know I have. I don’t finish half the Facebook videos I start.

It seems impossible to hold people’s attention nowadays. Phones buzz with distracting notifications and promise instant gratification, tempting people to check their screens every five minutes. This has diminished the human attention span so much, some studies claim it’s now shorter than a goldfish’s.

Video marketers know we lack patience. So they’re starting to tailor content for our dwindling attention spans. In fact, 56% of all videos published in the last year are less than 2 minutes long.

But marketers must innovate further because users expect different video lengths on different platforms. Odds are, they’re more willing to watch a 2-minute long video on YouTube than on Twitter.

If you don’t customize video length for each platform, then you’re not fully catering to your audience. Sooner or later, the attention they give to your brand will wither away.

That’s why we decided to create this handy, bookmarkable infographic about the optimal video length for the most popular video channels. To help you better engage your audience on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, we extracted insights from HubSpot’s own social and YouTube data, and combined it with existing research in the area. 

We also provided a video example for each channel, if you ever need some inspiration.

So check out the infographic below and start creating optimized videos for these four native video platforms!

HubSpot Video Examples for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube

Instagram: State of Inbound (30 Seconds)

 

A post shared by HubSpot (@hubspot) on May 17, 2017 at 6:21am PDT

There’s a lot of speculation around how long Instagram videos can be in general — especially since the company is known to change the maximum. Currently, they cap out at 60 seconds.

The original State of Inbound video on YouTube is two and half minutes long. How long should the Instagram video be? We cut this one down to 30 seconds for this platform so it would meet our audience’s time length expectations.

You might wonder how a video that’s one-fifth the length of the original version could successfully promote our annual research report. Well, it’s because our audience couldn’t keep their eyes off such a clear, concise, and dynamic video.

Viewers who watch the first 3 seconds of a video are most likely to finish it, so we made sure our video hooked them with a vivid first frame.

After that, we held our audience’s attention by constantly cutting to new frames and animating the video’s graphics. The voiceover and subtitles also conveyed the video’s main takeaway well.

Twitter: Summer Startup (~45 Seconds)

Imagine winning $100,000 + mentoring from @JaySimons (@Atlassian), @PattyMccord1 (@netflix), @dharmesh (@HubSpot)? Enter on Facebook now 👉 pic.twitter.com/kI1yF3oUkE

— HubSpot (@HubSpot)
June 27, 2017

Our Summer Startup video on Facebook is 1 minute long. But we cut it down to 44 seconds on Twitter — a tad shorter than the optimal length of Twitter videos, according to our research.

This video resonated with our audience because they felt a personal connection to each of the faces we presented. People respond well to the human face. It captures their attention, builds familiarity and trust, and evokes emotion.

And since enthusiasm is contagious, the thrilled faces we showcased injected a lot of excitement into our viewers.

Facebook: Monthly Social Media Round Up: April Edition (60 Seconds)

When we analyzed our Facebook data, we discovered our audience engages the most with videos right under 1 minute. So we decided to cap most of our Facebook videos at around 60 seconds.

We also discovered that 95% of viewers watch our videos on mute. This meant we needed to ensure they understood each video’s key point without hearing a single word.

We crafted a lot of our Facebook videos like the one you just saw because the subtitles clearly communicate the video’s insights while the visuals provide context and absorb our viewers’ attention.

YouTube: Topic Clusters: The Next Evolution of Content Strategy (2 Minutes)

On YouTube, our audience engages the most with videos right under two minutes. So we try to keep them around 120 seconds.

That might not seem like enough time to dig into a substantial topic, but think about how long YouTube videos should be to cover a concept that would take a blog post 1,000 words to explain.

The 2-minute video above does just that, complimenting an article that might take the average blog visitor 10 minutes to read. This saves our audience time and heaves a mental load off of their shoulders.

Short but potent videos aren’t just a recording of yourself reading a script, though. Since the human brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, you need to leverage dynamic graphics and visual storytelling so your audience can quickly grasp your message. If you don’t, your video will elapse the optimal length and wilt your viewers’ attention.

 

I got the image above for free on Unsplash.

Yet for some reason, many publishers continue to push out cheap (and usually cheesy) stock photography to serve as a representation of their brand.

The truth is, high-quality stock photos don’t have to come hand-in-hand with a hassle or high price tag. To prove it, we’ve compiled a list of 20 awesome resources for free, high-quality stock images for websites, blogs, and similar online properties.

From enviable office spaces to stunning scenery, we’re certain you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for with the help of this roundup.

(HubSpot customers, get access to 60,000 totally free Shutterstock photos right within your portal by clicking here.)

20 of the Best Free Stock Photo Websites for Royalty-Free Images

1. Negative Space

Negative Space offers up new free stock photos every week. All of its photos are shared without copyright restrictions, meaning you’re free to use them however you please.

From architecture to technology, Negative Space’s continuously growing collection of images is one you’ll find yourself tapping into again and again. The best part? It’s easy to filter through the gallery of photos, which are sortable by category, copy space position, and color.

Click here to view the full license details.

2. Death to Stock

When founders and photographers, Allie and David, noticed how challenging it was for businesses, bloggers, and creatives to find free high-quality images that fit their “vibe and tribe,” they stepped in.

As a result, Death to Stock was born. Simply submit your email and enjoy a new batch of photos delivered to your inbox every month.

If you do have some extra budget to spend, Death to Stock also offers a Premium membership for $15/month or $180/year. The cool part about the paid membership is that a percentage of the profit is used to fund photography trips and other creative projects to keep the resource moving forward.

Click here to view the full license details.

3. Picjumbo

Need free images for your next website design or blog post? Look no further than picjumbo.

With new photos added daily, there is a wide selection of high-quality images to fit a variety of different topics.

The photographer, Vicktor, also offers unique paid packages for bloggers, designers, and agencies (starting at $10/month), as well as a handy plugin for Photoshop and Sketch for just $7.99.

Click here to view the full license details.

4. Stokpic

Photographer Ed Gregory generously dishes up 10 new photos every two weeks that you can use on your website, as part of a template, in an ad, and … well, pretty much anywhere.

You can check out his latest 100 pictures here, or browse through categories like landscapes, people, and technology until you find the perfect fit.

Click here to view the full license details.

5. Kaboompics

Karolina, a web designer from Poland, is the creative eye behind this awesome resource for high-quality photos. From fashion to food to landscapes, her images cover a variety of different scenarios. And users have the freedom to use them for anything they’d like — commercial or not.

While there are no formal attribution requirements, Karolina does ask that you include photo credit with a link back to the site when possible. This request will help her grow the website, and in turn, provide even more awesome photos for everyone to use.

Click here to view the full license details.

6. Startup Stock Photos

“Take ’em, these things are free. Go. Make something.”

With a Twitter tagline like this, it’s tough not to scoop up what Startup Stock Photos has to offer.

While the name is specific to startups, there are plenty of professional options to use no matter what industry you’re operating within.

Click here to view the full license details.

7. Freerange

All of the photos on the Freerange website come from a pool of both in-house photographers, as well as a growing community of external contributors.

Not only is there a lot to choose from, but the photos are good quality, too: “Images provided directly (in-house) by Freerange Stock originate one of two ways. They are either digitally photographed on Canon DSLR cameras or they are a high resolution (4000 dpi) Nikon scan of an original 35mm slide,” according to the site’s ‘About Us’ section.

Click here to view the full license details.

8. LibreShot

Photographer and SEO Consultant Martin Vorel is the creative force behind the stunning photos available on this site.

From crisp architectural shots to vibrant florals, Vorel’s collection of photos contains some of the most unique selections we’ve come across.

Click here to view the full license details.

9. Fancy Crave

Not only are the photos on Fancy Crave free of copyright restrictions, but they’re also pretty remarkable. (Can’t you practically taste those green grapes?)

All the photographer asks is that you never advertise the photographs as your own, and provide attribution when and if you can.

With two new photos uploaded daily to keep things feeling fresh, this is a bookmark-worthy resource for great photos if we’ve ever seen one.

Click here to view the full license details.

10. Unsplash

Unsplash serves up 10 new “do whatever you want” photos every 10 days.

What we love most about this resource is the uniqueness of the photos. With pages upon pages to choose from, you won’t run into any cheesy, “Smiling Boss Shaking Hands With Male Employee” shots.

Not to mention, every photo published on Unsplash is licensed under Creative Commons Zero, which provides users with the freedom to copy, modify, distribute, and use all of the photos without permissions or attribution.

Click here to view the full license details.

11. StockSnap.io

StockSnap.io proudly claims that it’s “not your typical crappy stock photo site.” And we couldn’t agree more.

In fact, its selection is so interesting and versatile that it’s almost too easy to “fall down the rabbit hole” and come to fifty-something scrolls later.

Click here to view the full license details.

12. SplitShire

SplitShire offers a ton of awesome free photos for you to use without commercial restrictions. Powered by Italian photographer Daniel Nanescu, all of the images available on the website are “made with love” — and it shows.

From stunning portraits to sleek work stations, we’ve got a feeling you won’t have any trouble finding the perfect photo for your next project or blog post.

Click here to view the full license details.

13. Life of Pix

Brought to you by Leeroy Advertising Agency in Montreal (and its network of talented photographers), Life of Pix is home to some awesome high-resolution photos.

All of the images are donated to the public domain, and are available for personal and commercial use.

As if that wasn’t enough, Life of Pix also has a counterpart, Life of Vids. According to its website, Life of Vids serves up free footage videos, clips, and loops, weekly. Like the images, the video content contains no copyright restrictions, and can be easily downloaded on its Vimeo account.

Click here to view the full license details.

14. Pexels

These photos are carefully handpicked from a variety of free image sources to ensure that you’re getting only the best of the best.

All of the photos that make the cut are under the Creative Commons Zero license, meaning that they are free for personal and commercial use with no attribution required. And thanks to its search functionality, turning up the right photo for your next project is super easy.

Click here to view the full license details.

15. HubSpot

You didn’t think we’d leave you hanging, did you?

When we noticed there was a shortage of high-quality free stock photos available to marketers and creatives, we decided to whip up some of our own.

Check out the following collections to get your fix:

• 80 Assorted Photos
• 75 More Assorted Photos
• 160 Business-Themed Photos
• 250 Holiday-Themed Photos

16. Gratisography

With new photos added weekly, Gratisography is another awesome website serving up high-resolution photos covered under the Creative Commons Zero license.

All of the photos are taken by Ryan McGuire, a “whimsically creative visual artist, based in Ithaca, NY.” And while these photos are a bit more quirky (we’re talking everything from monster feet slippers to Vespas to bananas), they are entirely usable for the right project.

Click here to view the full license details.

17. Jay Mantri

Designer Jay Mantri has built up an impressive gallery of professional, quality images just for you and me … and everyone else.

If I had to describe Mantri’s photos in one word, it’d be “scenic.” But don’t just take my word for it. Go see for yourself.

Click here to view the full license details.

18. ISO Republic

ISO’s Republic’s mission is to “provide high-quality images to be used by designers, developers, bloggers, marketers, and social media teams.”

And all it takes is one quick scan of the website to know that it is succeeding in doing just that. (So much so that it’s hard to believe the images are free)

For those looking for access to more exclusive free photos, ISO Republic invites you to sign up for its email list and receive photos right to your inbox.

Click here to view the full license details.

19. New Old Stock

Who can resist a good black and white photo?

This collection of vintage photos comes from the public archive via Flickr Commons. According to the website, the photos are free of any known copyright restrictions.

That said, while it’s likely that they are safe to use for things like blog posts and hero images, you’ll want to read up on the rights and usage below before you use them for any type of commercial project.

Click here to view the full license details.

20. Pixabay

Pixabay serves as a repository for a ton of quality photos that released under Creative Commons CC0 into the public domain. The site is clean and intuitive, making it easy to navigate your way through the 780K+ free photos, vectors, and illustrations.

The main search bar even allows you to filter your query down by factors like media type, orientation, color, and minimum dimensions.

Click here to view the full license details.