Extend Your Personal Brand with Gravatar

(MoneyWatch)  An avatar is an image of you (or your company logo) that gets attached to various online activities, like forum comments and blog posts.

Gravatar is a free service that automatically attaches your avatar to sites and services that support it -- one of which is BNET! It's ridiculously convenient and a potentially golden marketing tool.

Here's a video that explains how Gravatar (short for "Globally Recognized avatar") works and why you'll absolutely positively want to sign up for it:


Neat, huh? If you're already signed up with Gravatar (and you used the same e-mail address to register as a BNET commenter), you should be seeing your avatar alongside current and future comments. If not, it's a simple matter to create an account and upload your avatar.

I like how the service lets you choose your image from any number of sources: the Web, your hard drive, or even your Webcam (if you want to snap something on the spot). It also lets you crop the image as needed, which is great for highlighting, say, your face or company logo.

Remember: sometimes brand-building is as simple as making your brand visible in as many places as possible. Gravatar helps you accomplish that goal, and doesn't charge a dime for it. What's not to like?