I grew up posting in the Autodesk discussion forums. I recall the early days of using network newsreaders instead of browsers. So when I got a chance to be a blogger, one thing that stuck in my mind was that unlike the newsgroups, blog articles could have pictures. With this in mind, I always try to start my blog posts with something that would catch one's attention. I use the Fotolia service that allows me to buy images for about a dollar each. This pales in comparison to what some marketing campaigns pay for imagery. I try to use a mix of men, women, children, and sometimes groups.

http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/its-alive-in-the-lab-photo-log.html

Saving a thousand words is alive in the lab.