Recently in one of my comments TipTopCat asked:

Question: Love your favicon and your profile pic. I see you have details about how to do the favicon but how do you create the cartoon profile pic?  Think I would like to add one to my site.

I’m not a graphic designer so Photoshop, Fireworks, or some other photo editing or graphics software was out of the question for me.  After doing some digging around I came across several sites that either allow you to upload a picture of yourself, or start with a blank canvas and create a cartoon pic, or avatar that is exactly how you want it.

I used one of these generators to create the cartoon pic that you see on the site here – what’s great is that you can then also use it in forums, on Twitter, and all of the other places where you have a presence.

Whether it’s photos or a cartoon avatar, creating someone your readers can connect with is a great way to get on a more personal level.  I recently wrote about using a persona Create a Persona to Connect With Readers & Convey Personality, that explains how being personal creates a deeper connection with your site visitors.

Here are some cool cartoon generators (most of them are free) so you can create your very own cartoon you:

Meez

Portrait Illustration Maker

Mii

Face Your Manga

WeeMee

Create My Picture

DoppelMe

Create South Park Avatar

Cartoon Me