Advertising DPC - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/08/2010 03:12:26 AM · #1

I think I am going to start doing some "Word of mouth" and some links from my websites to attract more good photographers here to DPC. I actually started my advertising, and got one registered member last week (so far), but I have to do more. Why? Because DPC seems like need new-blood. Even though website-theme is the same since 2002, content is pretty damn good, and it should be shared.

DPC should be mentioned at more places. Are you doing your share to expend DPC? or just waiting for this fire to go off slowly!

(I wonder if Joey Lawrence is mentioning DPC to the others, or Dean Zulich ( DeeRiot), or other great photographers we admire a lot! Hmmm?!)

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

09/08/2010 03:13:44 AM · #2

You will make it the "People of WalMart" of photo sites. :P

09/08/2010 03:15:25 AM · #3

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

You will make it the "People of WalMart" of photo sites. :P

Woodies are free at Isle 43

09/08/2010 10:39:54 PM · #4

I hear "Old" members are returning to DPC... HEY, I am one of them (and I think I am old enough). However, let's bring the young ones. You most likely know people who are interested in Photography... What place is better than DPC to learn the best? NONE. Other paces as cold as ice. Challenges here very unique, let's share

Langdon's idea.

09/09/2010 02:22:04 AM · #5

Want me to make a sexy photo featuring a girl in a DPC hat to use as an ad? LOL

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/09/2010 02:38:20 AM · #6

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Want me to make a sexy photo featuring a girl in a DPC hat to use as an ad? LOL

PURRRRRFECT :)

Leo

Apple iPhone Xr

09/09/2010 02:40:40 AM · #7

roz sure is plugging DPC...

.

Her article mentions DPC many, many, many times.

Simms

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/09/2010 03:12:54 AM · #8

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Want me to make a sexy photo featuring a girl in a DPC hat to use as an ad? LOL

Sigh - it`s getting boring already now.

Lets get it out of the way shall we..

Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese

There - now lets move on now shall we...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/09/2010 05:13:19 AM · #9

Originally posted by Simms:

Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese
Girls
Cheese

Nice sandwich there.

On the subject of promoting the site. Langdon is lucky that he's got a handful of loyal supporters, who are doing the word-of-mouth thing. I make a point of mentioning the site to anyone who's interested in photography.

Apart from word-of-mouth, the other effective way to draw new users is advertising - and that requires money. Of course, it's up to Langdon how much of his DPC revenue stream he wants to spend on that.

However, internet users are fickle. Look at what happened to Bebo and MySpace. When people saw a better option in Facebook.... in fact, not even a better option, but a place where all their friends were going, they left in their droves. And it seemed to happen overnight.

I've noticed the critical mass of DPC forum users has declined significantly in the past year. During the day EU time it drops to perhaps one or two posts per hour.

I really don't think it's about site features. It's first and foremost about community. Content and features follow.

Simms

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/09/2010 07:43:06 AM · #10

Originally posted by JH:

I really don't think it's about site features. It's first and foremost about community. Content and features follow.

I (unsurprisingly) disagree. What I have observed is that people are obviously drawn to the site because of its content & features - that is, weekly photographic competitions. However to an outside observer the community actually looks very cliquey and closed. Lots of `in jokes` and site favourites etc. This kind of thing takes time for some to learn - I mean, references to JoeyL could quite easily fall on deaf ears - as much as he is achieving great things in the photographic world - not many people actually outside of this community know of him - not to the casual hobbyist. Now some new users can managed to get recognised in a new community quite quickly - generally by replying to every single posting on the forums regardless if it it to make a point or just say "Yeah" or "I agree" or "LOL" or whatever. Once they have `broken` into that community they are more than likely going to come back because of the community and the features/content will play second fiddle.

I am going to be honest here so it will probably sound very arrogant (ahem) - anyway, I daresay a lot of people also join up because they have bought a digital camera and have been told by friends/family that their photos are amazing, so they search Google for Digital Photography competitions and find this site (I daresay if we looked at the Google analytics for this site that would be a pretty popular search term) - they join up, enter a challenge and end up in the bottom 10% of the results - pride well and truly hurt, they don't come back. Maybe they see the community, in-jokes and all and think to do well you have to be popular. Maybe I am wrong, but intuition tells me that I may be partially right.

This is not saying the people here are unapproachable and wary of outsiders, we generally are not, however we are closeknit and to the casual observer that can be quite off putting.

However from other forums I have joined, observed and left, there is actually a lot less bickering on here than any of them - sure we all have disagreements from time to time, some more than others (ahem) but overall its actually a nice place to be. Why do you think I have stuck around for the past 9 years and 3 days?

If I was going to change something about the site, I would like to see Langdon (is Drew still part of the site) be a bit more active - I am not saying join in with the conversations, but maybe a Blog or something along those lines so we can see what ideas he is working on? His repsonses to certain requests etc.

I dont think DPC needs to be advertised exactly - I daresay it gets enough new traffic from google and other search engines - I just think it needs to be more accessible to new visitors and find ways of retaining them.

Suggestions? I dont know - how about challenges open only to new members, people who signed up 6 months ago or less, to give them a chance to cut their teeth and not feel so intimidated going up against some of the big guns on the site? I think I would certainly be more inclined to vote on challenges like that and commment a lot more - it would ease people into the community, it wouldn't be so hard for them to achieve results. They could still enter all the other challenges, but I think restricted challenges would certainly be a step in the right direction - you may even find new community of new users forming as a result. Maybe make these challenges more technique orientated (rule of thirds, natural light etc) you could also rotate them every 6 months so you wouldn`t have to rack your brains thinking up new challenges. New users could be made aware of these special challenges at the point of registration?

OK, so theres is one idea - its a bit `out there` but certainly a step in the right direction. Now, if we had a blog we could see what Langdon thought of that idea..

Discuss.

FourPointX

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

09/09/2010 07:57:26 AM · #11

Originally posted by Simms:

I am going to be honest here so it will probably sound very arrogant (ahem) - anyway, I daresay a lot of people also join up because they have bought a digital camera and have been told by friends/family that their photos are amazing, so they search Google for Digital Photography competitions and find this site (I daresay if we looked at the Google analytics for this site that would be a pretty popular search term) - they join up, enter a challenge and end up in the bottom 10% of the results - pride well and truly hurt, they don't come back.

+1 from personal experience, almost to a "t". With the exception, that I took my wounded pride from my 3.4xx and my $90 canon and kept shooting. I am still shooting snapshots that aren't ribbon quality but i've learned so much (composition technicals and pp) and enjoy myself thoroughly here.

And yes, it's very "cliquey". But I guess that's to be expected of any community site that has endured for this many years, no?

Joe

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

09/09/2010 08:55:18 AM · #12

Originally posted by Simms:

Originally posted by JH:

I really don't think it's about site features. It's first and foremost about community. Content and features follow.

I (unsurprisingly) disagree. What I have observed is that people are obviously drawn to the site because of its content & features - that is, weekly photographic competitions. However to an outside observer the community actually looks very cliquey and closed.

Yes, users are primarily drawn to the site by of the idea of having their photo voted on by other people. But I really think what keeps people here is the community. If you submitted a photo on a website where people voted anonymously and there were no forums you'd be less inclined to come back for more. It's the comments, the banter, and the forums that retain people.

tbh, I never viewed the community here as cliquey - but it's difficult for me to be objective as I'm not a newcomer. I can see how it could be interpreted that way.

Absolutely agree with your points re: Langdon's involvement. It was something I forgot to mention in my original post.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

09/09/2010 09:02:01 AM · #13

I think Simms has nailed a lot of it. There are many inactive users who entered one or two challenges and never came back. There are also a lot of lurkers, I know several of them. They get a lot from the site, but are afraid to get the shots they are proud of beat up in a challenge.

Speaking of which, I've been doing my part to bring fresh ~~meat~~ blood to DPC.

Korriban and his daughter

tgbooklover are some folks that I met on the WW Photowalk recently and they just joined up this a weekend. As you can tell from their averages, they are enjoying the "first challenge experience". I've warned them to wear their thickest skins.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

09/09/2010 09:12:44 AM · #14

Originally posted by JH:

Originally posted by Simms:

Originally posted by JH:

I really don't think it's about site features. It's first and foremost about community. Content and features follow.

I (unsurprisingly) disagree. What I have observed is that people are obviously drawn to the site because of its content & features - that is, weekly photographic competitions. However to an outside observer the community actually looks very cliquey and closed.

Yes, users are primarily drawn to the site by of the idea of having their photo voted on by other people. But I really think what keeps people here is the community. If you submitted a photo on a website where people voted anonymously and there were no forums you'd be less inclined to come back for more. It's the comments, the banter, and the forums that retain people.

tbh, I never viewed the community here as cliquey - but it's difficult for me to be objective as I'm not a newcomer. I can see how it could be interpreted that way.

Absolutely agree with your points re: Langdon's involvement. It was something I forgot to mention in my original post.

I've been here 1 3/4 years. The group doesn't seem cliquey, but I certainly felt like a newbie. People would talk about bringing DPL back, about master challenges, etc, and I had no clue what they were talking about. But any time you start something new, you're going to feel a little lost.

Of course when Art sent everyone a welcome basket except me, then I did feel like the new kid who was ignored on the playground. :P

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

09/09/2010 09:18:44 AM · #15

Originally posted by vawendy:

Of course when Art sent everyone a welcome basket except me, then I did feel like the new kid who was ignored on the playground. :P

Hey, you got birthday wishes! The DPC birthday fairy somehow misses mine every year. And I never got a welcome basket either. Besides, it's just filled with old cheese from the "reduced for quick sale" bin and Zilla treats. I'd rather have a Scooby snack, but those cost real money.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

09/09/2010 09:22:29 AM · #16

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Originally posted by vawendy:
Of course when Art sent everyone a welcome basket except me, then I did feel like the new kid who was ignored on the playground. :P

Hey, you got birthday wishes! The DPC birthday fairy somehow misses mine every year. And I never got a welcome basket either. Besides, it's just filled with old cheese from the "reduced for quick sale" bin and Zilla treats. I'd rather have a Scooby snack, but those cost real money.

Your wife is supposed to help you out with that -- the slacker! My husband was the sweet one that started the birthday thread, because he knows how much time I spend here. (he also logs on to my account frequently to check my scores when he's at work, and creates spreadsheets comparing my votes received to see if DPC is slowing down, scores over time, etc.)

ooh! Scooby snacks!

Message edited by author 2010-09-09 09:22:53.

09/09/2010 09:40:47 AM · #17

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

They get a lot from the site, but are afraid to get the shots they are proud of beat up in a challenge.

Hell, I think a lot of us veterans still have that fear occasionally...

09/09/2010 09:49:11 AM · #18

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09/09/2010 10:00:22 AM · #19

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09/09/2010 10:06:05 AM · #20

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09/09/2010 10:08:37 AM · #21

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ambaker

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

09/09/2010 11:51:45 AM · #22

I don't think anyone enjoys it when a picture that they thought was strong, tanks.

However constructive criticism is always welcome here. What I find off-putting is when you get a comment like, "You didn't really try, did you>", and the image was the result of hours worth of work. The image may have deserved a low score, but what may come easy to one, may be difficult to another.

I think Simms is pretty much correct. I do not believe we are a closed community. I was accepted into the ViewFinders for the DPL with open arms, despite my mediocre talent. However, I can see where some could think that we were a closed community if they were new to the site and reading some of the forums.

The only thing that really bothers me about advertising DPC is that, if there is an influx of new members, there are just that many more standing between me and a ribbon. ;-)

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

09/09/2010 12:04:07 PM · #23

Originally posted by ambaker:

What I find off-putting is when you get a comment like, "You didn't really try, did you>", and the image was the result of hours worth of work. The image may have deserved a low score, but what may come easy to one, may be difficult to another.

Yup. Got that one on a shot that I made a special trip for, and put hours worth of work into. It just didn't have much interest for most that voted, but telling me there was "clearly no effort behind it" was completely untrue. One cannot assume there was no effort, just because you don't care for it. I've also had shots do quite well that took very little effort.