Advertising

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Moop
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Advertising

Post by Moop »

Have any of the admins ever discussed advertising AB? A forum whose membership is dwindling away could probably use the boost, since lack of exposure may be one of the bigger issues. I doubt this place has much of in the way of an actual budget, but there are still animation art dealers out there, even some fairly large ones (Van Eaton Galleries comes to mind, although they may be above that sort of thing :sweatdrop ), and maybe some would be interested in small, reciprocal banners - theirs on our site and ours on theirs. It seems to me that for them, advertising on a forum consisting entirely of collectors would make it pretty much a win-win all around. Just a vague sort of thought.
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Angelic-Lair
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Re: Advertising

Post by Angelic-Lair »

But isn't Beta currently set up as invite-only? It might be better to remove that feature before trying to encourage membership through advertisement.

Having said that, Rubberslug would seem the likely first target for such a program. Not too sure how that would go, though, considering how busy Jason is already.

Another thought would be to create a dealer area within Beta for dealers and deputies to advertise their stuff for sale. Encourage them to participate, offer specials for Beta members, etc. It might help draw people in and create a back-and-forth with dealers and deputies to help establish advertisement practices.

Just a thought. :)
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Moop
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Re: Advertising

Post by Moop »

As I understand it from the "Registration on Anime-Beta" post in the "Please Read" section, all someone has to do is drop an email to userissues@anime-beta.com and they will be allowed on the board. It's really just a method of allowing humans while keeping the bots at bay. Deadly Whispers used to man that email address...whether or not someone is still at the other end of it is a mystery to me!

The problem with AB is that it is essentially immune to searches, so no one knows it's here...hence the idea of advertising. :^^:
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Re: Advertising

Post by Angelic-Lair »

We understand what it is, Moop. It just seemed like an extra (possibly unnecessary) hurdle that might deter some people from taking part.
It was just a suggestion,as was your idea of advertising. :)

We'd be willing to help out if we can with the advertising idea if anyone is able to get something going with dealers/deputies.
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Moop
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Re: Advertising

Post by Moop »

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be Captain Obvious, I was just thinking aloud. lol, I'd've given it a try myself once upon a time, but I believe that the last time I bought a cel from a dealer was...maybe five years ago? So I vote *not* me for having any dealer/client relationships that are worth a, um, darn. :run
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Re: Advertising

Post by Jadeduo »

Sounds like an interesting idea, especially as many dealers used to be on Beta but have stopped posting here as membership dwindled. I know Robert Robichert is always posting to the forsale page for Takamura Store we could totes PM him and ask.

Someone could ask Kurt from Asylum but their site is worse than Beta as far as getting updates. Although their Facebook is pretty active. I've bought maybe 1 thing from Link in 10 years, so for me that is out.

I've been going to conventions and doing cel panels as well as numerous other projects. I also have a card that I hand out at the panels, with my gallery, Beta's Addy, and my Handle on it so they can shoot me an e-mail if they would like to join Beta, I've only sent like 6 or 7 new invites as result, but some progress is better than NO progress :). I am hoping Otakon will do better than the two small FL cons I did last year.

JD
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Angelic-Lair
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Re: Advertising

Post by Angelic-Lair »

Getting the word out at conventions is a great idea, JD! :D

Another quick and easy way to advertise would be for the active members here to put a link to Beta in the "links" section of their RS sites.
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Re: Advertising

Post by sensei »

It may not do much to attract the normal anime art collector, but I did Image write an academic article about the "virtual community" dynamics of Beta and got it published in a fairly high-profile anthology of articles on new trends in folk culture: http://www.usu.edu/usupress/books/index.cfm?isbn=8893 And I put a QR code for Beta on the page where I introduced the website. It is used as a textbook as well as a library reference, so I'd guess we get a certain number of curious lurks from undergraduates as a result.

More constructively, I wonder if the idea of generating an animation art wiki as a companion to Beta might have merit. We have discussed the idea of a new "FAQ" with info from and links to important threads on this site, discussing perennial topics such as framing, proper storage of cels, removing stuck dougas, vinegar syndrome, etc. Creating a wiki that would make visible use of the important ideas housed here would give Beta more visibility, without creating issues of internal vulnerability that the old format did. I have seen previously valuable forums destroyed quickly by an influx of spambots, and I'd like this not to happen here. But obviously making it too much of a gated community also potentially dooms it in another way -- by cutting off the new blood that is needed for any vital community.
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Re: Advertising

Post by Kaona »

Moop wrote:As I understand it from the "Registration on Anime-Beta" post in the "Please Read" section, all someone has to do is drop an email to userissues@anime-beta.com and they will be allowed on the board. It's really just a method of allowing humans while keeping the bots at bay. Deadly Whispers used to man that email address...whether or not someone is still at the other end of it is a mystery to me!

The problem with AB is that it is essentially immune to searches, so no one knows it's here...hence the idea of advertising. :^^:
I'm the person manning userissues@anime-beta.com.

Sadly, I receive an average of one request to join each month. :l
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Moop
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Re: Advertising

Post by Moop »

^ Oh, dear. :O
sensei wrote:More constructively, I wonder if the idea of generating an animation art wiki as a companion to Beta might have merit. We have discussed the idea of a new "FAQ" with info from and links to important threads on this site, discussing perennial topics such as framing, proper storage of cels, removing stuck dougas, vinegar syndrome, etc. Creating a wiki that would make visible use of the important ideas housed here would give Beta more visibility, without creating issues of internal vulnerability that the old format did.
Again I'm clearly waaaaay behind in what has been discussed (all around sincere apologies if I repeat stuff that has been said ad nauseam), but that's an awesome idea. One could certainly hope that it would contribute to enlarging the forum, but even without that added benefit, it could be an invaluable reference. As cels become more and more a thing of the past, that sort of information may be harder to come by.
Jadeduo wrote:Although their Facebook is pretty active.
Erm, dumb question, but...does AB have a Facebook page?
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Re: Advertising

Post by sensei »

Moop wrote:does AB have a Facebook page?
We do! Not very heavily patronized, though.
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Re: Advertising

Post by Gabe »

Moop wrote:does AB have a Facebook page?
Another one
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Moop
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Re: Advertising

Post by Moop »

That's neat, sensei! I will have to stop by from time to time. :D

But...and please don't smack me for saying this...it doesn't contain the word 'cel' or 'animation art' or anything like that in the name, so it's pretty hard to find for anyone who doesn't know what they're looking for. (In fact, you can't even find it if you type 'anime beta' or 'rubberslug' into the search - instead, you only get the older page that Gabe linked. :sweatdrop) Maybe the wiki you were discussing could have a satellite FB page, with a horribly obvious and searchable name...?
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Re: Advertising

Post by sensei »

:wack

Dunno: I didn't set this up, so I can't take offense or the blame.

Anyhow, as I get closer to being back in the saddle again Image I'll look into the Wiki idea. The advantage is that it is not a single webmaster's creation or responsibility, but a community project. That could mean that a cadre of committed Betarians (plus a few lurkers who have privately emailed me about the idea) could register to contribute, and a page could be reviewed and revised by a number of experienced curators.

But I will have more to say about this once I do my research and have a clearer idea of what this will involve. Probably there will be the usual RS discussion thread before the Anime Art Collectors' Wiki (or some similar /ok lucid title) goes live.
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Re: Advertising

Post by Jadeduo »

GAHH I was just going to say the same thing @Sensei, and then the internet ate my post!

http://anime-beta.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=30629

Here is the thread if anyone is interested, Sensei started it before his surgery.

Also here is the post from over a year ago when I started becoming a crazy Beta cheerleader!

http://anime-beta.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=30230

We have done numerous things in the past year a lot of it already done and in progress. We've been able to have two contests without ANY drama that caused peeps to walk away for good and I think we've become stronger as a community lately!

Keep the poking going Moop! It's so good to have a second cheerleader!

JD
:vict
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