Comments on: PublisherForums Contest Reflections

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:14:06 +0000

In my opinion, it failed for two reasons. First, there is an absolute glut of web development sites/forums out there. And second, the simple premise of it was flawed. It’s one thing to pay someone to, say, write an article. But the guideline here is vague: you want them to post about…what? To me, it’d be like saying “$500 to whoever builds the best thingamajig.”

I think contests are better when they’re specific. Some sort of actual knowledge or skill based competition goes a long way, because a sense of accomplishment adds to the value of the prize. People are EARNING the prize, then. With mere post volume being the goal, no sense of accomplishment exists.

I realize the contest was a bit more nuanced than this, but I’m speaking in broad terms.

All this is irrelevant, though, because even if these prizes had garnered more signups and produced more posts, I think it’s obvious they would have been “soft” — it wouldn’t create any kind of self-sustaining user base. Many would leave or visit/post less often once the contest was over. Communities are fickle enough to begin with without being enticed by temporary prizes, IMO.

By: Avid reader

Avid reader — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 07:21:15 +0000

Consider this, time equals money so when you are writing your long replies you could instead be making a few more dollars on your sites….Just somthing to consider…

By: fry

fry — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 07:05:02 +0000

lol, you are a living joke, Tyler. First you whine about yet another failure and ask “So what do you guys think? Why did I fail? ”
But when people tell you why you failed you turn into an arrogant prick and tell them to leave your blog.
Pathetic.

You might want to type “chow” in your search box so you can see how many times you post about your God and how you are trying to copy him all the time. Truth hurts, doesn’t it?

If you don’t like to receive bad comments why don’t you just go back to playing games all day and working 2 hours instead of posting in your blog?

By: will

will — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 03:02:37 +0000

also, i don’t want to sound like a dick but you sound like a total fluke. Its like you know almost nothing about online marketing yet you make thousands a month. If anyone wants living proof of lucky people. Your looking at him, Tyler Cruz.

By: will

will — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 02:59:43 +0000

I was a member of your forum, and not because of the contest either. I was a member because i liked your blog and im also apart of pokerforums, I’ve already explained why i think this failed or why it would never work.

1. the rules are way to hard, you say it would only take 10 posts a day to reach minimum requirements for the highest post category? well what are we suppose to post when theres no real content on the site, at least not enough to allow ten posts a day.

2. the semi contests to receive points to win the bigger contents were totally dumb. even a funny story contest would of been better than that.

3. The reason your not getting tons of people in my opinion is because your basically another Digital Point. Your like the person who opens a super market right next to a Walmart. 90% of your target traffic is on DP and your left with the scraps.

4. Alot of people who visit these forums ask questions and want answers. Your forum gets a post like every 2-3 hours. DP you can ask a question and get answer’d 5 mins later. I’m sorry to say but im really suprised you managed to get that many user sign ups. Your in DP’s shadow, you cant expect to accomplish much with them in front of you.

By: Tyler Cruz

Tyler Cruz — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:30:22 +0000

I believe you’re referring to the fact that I had mentioned that I purchased a review on his blog? If you weren’t aware, John Chow is in the top 100 technorati and has over 4000 RSS subscribers. I was merely mentioning that I did take steps to advertise the contest.

If you find my blog boring then you are free to leave at any time you wish. So many people are quick to criticise yet keep returning for more…

By: fry

fry — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:25:32 +0000

Why do you keep talking about that Chow guy as if he were some sort of God? I’ve never heard of him and couldn’t care less about who he is or what he does, but seeing you go over and over about how you are trying to copy every move he does is boring. Instead of trying to be someone else’s shadow you need to be unique and stand out.

By: Tyler Cruz

Tyler Cruz — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:51:35 +0000

Thanks for telling me to “work more”. That’s pretty easy advice to give. Do you have any more specific tips or advice to help grow the forum?