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LenaGardner

LenaGardner

New member
about CT uploading requirements?

I have noticed a trend in the last few months at the sites I hit and I know I can't be the only one.

I upload my layouts to SSD, DST and MSA...pretty much the "requirements" by most designers here. I don't buy anything that isn't SSD, 99% of the time at least, so this is really my main gallery anymore. Sure, my DST gallery goes further back but I'm not thrilled about my older layouts anyway.

I have noticed that....not only are my layouts not getting comments at DST and MSA, but quite often they aren't even getting views...AT ALL. I can't tell you how many of my last dozen layouts at MSA have zero or one view. :mellow: And at DST, the demographic seems to have shifted to more non-native English speakers, so my comments there, unsolicited or from the Praise Game, are generally "great layout". I doubt anyone is running off to buy the product from that, kwim?

How productive is this? Is it really boosting sales?

I don't have time to play The Praise Game, Pass the Praise, and Sweet Layout Lovins. I understand that if I did that, I'd get *some* comments and exposure.

For the record, I'M NOT complaining about the lack of comments or views. I'm simply posing the question.....is it really worth my time to upload here there and everywhere? Is it really necessary for designers to require it?

I just finished up a guest gig with La and she only requires posting at her own gallery and here...with other galleries being optional, and honestly I think that's smarter. I will happily follow through with any instructions I'm given by my designers, but I am just wondering if I'm the only one feeling this way. :)
 
I really think the most effective galleries are store galleries... people who shop the store will go to the gallery and see if they like what's been done with a kit and then decide if they want to buy.... SSD is a great gallery because people are browsing and often looking to see if they need a kit. ;)
 
I upload to 4 galleries usually: here, DST, MSA, and TDC. I play the praise game here and usually get quite a few comments. I get a few at DST, and play the game there occasionally. The other 2 I don't play, and I'll get 1 or 2 comments. I don't really mind uploading to those 4 b/c it just doesn't take all that much time.
 
I do think it is effective. I know from gallery hopping that I have bought kits from designers I have never even heard of, based on the LO's. I play praise games on DST and here only. On DST to get more than 20 comments I do have to play a LO two times. Sometimes the comments are very generic, but sometimes they are also productive. I think that the more views you can get your designers, the better.
 
amystoffel said:
I think that the more views you can get your designers, the better.
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I agree with this statement.

The point I was making, though, is that so often lately those views are zero. Almost always less than 5. IDK, I guess maybe it is just my layouts :huh:
 
I upload to DST, MSA, OScraps and here for CT stuff (from here). Generally EVERY LO I do has a SSD product or two in it, so even non-ct stuff usually gets posted here.

I get very few comments at MSA or DST, probably because I do not reciprocate for the most part. I know this is bad of me, and I do feel badly, but if I have time to leave love, I will do it here. OScraps is amazing, at least to me, regarding comments, I always get some there. I used to be on two CTs over there, so it's just a habit to post there I guess, plus they are so nice.

I don't know if posting at MSA and DST are really worth it, unless you have time to play the praise game. Otherwise the bulk of layouts get ignored, I think, simply because there are so many posted all the time.
 
No Lena!!! Your pages are always fab! It's the galleries. I have tons of pages w/ no views. I hate playing the praise game at DST. I've done it for a CT (b/c I :wub: her) but I don't like doing it.
 
I agree Lena, my LOs rarely get any comments, anywhere I upload. My usual places are here, MSA, DST, SBB, TDC & SA ... and I get more comments at SBB and SA than anywhere else (sometimes more than here even). But I don't care about the comments/views. Sometimes it bothers me, but I am not active at the majority of the places I post at, really only make my "home" here.
 
I think I am too new, to really make any calls, BUT, I can say, that I UL to DST as well, since it is generally a CT req, and i RARELY get views, Never comments, I think 2 layouts of mine have comments, and one of those comments is from AmyStoeffel.. LOL!
I dont see it as very good "publicity" for a desginer, if no one takes the time to look at them... but that is just my opinion..
 
LenaBrandenburg said:
I agree with this statement.

The point I was making, though, is that so often lately those views are zero. Almost always less than 5. IDK, I guess maybe it is just my layouts :huh:
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It's not, Lena - it's just that DST and MSA are so HUGE - the galleries are massive. Unless you bring people to your layouts somehow, you don't get views. There's just no way around it in those massive galleries. I'm not defending either - they're just both big.
 
LenaBrandenburg said:
I agree with this statement.

The point I was making, though, is that so often lately those views are zero. Almost always less than 5. IDK, I guess maybe it is just my layouts :huh:
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ABSOULTELY NOT!! Your LO's are fab..:thumbup: I have NO layouts with more then 5 views, i dont think i even have ONE with five views...
 
awww, thanks girls. I wasn't meaning to beg for compliments, I really wasn't. :o . I do enjoy my layouts and that's really my biggest priority anyway :) It's not that I'm upset about getting low views/ comments. I'm just figuring...if they really aren't getting the views, what is truly the point of posting them? I only need one gallery to suit my needs.

I suppose if I were a really GREAT creative team member, I'd find the time to post in the games at all sites...that's really the only way to get a ton of views and comments :)
 
amystoffel said:
On DST to get more than 20 comments I do have to play a LO two times. Sometimes the comments are very generic, but sometimes they are also productive. I think that the more views you can get your designers, the better.
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I don't think this is entirely true. I think the ISO threads and layout examples sent with their ads get the designers more business than playing praise games at off sites. I've always said that great challenges (and the chance to earn a discount) BRING the people to a site and over time it's a natural transition to then start buying exclusively from that store because you develop friendships and loyalty to the place you call home.

I rarely have time to play the praise game. But I love sitting when I have a few minutes and browsing the gallery leaving some luv.
 
I do the praise game at DST only because it gets more views for my designers. Otherwise, I would't bother. I figure that posting here for my SSD designers may actually be less effective, because everybody here already knows and loves the SSD designers. Posting at DST may help to draw some new people? Just a theory.

I don't think that the praise game has to take a long time, though. It only take a minute to post a link and then you only need to comment on the person above you. Sure, it is nice to do more than that (and I usually do), but you don't have to.
 
It's not your LOs, Lena! This is one of the reasons I haven't sought out any additional CT committments. I agree that if there are no views it's not worth it, so I feel like doing what I can to get exposure for my CT LOs is part of what I'm agreeing to when I take on a CT. The posting, more than the scrapping, is time consuming!

The designer I CT for sells at 2 stores plus her personal site, so I post and comment at those 3 galleries (and SSD if it was a challenge LO) plus post and play the Praise Game at DST. I don't know if it gets her any sales, but at least I feel like I've done what I can. My personal LOs I upload to DST and SSD when appropriate. I comment if I have time and never play the Praise Game.
 
Totally totally agree... I don't think I rememberd to post my last two CT layouts at DST... ooops! I can't get that place to load for me, and spent more than an hour trying to get 'in' the last few times, so I've given up. It's sooo no worth my time. And I don't get a single view there either. (and the girls I CT for are SO SO worth praiseing even if my LO's stink!)
 
Lena, I have galleries at DST, MSA, Scrapartist and here. I NEVER get views or comments anywhere but here. And I am a comment freak. Sometimes I log on to the net just to cruise galleries. That is how I ended up here. I digiscrapped about a year and a half ago. I was a huge scrapartist fan. I also love Little Dreamer. Honestly, I just love Michelle Colemen. But I quickly got tired of posting and getting no response. So, I went back to paper scrapping. While I was in school last semester, I didn't scrap at all. Then during the summer I got bit by the scraping bug. I started surfing galleries to get ideas. And man did I hate it. The style had changed. I want layouts that I can do in paper if I choose to. I still like the feel of paper scrapping. Here, i found the style that best suits my taste. There is a ton of inspiration here. It doesn't look like a graphic image, it looks like a scrapbook page. KWIM? Once and a while I will peak at the other galleries, and you know what? The layouts I choose to comment end up being SSDers.
 
DST is the only one that works for me though. On MSA nothing. Maybe one or two comments....that is it. But I cant say that I am active there...so it's kind of a what goes around comes around.

As far as your scrapping not getting comments...that isnt it.

I think it's because of HOW many LO's are getting uploaded. They last less than a couple minutes in the main gallery. If you dont play praise, you will get nothing there!

I cant say that I enjoy doing the praise there. It seems sometimes...like a requirement. And yes, the european scrapping community...not that I have anything against them!!! has sort of taken over the comments and gallery standouts.

When I load a LO there, I only do it when I know I have about 10 or 15 mins to spare playing praise games. And even then I only leave praise for the page I am on! Which is kinda sucky of me. But I would rather leave praise here for the community I am more involved in.
 
I think that if we're not at least getting views for our layouts, maybe we're not doing our job as CT members. I don't get a lot of hits, and most of the ones I get come from playing praise or leaving love, but I *do* feel like I owe it to the people who give me their products for free to take the time to play the praise game, because what everyone has said is true--at MSA and DST the only way to get noticed is to be a "heavyweight" like Gina Miller or Cindy or to play praise. Being a total lightweight, I play praise. It doesn't take but ten minutes, and I doubt anyone who's hanging out here doesn't actually have time but more likely just doesn't TAKE the time to play. I'm not judging here, it's totally your choice whether you play praise or not, but you can't really complain about not getting views if you're not participating in the praise game.

I think this leads to the question, "Is it really wise of designers to have Creative Teams?" I think if a designer's personal CT is big AND the site CT is big, maybe they're actually LOSING business by giving away their products to all these folks. What do y'all think?
 
joelsgirl said:
I think that if we're not at least getting views for our layouts, maybe we're not doing our job as CT members. I don't get a lot of hits, and most of the ones I get come from playing praise or leaving love, but I *do* feel like I owe it to the people who give me their products for free to take the time to play the praise game, because what everyone has said is true--at MSA and DST the only way to get noticed is to be a "heavyweight" like Gina Miller or Cindy or to play praise. Being a total lightweight, I play praise. It doesn't take but ten minutes, and I doubt anyone who's hanging out here doesn't actually have time but more likely just doesn't TAKE the time to play. I'm not judging here, it's totally your choice whether you play praise or not, but you can't really complain about not getting views if you're not participating in the praise game.

I think this leads to the question, "Is it really wise of designers to have Creative Teams?" I think if a designer's personal CT is big AND the site CT is big, maybe they're actually LOSING business by giving away their products to all these folks. What do y'all think?
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There are a lot of really good questions in here, but honestly, does playing the praise game where you are only required to praise the person above you really help the designers cause? I think a lot of us here at SSD who play the praise game comment on more than just the one above us, yet a lot of times the amount of praise received is much less. I dunno, I guess I have mixed feelings. LOL

again, I think ISO threads and ads with layout examples of kits brings more business. I want to see what can be created from the gorgeous kits that I receive ads for not just the pretty package. A CT layout can be the deciding factor between whether I buy the kit or not.
 
I have to agree with Kellie. If I'm CT'ing for a designer, I feel it is my responsibility to try to play the praise game. I almost always do here, and I try to at DST when I have time. I always leave praise on several lo's at a time. I do usually get several views, even if I don't get many comments.
 
DawnMarch said:
I do the praise game at DST only because it gets more views for my designers. Otherwise, I would't bother. I figure that posting here for my SSD designers may actually be less effective, because everybody here already knows and loves the SSD designers. Posting at DST may help to draw some new people? Just a theory.
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I disagree with this. I know I've been luke warm about a kit from a preview, then seen a layout or 2 done in the Sneak Peek thread and suddenly HAD to have it...then..

I also think I've been lured into buying more stuff from scrappers blogs than galleries, but I could just be an odd ball.
 
joelsgirl said:
I think that if we're not at least getting views for our layouts, maybe we're not doing our job as CT members. I don't get a lot of hits, and most of the ones I get come from playing praise or leaving love, but I *do* feel like I owe it to the people who give me their products for free to take the time to play the praise game, because what everyone has said is true--at MSA and DST the only way to get noticed is to be a "heavyweight" like Gina Miller or Cindy or to play praise. Being a total lightweight, I play praise. It doesn't take but ten minutes, and I doubt anyone who's hanging out here doesn't actually have time but more likely just doesn't TAKE the time to play. I'm not judging here, it's totally your choice whether you play praise or not, but you can't really complain about not getting views if you're not participating in the praise game.
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I totally agree. If you're not willing to put in the time to get your layout viewed, then it's probably not worth your time to post there. I would argue that this is the case for ANY site not just DST or MSA. I know if I went over to TDC and just randomly posted, my layout would likely not get much attention. Is it really fair for me to expect it to if I'm not active over there and am basically drive-by posting?

But then I do put in the effort to play the praise games at both DST and MSA and my views and comments show that. In fact I get WAY more comments at both of those sites than I do here. Sure my views overtime are more here, but I think that's just largely to people browsing the gallery for product. It certainly doesn't translate into comments, nor would I expect it to. I think it all just comes down to you get back what you put in.

One thing to think about is not everyone looks for product the same way. I know that when I'm looking for stuff to buy, I always browse the gallery at MSA because the products are usually my style and most of the "popular" stores show up there. I did this just before DSD and found several things that I ended up buying, some from designers I had never bought from. I imagine that by requiring CTs to post at the big sites, this is the kind of purchases they're hoping to get.

ETA: Ooops sorry, that got long. :D
 
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joelsgirl said:
I think this leads to the question, "Is it really wise of designers to have Creative Teams?" I think if a designer's personal CT is big AND the site CT is big, maybe they're actually LOSING business by giving away their products to all these folks. What do y'all think?
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I agree
 
lifted from Lizzy's DST thread earlier...

jorgies5 said:
I stopped playing the praise game a long time ago. The only reason why I would play is to get more exposure for my CT layouts. But instead, I have found other galleries that are open and outside of the DST circle. I get A LOT more unsolicited comments and views which is what I prefer because I like to leave unsolicited comments myself (although lately I haven't left many comments anywhere due to being pregnant) and I really question how effective the praise game is in selling product. It has never sold anything for me. I think it is just a group of scrappers trying to promote their layouts and not necessarily trying to shop for other products. At least that is what my intention was when I used to play it. I get an average of 4 or 5 views on my layouts at DST and MSA with usually one comment. Those two are the lowest out of all the galleries I have tried and post my layouts at. I am sure I would get more if I was more involved, but right now it is not possible. I hope to be more involved in the future. At other sites I post at, I get anywhere 50-100 unsolicited views. One site, over a longer period of time my layouts get up to 700-900 views on them. That is why I really don't bother with DST or MSA anymore.

ETA: I post at Scrapbook.com, Creating Keepsakes, SBB, The Shabby Shoppe
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I'm really thinking of joining Jenny on this one - and asking permission to stop posting LOs at DST and perhaps MSA. I'd still try to link products as much as possible in ISO threads, and do what I can to promote designer product in the DST and MSA Scrap forums. I would just like to see if we can attract more buyers to our fab designers by finding other sites where we can get more hits on our pages for them!
 
Here is an opinion from someone who is just a buyer of kits ... not a CT, designer, etc. When I buy a kit, it is because of what is on the preview (and the pages that will follow. ie. paper, elements, etc). When I view a gallery it is to get layout ideas, not to look for kits. When I tag a lo it is becaue I like the design of it, not necessarily the kit. There are many favorites that I have tagged, not because I like the kit, but because I like an idea on the page. I don't think I have ever looked at a lo and bought a kit from it. But, like someone said above me, I could be an "old ball". ;)
 
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crecia27 said:
I disagree with this. I know I've been luke warm about a kit from a preview, then seen a layout or 2 done in the Sneak Peek thread and suddenly HAD to have it...then..

I also think I've been lured into buying more stuff from scrappers blogs than galleries, but I could just be an odd ball.
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I'm with you - I don't think, in recent memory - I've ever been tempted to purchase anything from the praise game. I like looking at things and seeing how people use products that I've seen. Wait, yes, I have, probably twice. Praise game doesn't sell product for me - and that's why I don't require it of my CT.

I'm one of the ones who likes to browse galleries and look at layouts. I don't care if they ever have comments on them or not - doesn't effect whether or not I like that layout. I just like to look. I like to look for ideas to use kits, I like to look for different ways of doing things. I look at a lot of layouts. I don't necessarily always open them up to see what I like or not. So don't get too discouraged.

It's also effected by what time of day you post. Everyone knows that the gallery moves fastest during the early morning hours US time.

As a designer, I'm not trying to make it harder on my team to ask them to post a layout at DST. Being that it's a big, popular gallery (same with MSA), I'd like to have my stuff there should anyone look for it. That's my reasoning :)
 
scrappurple said:
Here is an opinion from someone who is just a buyer of kits ... not a CT, designer, etc. When I buy a kit, it is because of what is on the preview (and the pages that will follow. ie. paper, elements, etc). When I view a gallery it is to get layout ideas, not to look for kits. When I tag a lo it is becaue I like the design of it, not necessarily the kit. There are many favorites that I have tagged, not because I like the kit, but because I like an idea on the page. I don't think I have ever looked at a lo and bought a kit from it. But, like someone said about me, I could be an "old ball". ;)
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Thanks, Heidi - your input is appreciated! do you pay attention to the ISO - In Search Of threads then when looking for a specific kit?
 
This is such a tough issue to gauge...there are so many factors! :)

I think for the most part, the lack of comments/views is one of the many windfalls of the growing scrapbooking world. The big galleries FLY, making it necessary to play the praise games to get people to notice you. Not so long ago, the playing field seemed more "even", but you really have to "fight" now. This goes for getting people to acknowledge your work in galleries and getting designers to notice you for creative team spots. There's just so much talent and variety now that I think it's really tough, especially in the really really big places like DST.

Personally, I find myself looking for examples of specific kits in a designer's gallery or galleries of particular scrappers more and more, so I feel like a CT's "job" is most beneficial in the designer's site/gallery. But others operate differently...I just feel like my shopping/viewing time is better spent in places I know I'll find what I like, not randomly viewing galleries, there's just too much to sift through now!

Interesting thread, I'm enjoying reading everyone's opinions. :)
Teresa
 
I just want everyone to know how much I am enjoying this conversation without it turning into a war. there are a lot of great points brought up!! I so miss intelligent conversations!!!
 
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