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Advertising & Promoting 'Souls

(redirected from Souls.Advertising)

1.  About & Information

1.1  Why Promote?

To get new members, of course! Any guests we drive toward 'Souls are potential members, and so any* advertising and promotion you do is good for 'Souls as a whole -- we like new members, because they add to our community! New members are also good because they may adopt open characters, join packs, and provide fun and interesting roleplay opportunities.

Advertising is an easy thing any member of 'Souls can do that helps the game -- there are a multitude of ways to advertise 'Souls, all of which are listed on this page.

1.2  What Not to Do

1. 'Souls does not condone spamming websites in any manner -- do not use any illegal, mass-messaging, or other bad techniques to attract members to the game. It's counter-productive and annoying, and it doesn't make anyone like us. You don't like spam, why would anyone else?
2. Abide by the rules of wherever you are advertising: e.g., post advertisements only in the proper forum, and only wear pride badges where it's appropriate. Make sure you've read and understand the rules of a particular RPG game or other forum service before you advertise. Remember: you are representing 'Souls as a whole. If you present a poor image of the game, people won't want to click, much less join!

1.3  How Do I Help?

There are many ways you can help promote 'Souls!

1. Use the codes found in the Advertising Thread and post advertisements for 'Souls at other RPG games.
2. Wear one of our many banners outside of 'Souls -- on another forum's signature, for example.
3. Link to 'Souls wherever you can!
4. Vote in the Topsites every day.
5. Recruit new members! Recruit your friends!

2.  Topsites

Vote 'Souls!

• These are Click to Vote topsites. You can vote in these every day!
• Remind others to vote by bumping the thread. If you've voted yourself, say so! You could become the monthly 'Souls Soldier of Love! Visit the thread above for more details.
• If you find a likely topsite where 'Souls isn't listed, suggest it to the 'Souls Assemblage to be added.

3.  Registration required

On several of these sites, you can either follow or befriend or add us to receive updates or and the like. On some of them you can even review our site! Generally, you do need to register an account on most of these websites to leave feedback of some kind, but it's helpful to do so.

3.1  Social Networking

Google Profile

There is a "master list" of sorts on our Google Profile, located here! A lot of stuff is repeated across all of the networks, though, so there's no need to follow us everywhere. Each has benefits, though, and if you have any of these accounts, you might consider following 'Souls.

deviantART Follow and comment on member artwork in the 'Souls deviantART group. If you upload 'Souls-relevant art, you can put a link to the game in the upload description. Twitter You can follow us on Twitter, of course! You can use Twitter's hashtag feature, using #soulsrpg or #roleplay or #werewolf (or anything similar and relevant to 'Souls, really!) in your tweets, so others can search them. Use @replies and mentions with the @soulsrpg account or your pack account. Retweet things from our main twitter account or the pack Twitter accounts. Tumblr The 'Souls Tumblr answers burning questions from members all the time, consider giving a follow! You can make posts promoting 'Souls, and similar to Twitter's hashtag system, you can use Tumblr's tag feature. Tag your advert with things like #rp site or #wolf rp! Tumblr prevents a post that has more than five tags on it from showing up in search, so try to keep it to five tags only! Reblog posts from the 'Souls Tumblr to share with your own followers!

WikiAnswers Do searches for "wolf roleplay" and "wolf rp" and similar search queries -- if you find people looking for wolf roleplay, you can always write an answer about 'Souls! This question and this question are a good examples of what to look for in a question. You cannot include http:// or www in any answers you post on Answers.com and there is a special way you should include the links -- please see this page for more information on spamming on WikiAnswers. You can also recommend questions that provide 'Souls as an answer so that it gets high in popularity and people searching for relevant terms in relevant categories will see that answer, and perhaps come stumbling our way! If you create an account on WikiAnswers, you can fill out your profile (see here for an example) with a link to 'Souls, and the more quality answers you provide, the better chance you have of getting people to float our way. StumbleUpon Submit the URL. Submitting the URL provides more popularity within StumbleUpon. Or write a kind review. Tell people about your experience here or why you liked it, something like that. Positive reviews and comments also increase popularity. Remember to give us a thumbs up and like the site!

4.  Other Methods

4.1  Recruitment

How To

• Don't go bothering people up and down and pestering them to join up at 'Souls -- you're far more likely to annoy the crap out of them and make them not want to join that way!
• Look for people who are looking for roleplaying. There are groups specifically for people to post about what they're looking for in a roleplaying game--keep an eye out on those! Otherwise, you can look for people with similar interests -- wolves and werewolves, writing, etc on the other websites you're already a member on.
• Recruiters Beware: It's typically a really bad idea and very rude to go to other roleplaying games to send out PMs about another game, and poor etiquette to recruit via other roleplaying sites anyway, even if you're already a member there.

Tips

• Do not use the same copy-paste message over and over. Tailor your message individually to each new recruit.
• Your message should explain (very briefly) about the game and your experience with it. Why do you like 'Souls? What's been good about your experience? Why are you recommending the game?
• Try really hard not to sound like a TV advertisement for some "great new product."
• You may want to avoid immediately placing the link in your first message -- see if they're interested first before you throw the link at them. An enthusiastic yes is great -- but if their response is no, you can still give them the link in case they ever want to check it out in the future.
• Make sure you thank them for their time and response whether or not they were interested!
  Example Message
  "Hey, I was looking over some of your Livejournal interests, and I noticed you're a fan of both wolves and werewolves. Maybe I can interest you in a game? It's called 'Souls -- we roleplay in a post-apocalyptic setting with a special kind of werewolf. I've been a member since 2005, and I've really enjoyed it in the past few years. If you're interested, I could tell you more or throw you a link."

4.2  Off-Site Linking

So, you're a member at 'Souls... but you also have a deviantART account, a Livejournal account, a Myspace, and a Facebook--among other things. Maybe you also have membership at some other roleplaying games. If it's appropriate for the site and within their rules to link to other websites, why don't you try to put a text link in your signature? You can do the same on deviantART, and even make 'Souls your homepage link.

For Livejournal, you can use some of our icons as your default icon when you're posting. You can also throw a text link or a banner in your Livejournal profile. The same goes for Myspace and Facebook--you can use 'Souls-relevant default pictures if you'd really like, or you can make posts about what you're doing on 'Souls or include text links, if you're comfortable with the people you know in real life knowing about your digital activities.

If you post a picture of your character from 'Souls on deviantART why don't you tell people about it in the description of the image, and include a link to 'Souls? People who like canines are likely to view your image, and perhaps they'll be interested enough to click the link if you say the image is for a canine-based roleplaying game.

In general, the more you link to 'Souls, the better! Make sure you always abide by other sites' linking rules--when in doubt, don't. Make sure you're not being annoying with excessive links or awkwardly sized banners, too. Remember, when you're advertising, you're representing the whole site. A poor first impression can be enough to turn someone off of a site forever!

4.3  Plugboards (Defunct)

Sadly, plugboards have seemingly fallen out of use. Rarely anyone ever visits these sites anymore, and many of them are no longer accessible. Here are two listed below that are still running, albeit they may be no longer checked by the host. Who knows if we'll ever have to refresh our button on these, but give them a look if it's been a few years! Even if only one person sees them, that's still one person that might join 'Souls. And if you find any other ones, feel free to add them! (Last checked: Sept 2018) Use a button and our URL and post up our button! Make sure we've fallen off the plugboard before you repost. :) Here's a button (88x31) for quick access! Here's a bigger button (468x60), and here's a smaller button (80x15), as well.

O.S.C. Plugs Bliss Plugs