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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!
• 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

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!