Two Suggestions for the Marketpolace

Snak3 · Share | #1 (**permalink**) 12-16-2009, 12:23 AM

I am somewhat new to V7N and am really starting to like the community here, themain reason being the quality that this forum has maintained. Thanks to the mods and co-operating members.
I'm not sure if this is the right place for my suggestions

1) How about adding a 'Freebies' section to the Marketplace. It can be useful whenever someone is seeking something for free, say for example an invitation to Google Wave. Or if someone wants to giveaway something for free, like a domain, invitations, advertising spots, webhosting, services, e-books, etc...I've seen a lot of free stuff being given away at the main marketplace sub-forum. Considering the volume of Threads in this category, i guess making a new section would be worth it.

2) Another suggestion is to rename the 'Design Contests' to 'Contests'. I understand most of the times contests are for logo designs but there are many other types of contests that run like say 'commenting contest', 'forum posting contest', some 'SEO contest', etc...Some people may not even promote their on-going non-design contest here due to the lack of a suitable section.

Your views on this would be appreciated.

Treyu · #2 (**permalink**) 12-16-2009, 10:56 AM

I think you got two very good ideas there. A freebies sub-forum would definitely help to keep clean the main marketplace section. The change of names to the Design Contests sub-forum might help to bring some new contests, but I leave that one to the Staff's consideration.

+Rep for you pal!

juliensimon · #3 (**permalink**) 12-16-2009, 12:47 PM

I'm not the one taking decisions here but thanks for your suggestions.

1) I don't hang out much in the market place so I'm not sure about all the freebies threads you are mentioning. I like the concept of a freebie sub-forum, but I believe it will get spammed like no tomorrow. It might be worth giving it a try, but I'm expected the worse to happen.

2) I don't really see the use for that.
Commenting should not be a contest, but being part of the community.
SEO contests could go in the SEO part of the forum. SEO contest are usually more for fun, not really to reward somebody with a price.

Of course, this is just my opinion and I have been proven to be wrong many times

Thanks for your input and I'm sure more people will review them.

Snak3 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-16-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juliensimon

Commenting should not be a contest, but being part of the community.
SEO contests could go in the SEO part of the forum. SEO contest are usually more for fun, not really to reward somebody with a price.

Actually by commenting, i meant a blog commenting contest some blog owners may want to keep.
And there are SEO contests that take place, for example, somewhere in june 2009 or so netbuilders.org organised a Seo Contest for the keyword 'sulumits retsambew', the prizes were :

Quote:

1st Place: $1,000.00 Cash
2nd Place: $500.00 Cash
3rd Place: $250.00 Cash

Yesterday Promojunkie's 'Oes Tsetnoc' seo contest ended, the prizes were

Quote:

1st Place: $1,000.00 Cash
2nd Place: $300.00 Cash
3rd Place: $200.00 Cash

Such threads are created in many forums for promotion, so considering the value of the prizes, these threads do make it BIG

juliensimon · #5 (**permalink**) 12-16-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snak3

Actually by commenting, i meant a blog commenting contest some blog owners may want to keep.

I have never heard of this. So does it consist of?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snak3

And there are SEO contests that take place, for example, somewhere in june 2009 or so netbuilders.org organised a Seo Contest for the keyword 'sulumits retsambew', the prizes were :
Yesterday Promojunkie's 'Oes Tsetnoc' seo contest ended, the prizes were

Such threads are created in many forums for promotion, so considering the value of the prizes, these threads do make it BIG

I see your point.
The problem that I see is let's say I am in the contest for "oes testnco", I believe people would be tempted to "advertise" their entry and we would have to deal with great amount of spam.

I guess it would be a good place to start your own SEO contest. But who is going to compete, if they are not sure you are going to pay ?

I open to suggestions though, and other people's opinion on this.

**Cricket** · #6 (**permalink**) 12-17-2009, 01:21 AM

First of all, I would like to thank you for your suggestions. I don't always take action to implement suggestions, but I always listen. As an admin, I have to look at suggestions and consider the impact of changes from multiple standpoints, including SEO, marketing, and what is best for the community. Additionally, I have to make sure it is all in line with our overall beliefs concerning our purpose and how we feel a webmaster community should be run.

As an example, a member might believe that changing the name of a forum is a very minor change, so what possible harm could there be in trying it on a trial basis? But an admin can look at the same request and see the possibility of serious consequences of such a simple change.

(1) Certainly as a webmaster you can see where we would need to consider the impact of changing the name of a forum from an SEO standpoint. The title and related URL change, along with needed 301 redirects, likely setting us back several steps while those already aged indexed pages (and possible PR) get back to where they were before. All this to say, the benefit for the community must greatly outweigh any risk. Which leads us to the next step of evaluating a request -- seeing if it falls in line with our overall purpose . . .

(2) Our purpose for the Webmaster Marketplace is to provide a place for our members to offer webmaster related products or service here at the V7N. It is not a free-for-all classified section to advertise that you are offering a product, service, or contest someplace else.

The graphic contest area is for contests held here at the V7N, specifically for our members. Since I find it very unlikely that someone is going to offer an SEO contest specifically for V7N members, it does not make a lot of sense to change the title for the 'possibility' of an occasional exception.

This purpose is consistent throughout the Webmaster Marketplace. If you check out our Domains forum, you will notice that we do not allow people to advertise and direct our members to a domain that they have for sale over at SEDO or someplace similar. The section is for domains offered for sale here.

As far as the possibility of adding a freebie section, that is something I may consider after evaluating if there is a true need for it. Why not just add it? Well, I have to consider a few things. (1) Will it end up a spam fest? (2) Will it put an unnecessary strain moderating the forum to see if the offer truly is a freebie or if there are strings attached and it’s just cleverly disguised spam? This isn't to say that I won't add it, because if I see a true need for it that benefits the community as a whole, then I very likely will...

Keep in mind; we are not trying to be like every other forum out there. We are different. We think that is a good thing.

Snak3 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-17-2009, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juliensimon

I have never heard of this. So does it consist of?
.

Here is an example : http://lolble.com/contest-win-100-read-below/

But i guess you'll(yourself & cricket) have a point that these contests are mostly held outside a forum so it wont be fair for the members offering a contest within this forum as their threads will move down and may go unnoticed.
@Cricket, thanks for the long post. I didn't think about the potential spam that these sections could attract.