I took a pre-contest tip at SAS and opened my freebies back up at DigiFree and posted at DigiScrapDepot. The lion’s share of visits to The Chronicles were from those two sites yesterday, to the tune of over 300 hits. When I checked in last night, when I posted the Mug Shot, there had been two comments, just two! Which I’ll take a minute to say thanks in a big way. They were very encouraging comments about the idea of joining the contest. But those two comments were supporting over 100 downloads of the kit! There were six comments at 4-Shared, which is polite, but just the same I know the blog had not been read, and another over 100 downloads with no feedback at all.
Now, normally I’d just suck it up and tell myself at least the kit is being downloaded. Maybe some of those downloaders will be back if I join the contest to download and maybe a decent number of them are SAS members who’ll vote for me. Maybe... But the most frustrating point of this is that “Daddy’s Little Girl” was done as a test run to see if I thought I could keep up with the requirements of the contest. I ASKED for feedback on the kit. I said I wanted opinions about whether or not my work was good enough to give it a try. As of 11:20 last night, 110 people thought the kit was good enough to take, but not good enough to actually notice anything about the designer or care if I said I wanted the feedback. I have no tangible positive or negative rating. 94% of the people who downloaded don’t care, didn’t read the blog to find out what I needed or wanted in exchange for the download. 94% who won't care if I just stop designing all together and concentrate on the other things they don't even look at in my blog.
Yes, that’s doubly frustrating because the return of phone calls or emails is better in the job search and well, the job search is a bit demoralizing! So now, I ask my loyal readers who are bothering with this post even though I don’t have something for free offered, what do you think I should do?
I can leave the blog open to the vultures at those sites throughout the designer contest and hope and pray one or two of them might vote for me. I could close the blog again to those sites and just hope I can get enough exposure at SAS and through my regular promoting channels to get some votes. Or last, and I’m not totally sure I like this one but I am thinking about it, I accept that more people are interested in something for free than they are my work and give up the idea of entering. I still have a week to mull this over. I really do welcome any opinions!
Okay, the frustration released, YEESH!
Lunch today was a salad and a ham sandwich while I created that sample I promised! I’m thinking I’ll upload it to the galleries, a few of them anyway, this evening. It’s a page for my heritage project, the current part of it! LOL
Credits - Kit - Daddy’s Little Girl by Digitalegacies,fonts - Angelina, Chocolate Box and Curlz
3 comments:
Hi Nani!
I saw your Daddy's Little Girl LO at DSO and found myself studying it. I love the balance and the angled-ness(?) and the quote is great! So here I am and you are looking for feedback. This is hitting a nerve with me because I am trembling on the brink of dipping a toe in the blogosphere...ANy day now lol!
Anyway - here goes (imho)
*Great: Colours, textures, the charm is - charming, love the effect on the roses.
*Improve?: Texture on the journalling mat would harmonize with rest of kit.
*Suggestion: Preview - some of your best papers are a little hidden.Love the pink satin one and the star-sparkly one and you can hardly see them.
Also, and colour is such a subjective thing, but I would use your yellow very judiciously as an accent - like you did in your DSO LO - but in the preview it is given equal space and that jars a little.
juno
xx
Okay, Nani, here are my comments. You've made a lovely little kit. I do like the colors (I think I would have liked to see a lime shade of green also). The little charm is shadowed, I would leave the shadow off.
I do, however, like the way that you took the time to blend and shadow each of the items you put on the preview. This is what takes me so long while doing my previews. It gives a nicer look to your preview.
When I first commented on whether or not you should enter the contest, I merely meant that don't ever be afraid to fail at something. The fact that you try means you haven't failed. Even if you don't win, you will have learned something very valuable.
As for the comments people leave, I know your frustration. I know how it feels when over 600 people download a kit and only 34 or 35 take the time to leave you a comment. BUT, those 34 or 35 people are very important to me. The fact that they liked my work enough to leave me a nice comment gives me the inspiration to make the next kit. (I'm easy to please)
You're doing great, girl!!
Hugs, Edna B.
Hi Nani,
First off, thanks for the award. I am so flattered and appreciate the recognition so much. Your comments are amazing. Thank you! I will try to get it blogged on my site sometime next week (we have company for the holiday weekend so I have less computer time for a few days).
But I did want to leave you some encouragement right away. I have only been designing freebies since March, and I too get lots of downloads and few comments. But don't let that discourage you. There will always be those out there that are just after the freebie, and the fact that they DO like your freebie enough to come download it does say a lot. :-) But what is most rewarding, at least for me, is when I see the same faithful readers returning to my little blog and leaving me such kind words such as you and others have done. They make my day and they make it all worth it.
Something I have considered doing is making a two page template and giving one page out on my blog and offering the other one up (also for free) if the reader simply leaves me a comment.
For me, it has been so easy to get discouraged when I keep facing rejection to actually some of my stuff. I have applied for a couple stores and didn't make it, and that was tough. I also did a designer contest. Even though I didn't make it far in the contest, I found it to be incredibly helpful and I think it will help me grow my skills. I was sad to not make it, but glad for the opportunity and experience it afforded.
I am glad to see you are doing the SAS contest. I am joining it too. Even if I don't make it past the first round, contests like these are so inspiring and I love being able to ask the other designers "insider" questions that normally we cannot find answers for! :-)
BTW - I really like the variety of embellishments you included in your Daddy's Little Girl kit. That is something that I know I need to work on in my kits. The sparkly flower and the swirly embellishments are fun and are the types of things I like to use in my layouts. :-) I also like the little bows. I need to learn how to make those!! :-)
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