Imustbedead Guide To Deviantart

So it's been one year since I joined the the ranks of Deviantart, and sold my first seven unborn children to the devil in order to produce better photographs. I know seven sounds like a lot, but the devil doesn't fuck around really. It was a bargain in my opinion though, because I've even surprised myself with the work that I've done this year. Even if I did not have a shit ton of people on different sites looking at these pictures, I believe I would still do them, because they make me smile everyday.

I do have a shit ton of people on different sites looking at these pictures though, and that is the topic we are here to discuss.

Before we get to that though, I'm going to sort of “toot” my own horn as they would say.

Please click RIGHT HERE before reading on.

There are a bunch of stats that we could go over in order to show my accomplishments this year, but there is only one that I would really like to bring to light. Which is that I have submitted 57 deviations to the conceptual category. Which comes out to over one conceptual photo a week.

These deviations are not you're vague, ambiguous, blurry, sissy, fence sitting, pussy cream puff kind of photos. They all convey a strong meaning, most times clear, and with good taste. For one reason or another I have a generally good idea quite often, and have the ability and motivation to turn it into something more the just a thought. I'm very tired of hearing people say that they would do it, except they are lacking models or money. I don't think this is a valid excuse, because I frequently find that I have to use my friends or myself, and have a budget of a couple dollars for a photo, and still getting the job done. If page views or watchers or any of that kind of stuff does not impress you, then I hope my contribution to the conceptual category on DA does.

I was also going to complain in this section about the fact that I did not have a DD yet, but that was fixed last week, which was awesome. My one gripe with it though is that it was an Admin feature and on his own accord. How am I supposed to have an army help me take over the world, if my army does not even suggest me for DD's. We need to get on that people Jesus Fuck.

That being said, we will move on to the topic at hand, and that is how to get popular on DA.

++How To Get Popular On Deviantart.++

--Disclaimer 1--

This is not a tutorial on how to make better art, I haven't the slightest clue how to help you on that subject. If you are a shitty artist, (which of course is an opinion, and to which mine is not the only determining factor, but we all know a shitty artist when we see one) then anything I say below will mostly likely not help you at all. It is not enough to be good at art anymore, you have to be amazing. It is not enough to spend some time on getting better anymore, you have to spend everyday working at it. It's not enough to make art that people like anymore, you have to make art that people NEED. When you think you are in that range, then maybe some of the tips below will help you get where to want to go.

--Disclaimer 2--

Whether popular is the correct word to be used I'm not sure. Some would consider me a well known artist on here, while others would say I'm still just a blip on the screen. Regardless, I have compiled my thoughts on how one might go about getting more noticed on DA. My observations and understanding of how this site operates, and how the people that use this site operate, has in my experience helped me gain a wider audience, and I believe might help you as well when combined with your own knowledge. All in all though, these are not facts, and are merely my opinion. They are not guaranteed to bring you glory and fame, and should not be viewed as such. Although if you prefer to contribute your success and riches one day to reading my journal, then I will expect some royalties.

--Disclaimer 3--

Seriously Read Disclaimer 1 and 2 again.


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There are three numbers you should be concerned with on Deviantart, which are the determining factors of whether you are a noticed artist or not.

-Favorites
-Watchers
-Page views

This might seem like an obvious thing to say, but most people don't realize that they really work and play off each other. For the people who claim one of these is not that important, you really need to shut the fuck up and get your head out of your ass. More favorites means more circulation, more watchers means more exposure, and more page views means more people trying to see more of your work. There are a plenty of people on DA who have a photo with 5,000 favorites, but under 100 watchers, simple because they got one DD, or got a photo up on Digg. This does not really mean that you are successful, unless you consider being a one hit wonder the pinnacle of your life's accomplishments.

I'm not really interested in that type of scenario, and hopefully you are not either. What you you really want, is for people to not only look at one of your photos, but feel like they have to browse the rest of your gallery, or take a look at your journal, thereby increasing not only one stat, but all three.

This all falls under one goal in mind, and that is building your persona as an artist. Regardless of what art you participate in on this site, it's important that you give off a certain kind of impression of yourself and your work, so that people do not see you as just another deviant using the site, but as an artist that is the REASON they are using the site. Of course there are probably a million things you could do right or wrong in the process of producing this effect, but I will begin with just some that I have noticed in my own experience.

Favorites

“Favorite Suicide” is a term I have come to use around my friends that means regardless of how good your photo is, that if you do one of these mistakes, then it could impede on the amount of favorites you receive. I will discuss them individually in a moment. For now though, some of them are...

Submitting two photos at the same time is “Favorite Suicide”
Submitting a photo without some form of a comment is “Favorite Suicide”
Submitting a photo at peak hours is “Favorite Suicide”
Submitting a photo with a frame that is not in good taste is “Favorite Suicide”
Submitting a photo you don't like, but submit anyways to pad stats is “Favorite Suicide”


1.-Submitting two photos at the same time is “Favorite Suicide”

I regard this as a favorite suicide because when you give someone to many options, they will in most cases only select one, or not select one at all. If you put up two of the same photograph at the same time, you are putting viewers in this situation. Whereas if you hold them off between each other for a day or two, or even week, then you increase the chance of them favoriting both. Overtime this adds up quite a bit. Submitting more then two photos at the same time is just plain silly, and nothing irks me more then seeing someone submit every photo on their computer, multiple times a day, please relax on that kk thx.

A sub problem many people run into is not only submitting more the one photo at a time, but photos that look very similar. For instance they do a model shoot and decide to put up five or ten shots from that shoot. I find this to be a very big mistake because when people view photographs or art, they are looking at a moment in time, and are being given a view into that moment. People want to believe in the emotions of the character, people want to believe they are looking that character in their element and what they are feeling. When you submit the whole photo shoot you did with a model, you are coming off as just a photographer, and not an artist. I sometimes sit with a model for an excessive amount of time looking at photos from a shoot, I would love to show them all to you, but I make very hard decisions on usually one photo to submit, in order to give the illusion to you that you are viewing a work of art or an expressed idea, and not just a slide show of someone in 45 different angles. It would be the equivalent of going to the movie theater and having to choose between five different endings of that movie before you buy the ticket, In theory that might sound like a good idea, but I assure you at a subconscious and sort of conscious level, it bad business. You are their for an experience, and it's the job of the director to provide you with story you enjoy, and not multiple alternatives that will in the end leave you feeling nothing. Frankly in a nutshell, you are killing the moment, by showing someone to much of that moment, and I don't really think this site should be used in that manor. Save that for Flickr (Har Har).

2. Submitting a photo without some form of a comment is “Favorite Suicide”

I come across people telling me all the time that they are favoriting just because of the comments I leave, or that they enjoy my work not only because of the work itself, but of the explanation I leave for it. The comment section is a tool itself in gaining favorites if you use it correctly. Talking about your camera equipment or what exposure you used and such is all well and good, but in the end just boring information. I've told multiple friends and acquaintances, that all they need to do is talk about how they felt or what they were thinking while doing the photo. Maybe even a funny joke that was said during the process of making it. Just anything to give viewers a glimpse into who you are and how you think is enjoyable to them. It's all about building a persona, and in the comment section is where a lot of that happens, if you frequent my photos often then you probably have a pretty good idea of what I mean or how I roll when it comes to comments. I come off a certain way I guess you could say, and a lot of people like that. I use it to my advantage, and without a doubt in my mind, has contributed greatly to the amount of favorites I receive. If you want an example just look at “The Fake Lovers.”

So don't leave your photos naked people, I'm not saying write a novel, or pour your heart out, but it makes me sad to see a photo with the comment of “-”. So don't do it!


3. Submitting a photo at peak hours is “Favorite Suicide”

I was not around for the glory days of Deviantart, as I've obviously only been here for a year now, so I can't tell you how it used to be. What I can tell you, is that there is an asinine amount of crap that gets submitted daily at a pace that is mind boggling. I know it's a big issue on this site so I won't delve into it much, but we all know that you have to sift threw a variety of shit, before encountering something worth your time. I started submitting my photos later in the day sometimes late at night, to avoid competing with the 9,000 Americans submitting their Myspace photos. As far as I could tell, my photos stayed at the top of categories for a bit longer, and so had a initial spike of views higher then normal. Meaning that I had new people stopping by, rather then just my normal watchers.

You also have to cater to your normal watchers though, because they have to sift threw their watch list to pick photos they want to see. If you submit when everyone submits, then you are competing with often a large amount of photos, and I can guarantee a majority don't click on all those thumbs. So submitting photos at off peak hours for activity, will actually have a reverse effect on your personal activity, which is an increase.

4. Submitting a photo with a frame that is not in good taste is “Favorite Suicide”

Frames on photos is a preference of course, but I believe in the end they don't really add anything to your photos. I'm not saying they ruin all photos, and a lot of times they make a photo look really nice. For awhile I got into the feeling that I needed all my photos to be framed, and felt like my photos were not professional looking unless they were framed well. I realized after doing this for awhile though, that in the end, it didn't make my photos any better, and even sometimes had a negative effect which I will explain in a second. I started noticing that photos from not only the top artist on this site, but pretty much everywhere and in magazines were lacking something, and that was frames. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be a good photographer and artist, and felt I did not need a good frame display to make my images powerful. What really nailed home my reasoning for not framing was I noticed that it made the image of my thumb smaller, because obviously the frame took up some space. Since it's imperative to get people to click on those little thumbs in order to get to the next step of favoriting, It's important that your thumbs also look interesting, and a frame takes away from that, if you are producing good images in their own right.

I even went as far as viewing my photos in final form before submission, not blown up, but actually on thumb scale, because having a good and interesting photo on thumb scale, calculates into more full size views. When I started doing that, I lost about all my taste for framing. I'll leave you some examples so you can see what I may be talking about.





5. Submitting a photo you don't like, but submit anyways to pad stats is “Favorite Suicide”

This one is kind of obvious for obvious reasons, which I will not obviously state, but many people do it and feel it isn't a big deal. In reality it takes away not only from yourself, but to your gallery as a whole. I've personally tried to produce a gallery that holds interest throughout, and to which someone can get lost in. We are talking the good kind of lost though, and not the lost in reasoning that leaves people saying to themselves “This photo is complete crap compared to their other stuff, why is this even here.” The answer a lot of people would give if put on the spot would be they needed attention, and feel having more photos equals more favorites which equals more viewers, which in the long run, is actually the opposite. So try and contain yourself and submit photos that you generally feel belong in your gallery.

That about does it for “Favorite Suicide.” If you avoid what I have told you too, then don't be surprised to see an increase in favorites, based on how many watchers you have of course. If you have ten watchers, I'm not really sure what kind of spike you could expect, but you definitely will see a trend haha.

Watchers

Once you have people viewing and favoriting your photos, it is the your goal to get them to watch you as well. Past the fact that you might be an uber artist, and they want to watch you because of that sole reason, there are some things you can also do to lock them up, and keep them coming back.

The first thing is to follow some of the advice I gave you in the favorite section, specifically building a persona for yourself in comments. If someone feels like there is more to enjoy in your tiny section of this world wide web, then they will want to come back again someday, and on this site they make it easy by the little button we call “watch this deviant!” (Another reason DA poons Flickr btw). The problem is that button is located on your main page, and not by your deviations(which they should add).

Which leaves you to the prospect of making your main page interesting enough, that someone would want to click that nice little sweet button. Your main tool in this battle, is of course your journal section.

A couple things that you can use your journal for that people will NOT find interesting.

-Assuming people give a fuck about your personal life.
-Assuming people think you have anything remotely intelligent to say.
-Assuming people want to see 9,000 thumbs featured.
-Assuming people think you are funny.
-Assuming people will take the time to read a long story.
-Assuming people will take the time to read a short story.
-Assuming people want to give you advice or help you in any way.

All of these assumptions, can lead to your inbox being filled everyday with forty-five journals from girls or guys who think they are interesting and that someone will read them, when a majority of those don't even get clicked. I'm going to assume now that 100%(heh) of my watchers click on my journal when they go up, and I have come to the conclusion that this is because I provide them with not a journal, but entertainment. I haven't the slightest clue why my life or antics come off so entertaining to people, but they do, and so they come back again and again to get more. When people look at my journal, and see the amount of activity that goes on, then I'm guessing it's a very good reason to watch me.

I'm not suggesting you try to write a best selling novel, or mimic whatever the fuck it is that I pull off, but you do need to view your journal as a tool to entertain your friends. I'm sure there are numerous ways in which you can pull this off. Maybe stop acting like it's a journal, and treat it more like a blog. Some blogs link you to funny video clips, some blogs link you to important news that people would otherwise never know. Some people use their journals as tutorials for others. Fuck if I know, just stop talking about your day at school, or how you think your boyfriend is not in love with you anymore. It's the same crap we all have to go threw everyday, and unless you're one hell of a writer, then hearing about your particular situation is of no interest to anyone, probably including yourself.

And for the love of sweet baby jesus, stop doing features with fucking seventy two different artist, if someone wants to see good photos you like, they can just click your favorites gallery. If you are going to feature someone, ACTUALLY feature them and help them get noticed by focusing on their work alone.

Pageviews

Pageviews are not actually a number you can control to much, as it is a bi-product of watchers and favorites. There is one thing I learned that got me a bunch of pageviews, and it's a very simple concept. Which is to go around the site and comment on other peoples work. Many people don't realize how easy it is to gain a mass following if you devote enough time to this endeavor. I spent a long time trying to comment on 100 photos a day, kind of like it was my job. I would just click on the random deviant or deviation button and find something semi-interesting and leave a comment on it, it's just the nature of people to figure out who it is commenting on their stuff, so they will check you out.

If you really want a lot of pageviews, just go around and slander people, this may seem like a dick thing to do haha, but if you make 50 rude comments, I'll buy you a subscription if you don't get 50 pageviews out of it. Then just apologize and say it was your little brother using your account, and kindly ask them to forgive you. I don't really recommend this approach, but if you are desperate, then you are desperate.

Pretty much the best advice I got on this site, was to go and comment on other art. So I am giving this advice to you. It seems like a silly thing to suggest, because it's very obvious, but a lot of you probably just browse without commenting, and if you started doing it, then regardless of your talent, you will generate more traffic.

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Well I guess that is about all I have to offer in the form of helping you attain the status of a DA god. It may seem short and simple, but that is what makes them good tips. I'm not sure if it made any sense, or if it will even help you in any sense, but that is for you to try and figure out. As for me, hopefully this year will be even better then the last. I promise you I have amazing ideas in the works, and you will be smitten with how clever I really am. I am grateful for all the people watching me, and I work hard to give you guys not just photos or stories, but the IMBD way of thinking and philosophy on life. It may not be sane or coherent, but it is what it is, which is me, which is sad, which is amusing, which is the reason I'm your drug and more addicting then crack or Chipotle.

Have a good year, see you next week.

I have also submitted this as a news article, so click HERE to digg it up so more people can see how retarded my mind works yay!


(P.S) Here are some artist that I watch, that I feel have the quality work and will soon surpass me in numbers any day now. Please check have a peek real fast.

:iconmrcool256: :iconemeraldiris:
:iconjessmarie: :iconkaywa:
:iconoceanborn-89: :iconp0rg:
:iconpuss--in--boots: :iconsankaracharya:
:iconsharadhaksar: :iconkelc: