Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

hi gang.

durtbagz.com is my bag company. we design satchels and messenger bags with street signs. although, our street signs aren`t quite as accurate as the ones you find out on the roads.

to keep the signs fresh and funny, we hold an ongoing contest (open to anyone) to submit their own signs and vote on others, right on the site. (on the "feelin` durty" page).

we`ve been online almost two weeks now, and although we`ve had hundreds of visitors to the site, we have no takers on participating in this contest.

i`m looking for ways to make it 1) user friendly (a friend suggested having a blank sign `paint` file on the help page that visitors can download and use), 2) easy to comprehend what that page is all about and what we`re looking for from visitors, and 3) inticing.

as it is, i`m not sure there is a real draw for people to participate (we give the winners a free bag with their sign on it). i`m also not sure how clear the purpose of the page is.

if i could get some suggestions for improving the competition aspect of my site to get folks to participate, i`d greatly appreciate it.



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erin atherton,
head bag lady,
durtbagz.com
"what`s your sign?"

I like the design of you website. But, and I hope it was not just my connection. It takes to much time to load. It was probably about 15 sec. before I saw the background and another 15 sec before I saw any graphic. Each link I clicked on had a long loading time. If this was not just me, then I would say that this is a big reason why you have no participation.

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H. Lehnerer Photography
Photoblog: Photo Infos

wow. thanks for letting me know. i have to say that each time i get on the site (and i just flipped through it again after i read that), it takes less than 2 seconds to load each page. so, i`m thinking it is your connection. that is actually the first time i`ve heard that.

thanks for looking at the site. i appreciate it.



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erin atherton,
head bag lady,
durtbagz.com
"what`s your sign?"

I`m using Win98SE and Firefox 1.x, with a DSL line. The site loaded fast, so I`m guessing the above may well have been a connection issue that one time.

I clicked the question-mark stop sign and got a "need help, contact us." I clicke that, and the whole thing blew up. I got all your signs overlaid on top of some sort of content page: the "durtgabz: what`s your sign?" page.

I really like the concept..! But I think where you`re having trouble as a contest is that you`re doing graphic images, not words and slogans. The Web is so much text-based, and having a form for a contest entry would likely be a text type form, right?

How do you propose I might enter the contest? Wouldn`t I have to draw out a graphic sign WITH the humor you`ve created? And isn`t that humor unique to you, and the whole reason you created the business?

In other words, if I`d thought of the idea and had thoughts about signs, wouldn`t I just create my own company?

Works fine for me today too. But I did not have any problems loading any other website the last time, so I had the feeling that it was not my connection. I think your site is well designed.

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H. Lehnerer Photography
Photoblog: Photo Infos

craig, first of all, thanks for all of the feedback and questions!
as far as the page "blowing up", i know what you are talking about and i`ve talked with my developers about this. it doesn`t happen often, but it has happened more than once. i`m told it`s a kink due to all of the graphics/photos on the site and they are working on it. i am not a developer person at all, so i can`t say whether this is really the issue or not. i do know that it doesn`t happen often, but i don`t want it happening at all.
as far as your questions about submitting a sign, i`m thinking of adding two options: 1. draw up your idea, scan it, and email it directly to me or scan it and upload it directly to the site (a scan is a .jpg). i barely know how to use "paint" on my PC and that`s how i come up with signs. i certainly didn`t know how to use it before i came up with this business. and i can see how if you don`t know how to use paint and saw the other signs in the contest, you`d be intimidated to participate or submit.
i`m going to re-write the text in the yellow box to encourage others like you to draw and post. i could draw and post some of my own to help get the idea across, too.
the second thing i want to do is add a file of a blank sign that can be downloaded by anybody and then drawn by using "paint". i think this would be helpful too. (everyone who has a PC has the "paint" application).
you make a great point. when i started this, my goal was for anyone to have the opportunity to participate and the way i`ve organized it doesn`t allow for that. thank you for making me realize this so i can get back to the original point.



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erin atherton,
head bag lady,
durtbagz.com
"what`s your sign?"

I think you site looks great. I like the theme of the site, construction/industrial/skater, not sure if that was the look you are going for, but that is what I got out of it. 

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The ConsumerTreehouse.com Team
www.consumertreehouse.com

Y`know, as I think about it, there are multiple levels to humor and its creation. What if you were to have your contestants simply write a funny thought? Then you could figure out the sign graphic for it?

For example, there`s the idea of the "Watch out, wheelchair comin` through." I would consider submitting a downgrade and something like "Runaway Wheelchair Pull-off 1000 yards." In other words, you get the text idea, and the site visitor doesn`t have to know graphics at all. Maybe?

consumertreehouse- thanks for the props on the site; that is exactly the theme we were going for. edgy and the complete opposite of paris hilton. i`m going to look at that site for the store in japan. we`re strictly selling online for now, but we certainly aren`t ruling out retail in the future. here`s a question for you: can you suggest popular media over there i should contact (tv shows/papers/magazines)? thank you for commenting on this; i really appreciate it.

craig, that`s not a bad idea at all. considering we have a page entirely for comments, we could incorporate that into the contest. hmmm. i`m going to think about how to do that. it certainly would help simplify.
and that sign idea really makes me laugh!! i hadn`t thought of that one before and it`s hilarious. do you mind if i put it in the competition?



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erin atherton,
head bag lady,
durtbagz.com
"what`s your sign?"

:-) Just take it. Free.