The Annual Steward Giveaway Contest

[The Steward]

Yeah no... Dave does too I kind of expect you both to do that....

I'll count it as one though

[Madelene Gilbert]

Yeah no... Dave does too I kind of expect you both to do that....

I'll count it as one though

Haha, I figured. Works for me though!

[The Steward]

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6958515/

This is Alysse's video submission. I was pretty amused.

[Jennifer Francis]

Your Recent recycler Ad was Approved!
...
From:
recycler.com <service@recycler.com>
...
Add to Contacts
To: jenniferfrancis20@yahoo.com
Dear jennifer,

Congratulations! Your ad www.simhorseracing.com has been approved by our editorial staff. It will now go live on recycler.com for thousands of potential buyers to view every day, and if you selected a Combo Package it will be prepped for publication in one or more of our 65 print magazines you've designated.

Posting to Facebook and Twitter

Now you can post your advertisement to Facebook, Twitter and other top social networking sites and potentially reach thousands of new customers!

We provide you two convenient ways to do this:

Click here to go to your ad on recycler.com and look for the ShareThis and Facebook Like buttons. Or click here and log into your ad management dashboard where you can find the ShareThis button.

Here's what the buttons look like:





Thank You and Happy Classifying!

The Team at recycler.com

[Scott Eiland]

I know this is kind of "cheating" as I'm an artist, but does it count that I post the website link on all of my headshots on deviantArt?

cheating cheater who cheats cheatily. ;p

[Star Girl]

Would just rambling on about our racehorses be okay for the youtube videos as long as we mentions the site and throw in a plug at some point?

[Jennifer Francis]

thanks em i love this contest lol

[The Steward]

Would just rambling on about our racehorses be okay for the youtube videos as long as we mentions the site and throw in a plug at some point?

Yes

[Clinton Jacinto]

here is my youtube entry hope it's ok

I have to send the website entries I did this week. I think all of facebook horse lover groups has got at least 1 entry discussion from me lol.
SIMTUBE VIDEO

[Madelene Gilbert]

Not sure where to post this, but I figured this was as good a spot as any...

MOZILLA FIREFOX USERS!!!
Tired of your drab standard web browser? Wish you could take the SIM with you as you browse other sites (but why would you want to do that)?
I have a solution for you!

Click Here for the SIM Persona, your very own SIM browser theme. It utilizes the log-in image and logo as well as the light blue/cranberry SIM color scheme. Complements the SIM site very nicely, and you can take the SIM wherever you go in your browsing travels!
**Note: You will need to install the Firefox Persona patch in order to use this.

[Patrick O'Malley]

This is not a direct contribution to this contest just some random thoughts I've been having. I post it here because I'm not sure where else to put it.

Attracting new players to the Sim is a good thing. However it doesn't really help getting them to the site if they never register, or log in once, enter their first horse and never return. Player retention is just as important as player recruiting.

In the AJ sales I see numerous horses created by players who only logged in once then never returned, sometimes four or five different players a day. I have no idea how many hit the front page and never register, but I'm sure there are a few.

As a player who have stuck with it I have no clear idea what it would take to keep more players but some thoughts that spring to mind:

• - Spice up the front page. Right now there's a very nice image, but not much more. A login box, a Register link and a link to the shop doesn't really tell the newbie what kind of game this is. Maybe some short facts about the game, or some kind of "demo user" could get some more people hooked.

• - I don't quite remember how the registration procedure runs, and for obvious reasons I don't want to go through it to see, but perhaps there could be some more simple help to guide people along. perhaps along the lines of "If you create a horse with Six Eights as the sire, remember to race him shorter than 1 mile" etc. etc.

• - Lots of players are making videos for this contest, why not make videos explaining game concepts? I learn best by reading and doing, but I know a lot of people prefer video.

• - What about an email message sent to players who have been idle for some time (a week? two?) reminding them they made an account and perhaps only forgot to come back. (This might actually exist I don't know)

• - Some sort of reward system might work, a prize (could be GPs, simcash, another CAH or whatever) for staying with the game for a period of time (a month, six months, a year?)

I'm sure other people have other ideas, and I think this is just as important as pulling traffic to the site.

[J K Rowling]

I think Patrick is on to something. I mentioned something about a new layout for the SIM in the chat that could draw in new people and make the site more streamlined. I personally would gladly exchange new coding next year for a new layout. The easier and simpler the site is to use, especially for those with nonpaying accounts, the more likely we are to retain those players. The more comfortable and excited they are about the game, the more likely they will turn into paying customers to enrich their experience.

[Madelene Gilbert]

I think Patrick is on to something. I mentioned something about a new layout for the SIM in the chat that could draw in new people and make the site more streamlined. I personally would gladly exchange new coding next year for a new layout. The easier and simpler the site is to use, especially for those with nonpaying accounts, the more likely we are to retain those players. The more comfortable and excited they are about the game, the more likely they will turn into paying customers to enrich their experience.

Except didn't we just get a new "streamlined" layout around Year 25?

[J K Rowling]

It works great, but it doesn't mean it can't be better. Even just simple things like organizing the available races list for a horse (especially for nonSIMperior members) would help a lot.

Think about it, what's the first thing people notice about websites? How it looks and how easy it is to navigate.

[The Steward]

I just reached my limit (although I haven't paid it out) on paying for word of mouth advertising, but I want to thank everyone and will award the horses in four weeks!