Contests

I would posit that all the contests are biased. They are a bit of fun for the members to enjoy. I very much doubt any potential buyer actually spends any significant length of time browsing through them to make their decision on what to buy.

the contests can be viewed by anyone, but you have to throttle it some place. otherwise the vote cheaters would be much more rampant, and the bots would do all the voting. the contests are just for fun, and they do result in sales - without ever winning.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Let me clarify what I am trying to say some people will think why bother viewing them if I can't vote anyway and how are we to know what best interests them if we don't allow them to obviously the model currently in use is not working I've seen comments of artists leaving because they are unable to sell no matter what they post. Lets here other suggestions ....

Fun doesn't pay bills.

When someone is looking to buy some art of a particular subject, they usually do a search. That takes them to faa sometimes and right to the images that fit their criteria.
I highly doubt they bother to stop off at our in house contests. In much the same way, few stop in the threads.
We just aren't all that interesting :(

No, fun does not pay bills....and for the vast majority here, neither does one POD site.

not everyone comes here to vote on something. they find the contest in google and may like the image. the contests themselves are for fun. your here to sell the image. if your not in the contest and someone is looking you lost the sale. the contest isn't a place to figure out what a buyer likes. you have to figure that out on your own.

just because another artists can't sell, that has nothing to do with the contest. it has to do more with the work they sell, the quality, the advertising etc. many people don't bother trying. and others do get lost in the system. but the contests won't help you sell anything. and it's a poor gauge as to what the public wants. if you want to figure out what buyers want - what do you want? your a buyer of things. chances are, if you like it, they will too. but if your always chasing, you'll have pages of random images that won't attract anyone. if your having issues with selling, you have to advertise it yourself.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Contests are another way to be seen. With that in mind, when I run one, voting is open to the public because the public will buy way before other artists. I like it when I see the images I have in contests pop up on my Views Page with places I don't usually get views. I'm not looking to win and really, I don't care if I don't win. Or do win, for that matter. The folks who worry about vote solicitation making contests "unfair" are probably the same ones who obsess over the bots.

i do think many of the contest starters - are buyers in disguise. they might have gotten tired of trying to use the search here and its easier when its grouped up?

i enter, then forget i entered. i don't vote, just don't care about that.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

The contests are for fun. Those that are serious are normally jury run

It is completely the admins choice whether they want to have jury, public or member only and that is the way it should be as they are good enough to run them

Buyers come through searches mainly and not through contests, nor do they normally start them

Exactly! Contests are not the only point of entry into the FAA fortress. More "outsiders" are likely to come in via searches or by invitation from someone they know who is an artist here. For me, personally, I have bought many people onto the website by inviting them to view a particular image or a particular group, and never for a contest. If I put myself in the general public's shoes, I would be more likely to purchase art by viewing the direct listing for a piece (with prices and print options) rather than from a page that has a voting button.

Both general public and FAA only contests are fraught with issues, they just tend to be different issues. The goal of the contest administrator will determine whether (s)he makes it a general public, FAA only, or juried contest.

If I was browsing to purchase art on this site or any other, it would never occur to me to drill down to forums, contests or groups to find art and I certainly wouldn't be inclined to participate in voting in some site contest. Potential buyers browse by keyword or scroll though pages by category to see what's offered. My guess is that any votes other than FAA members come because entrants solicit friends, family and random social site contacts to vote for their entry. Just because some FAA members waste an inordinate amount of time here does not mean that Joe Public would be inclined to. Why would they?

"If I was browsing to purchase art on this site or any other, it would never occur to me to drill down to forums, contests or groups to find art..."

Maybe not to you or even me, but perhaps it would to someone else. Just like a small percentage of FAA'ers might come here to post, a small percentage of buyers may also go to contests and the like either by accident or by purpose.

its not about searching the contests for a sale. it's the accidental discovery while looking for something else in google. because your image is coupled with others, you just gained many keywords you didn't have, and they may find you because of that. its the same principal of posting everywhere and every when. people find you accidentally.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

i know of one artist who solicited votes and got 184 tell me the odds aren't stacked how many contests do you know of that a person gets 184 votes??? That really encourages people to enter contests???

It was not open to public either.

can't say much about that. i guess you could report that person to the staff, but it also depends on the rules of the contest. if they allowed it, then oh well. if not, they can get kicked out if you press the issue. but in the end they only fool themselves.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

One person got 184 votes in one contest so all contests are bad? That's not how I think. In the contests I entered today, I'm already getting views of those shots. I don't care about votes. It's just one more way out of many to get my work seen.

No not all contests are bad but they should all be fair.

The contests are not really legitimate unless they are juried. Even then, if a juror has a bias, or doesn't like a particular member, the outcome is still tainted.

The contests are basically a parade to show things off. But people will even leave a parade if it goes on forever. Any contest that has over 100 entries is lost from the beginning anyways. Not much legitimacy to it.

afterall if its just for fun then why the need to solicit votes ?

Well thanks for the input everyone I was under the impression that public contests were a tool to drive more traffic to FAA obviously not.