misteraven Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 So there's already a forum upgrades thread and a few others that are related to the topic... I'd like to think you guys are all in agreement that the more we can build up the forum, the more fun this place will be. Though I'm sure you guys also know how many times we've discussed that I want to do this or that, hopefully you also recognize I'm doing my best with the available resources I have to work with. I've made huge progress in some aspects, and very little in others. I think all in all, we can agree the forum is worlds improved from where it was a couple years back when I first started making efforts to revitalize it. Obviously its nowhere near where we were in 2010 - 2012 era, which was probably the peak, but its far from being a ghost town as well. I think we have a pretty good group of regulars on here and enough conversation across a range of topics, that it feels like a community with regularly evolving conversations. I'd like to step that up a notch or two and am working on some efforts that I hope accomplishes that. I think the forum tee we did was a pretty good success and I'm planning for more of that sort of thing. Obviously having the screen printing company is a strategic advantage that helps in a big way for that sort of thing. I was planning to do semi regular forum specific releases like that as well as develop a "crew" type forum tee that will be bundled into a new version of VIP as a way to help support the cost of development as well as make it a little more visible in terms of those that are willing to support. Obviously that'll also include some forum perks as well. Anyhow, other than the obvious marketing and promotion... Something that has always basically just boiled down to promoting on Instagram and FaceBook, I wanted to get some thoughts from you guys on what we can do to really better position the forum and make it more enticing for new members? I've always wanted to have a sort of intro / tutorials section... Something that would actually be useful and easy to read, but wondering of thats even necessary anymore? Anyone have any suggestions on some steps we can take to build things up for another big push? Our last push essentially doubled / tripled traffic. Seems like it would be a great time to give it another big push and see if we can do it again. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misteraven Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Hey @Ray40since you're probably the newest person here to have worked up to being a regular, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the experience and your feedback on what you think could work to attract more new users. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Needs more arrows 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorydays Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 I don't have facebook anymore because of the forum 1 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorydays Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 i hope you do an interview kind of thing Martha Cooper interview would be rad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delv Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 How did 12oz take off originally? Was it all word of mouth or the did having the magazine help? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercer Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 @delvThere's a rumor at least part of the initial success was someone hacking other graffiti websites, to redirect all their traffic to 12ozProphet. Rumor had it you'd type in some your local geocities graff website's address, and just end up on 12oz, like "phat redesign, this 12oz is the bomb". Interwebz used to be Wild Wild West in those days, allegedly. Then you'd have to spend the next 12 days figuring out how to operate a flatbed scanner, and host a photo using a web hosting site, then finally post it to 12oz so people could talk maaaad shit on your city's style from around the world. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KILZ FILLZ Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 1 hour ago, delv said: How did 12oz take off originally? Was it all word of mouth or the did having the magazine help? Typing in “graffiti” on early search engines in my bet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misteraven Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 1 hour ago, delv said: How did 12oz take off originally? Was it all word of mouth or the did having the magazine help? We were one of the first forums, but yeah probably was the magazine more than anything. The graffiti world used to be a lot smaller and word of mouth really got around. But fact is it took many years. People remember mostly that era when there was thousands of kids on here but rarely remember the years leading up to it. Traffic works exponentially most of the time and compounds quickly. So a couple dozen grow to a few hundred and a few hundred will grow to a thousand. The trend curve accelerates increasingly quick once you get to several hundred logged in. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 13 minutes ago, misteraven said: We were one of the first forums, but yeah probably was the magazine more than anything. The graffiti world used to be a lot smaller and word of mouth really got around. But fact is it took many years. People remember mostly that era when there was thousands of kids on here but rarely remember the years leading up to it. Traffic works exponentially most of the time and compounds quickly. So a couple dozen grow to a few hundred and a few hundred will grow to a thousand. The trend curve accelerates increasingly quick once you get to several hundred logged in. What’s the average amount of accounts logged in now at peak 00:00? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misteraven Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 8 minutes ago, where said: What’s the average amount of accounts logged in now at peak 00:00? 8 minutes ago, where said: What’s the average amount of accounts logged in now at peak 00:00? I’ve purposely avoided tracking stats consistently because I don’t think we’re at that point. Only time it matters is when I’m working on a promotion of some sort and want to see if it is having any effect. Also, the way the current forum recognizes a logged in user is far different than how the old system did. That said, the highest I’ve ever seen logged in at one time is 53 users, but that’s not typical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delv Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Just thought the easiest way to gain some traffic would be to get ballers like MERO to give the forum a shout out. That and supporting Graff mags that still exist. Throw em a bone and some exposure cos they still out there asking their thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misteraven Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Mero’s been approached several times about 12oz and isn’t interested. You can imagine how many times someone must bring it up and if it was going to happen, it would have. As for zines, funny enough I just saw a DM from someone doing a zine and asking for a copy of our logo. Forum has always been a good way to promote zines so yeah. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kults Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 too busy doing important stuff lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 The show isn’t funny, the podcast does have some laughs ngl. But that pics from like a year ago so like Raven said if it was gonna happen so dude fuck that dude keep it moving unless yall wanna break out that fork stuck in the road green day song and reminisce about the good old days I’m good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Something I've noticed is the rise of tablet use for sketching Graffiti... I guess the new blackbook (?). That guy Mr. Baker consistently releases brush packs and recently released a sketch template of a subway car sitting in a station that you can draw over. Corny, sure, but shortly after he launched it I noticed a lot of folks posting images or screenshots on social media of the sketches they were doing on his template. Coming up with something like that could draw traffic to the shop/forum and generate some income. We could create contests around the template, or templates, which could also drive traffic to the forum. Contest winner gets a forum specific t-shirt... or maybe just bragging rights. I'm trying to think of ways to generate income and drive folks to the forum. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Example of the digital template I was talking about... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty_habiT Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 ^^^ @misteraven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty_habiT Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 Those are bad ass ideas. I actually wanted to get an ipad and that app you and Defy were talking about in another thread. What was it called again @Joker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty_habiT Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 On 10/21/2020 at 11:26 AM, where said: The show isn’t funny, the podcast does have some laughs ngl. But that pics from like a year ago so like Raven said if it was gonna happen so dude fuck that dude keep it moving unless yall wanna break out that fork stuck in the road green day song and reminisce about the good old days I’m good Personally, I have kept this to myself, but I will share now.... I think and always have thought that Mero was an idiot. The all caps was a good tell that plenty of people were willing to overlook at the height of his popularity here. He's just a class clown, a passing sidenote in 12oz history. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 56 minutes ago, Dirty_habiT said: Those are bad ass ideas. I actually wanted to get an ipad and that app you and Defy were talking about in another thread. What was it called again @Joker? I use Procreate on an iPad. It's easily the best drawing/painting app I've tried. The community is great as far as help and tutorials, and there's tons of folks who've created custom brush packs and custom color palettes that you can import into the app. You can create your project in the app and export it as a PSD to work further in Photoshop, too... if that's a thing you'd like to be able to do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 You could launch a few different packs of templates to start with. A freight train pack that consists of several templates - engine, caboose, boxcar, autorack, covered hopper, etc.. Then a delivery van/truck pack with a couple templates. Then a city specific subway car pack. A city specific commuter train pack. I mean... there's options, right? Create templates for Procreate users on iOS and Autodesk Sketchbook for Android users. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat ralphy Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 11 hours ago, Joker said: Example of the digital template I was talking about... Dare is the homie - Regarding the website, I think as long as it is primarily graff content focus we will always be a marginalized platform. I really used to like JRE and when Channel Zero slowed down, that was my go to. Currently I probably use Reddit more than anything, but I do visit Channel Zero waaaay more than I have in the last couple years. I think you are headed in the right direction. I think gear and merch probably helps - maybe figuring out the glorious algorithms of IG to become teh hiphop influencer and then redirect traffic here.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat ralphy Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 6 hours ago, Joker said: You could launch a few different packs of templates to start with. A freight train pack that consists of several templates - engine, caboose, boxcar, autorack, covered hopper, etc.. Then a delivery van/truck pack with a couple templates. Then a city specific subway car pack. A city specific commuter train pack. I mean... there's options, right? Create templates for Procreate users on iOS and Autodesk Sketchbook for Android users. That would be rad.... I remember at one point there was some sort of drawball type thing online - hella fools would be logged on and tagging the shit up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Knight Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 11 minutes ago, fat ralphy said: That would be rad.... I remember at one point there was some sort of drawball type thing online - hella fools would be logged on and tagging the shit up. Drawball 12oz posse was a pinnacle of the forum era of the internet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 Yo I had the idea that it would be dope if you could upload your post noises so when other people post you hear your uploaded sound 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deine Mudder Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 Forum displays like that for me for a while now @misteraven- with the first post of the thread drawn out etc. - guess this is not how it's intended? On Safari 14.0 by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delv Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 I reckon the forum could do with an audit to see what really needs to stay, what can go and what new sections could be added. Digital graffiti for one is getting big ATM and I don't see much off it on here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 Exclusive writer interviews or spotlights, whether video or a gallery of images, could draw folks to the forum. I know this is something you've done in the past, and I'm not sure how well it was received, but throwing it out there anyway. Another round of art prints. Seems like folks who missed out on the last round are kicking themselves or are jealous of those who got in on it. Maybe another set of exclusive black & white art prints, with 12oz branding, could draw some folks in. Create some hype via social media prior to the release of each one. Exclusive content per artist can be found on the forum. There was chatter a while back in another thread about creating some kind of Graffiti Alphabet template - similar to what Bombing Science has done - for folks to create their own handstyle, or dimensional letter, alphabet. Create a thread dedicated to it. Speaking of... As mentioned in a post above mine the rise of digital Graffiti as the new blackbook is noticeable... though I know it's not popular with purists. Regardless, how can we create content around that and draw folks to the forum? Templates as previously mentioned? Tutorials? Contests? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 (edited) This is going to sound silly, but bear with me... A treasure hunt. Vans recently launched in their Oxford Street store a QR code treasure hunt. Simple idea, nothing new, but in my world (I'm a retail designer) this was something pretty cool. What if there's a way to create a treasure hunt on the forum? There's a list of ten items to find, and when you find it you have to like it or prop it or maybe there's a special "reaction" specifically for these ten posts. Finding all ten gets you a discount code or a special code needed to buy exclusive content available only in the 12oz shop. Not only could it draw folks to the forum but it cold get folks to dig through the forum and see some of the great content already here. There's probably more to the idea than that, but wanted to get it out before I forgot. @misteraven Edited November 6, 2020 by Joker Added final thought... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.