A big big suggestion

[Signore Kai]

I have this idea just as I was about to head to bed that I think may be
able to help SSD pick up again.

What is the current direction of SSD?

Because the way I see it now, it is sort of a hybrid casual + arts forum.

SSD is no doubt at its lowest point now, and now is the best time to change
the fundamentals of SSD. The fundamentals had worked before, but right
now it wouldn't work anymore. There was real pride and joy last time when
you know that you're part of SSD, and right now this intangible feeling is
gone.

So what we really need to do now is not to shrink the board. What we need
now is new blood. People who are already good at what they are doing, and
also people who want to become good.

What I'm suggesting is completely shifting the directions of SSD as a service
forum for artists and designers. Not just discussion, but to try to establish
SSD as a forum for freelancers as well. Sort of like a portal for people to
post their portfolio up and for people to look for freelancers. Like a job thing.

These are the same people we can also tap from to spread the news about SSD.
To get this whole thing going we need to get the word out to the designers,
photographers. Once we have a large enough collection, publicity from other
places (blogs, other discussion forums, word of mouth, SEO - very important),
the people looking for freelancers will come. These freelancers don't even have to
be designers; writers can be freelancers as well. So can photographers, though
that one might be a little bit more difficult due to location constrains. And even coders.

And when we really have such a group of creative individuals, naturally things will
become colourful- the old SSD worked because of the large influx of people, all
with different opinions, different background and different ideas. The old SSD is
like a melting pot of many ideologies and that's why it worked. And that is what
we need now. With a pool of people who are DEDICATED to their individual trades,
we will most definitely get discussion in these areas.

SSD is like a very small breeding pool of humans now- we're dying out because we are
simply just too small. If we want to survive, we need to think big and push for this last
run.

Before you comment, yes this is complicating and it will require an ENORMOUS
amount of effort to change SSD this dramatically. The hardest part is to believe that
this change is possible.

Then from there there's quite an amount of things to do, according to timeline:

- How to reach out to these freelancers - Most difficult thing to do
- How to create enough incentives for them to join - Almost as difficult as the first
- How to create enough momentum and hype
- How to channel these momentum and hype to the forum
- How to capture these freelancers
- How to reach out to the potential clients

I do have a few ideas in mind for promoting SSD if it should go in this direction. But I
guess what is really needed to push SSD in this direction is dedication and passion to
make it work. If Kay you're interested to know more, leave me PM or offline MSN
messages and I'll type more.

[ŋєт™]

Hmmm I don't want to speak for the staff, but I kind of like how you put it...more discussion is needed.

[now uc it]

Don't take this as me shutting down your idea because I'm not by any means, but I guess I see three major issues and I'm wondering if I have either misunderstood your suggestion or if you have some way of addressing them:

- Most freelancing works the other way around. There are a few sites around the internet dedicated to bringing freelancers and paid jobs together. One of the most popular, a website I seem to have misplaced at the moment, allows clients to list their jobs up and the pay they're willing to give for it. Freelancers then post their work and get paid if they're chosen.

The problem is that there are generally about 60-70 very well-made graphics posted up for the client to choose from. Business-wise, t is always a buyer's market when you're describing a boutique service. The only time you are more likely to have people trying to court you is if you're offering a full agency service, and unfortunately - we don't have those resources.

Sum: I have a hard time imagining that clients will come here to look through our portfolios when there are already resources for them where they can pay for finished products that have already been made to fit their needs.

- I also think you need to account for the system we're on. I know we'd be trying to reach outside of our PB community, but that's like saying that as a resident of Salt Lake City, I am going to market my product to Californians and expect that absolutely no Mormons will wander in. The culture of Proboards is to offer free graphics. Free, shoddy graphics at times... but free nonetheless.

- Freelancers are going to want the premium pay- and the people who are generally buying graphics from freelancers are the smaller, mom-and-pop stores that don't know much about the internet. Do you think they will stumble upon SSD as a proboard? If we aren't a place that can offer these target demographics for clients, why would freelancers bother to come in and try to post their gallery/their work? Yes, any publicity is good publicity, but the internet is so large that many times, it's not worth the effort for them if it's just going to go unseen.