I wish I'd read this ages ago. (Helpful Advice for New Members)

Member Name: moonbailey

Product:	Helpful Advice for New Members
Date:	03/10/01 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Make friends, learn loads, earn those pence!

Disadvantages: Somewhat addictive to say the least

It's OK. We were all the same when we first started. Try to run before you can walk and you fall flat on your face.

New boys and girls take heed. There is an art to becoming a popular and widely read member of dooyoo. But, it can be done and besides giving you an ego the size of a planet, could also make you some serious pocket money to boot.

It is only through patience and selfless interest in other people's opinions that you can really get on in this site. That shouldn't be a chore though, as you'll quickly find yourself becoming knowledgeable in all sorts of things you'd never thought of finding out about.

Your first rule of thumb should always be:

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Write about things you have a genuine interest in and it will be a much more useful read. Your own opinions are top of the agenda but it is always worth reading other opinions in the same category. This will give you an idea of things you could also cover as well as pointing out what has not yet been mentioned. Thus making yours more useful.

You want your opinion to be as useful as possible. It only has a limited shelf life on the front page ('NEW OPINIONS' - 'Cross-site'). After this point it gets placed in order of importance and high ratings, in it's own category.

Anything useful or less will be so far down the list - it may not get another read for months. The top opinion however, will be read and read until something even better tops it.


It goes without saying that you should pay attention to spelling and grammar. Some of us dooyoo snobs will mark down for badly written opinions unless the content is truly blinding. You should also be taking pride in your work naturally as it is about to be read by up to 200 people (potential raters!)

____________________________


MAKE YOUR OPINIONS EASY ON THE EYE -

(especially if it is a long one!)

You ne
ed to keep the reader's attention without scaring them off with miles and miles of unbroken text.

GET YOUR NAME KNOWN ON THE SITE.
Whenever you get a spare minute, take the time to read and rate other people's work. You'll soon get your favourite categories to check up on. If you mostly read what you are interested in yourself, it is like picking up a magazine that is exactly tailored to you.

LEAVE A LITTLE COMMENT
This is the point when you start making some virtual friends. You get to know who reads your stuff this way and who shares your interests.

Every time you do this, others see your comment and your name, which links to your page. If your comments are interesting, people may go to your profile page to check you out (!) and you are likely to get reads on your past opinions from this.

YOUR PROFILE PAGE gives a lot away about your commitment. If you have commented on and rated quite a lot, you will gain respect as a fair dooyoo member, not just here for the money. Again, this can win you faithful fans. They may put you on their circle of friends and come back and check on your new opinions.

KER-CHING!!

Onto the money side. You can give yourself a little helping hand here by a few sneaky tricks. If you read and rate, or better still, comment on an opinion that has just appeared on the front page - the writer will more than likely be checking his or her first comments as you write them. If you get their interest, they'll probably be curious to check your page while they wait for more ratings!

TIMING!
You might find it better to post your opinion at a certain time.
Ie. Illnesses and gross stories should not coincide with lunch or dinner - dooyooers will log off in their thousands if you make them drop their sandwiches in horror.
Depression and insomnia are not nice to read about, just before bed time, but may get quite a few reads if posted late to be read by the
overnight brigade! Fun opinions go down well in lunch hours and between 5.00 and 5.30pm when people need a little light entertainment. Post your bar reviews at 5.15pm on a Friday and they've just got to get a few reads, surely! Movies and television fit in well in between because they are harmless and timeless.

RECOMMEND IT TO YOUR MATES
It's not hard to do - if you still speak to any of them, they'll already know how good this site is. It shouldn't be hard to get them to join, and you'll benefit from an extra £1 when they have written their first ten opinions.

EVERY LITTLE HELPS!

It's nice to have some familiar names on the site too. Although, come to think of it - I can't recognise my friends here as they've all picked phantom names! They're not telling!

This is a very poor example, but I like to add a bit of humour in almost everything I write. It keeps me happy first and foremost but also makes for an easier read.

TITILLATING TITLES

Last but should have been first, choose a teasing title. Much as it dissapoints me, I've seen a lot of ops get more reads when they stoop a bit low and put a rude word in! Not out and out rude, just a little provoking.

B**LOCKS to it - it's worth a try!

So, there you have it. That's all I know. After all, I'm quite new myself. If I find out anything more, I'll selotape it onto the end of this.

Until then, be good, rate hard and stay faithful!

Moon xx

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