The Real Story (Helpful Advice for New Members)

Member Name: miriamb

Product:	Helpful Advice for New Members
Date:	04/06/02 (66 review reads)
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Dear reader,

I've not been here long, but since I joined I have been keeping a close eye on things. I've been watching and reading and rating and probably annoying people by asking questions. I would never pretend to be anything more than I actually am, and I am a newbie, but this may be helpful to other newbies to the site.

I found dooyoo by accident, and you may have too. Alternatively, you may have sought out dooyoo as a money making scheme. A friend may have referred you. Whichever way, unless you're an old hand at these type of things, you're probably very excited and want to write everything and anything about, well, everything and anything. But Stop!

That won't make you popular. Nor will it make you rich. And if a friend referred you all you'll do is embarass them completely. It's a definite faux-pas to write lots of opinions all at once. Spread them out, save them in Word then copy and paste them a little later. There's no rush, the site will still be here.

Look on the lefthand side, there's a whole range of bits of info to help you navigate yourself and give you advice. The Premier Opinions are a good place to start if you want to make money. Observe the style and quality of writing, the length and the detail.

You'll also notice 2 drop down boxes, one for New Opinions and one for New Members. Now, the first of these contains the 75 most recent opinions. If you put lots of opinions out at the same time, you'll flood the 75. This will annoy people because they'll probably lose reads as they get knocked out of the newest list.

So, how to make friends and influence people? Don't "churn". This is a new phrase that I have recently learnt because I was churning, ie turning out lots of low quality opinions. If people read one low quality opinion, they won't bother reading any more of yours. Remember that.


Use the navigation links and advice on the left to familiarise yourself with the site. It has many many categories and sub-categories so make sure your opinion goes in the correct one. If you don't, it may well be under-rated as Not Useful to the topic in hand.

Don't plagiarise. You will be found out and you will earn nothing except maybe a slap from whoever you've copied. You Must Must Must write your own words, and at least 75 of them. You can quote, but state your references and all will be well.

Do rate and leave comments. Rate fairly as to how useful the opinion was (see the dooyoo tips for guidance if you're not sure) but don't leave nasty or unpleasant comments. Critical comment is good but not out and out criticism. Popularity breeds reads and it's worth remembering that.

Ask for help if you're not sure what you should be writing. Each category has a category guide and in my experience they are all lovely and only too willing to give you hints and tips. They will be reading your opinion so they really want to make sure that they don't have to read drivel. You can find them on the right hand side of a category page, with a nice picture to make them even more approachable. What a gorgeous lot they are! ;)

Your profile page will probably interest you a lot to begin with, you can give as much or as little information about yourself as you like. You'll also see the Circle of Friends, to which you can add people who's writing or subject matter interests you. It helps build that community feelin' and it's nice to know that at least one person trusts you and likes your writing! Flattery seems to get you everywhere in life! And to those who say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, well that be as it may, but copy and pasting is nobody's idea of a compliment unless it's referenced.

As a starting point, I can't think of an awful
lot else to suggest, but then, I'm only a newbie myself. You'll probably find your own path round the site, find people who's writing you enjoy, and your own favourite categories. It's fun, really, and sometimes very thought-provoking, and sometimes very sad. But it's all here, so Go Explore! Just don't write a zillion opinions before you have!

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