O.o forgot about cafe press also.

Oh, special, limited auctioned merchandise? I think that could be nice. O:

If they do the t-shirt idea, it'd be nice to boost activity with a user-run contest or something to decide the winning artwork. :yes:

Yes you find those bars on non-profit sites... but... menewsha isn't IN a profit... so we would fit that category ne?

I would do art for real money but I can't draw myself out of a paper bag. Though I could do something with photography. Like the person who was commissioning me would give me a subject then I go out and take a picture of it .

Oh that would be awesome.

Yup, basically my view too.

We haven't really been trying, and yes I agree, more 'normal' stuff would help a lot.

I feel we can still keep the anime style with a lot of things, but yeah, we're otherwise killing ourselves.

I've been on their asses about this for some time. The other week they were quite literally ordered to do nothing. Way ahead of you on trying to fix this.

To be honest donations don't increase in event months 99% of the time, except halloween.

Already on this, more of that staff stuff.

The problem is alienating the existing users by changing things too quickly as users don't understand why a change is necessary. That was a large point of making this thread.

Seriously, build up with them and then add to doing original hats and etc. later.
Would be nice to see some of the items being sold.

Does anyone around here live around Maryland? Otakon is coming up soon, wouldn't be bad to get some people who are already going, possibly provide them with a fliaer that can be printed up, and get handed out there. I do suggest, make no mention of Gaia on it. The facebook ad for that did, put me way off for it, not exactly way to get new users.

Sadly sales of CI's taper off a lot more than you'd expect. Honestly there wouldn't be enough sales from doing this :(

I know there is a one day anime con in Bowling Green... just dont' know when. There is also one in Dearborn... hm... *curses not having her own computer*

I would help if I could do photography.

I have an idea...not sure if it would work, but here it is!
What if Mene sold extra things, like things to put in your profile, or cool forum post borders? It wouldn't be a membership, but it wouldn't be creating new avatar items either. They could be different things that would appeal to different people. Some people might like art more, and would want a pretty border for their forum posts.
I hope you all get what I'm mean... :sweat:

p.s. I hope this hasn't already been suggested before. I read through a lot of pages, but not all of them.

Sadly, I am not going to Otakon, I live on the west coast, and I usually just make it to Fanime, since it's where i live. I also try making it out to WonderCon.

But as said, with con season in full swing, why not make a flier for the site, maybe staff can make it, post an announcement, users can print it up, get together and hand it out at the con. Hell, ComiCon is coming up and would be a great place to advertise.

Many people were talking about Menewsha Merchandise, things that some of the kids would be allowed to buy because it is real unlike pixels, some that could auctioned off. Is there any chance that putting the money in these things would pay off eventually? Maybe there could be a chance to open such shop after Mene has been put a little bit on feet again?
And ads on the site? Would that actually help any? Since I didn't see anyone minding them, unless they were with sound and viruse-d.

-looks at clock- Man. I really don;t want to go, but I think I will have to soon. I will try to read up what was said here when I return tomorrow.

There are lots of options on the table, feel free to suggest.

FWIW girly dress up sites are actually really popular Google Trends: stardoll, gaiaonline

Photography, hmm...well I don't know if you could make that feasible and relevant to Mene, so to speak...

*looks at stardoll* o.o huh... those are popular?

It was a thought of something I could do since I don't draw.

They also cost $25 or so per shirt and don't really give much back.

Hmm, I know my roommate has made some money on there, and didn't cost her any money to set things up.
It's a slow start, I also know the owner of Varus and I think even Celainia go through there too

Meh, I know shirt manufacturers, and if you order 50+ at a time, it doesn't cost nearly as much as it would if you went through cafepress or something.

@Inso: I had no idea what stardoll was until I googled it, but I think it's popular because it's all mainstream stuff rather than anime. So yes, I think you need to whip out some abercrombie and express inspired clothes for our next commons update. Giant sunglasses would be so easy to make too. :D

Can you invest at all in some group games? I'm not talking about gaia online's stupid car rallys, but group games are more fun because they're interactive in real time. What about a pictionary game with a chat on the side? We've got a lot of artists here and it'd be a great way to attract new members. The most popular pictionary site for the last couple of years, isketch, has lost so many members because of random bannings and people have been looking for a replacement. Trust me, I signed up for a ton of crappy sites just so that I could play online pictionary--I'm sure that others would do that same. (My entire neighborhood is banned from isketch for some reason, so I'm sure that others have the same problem as me).

Also, any chance in expanding to pets? I know we probably don't want neopets or breedable pets, but what about just normal pets? I don't think any other avatar site has normal dog and cat breeds. The reason that I mention this is because a lot of my friends (and myself) are pre-vet students and they waste so much time playing farmville. They play it all day just because 'it has animals in it'.

I know both of those options would be huge investments--definitely more than this site can afford right now. But in the long run, I think they could bring in more users of a different demographic (and that's what you're looking for, right?).

@ Zaz - then where would you recommend if not cafepress?

Siri: Those are all really good ideas! I think that Mene will get a bigger "audience" if things like that are added. Things like animals and clothes that aren't too fantastical or anime-inspired. :yes: (Not that I don't like those! :lol:)