Black This Out, Want $6,000,000? We Need THE ENTIRE MONTH for Promotion & 25,000 Attendees

[NickOdell]

I like the proposed design much better.

 

[justatrey]

That looks amazing. Great job!

 

[mport1]

We still need someone to put this on the front page of the forums....

Agreed, this should be front and center everywhere until the data.

 

[Sentinelrv]

Ok, so here are the updated stats for today...

Sep 19 - 998
Sep 20 - 1,222 (+224)
Sep 21 - 1,440 (+218)

Early Endorsements & Email Blasts: It's good that we've kept our current momentum, but it didn't increase any. In fact it went down, but only by six attendees. I think what we need is a large boost to help momentum for this build even earlier. We need to get larger websites to endorse this money bomb right now to help get everybody on board as soon as possible. Again, I talked to RonPaulForums administrator Bryan and one of the things he said he'd be able to help us with is an email blast. We could also try to get the Daily Paul to do this as well as Trevor Lyman and any other organizations out there that have large email lists. These emails need to go out as soon as possible so that momentum can build around the event early. All the promotion effort and email blasts have come too late in the game as I explained in the original post and there was no chance to build up any momentum.

When to Send the Email & What to Write: The problem is, when should we start contacting people about sending out emails? Should we wait until Dusman has a chance to update the official website a little bit, or should we do it as soon as possible? Maybe it won't take Dusman that long to change things around. He would need to let us know. Also, we would need to construct an email here on the board for Bryan to use to send out to the community. I think it might be best to wait until RonPaulForums has the promotion widget on the top of the website, but I just don't want to wait too long. Every day we wait is a lost opportunity.

Compile a list of Ron Paul Facebook Pages: Something thing we should do is compile a large list of Ron Paul pages from Face book and use the list to visit each daily and make new status updates about the money bomb. I know there are a lot of Ron Paul pages on Facebook. Really, I think all you need to do is search Ron Paul and click for expanded search results and then get the name and link for each page. Each day we check all of these pages and post a money bomb status update if there isn't already one there, that way the maximum amount of people know about it.

I've noticed people are promoting the money bomb by posting status updates on different pages like mentioned above, but I tried checking out the comments of status updates by either Ron Paul's Facebook page or the RonPaul2012 Facebook page and I didn't see much promotion there. For example, Ron Paul uploaded a picture onto his page as a new update and there are over 500 commenters posting who we could expose the money bomb to. All these different Ron Paul Facebook pages have many status updates a day with thousands and thousands of commenters. We could leave many comments about the money bomb in these updates. These are all places where large amounts of Ron Paul people come to visit and comment. We need to go to them.

What does everyone think about these points and is anyone willing to work on them?

 

[mport1]

I'm very glad to see this kind of push for this money bomb. This is something that has been dramatically lacking from past ones which I think is a major reason we haven't raised as much money.

 

[dusman]

Ok, so here are the updated stats for today...

Sep 19 - 998
Sep 20 - 1,222 (+224)
Sep 21 - 1,440 (+218)

Early Endorsements & Email Blasts: It's good that we've kept our current momentum, but it didn't increase any. In fact it went down, but only by six attendees. I think what we need is a large boost to help momentum for this build even earlier. We need to get larger websites to endorse this money bomb right now to help get everybody on board as soon as possible. Again, I talked to RonPaulForums administrator Bryan and one of the things he said he'd be able to help us with is an email blast. We could also try to get the Daily Paul to do this as well as Trevor Lyman and any other organizations out there that have large email lists. These emails need to go out as soon as possible so that momentum can build around the event early. All the promotion effort and email blasts have come too late in the game as I explained in the original post and there was no chance to build up any momentum.

When to Send the Email & What to Write: The problem is, when should we start contacting people about sending out emails? Should we wait until Dusman has a chance to update the official website a little bit, or should we do it as soon as possible? Maybe it won't take Dusman that long to change things around. He would need to let us know. Also, we would need to construct an email here on the board for Bryan to use to send out to the community. I think it might be best to wait until RonPaulForums has the promotion widget on the top of the website, but I just don't want to wait too long. Every day we wait is a lost opportunity.

Compile a list of Ron Paul Facebook Pages: Something thing we should do is compile a large list of Ron Paul pages from Face book and use the list to visit each daily and make new status updates about the money bomb. I know there are a lot of Ron Paul pages on Facebook. Really, I think all you need to do is search Ron Paul and click for expanded search results and then get the name and link for each page. Each day we check all of these pages and post a money bomb status update if there isn't already one there, that way the maximum amount of people know about it.

I've noticed people are promoting the money bomb by posting status updates on different pages like mentioned above, but I tried checking out the comments of status updates by either Ron Paul's Facebook page or the RonPaul2012 Facebook page and I didn't see much promotion there. For example, Ron Paul uploaded a picture onto his page as a new update and there are over 500 commenters posting who we could expose the money bomb to. All these different Ron Paul Facebook pages have many status updates a day with thousands and thousands of commenters. We could leave many comments about the money bomb in these updates. These are all places where large amounts of Ron Paul people come to visit and comment. We need to go to them.

What does everyone think about these points and is anyone willing to work on them?

One of the things I wanted to accomplish with the new design was to establish a "brand" for the moneybomb. If you guys think what I have here works, I will start theming a widget and share the code here so you guys can run with it, then work on revamping the web site.

I suggest moving forward with e-mailing web sites to make an initial contact. I can actually setup a generic theme for it right now and if I need to change it later it will change across all the other web sites.

 

[justinpagewood]

With all this creativity going on, I was inspired to throw in my own concept design.

You know me. I'm a minimalist.

 

[Sentinelrv]

Dusman, that looks very nice. A question though, how would people know where to go to see the counter-arguments? I see a report button, but it doesn't even mention that there are counter-arguments against poorly written and biased media articles and videos.

Also, are you going to add anything about our 25,000 pledge goal in the beginning text? I don't think we need to display the $6,000,000 goal, but I still think it's very imporatant to put a pledge goal out there for people to rally around.

Also, about this thread getting on the front page, I could ask Bryan if he'd be able to help us out with that.

 

[trey4sports]

Ok, so here are the updated stats for today...

Sep 19 - 998
Sep 20 - 1,222 (+224)
Sep 21 - 1,440 (+218)

Early Endorsements & Email Blasts: It's good that we've kept our current momentum, but it didn't increase any. In fact it went down, but only by six attendees. I think what we need is a large boost to help momentum for this build even earlier. We need to get larger websites to endorse this money bomb right now to help get everybody on board as soon as possible. Again, I talked to RonPaulForums administrator Bryan and one of the things he said he'd be able to help us with is an email blast. We could also try to get the Daily Paul to do this as well as Trevor Lyman and any other organizations out there that have large email lists. These emails need to go out as soon as possible so that momentum can build around the event early. All the promotion effort and email blasts have come too late in the game as I explained in the original post and there was no chance to build up any momentum.

When to Send the Email & What to Write: The problem is, when should we start contacting people about sending out emails? Should we wait until Dusman has a chance to update the official website a little bit, or should we do it as soon as possible? Maybe it won't take Dusman that long to change things around. He would need to let us know. Also, we would need to construct an email here on the board for Bryan to use to send out to the community. I think it might be best to wait until RonPaulForums has the promotion widget on the top of the website, but I just don't want to wait too long. Every day we wait is a lost opportunity.

Compile a list of Ron Paul Facebook Pages: Something thing we should do is compile a large list of Ron Paul pages from Face book and use the list to visit each daily and make new status updates about the money bomb. I know there are a lot of Ron Paul pages on Facebook. Really, I think all you need to do is search Ron Paul and click for expanded search results and then get the name and link for each page. Each day we check all of these pages and post a money bomb status update if there isn't already one there, that way the maximum amount of people know about it.

I've noticed people are promoting the money bomb by posting status updates on different pages like mentioned above, but I tried checking out the comments of status updates by either Ron Paul's Facebook page or the RonPaul2012 Facebook page and I didn't see much promotion there. For example, Ron Paul uploaded a picture onto his page as a new update and there are over 500 commenters posting who we could expose the money bomb to. All these different Ron Paul Facebook pages have many status updates a day with thousands and thousands of commenters. We could leave many comments about the money bomb in these updates. These are all places where large amounts of Ron Paul people come to visit and comment. We need to go to them.

What does everyone think about these points and is anyone willing to work on them?

Word to the wise about posting on Facebook group walls... Facebook will mark you for "spam" and disallow you from posting on facebook group walls for 2 weeks, this happened to me during the last moneybomb. I know you're not advocating spamming these or anything like that, i'm just saying that you want to be really cautious about how you go about it. Only post on a couple walls a day, and if you really want to kick shit into overdrive you can create secondary accounts and use proxies so as to elude trouble.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

It's gotta have a video. Get people pyched, you know. The Nov 5th and Dec 16th sites had a video or two, if I recall correctly.

 

[NickOdell]

Great points. I'm in 100%.

I emailed http://www.rp2012.org today and asked them for help. No response yet.
I figured they might be helpful since they helped so much with phonebanking and volunteer efforts for Ames.

I'll let you guys know if I hear back from them.

For now, I'll return back to personal messaging tons of people on Facebook about helping promote this, not just attending the event, all from the comfort of my bed on my iPod touch.

 

[dusman]

Dusman, that looks very nice. A question though, how would people know where to go to see the counter-arguments? I see a report button, but it doesn't even mention that there are counter-arguments against poorly written and biased media articles and videos.

Also, are you going to add anything about our 25,000 pledge goal in the beginning text? I don't think we need to display the $6,000,000 goal, but I still think it's very imporatant to put a pledge goal out there for people to rally around.

Also, about this thread getting on the front page, I could ask Bryan if he'd be able to help us out with that.

Basically, it will be broken up into sections.

Pledge: Pledge form and pledge statistics in the sidebar.
Report: Report a link form and current counter-articles in the sidebar.
Share: Sharing strategies, widgets, banners, etc.

Basically, when you click one of the three boxes, it will take you directly to the section. Pledge and Report the media is reinforced by the two buttons above the fold. Sharing details will be presented when they make a pledge. For the pledge itself, everytime you enter the web site, you'll be presented with a pledge form popup.

However, this is just what I envisioned and am open to ideas here.

 

[qwerty]

i was bored.
If tv ads were cheap... Or if money grew on trees ...

nice!

 

[davidt!]

I just sent an e-mail to Campaign for Liberty asking them for help in promoting this moneybomb to their lists and membership. I'll let everyone know if I hear back from them.

Has anyone contacted infowars.com about it yet?

Also does anyone have a web address for that Doctor that used to send out newsletters to thousands of people in 2007?

 

[Sentinelrv]

I just sent an e-mail to Campaign for Liberty asking them for help in promoting this moneybomb to their lists and membership. I'll let everyone know if I hear back from them.

I'm not sure if C4L will help out with this. As far as I know, they can't have anything to do with the campaign or they'll get in trouble. This is just what I heard, so I can't back it up.

 

[qwerty]

I'm very glad to see this kind of push for this money bomb. This is something that has been dramatically lacking from past ones which I think is a major reason we haven't raised as much money.

Totally agree!

We have the grassroot to promote this and we got money too to make this huge! Getting the word out it the thing!


Back to work, youtube commenting!

 

[Sentinelrv]

I can't guarantee that Bryan will send out an email, but he said he's open to it. What we need to do is construct one here and then I'll pass it along to him. What do we need to convey in this email? I'm not sure if we should mention $6,000,000, but I think we should mention the 25,000 pledge goal. We also need to convey that this email is being sent out early so that the money bomb has a chance to build momentum, unlike the previous ones. We need to include links to the website, Facebook event, this planning thread and maybe even tips on how to promote it. Anyone have anything else it should include?

 

[qwerty]

Great points. I'm in 100%.

I emailed http://www.rp2012.org today and asked them for help. No response yet.
I figured they might be helpful since they helped so much with phonebanking and volunteer efforts for Ames.

That´s really great!

There are ton of ron paul related sites and it would be nice if someone could send some e-mails around asking about support!

We can help together provide a list what to contact if someone needs help on that.

I think we need little (just little) coordination that we get everything done for this event.

You know why i can´t do it...

 

[WD-NY]

I appreciate the feedback!


Priority #1: Basic improvements to the landing page layout, copy and message

I actually have a concept to show right now. But I'm concerned I went a little over the top, maybe?

http://www.blackthisout.com/blackthisout-layout-v3.jpg

What do you guys think? As for the pledge feature.. I'm taking the suggestion of removing the slider and I'll also make a popup come up with a pledge form and details on current numbers. I have most of the framework in place already, so re-theming the current site won't be a challenge at all.

Priority #2: Badges, Banners and Widgets

Yes, an auto-updating counter. I have these working, I just need to theme it now!


Priority #3: Create features/functionality that help the Pledge go viral

You and I think alike! I actually have the pledge form/db set up for unique referral ids and am tracking those. It was initially for the news stories, however, I could do a sign up to get your own page pretty easily.

I'll have a look over your links.

Just need a go ahead from you guys!

Ok, a few quick thoughts:

• Keep the current header and design - the new header no longer matches the marketing/branding materials (cards, logos, etc.) - even with Ron Paul Money bombs, branding & messaging consistency = a must. I also personally think the current header you have up is pitch perfect in terms of communicating an 'enough is enough', 'don't f*ck with us' and 'we mean business' attitude that gets the core grass roots truly fired. Remember, the 2 huge bombs of 2008 were pretty 'in your face' in terms of branding (e.g. Fawkes Bomb website was almost cryptically dark whereas the Boston Tea Party site was super aggressive with the messaging used).

• Just saw justinpagewood's design - Now that's what I call a Header/Headline graphic - love the edge (which I think this Money Bomb needs in spades since all the others have been warm and fuzzy). Nice job Justin - Can you try putting something together using the image of Ron Paul that's currently up on blackthisout.com? I think that one presents a much stronger/tougher/gruffer image of Ron Paul and as a result, communicates the emotion of this money better more effectively. In the image you used, RP looks like he's arguing or attempting to make a point (beta). In dusman's graphic, RP is basically saying ''bring it' (alpha). In other words, I think dusman's current graphic of RP = MONEY.

• When we suggested moving the Pledge count and form box above the fold, we meant 'move the pledge count & form above the fold' - buttons with silly javascript that open popup lightboxes that show the pledge count and or form = a huge step backwards imo. Simple ftw.

• Use bright, high contrast colors - Why are the 3 ACTION buttons ice blue given that the background is black?? Does that "POP OUT" to you?? RED and white text = your 2 best friends.

• Replace the entire "Report" concept/button with the 'Get your friends to pledge & win the internets (or a dinner w/ Dr. Paul)' contest/game. I just don't think the "Report media ignoring RP" dog is gonna hunt as they say. That will-be/is-being taken care of much more effectively with youtube promotional videos.

• Page copy is way to "soft" - keep it "revolutionary" (which = unafraid, certain, DECLARATIVE, bold, aggressive,).

Last but not least, I think the latest mockup was/is a pretty big step backwards. Your initial gut had the right ideas, they just needed polishing. What's up right now is soft and has little/no soul. I don't mean to sound harsh, but as you yourself have said, time is of the essence.

Stay focused, keep it simple and please, knock off priority #1 before moving on to anything else. If you need any help with coding things us, I and I'm sure many other forum members with webdev skills would be happy to help.

 

[MJU1983]

Dont forget this one? I mean starting at 2:55 min mark is awe inspiring...

I'm sorry if I offend anyone who has made a BTO youtube video...But they all kind of stink! The one's that i've seen so far are not effective at all. Can someone step up and make something truly inspiring? I would, but I have zero skills. Just trying to help being that I'm an end user.

I took a few videos and stitched together a video I think turned out pretty good:



HD Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgMnJXD2Yes&hd=1

Although YouTube has been CRAWLING for me tonight.