How about a blog convention? Everyone who has blogs (and I think most members probably do), will post about a tutorial, tip, or some other content on the site that they did not contribute themselves. That way we are all promoting the community as a whole.

It could be set for certain days of the month, or on a weekly basis, etc...

Expanding on your creativity & designs, select a tutorial maybe one of the free or low cost ones and have people submit the picture and description of what they did and how they changed the project. State that the goal is to find someone that took the basic lesson and expanded on it to make something totally unique yet still having to use the basics of the lesson to form the project.

Here's my own suggestion: "Invite a friend month".
Each user gets 10 invites. For each friend a user invites, they get points. It's time sensitive, meaning, if you invite on the first week, you get more points per invite than if you invite in the last. You can't invite someone who is already a member or yourself. And if we add MLM, each user gets points from the invites their invitees invited. (LOL, confusing?)

I would suggest adding a linked icon on user blogs , and having each member drop a post relative to Jewelry Lessons to announce the addition. It's permanent and visible - any visitor can click and visit in a heartbeat.

I always look through the display ads in the magazines I get. Since we all benefit from increased traffic, why not allow teachers to donate their earnings to be put toward advertising in specific magazines, such as Step-by-Step Wire. Perhaps exchange dollars for points.

Giveaways are great for attracting customers. Perhaps giving away one free tutorial, or a store credit to be used on jewelrylessons.com would attract a lot of visitors. The contest should be promoted on sites that attract a lot of jewelry makers.

Hey Eni, congratulations on your new site.I had no idea it was up on running.
A suggestion, you can contact trade publications such as Bead & Button, Beadwork, Step by Step Wire etc and ask them if they would consider reviewing your site and include it in their review section, such as "Bead Soup" in Bead & Button...
Jeanette

What if you gave a description of a size or type of stone and asked us to create something with that...you could even give a list of items to use as creatively as possible.

To make judging for the prize easier, you could award one entry into a drawing per item completed and photographed in the gallery and then just do a drawing to determine the winner...no hard feelings there! Plus the gallery would have a page just for that challenge/contest...all in one spot.

Color Exercise Challenge

Okay, let's have a bit of fun. This is not a contest. There are no prizes. There is no judging. The exercise is entirely voluntary. There is no deadline. The challenge is open to all, and you are actually challenging yourself, not a fellow artist.

Here's the deal. Below are listed three sets of various color combinations. Pick one that appeals to and make a finished piece of jewelry. You can make anything you want, necklace, bracelet, etc. The sets are categorized as:

Dominate: This will be the largest amount of color used in the piece. The component sizes will be the larger ones in the piece. It can be the focal component alone.

Sub-dominate: Here there may be one or two colors. These are used in a lesser degree than the dominate. If two colors are listed, both are to be used in the piece. The components will be of medium size.

Accent. These are little pops of color that appear here and there next to the dominate and sub-dominate colors. Again, use all listed colors.

The choice of the component sizes is up to you. The piece can be either symmetric or asymmetric . There is no restriction on the assembly, wire or some type of stringing. You may use some fancy wire work, but the emphasis should be on the colors. Color is what this challenge is all about.

You may use stone, glass, polymer clay, paper, resin, wood, or any combinations thereof. You may use metallic colored glass in place of gold or silver metal. Discretion is with the maker.

Important: All of the colors in a set are to used in the piece you make. Try to come as close to them as you can. You can interpret "pale" as "light," or "soft."

Set number one . Dominate color: Pale Brown,

Sub-dominate colors one and two: Pale Gray and Pale Orange

Accent colors: Black, White, Gold .

Set number two: Dominate: Golden Yellow,

Sub-dominate: Lavender,

Accent colors: Pale Green, Gray, Black, White, Red, Gold.

Set number three: Dominate: White.

Sub-dominate: Pale Lavender and Pale Gray.

Accent colors: Dark Gray, Brown, Gold.

It is understood by the author that some of these colors may be hard to come by in natural stones. That is why there are no restrictions are placed on the use of materials.

Show us all what you can come up with. Have fun!

why not have a sort of contest where the artist who chose to participate made a piece of jewelry(art)& it was posted in a gallery where people could bid or just buy the piece and donate the winnings to a cause such as Toys for Tots.The idea would have to be worked out in better detail,this just came pouring out of my heart.This would attract the kind of attention we want,surly,and it could help so many children at Christmas time.

I would suggest a contest for the most eco-friendly jewelry design, with the winner creating a piece with the most innovative use of recycled and found materials into an eye-catching, wearable piece of art jewelry. Everything from using vintage components from your Grandma's old costume jewelry to incorporating keepsakes, natural materials, both base metals and precious metals, gemstone beads and glass, to create one-of-a-kind treasures. Just my thoughts! :)

Hello
Here's my two pennies worth....
How about seasonal projects that we all can do evocative of that particular season. For instance next month is Halloween it would be great fun to all be involved with a Halloween jewellery making theme & post the finished projects for judging by general consensus & perhaps giveaway some nice prize in return for instructions.

I would like to see an RSS feed for each of the sections of the site, that would be very useful!
Otherwise I think the site is great! :)

Why not have an event in which we each post a picture of our very first piece of jewelry and then post a picture of our latest. It would encourage someone desiring to learn and it would delight each of us as we see development in our fellow artisans. There would be a drawing for the winner of the points. Actually each of us is a winner in that we have this inner joy as we create.

How about something geared to attract members from some of the other jewelry disciplines/core techniques? As far as I know I'm the only clayer here. So how about a recruiting challenge to find and recruit one (or more) contributors or teachers from a discipline other than our own individual skill set?

This might attract new people as well as keep the old ones attracted to the site.

Have one tutorial, which usually costs, free for a certain amount of time once a month (times can be what is seen best). People can then use the tutorial and make their own piece.

If we still want to continue this it would be possible to have a little competition. So people would then post a picture of their piece on the site and then everyone could vote for the best piece. The winner would then get points for the win.

Pictures posted for the competition could only be based on the free tutorial. This could be monitored by the moderators of the site so that no pictures of other kinds of jewelry would end up in the competition.

And even without the competition it is always intresting to see what people create with these tutorials.

Well, JKayJewelry has the same idea I do but I would like to add to her thoughts - this also goes along with what Eni posted. Eni's followers are wire wrappers so naturally, that is primarily what we are seeing on the site and I would love to see other disciplines on the site, too. We all know other jewelers of other disciplines so let's have an event of inviting friends with a sign-up sheet on the home page. The sheet will have their name, website, blog, discipline(s), and who invited them. There could also be a space for them to list the names of any projects/articles/etc they upload to the site. The thought behind the sign-up sheet is to feature the new members, draw attention to them. I would suggest putting the list on the home page in the center where the top tutorial currently is located so then it really says to our new jeweler friends "welcome" plus it is fun to be the center of attention and to have attention drawn to our jewelry and websites. As visitors add their names to the list, we can all randomly send them private emails welcoming them to the site.

I think a monthly theme wonder be great for the contest. I like it when the mags give the same bag of supplies to different people and they come up with totaly different looks. I know you cant send us all supplies but you can give us a list of supplies and say go from there. With a theme to it - like Ocean theme, flower theme, Spirals theme, theme where they use only all handmade pieces (including the clasp and any chain elements), or color themes like black & red, or turquoise and brown, etc. I primarily use polymer clay but I usually incorporate my wire wrapping into the piece and it turns out nice and very unique.

I'd like to see a contest that uses color as a theme...and a difficult color at that. How about an orange theme?

You could run a 'Swaption' (instead of a competition!!!). People can enter this and then they are paired off, they send each other beads to the value of (£5.00 maybe) and then the creating begins.........maybe set a time limit of a month. Once you have finished your piece, upload a photo to the site, all entries can then be judged by all users using the star system, the piece with the highest star count wins some user points.
I think this would be a fun challenge for everyone as you would have no idea what beads you will recieve.

Email Invites Promotion!!!

Put the promo when sending e-communications and in an icon on this website, as well as on your other site so that it will grab the artists old and new.

Ask people to give you email addresses of people that might be interested in your site making it a promotion with a time limit. This way you will get a flood of email address.

You could then send an introduction email to the friend mentioning that a friend of theirs thought they might be interested in seeing and or joining your site. Include an opt out so that the receiver of the email can choose to opt out or let them know they will receive future email from you. This way if they don’t look at your site that particular moment you’ll have other opportunities to grab their attention.

The person who gives you the most addresses gets points that they can use toward tutorial/s. Or any ecompensation that you choice... :)

Hold an "Eni Oken’s Mystery Piece Contest"!

For the chance to win an Eni Oken tutorial alone, many folks would register to enter your contest!

1. You make a piece & post a picture of it.
2. Each contestant must register to enter.
3. Post your contest rules, photo upload size, brief description of their piece, etc, as well as a complete list of all materials used in their piece.

The contestant you think best duplicated your mystery piece wins the 150 points OR 1 of any of your already published Eni Oken tutorials.

If quick like a bunny you converted the mystery contest piece you make into yet another addition to your PDF tutorials available for sale, the winner would have the option of choosing it, if they chose the 1 Eni Oken tutorial instead of the 150 points...LUCKY WINNER!

The rest of the contestants will just have to purchase "Eni's Mystery Piece" or earn the 150 points.
Thanks! Juli ;)

Okay, I'm on a roll now. Have a Kids Jewelry Contest - in October though...perfect for Halloween!

You must register to post, right? JL members here need to invite some folks if Eni's web site promotion will work by the end of September! I think it would be a great contest on October 1st. I don't see Iza, Robbie Ward of Metallique, AnneMade, & other Etsy folk artists - though I see many!

With a "Jewelry Lessons Every OTHER Month Contest", at least this month, it will be easier to pass on the cyberword for "Jewelry Lessons’ Premiere "Register to Enter" contest.

It will give JL members time to post this first contest on Internet forums. Those folks reading the postings will register & enter their idea for an Eni Oken PDF Tutorial or 150 points! So my idea's the best right? Pick me! I can use the points....OR...maybe Eni’s Abacus Tute...hmmm... LOL! Thanks! Juli ;)

How about a "tutorial" competition - choose a topic that you want a tute for and have people enter their own versions of "how to" - the tutorials are then placed in a Poll for everyone to vote on and the one with the most votes is the winner and showcased on the site :)

Loving the new site - congrats to Eni and everyone else who has contributed :)

Eni, I love the idea of each member having a tag to put below their name that will link from their site to your site. Already suggested by you. Wonderful idea.