If you are not one of those who got an old DD back when it was equivalent ( and most of the time well worth) half a thou favs and a couple of hundred “groupie” watchers that would guarantee over 50 favs on anything you submit from then on, then you need to read this.

The old Daily Deviation is dead. Back when the very few DD images were served on the silver platter of everyone’s right column being obligatory visual, easily accessible and universally exposed, they led the fortunate worthy few to instant exposure and distinction and a totally new numerical status. Now the DDs have lost their exposure value and have given way to more fair – just because the choice is of the wider public user body and not a few admins – ways of uplifting the best works of art in dA.

So if you are new and think you are underexposed and underappreciated here is some advice on how to get more hits, favs and watchers:

A. Keywords. I know it is boring and seems useless but, people, we are in the age of websearch and anyone looking for anything will type a word and hit search. So use your keywords, as many and as common as you can (and, yep, they have to be in English!) for EVERY deviation you submit.
B. Features. Do on to others what you wish done to you. Feature and hope to get featured. Use your journal and if you wanna get bold with a catchy story in your hands, use News. Give exposure and you shall get exposed in the action.
C. Favorites. That is the most common place to get exposed these days. Others’ favorites have replaced the DD in that they are automatically shown when you visit a page and are easily accessible (you do not have to go looking for them)
D. Watches. No you will not get more hits if you watch more people, BUT you will get better yourself! So Watch the really good ones and learn.

These are basic tricks but if your work is not worthy, no amount of exposure will ever get your page visited. And how do you know if your work is worthy? Well you know you have reached the level of greatness very few in here are worthy and the rest of us can only hope to achieve, if you have sold prints. Simple as that. Any prints (or a sellable form of your work). If anyone has found your creation worthy of their money and if your work has made anyone desire it then, my friend, you are good.

If not then get there!
Keep working,
get inspired,
get better,
use software,
learn techniques,
find out how they made that thing you liked so,
dump it all in here and
ask for cruel and unusual critique,
get back up from it and try harder,
have a dream of what you wanna be,
of how you want your work to be like.

That is what dA has to offer to every single one in here.
More fair and democratically than ever before.
Use it!