Skip to main content

How to Get Popular on GoAnimate

At the time of writing this post I am the third most viewed GoAnimate Member of all time and the most fanned, non staff member of all time (second only to GoAnimate CEO, Alvin Hung).

I get asked a lot - how I did I get so popular on GoAnimate? Whilst others, like GoAnimate member, gipsy, have created excellent web sites like Gispy Tips devoted to how to make the most of GoAnimate - including getting popular - I thought I'd share my secrets.

Below is everything I've ever done to get me to where I am today on the site, listed as tips for how to get popular. I'll preface it with 'slow and steady wins the race'. I wasn't always at the top. It's taken me two years of releasing, on average, two animations per month.

I've passed members on the site who are easily at the same technical level as me (and probably better in their own ways too). How did I do it? Read the tips below - it ain't rocket science!

  1. Tell a good or funny story.

  2. Tell it really well. Edit it as close as you can to like they do in real cartoons on TV.

  3. Let people know when you finish an animation. Post in the GoAnimate forum, on twitter and facebook. Twitter is especially important as GoAnimate has a Twitter stream on it's homepage. Include the word 'GoAnimate' somewhere in your twitter post and you'll get your five seconds of fame on the GoAnimate homepage.

  4. After your video gets a few comments, comment on your own video thanking people for their comments. (Your comment will then show up in your fans activity streams on their homepage thus alerting them to an animation you've commented upon).

  5. If someone asks a question or gives a good comment write them a message on their user page either answering the question or thanking them for a great comment.

  6. Watch and Comment on other people's animations. Especially comment about what you liked about their video. Don't mention what you didn't like unless you can suggest how that could be improved. (This has the same effect as Tip 4. You'll be helping to get other peoples animations seen by your fans and, if you give interesting comments, your fans - as well as anyone else watching that particular animation - are more likely to follow you around the site via their activity stream or when they see one of your comments).

  7. Get involved in real discussions on the forum. Try to sound like you have something interesting to say. (A lot of younger members use the forum like real time chat but if you want to mix it with the top animators and access their fans you'll need to be able to contribute a lot more than 'wasssuppp!!' and 'I like cheese!').

  8. (Optional) Start a blog and write about each of your animatons. It'll give you another place to share them and people can learn more about your work. This isn't essential but, if you're like me and buy the DVD of movies to see the behind the scenes special features, then those are the kind of fans you're trying to share with by writing blog posts about how you make your animations. It's for those people who constantly want to know 'Where did you get the idea?'

  9. Go back to Tip 1 and do it all again for each new animation you make.

That's it. All those tips are everything I've done to get to where I am. One final tip... Tip 1 and 2 are the most important. Get those two right and by the time you get to tip 3 your audience will be the ones who share your work, recommend it etc. without you ever having to ask.

You may even find yourself getting more than one staff pick. I suspect I've had more staff picks than anybody - and if I haven't then I'm certainly up there with the most staff picks of all time (I used to joke that I'd installed a secret 'auto staff pick' button in the GoAnimate offices). I also don't know of anyone who has been the featured animator on the Community Page quite as many times as I have.

The Brutal Truth.

If you've read this far (and I suspect the people who really need to read this far probably gave up because 'there was too many words') and you're thinking to yourself 'but I do all that and I still aren't getting anywhere' then prepare to face the brutal truth...

Your animations suck!

Sorry but they do. When someone asks me how did I get so popular and can I give them some advice I usually go have a look at their animations. More often than not they have a collection of poorly made, badly scripted, random bunch of videos that they made 'because they were bored'. Half cooked ideas with unfinished stories that are badly crafted.

It doesn't matter how much you follow my tips. Tips 3 to 9 are all a waste of effort if you haven't got Tips 1 and 2 right. If you start showing people sucky animations it'll be twice as hard next time to convince them to come and watch your latest animation. For every sucky animation you release the harder it gets to find people who'll watch. Nobody wants to come back just to watch yet another sucky animation!

If your first video - that you think shows off your best work - doesn't gain you any fans or even so much as a comment then it probably sucks. However this doesn't mean you should give up. You just need to get your 'geek' on and learn stuff. Learning is cool when it's about something you want to learn!

So what do you need to learn? Here are the three most important things.

  1. Learn how to write a story. You don't need to be good at writing it down but you do need to construct it properly. Bruce Hale is a successful author and illustrator of children's books and has a great section on his web site that tells you the basics, in one short lesson, that'll take you less than ten minutes to read through. Bruce Hale's - How to Tell a Story.

  2. Learn how to 'film' a movie. By 'film' I mean learn how to visualise every scene in your movie by breaking it down into a series of 'camera shots/angles'. If  each scene in your movie only has one camera angle then you run the risk of your movie being boring. Watch my animation below which demonstrates how to break up a conversation scene into a series of camera shots.

    1. GoAnimate Better - The Scene by etourist

    Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

  3. Learn how to use the GoAnimate studio properly. You do this simply by starting an animation for no other purpose than to try things out. Experiment. See what things do. Pick a character, try out all their moves. Design a set. Play with the props. Explore all the themes. Try to recreate something you've seen someone else do in their animation on GoAnimate. It may seem like you're not being productive but when that next idea strikes you'll be a lot more prepared. Just remember, not every animation you start has to be made public.


You should never stop learning about how to make your animations. Pay attention to how other animators construct their films. Challenge yourself to make animations that you have no idea how to make right now. Learn how to make them as you go. Part of film making is problem solving. Working out just how to shoot a scene with the tools you have.

If you've got this far and you think your animations don't suck and you're doing all those other tips that I suggested and still not getting fans and views then here is the brutal truth again...

Your animations do suck!!

People will always come back if they get to know you make great animations. They'll even come back if you make average to good animations.

If people aren't coming back then either your animations suck or... and this is a very big OR... you are the only person on the planet that finds your work interesting. If you want to get popular you're going to have to make animations about stuff that more people like!

If you're not convinced that my tips work or you're not prepared to admit your animations suck and need work then think of me as the GoAnimate version of the Old Spice Guy...

"Hello GoAnimators, look at yourselves, now back to me, now back at yourselves and back to me. Sadly you're not me but if you stopped living in denial and started using my tips you could be as popular as me..."

Everything else is just 'lady scented bodywash' LOL

Comments

  1. I'm a songwriter, journalist and love to write. I just started dabbling with animation, and I must say this article was a real treat to find.

    There is so much junk on the internet, but this piece is well written and your animation tutorial with the link to Bruce Hale's site made me realize how much I still don't know.

    Thanks man!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Dan. If you're just starting with animation then GoAnimate is a great place to focus on your story telling and video editing skills before you try heading into actually animating something completely from scratch.

    Bruce Hale's 'How to write a story' tutorial was a treat to find. I came across it researching this post. It's a short tutorial aimed at children but so relevant to story tellers of any age. Ideal for anyone using GoAnimate too - where stories tend to be short - like children's books.

    ReplyDelete
  3. slehmann (goanimate user)
    so you mean EVEN I can become good...
    lol
    great site you have here

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh tet what havew you done to me. I was going to experiment with Pencil animator and now you give me this link to Bruce Hale's work.

    Oh what to do what to do...lol
    10 minutes you say. Well I can spare that. After all I want to be just like you.

    Seriously though tet thanks for sharing this and the link to Bruce's stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @enjoyinglifeinseoul - if you're not that great at writing a story then Bruce Hale's tutorial is probably the best 10 minutes you'll spend reading about writing stories.

    Even though he writes children's books the principles he discusses are the same for older audiences too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks this really helped me,
    unknown911

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey TET, I just came by to get the link for this to post on another forum thread about how to make good animations.

    I just read your response to my original statement. I think I have gotten better, but I am going to visit his site again soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Really great tips here, I enjoyed reading the "brutal truth" section. lol

    ReplyDelete
  9. I enjoyed reading everything on here, and I will check out Bruce Hales tutorial. We learn something new everyday! The brutal truth was interesting. I am guessing the staff posting my animations on the front page helped me get 1,000 fans in 2 months, lol. I know my videos are not perfect and I still have learning to do but enjoy that each animation we make, we learn more. Thanks for sharing this with the community!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. @enjoyinglifeinseoul - Bruce's tutorial is always worth a revisit if only to see if you're now using some of his suggestions.

    @Thumbs Up Films and Latin Fire - The Brutal Truth section is really aimed at GoAnimate novices. I'm sure you've seen them. They usually make 10-20 animations within their first month or so on GoAnimate. No planing and little care in trying to make something of quality... then they wonder why no one's watching even though they've been doing the promotion.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This will help me alot thanks TET. I heard alot of people talk about you and how great you are and I always wished that i could be like you or some other sucessful GO!Animate user and now I can. This will help me alot especially number 3. I always wanted to be able to broadcast one of my animations to all of my fans but i never thought about broadcsting them in the forums. Not only will it get to my fans but also to everyone else that go to the forums. Thankyou again TET. You rock!


    P.S. Loved your Jay and James video, it really helped. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very good advice TET and so true. I have used your advice and had some success! I am still learning but learning is half the fun for me. Thanks TET!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is great! Now I'm going to make an animation that is super hard to make but I am going to learn on the way! This just gave me great ideas! Thank you TET.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is sad for me I am muted BTW i am Dark Beast AKA Flaming ice AKA Red Blade Animation AKA(lol a lot of AKAS) Stickguy2227 well half of these are not good for muted ppl but They are good for non muted ppl :(FYI if a muted person comment and ur muted u can see there comment

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

This blog is monitored by a real human. Generic or unrelated spam comments with links to sites of dubious relativity may be DELETED.

I welcome, read, and respond to genuine comments relating to each post. If your comment isn't that save me some time by not posting it.

Popular posts from this blog

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 1)

Inochi2D Creator - Free Open Source VTuber Software. If you've been looking for a way to live perform as a 2D cartoon avatar on camera, whether it be for a live stream or for pre-recorded content like educational videos, then VTuber software is a low cost (or even no cost) option worth looking into. In my previous post, How to Become a VTuber - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar , I took a brief look at the relatively new but completely free and open source Inochi2D  which I thought showed great potential for my own needs of creating a live performance character rig for my own TET Avatar that I use for all my promotional materials. While it is possible to live perform my character using Cartoon Animator itself, Reallusion's MotionLive2D capture system isn't great - with lip sync in particular. More importantly though, I can't exactly teach people how to use Cartoon Animator if I'm using Cartoon Animator to control my Avatar. What is Inochi2D

Moho 14 Released - Still the Best 2D Animation Software for Indy Animators on a Budget

Moho 14 Released. Regular readers know I am a Reallusion, Cartoon Animator advocate through and through. Hands down I would recommend Cartoon Animator 5 first over Lost Marble's Moho 14 to anyone who is just starting in 2D animation, is a team of one, or just needs to animate as quickly as possible. However, feature for feature, Moho is, arguably, the best 2D animation software for the rest of us who can't justify a Toon Boom Harmony , or Adobe Creative Cloud subscription (and even with their applications Moho is very competitive on features). You can get started with Moho Debut for just USD$59.99 which is a cut down version of Moho Pro but it still has the most essential features needed for 2D animation. While Moho Pro is a whopping USD$399.99 (Cartoon Animator, which only has one version, is just USD$149.00) upgrades to new version numbers come down to a quarter of the price at USD$99.00. Even though Reallusion just released features like Motion Pilot Puppet Animation and

2D Animation Side Hustle - How to Package, Upload, Optimize, Price, and Promote Your Content in the Reallusion 2D Marketplace

T his is the final post in my four part, 2D Animation Side Hustle series on Selling in the Reallusion 2D Marketplace. I'll look at how to package up your content and upload it to the Marketplace, how to optimize your listings, price, and how to sell through your store backend as well as off site through social media and other channels. If you haven't read previous articles in the series click these links for Part 1 - Can You Make Real Money , Part 2 - Finding Niches , and Part 3 - What to Sell . Before getting started you'll need to register as a Content Developer in order to see the backend of your store on the Reallusion Marketplace . Packaging Content and Uploading to the Marketplace Since the release of Cartoon Animator 5 the software has a built in Package Manager that makes it easy to assemble and upload your Content to the Marketplace. Reallusion has a comprehensive, official video (embeded below) that quickly explains the entire process in less than seven minutes. 

2D Animation Side Hustle - Deciding What to Sell in the Reallusion 2D Marketplace, Your USP, and Keeping Customers Coming Back

I n part three of my 2D Animation Side Hustle series on selling in the Reallusion 2D Marketplace I look at deciding what to sell, your unique selling proposition (USP), and look at a key strategy to keep people coming back to your store. If you missed part one on  Starting Your Side Hustle  and whether you can earn real money, or part two on  Niches and how to find ones in demand , I highly recommend you read them for a more complete picture of selling in the Reallusion 2D Marketplace. Deciding What To Sell The Reallusion 2D Marketplace is divided into four broad categories; Actors, Scenes, Motions, and Special FX. Each of these are also divided into further sub categories. Interestingly in the Marketplace Menu it lists how many items are available for each category, making it easy to see which may be under served and could present an opportunity. Reallusion 2D Marketplace Category Menu shows how many items are available in each category and could be a clue to what is being under serv

The Ultimate Independent Animator's App and Resource List 2019-2023 - Animation and Video Life

Image created with Cartoon Animator 4. Being an independent animator is not like a studio animation job. There's so much more to do that is indirectly related to the actual task of animating. Over the years I've sought out many apps, tools, and services that can help me achieve that one single task, expressing myself through animation. Below is my Ultimate Independent Animator's Resource List for 2019-2022. It started out as a list of free or low cost apps that could help you in every stage of producing either 2D or 3D animation, and then just kind of grew from there. You may not have been looking for a Time Management App as much as you needed something to get you started in 3D animation but when those commissioned projects start coming in you'll have a head start on maximizing your time. All the apps and services on this list had to meet two main criteria: They had to be useful and relevant to an Indy Animator/artist. The base app/service had to be US$

Wonder Unit Storyboarder - Free Storyboarding Software for People Who Can (or Can't) Draw

Wonder Unit Storyboarder.  As an independent and solo animator I'm always tempted to try and skip storyboarding my animated shorts because they're usually only single scene sketch comedy type jokes. As a result I have many unfinished projects that kind of petered out due to having no clear finishing line. Storyboarding your productions, no matter how small, gives you a step by step guide of every shot that needs to be completed (no planning shots as you animate). It also allows you to create an animatic that gives you a rough preview of the finished production. In short, you shouldn't skip storyboards as they, generally, increase the chance of the project being completed. Disclaimer - I'm Not a Fan of Storyboarder Upfront, Wonder Unit's Storyboarder  is not my preferred storyboarding software. However it's completely free, has a number of very compelling featu

Prome AI Sketch Render Tool - Your Tradigital Clean Up and Colorist Artist for Character and Background Design

Random character head, Biro sketches drawn by TET (left). Render by PromeAI (right) using Prome's Sketch Render tool set to 'Comon:Cartoon, Render Mode: Outline'. W hile I don't do New Year Resolutions, one of my plans for the year ahead is to do more of my own art. Specifically character design drawn in an actual, physical sketchbook.  To that end, I have been spending the last half hour of most days drawing a page or two of random biro sketches in my sketchbook and posting the pages to my Instagram account  (this link will take you to one of my posts). These sketches are mostly practicing my skills because I don't really draw regularly anymore. Here is a tip, if you do this kind of sketching, and push yourself to keep doing it, you will see many drawings that could be taken further, even if you don't have anything they're suited for just at the moment. Which is where my second favorite AI Image Tool (after Leonardo.ai )  PromeAI comes into play. PromeAI