Taltopia.com - The Blog

Taltopia at Actorfest 2009

2009-11-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Actorfest is a huge acting convention put on by our friends at Back Stage where thousands of aspiring actors can meet with casting directors, attend workshops, and browse acting services in the exhibit hall. This year, Actorfest took place at the California Market Center in downtown LA on Saturday, November 14.

We really wanted to make an impression at this event...this was the first trade show we were exhibiting at after all. So, we came up with this great idea: people who visited our booth would get a free Taltopia shirt and we would email them our comprehensive industry professional directory. If we saw you wearing the Taltopia t-shirt at Actorfest, you qualified to win a free iPod shuffle! We got a great response from everyone and gave out iPod shuffles to a few lucky actors throughout the day.

Here are some pics from the event.

Our booth before setup:

Our booth after set-up:

The t-shirt giveaway!
The iPod winners:

A few fans of Taltopia:

Our #1 fan "Basil":

New Category: Photography!

2009-11-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

New Category!: We have just created a new "Photography" category on the site! Before, Photography was a subcategory of the Art category, but since it became so popular on the site, we decided to give it the attention it deserves.

If you have previously uploaded photography on the site, your media is now in the "General" subcategory of Photography. Other subcategories include Landscape, Nature, People, Macro, and Black & White.

Important: Please visit your My Media page to correctly categorize your photos! Here is a link for your convenience.

Enjoy!

Facebook Connect!!

2009-10-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

That's right, you read correctly, we now have facebook connect. Woo hoo!

What does that mean ? Well, you can now use your Facebook account to join and login to your Taltopia account! This feature makes it really easy to find and connect with your Facebook friends that might already be on Taltopia.

When you are logged in with Facebook Connect, and you vote on a media or leave a comment, a box will pop-up asking you if you would like to publish this to Facebook. You will also see a "Share on Facebook" button after you upload media to the site or promote a contest entry. These are great ways share what you do on Taltopia with your Facebook friends through your newsfeed.

To get started, just visit Taltopia.com and click on the blue "Connect with Facebook" button located at the top right of the page.

If you don't already have a Taltopia account, you will be prompted to create one.

If you're already a member, we make it easy to link to your Facebook just click "Already a member? Click here to link your account." and you are ready to go!

Hope everyone enjoys this new feature! Let us know what you think!

It's Halloween @ Taltopia!

2009-10-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

The countdown to Halloween has begun! We've got a few things going on at Taltopia to commemorate this awesome holiday.

The first thing you might notice is our spooky new logo:

Next, we have some great Halloween-themed contests running in various categories on the site:

Sexiest Costume Contest-Upload a picture of you modeling in your sexy halloween costume! We are looking for the most professional looking pose - creative costumes are a plus, but remember, lets try to keep this PG (nudity is NOT acceptable). Winner gets $100 to Amazon.com, where you can buy anything.

Funniest Costume Contest-This contest is for all you jokers/comedians out there. Upload a pic of you in a funny halloween costume for a chance to win $100 to Amazon. Be creative, thats what Taltopia is all about!

Halloween Art Contest- Enter your best halloween themed art into this contest for a chance to win $100 to Amazon! Drawing, paintings, and other art forms are all welcome to enter - no photographs please. The winner will be chosen based on creativity, attention to detail, and professional quality.

Scary Halloween Photography Contest (Premium Members Only)- Upload a picture of you've taken of something scary!! We are looking for the most creative pictures. Winner gets $250 to Amazon.com, where you can buy anything.

Profile Badges - Promote yourself...everywhere!

2009-09-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Profile badges are a great way to drive traffic to your profile to help you get more exposure. Including badges in your email signature, on your blog, or on your website can help your fans conveniently navigate to your portfolio on Taltopia. We have recently added 3 great profile badges for our members. If you are a member on Taltopia and want to promote your profile with a badge, click here. If you are not yet a member, join now. Ciao.

7-day Premium Membership FREE Trial!

2009-09-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, you can now enjoy all the benefits of being a Premium Member FREE (for 7 days). If you decide to cancel within the 7 days, you won't be charged a penny....otherwise, do nothing and you can continue receiving all the perks that come with being a Premium Member.

Click here to get started!

Note: This offer is only valid for NEW members ONLY!

Want a free Taltopia T-shirt?

2009-08-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

We have a great promotion going on right now - sign up for a Premium Membership on Taltopia and get a free Taltopia T-shirt ($15 value)...its that simple!

If you are already a member, use this upgrade link (you gotta be logged in first)

If you are NOT yet a member, use this link.

Claim your fame!

Taltopia Logo Design Contest Winner!

2009-08-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

We are very proud to announce that JScorpio has been chosen as the winner of Taltopia's logo design contest! His drawing of the Taltopia logo will be featured as our logo for a day. In addition, JScorpio gets 25 free Famebucks and a Taltopia T-shirt. Congrats!

LOGO

Alexa...Still Climbing!

2009-08-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

Many of you may have read our previous post about our growth in Alexa ranking. Well, we're still climbing! As of the 12:53pm PST, our Alexa rank is currently at 16,791 - that's an all time high for us! Although the Alexa rank is important, the real value of it is the ability to compare it to our "competition" (the chart below speaks for itself).

I would also like to add that despite the recent downturn in the economy, July was our most successful month in terms of member acquisition (36,972 new members) and in terms of revenue (sorry, figures can not be disclosed!)

Here's to another successful month at Taltopia!

Writing Contest Winner!

2009-07-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Taltopia's first official writing contest has just come to a close!

WickedHorizon's entry titled "Deep Currents" has been chosen as a winner! WickedHorizon will be receiving F$50 famebucks to enter more contests, promote himself on the site, or to spend for great prizes in the Taltopia Store.
Congratulations!

Deep Currents

Castings Galore!

2009-07-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hey all. We wanted to let you know that we partnered up with a new source that now supplies us with tons of casting calls!

We have over 16 pages of castings that are organized nationally and by zip code so give it a spin and be sure to apply to castings you like! If you are a casting director/industry professional and want to post your casting calls, you can sign up for a free account and start posting right away!

Be sure to let us know about your success with our casting calls, we always like to hear back from our users!

American Idol 2009 Auditions

2009-07-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 4:20 AM....I picked up Anthony and we started our day's adventure to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

You might be wondering what in god's name would possess us to be up so early on a Sunday morning - American Idol 2009 Auditions, of course!

As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that there were already hundreds of cars and thousands of future Taltopia members already waiting in line. Let's move!

Once our flier distribution team arrived, we popped open the trunk and started distributing 10,000 colorful, professionally printed, double-sided, high-gloss, UV protected fliers to our future members.

By 10:30 AM, pretty much everyone in attendance had a flier in their hand and on their car.

A job well done.

eBook - Taltopia.com's Official Talent Industry Guide and Directory

2009-06-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

That's right folks, Taltopia.com now has an official eBook for sale! Taltopia's Official Talent Industry Guide and Directory includes over 45 articles with tips and advice to help you get more exposure. Also included is the industry's most comprehensive national directory with over 2,000 listings of talent agents, record labels, modeling agencies, studios, and much more.

There are 3 ways to download this eBook:

Directly from us - Use this link to purchase the eBook and a download link will be immediately sent to your email.

Lulu.com - For your convenience, Taltopia's eBook is also listed on Lulu.com here.

Amazon.com - You can download our eBook from Amazon.com to read on the Kindle or iPhone here. Due to limitations on Kindle, this eBook does not include the Directory and is therefore offered at a reduced price.

Taltopia Rap Contest!

2009-06-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Taltopia, we just posted a new premium contest with prizes valued at over 600 dollars!

So submit your best beats and rhymes. Please enter an audio or video file of yourself rapping. An iPod Touch, professional Sony headphones, and a professional recording microphone are up for grabs! Enter now!

4th of July Contest

2009-06-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

Description
Independence Day, also referred to as the 4th of July, is a holiday which commemorates America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Show your Independence Day spirit by entering a photo, video, audio file, or even a document that commemorates the 4th of July. Some ideas include pics or video of fireworks and US monuments, pics or drawings of the flag, original poetry, modeling in 4th of July clothing, and so on.

Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card!

Enter now!

Up, Up, and Away! (Alexa Rank)

2009-05-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who may not be familiar with Alexa, here is a brief intro: Alexa.com ranks websites based on a number of factors, the most important of which is a site's traffic. This widely accepted ranking helps give a general idea of how one site's traffic compares to another site's traffic.

Now that we have had this lesson in Alexa Rankings, we are very excited to see that Taltopia's Alexa Rank has recently pulled way ahead of our competitors. Take a look at the screen shot below (the dark blue line is Taltopia). As of yesterday (May 20, 2009), our Alexa rank was 22,722. Our 3-month average has increased by over 33,000 ranks, and we are confident that this trend will continue.

We want to thank all of our loyal members and supporters for their role in helping us reach this milestone!

Taltopia Mobile News!

2009-04-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick update. We are really excited to see that our new mobile site was chosen as a Staff Pick by Apple.com.

Thanks Apple...personally I've been a fanboy of yours since my G3 laptop!

Taltopia Mobile

2009-04-27T19:03:00.001-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Taltopia.com Launches Mobile Website

Los Angeles, CA

Taltopia.com, a platform that connects aspiring talent with fans and entertainment industry professionals, announced today the launch of a new mobile-friendly version of the website. This mobile-friendly version of Taltopia.com is designed specifically to accommodate smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android G1, both of which feature relatively large touch-screens and 3G speed for easy internet browsing.

Visiting “Taltopia.com” from your smartphone will automatically redirect you to this new mobile site where you can browse profiles, vote on media, send and receive messages, edit your profile, and even apply to casting calls on-the-go.

“The ability to browse and apply to casting calls from your mobile phone is a highly demanded service which none of our competitors offer,” said co-founder Anthony Zanontian. Taltopia Mobile helps solve the problem that models, actors, and other aspiring talent face when they need to access and apply to recent casting notices while on-set, between auditions, or on the road.

“We are really proud of Taltopia Mobile,” said co-founder Allen Vartazarian. “We really tried to create a simple, yet very functional interface for our Taltopia’s members,” he added. The launch of Taltopia Mobile comes at a time when mobile browsing has dramatically increased. As more sites like Taltopia embrace this transition from 20-inch monitors to 3.5-inch screens, even more users will flock to the emerging world of mobile browsing.

Taltopia Prints

2009-04-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

What are Taltopia Prints?
You can now purchase your favorite images from Taltopia and have them printed on a product of your choice. We currently have t-shirts, hand bags, coasters, aprons, cutting boards and other great stuff. Look for the "Buy This" button in the upper right corner of media pages.
Why can people buy my images, and how can I control this?
Members can now sell photos and art on t-shirts and other merchandise and share in the revenue with Taltopia. We credit your Famebucks account as soon as we are notified that a sale has been successfully completed. Please be patient as this may take 3 to 5 business days.
If you would rather not sell your art, you have the ability to opt out of Taltopia Prints in your profile preferences.
How much do I earn when someone buys merchandise with my image on it?
For each item that is purchased from your media, we will credit your Famebucks Account with F$4

Click HERE to take it for a spin!

Can I upload documents?

2009-04-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

Yes! Move over scribd and docstoc, taltopia's coming to town. We just finished our new writing section where you can upload your poetry, short stories, novels, scripts or anything else you feel relates to talent and is a document or pdf.

For now we placed writing in our "Other" category until it picks up some steam; so be sure to upload your stuff to make it a mainstream section!

Click here for an example.

Super Duper Search Now Available

2009-04-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

We've just upgraded our search...and what an upgrade!

The entire site is now indexed and broken up by category. Everything is now searchable and results show up fast, really fast. For you techies out there, we utilized Lucene.net to help us query our database, and it is awesome. When the results appear, we made sure that the search terms found are highlighted and easy to spot. So search away!

Also as you can see in the picture above, if you are a premium member on the site your media/profile shows up before everyone, and is in a handy dandy yellow box, so consider upgrading if you'd like the attention!

Upgrade link if you have a membership:
https://www.taltopia.com/members/premium/join.aspx

Join as a premium member:
https://www.taltopia.com/premiumjoin.aspx

New Message System - Threaded Messaging

2009-04-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

We recently upgraded our messaging system to what is called "threaded" messaging. "Threaded" is just a fancy term used to describe the way your messages work: when you message someone on Taltopia, you are starting a new "thread" and when the other person responds, your full conversation will be displayed in a single, organized manner. You may already be familiar with this system if you are a member on Facebook. Here is an example of what it looks like:

Enjoy!

Guitar Center Music Contest - $300!

2009-04-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Description
**This contest is limited to Premium Members only**

Being a musician is tough. Making money as a musician is even more difficult...until now. Enter your best music into this contest for a chance to win $300 to Guitar Center!

Note: This prize will only be awarded if a minimum of 15 entries are submitted.

Requirements
There is no entrance fee for this sponsored contest, but entry is limited to premium members. All types of music are accepted in this contest, whether it be classical, rap, rock, a cappella...you name it. Video and Audio uploads only please (no pics).

All entries will be considered, but more attention will be given to the top 5. Winner to be chosen by Taltopia Staff. Taltopia.com has no affiliation with Guitar Center.

Find Out Who You Know on Taltopia!

2009-03-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

We were thinking. Yes, we do that sometimes. Do you know someone on Taltopia? (Probably) Are you their fan? (Probably) Then, I query you this: What if you know someone on Taltopia you're not a fan of...could you find them? (Probably...Umm not really)

But wait! There is a reason I'm writing this blog...now you can! You just type in your login and password to your favorite webmail service (blank@gmail.com) and our nifty tool does the rest.
Now you're saying, "Anthony I don't believe anything you just said." Well, the image above should be proof enough.

Be sure to give it a test run(don't forget be logged in): http://www.taltopia.com/members/promote.aspx?t=find

Taltopia now on Twitter

2009-03-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Taltopia.com is proud to announce that we are now on Twitter!

We figured if the world is doing it, why shouldn't we.

You can now follow the happenings of Taltopia.com here: http://twitter.com/claimyourfame

Don't miss out, become a follower today!