Final Post

Hey everybody who still comes here. FarmVilleValley has really come a long way in the six or seven months it’s been around, and we reached about 16 percent of our original hits goal of 50,000 and 82 percent of our second goal of 10,000. And in that time James and I have learnt so much, from the stories of the people who visit, just about everything there is to know about FarmVille, and a ton about the blogosphere. So in this final post, we’d like to thank you for all that you’ve done for us, and ask you to keep on being awesome friends. Gil will still be around the blogosphere every now and then to comment on your blogs and James may sometimes join me in saying hi, but it is officially over for FarmVilleValley. Looking back, I think I spent somewhere between 400 to 500 hours on everything related to the blog – that’s A LOT!!! So we’re both refocusing our goals in life, starting with academics. But, I can tell you that we are both, in cooperation with our class, are working on an AMAZING project that is going to be launched in a few weeks. So once again, thank you for all the wonderful memories, and we hope that you’ll continue to enjoy FarmVilleValley (it’s not being deleted).

Yours truely,

Gil and James,

FarmVilleValley

Gil’s Column 17

Howdy farmers and welcome to FarmVilleValley. Today is Friday, September 3rd, 2010. What makes this day special is the fact that we are relaunching FarmVilleValley, with some major changes. First of all, if you’ve visited any of our ‘List’ pages recently you’d have noticed that I will be making no more updates to them, and instead provided you with a link to an up-to-date website. Second, FarmVilleValley is proud to announce that on September 23rd, 2010, Gil and James will host the first episode of our new webcast!  This is something we have been working on for a few months, and it is going to be so cool, and we invite you to watch the video, which will be posted to YouTube at 6:00 PM on 23.09.10. This is what’s been brewing for so long and it brings me to the third and last thing I have to announce: FarmVilleValley is going to be a video+audio only website from now on, except for my columns. This means that all of the FarmVille previews, news and more will be featured on our weekly webcasts. By the way, a webcast is a video talk show, unlike a podcast which is just audio. So that just about concludes my announcements, and I can’t wait for you guys to enjoy the podcasts! Let’s try to get some buzz going! Oh, one last thing: I have lowered our current goal of 50,000 page views to 10,000 because since James and I are going into 8th grade, it’s going to be super hard to maintain a website AND get good grades so we’re dropping our expectations. Thanks guys for joining me on FarmVilleValley and I will see you back here tomorrow for Gil’s Column! Happy farming, everybody!

UPDATE: I have made a slight mistake with the release date of our first podcast. It will be released on September the 25th, not 23rd. Thanks!

FarmVilleValley’s Semi-Annual Makeover

Howdy farmers! As you might have noticed, FarmVilleValley is currently going major upgrades. This is an official statement saying that FarmVilleValley will return to operating on September 3rd, in time for the fourth feature introduction for the website. We’d like to thank you for taking interest in our website, and we hope that you can find an alternative resource for the few days that the website will be down. Once again, you can check all of our pages out and discover more about FarmVille, or you can always start a conversation with our admin, Gil, by making a comment.

Song of the Day! 2

Today’s song of the day is Fireflies by Owl City, from Ocean Eyes album.

Song of the Day! 1

 Today’s song of the day is Circus by Britney Spears, from the album Circus. Enjoy!

News From Zynga! 85

FarmVille is having a sale! From 11:00 AM PDT – 12:01 PM PDT on August 13th, 2010 all Farm Cash purchases will be 5% off! To take advantage of this, just wait for the in-game pop-up offer!

http://zyn.ga/ku <——— Play FarmVille now and get yours!

Zynga, 13.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: Zynga had a Farm Cash sale!

There is now a new and improved way to interact with your friends when Farming! The new Daily Good Deeds feature allows you to help your Neighbors with ease. Make sure to check back daily for new ways to help your friends finish buildings, complete collections and more! Click the Checklist Icon on the left of your screen to access your Daily Good Deeds and feel the joy of being neighborly! http://zyn.ga/lb

Zynga, 13.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: The new Daily Good Deeds feature is so cool! You’ll be able to help your farming friends more easily now! Hurray for good deeds!

Once again, we’d like to thank everyone who participated in our Farm of the Week event! This week’s featured farm is brought to you by cathyzak! Check out their farm down below and be sure to enter next week’s contest for your chance to win! http://forums.zynga.com/showthread.php?t=691164

Zynga, 13.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: Congrats to cathyzac for winning Zynga’s Farm of the Week!

We know that you can’t get enough of Farmville Mobile. Now that the app is out, you can farm anywhere! Show us where you play Farmville Mobile for your chance to win Farm Cash in our “Show Us Where You Mobile Farm” event! For contest details and to participate, click here: http://zyn.ga/lN

Zynga, 13.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: Zynga wants pictures of your Mobile Farms for a chance to win FV$!

 Evening, farmers! This week’s podcast is now live. Check it out to get information on our new features, as well as an exclusive peek at things coming your way soon! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl67-T9yN

Zynga, 13.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: This week’s installment of the FarmVille podcast is now on YouTube! You can also check it out on FarmVilleValley right here.

Today only, FarmVille is offering some of your favorite items from the Japanese Garden Collection! The Mystery Game will also be restocked with classic FarmVille items every day this week! Start playing today’s Mystery Game for your chance to win the Japanese Manor or other rare Japanese items!

Zynga, 14.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: Today’s brought-back theme is the Japanese Garden!

Blogging How To #2

     You wouldn’t blog if you knew that there is nobody reading your work, right? Or at the very least, you wouldn’t put forth your best effort and a whole lot of time into your blog, correct? So be thankful for your readers – they are what makes your blog worth your time.

     But how do you build a group of readers who will come back? How do you get a group of readers who comment, and give you their opinions? I’ve read several tens of books about blogging, and from each took notes about this specific subject – Building an Audience. Read this little list and see if you fancy any of my advice:

1) Make your posts in your voice. Find your writing voice. Stick to it. It will make you more of a person to your audience, not like some big cooperation blogs.

2) Make your blog engaging. Make posts about things that your readers will find useful – for example, a blog about FarmVille may offer a list of things to while you’re playing, or how to get better at it.

3) Listen to your readers. Nothing tells the reader that you don’t care more than nowhere to reply. Let them leave comment, opinions, and everything in between. And of course, respond. Include an email your readers can use if they want to speak privately. And of course, don’t forget that you are always building your online reputation. Speak to your readers like you would to anyone in real life.

4) Give them something back. If they can give you a few minutes of their busy day to read your blog, you should offer something useful to them – a free e-book. News updates. Prizes. Anything. But give back.

5) Encourage participation. Make sure you let readers know that you are not writing for yourself only – it’s for them too. They’ll feel empowered to comment and reply if you tell them to.

     I hope that you can use these tips on your own blogs. Of course, please leave your comments on the bottom of this post and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Once again, thank you for taking a few minutes to read the weekly installment of FarmVilleValley’s Blogging How To series #2. Gil, signing out.

Notice 3

     Hey guys I’m just posting this to let you know that Blogging How To #2 will be late a few hours and so please hang on! Thanks for your patience!

News From Zynga! 84

Afternoon, Folks! It’s time to start plowin’ those fields! FarmVille has just released two new crops and a new Bakery Delivery Co-Op Mission with a seeder truck reward!

Zynga, 12.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: Two new crops AND a new Co-Op Job for all you farmers to do!

 Today only, FarmVille is offering some of your favorite items from the Island Collection! The Mystery Game will also be restocked with classic FarmVille items every day this week! Start playing today’s Mystery Game for your chance to win the White Sand Bar or other rare Island items! http://zyn.ga/kc

Zynga, 13.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY BY FARMVILLEVALLEY: For one day only Zynga is bringing back the Island theme! Hurray!

Remember to comment to let us know what you think, or if you’d like, email us at farmvillevalley@gmail.com. Also, remember to sign up your blog or website at FarmVilleValley’s Blog of the Day to get free views. And of course, come back soon for all the latest FarmVille news and previews available anywhere on the net. And if you’d like, add us to your RSS for at-the-moment FarmVille news.

This is an original post from FarmVilleValley

News From Zynga! 83

Today only, FarmVille is offering some of your favorite items from the Tuscany Collection! The Mystery Game will also be restocked with classic FarmVille items every day this week! Start playing today’s Mystery Game for your chance to win the Roe Deer or other rare Tuscan items! http://zyn.ga/k6

Zynga, 12.08.2010

UPDATE SUMMARY: Today’s brought-back theme is Tuscany! Head over to the market to get some of these GREAT items!

Remember to comment to let us know what you think, or if you’d like, email us at farmvillevalley@gmail.com. Also, remember to sign up your blog or website at FarmVilleValley’s Blog of the Day to get free views. And of course, come back soon for all the latest FarmVille news and previews available anywhere on the net. And if you’d like, add us to your RSS for at-the-moment FarmVille news.

This is an original post from FarmVilleValley