Promoting your project
So you have a community project. You think it is a really good project, but people seem to not care for it. But wait... what if they just don't know about it?
Step 1 - WRITE A JOURNAL ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
You can also use other ways to describe your project - in the comments section of a deviation, in a profile widget or gallery description, but a journal is usually the most effective way to get the word out. Write it in sta.sh, even if it's a group journal (we will get to this later). Explain clearly and concisely the main idea and goals of your project, then elaborate on the details if needed.
Step 2 - POST THE JOURNAL
You can post it not only in your profile, but also in your groups. You need to be an admin of a group to be able to post the journal to it directly (as a journal, not as a deviation). If you are an admin of a group that is relevant to the project, this is how you post the journal:
Be sure to select the right category. For a community project (or contest), it is Journal Portal -> Deviant Events. If you are not an admin of any relevant groups, you can post the journal at this point. But if you are, click the "Gallery and Groups option":
Here you can choose which groups you would like to publish the journal in, besides your own profile.
So the journal is posted! Now what?
Maybe you are not admin of the group, but there is one relevant to the project theme. (And optimally you are a member. If not, join it! Group admins would rather fulfill the request of a member than of a random person.) If the group accepts or even has a gallery folder for groups and journals, you can submit the journal to it like a deviation. Use the button on the right side of the journal, and choose the group you want to submit it to:
<da:thumb id="362282714"/>
So the journal is posted! Now what?
Step 3 - PROMOTE!
There are several options how to get the word out:
Groups
Maybe you are not admin of the group, but there is one relevant to the project theme. (And optimally you are a member. If not, join it! Group admins would rather fulfill the request of a member than of a random person.) If the group accepts or even has a gallery folder for groups and journals, you can submit the journal to it like a deviation. Use the button on the right side of the journal, and choose the group you want to submit it to:You can also send a note to the group, with a polite request to promote your project in their journal. The note should contain all relevant informations about the project, or a link to them.
It never hurts to ask, right? There is a lot of people who would gladly promote a worthy cause, and chances are big that you will meet some. You can include the request in the project journal itself, or mention it in your next journals. It is also nice to thank the people who help you promote your project, for example with a feature of their art. (And you can mention the project again in the feature!)
You can recognize them by a little heart next to their username, and they are here to help you. If your project is focused on a specific gallery or art form, you can ask the CV overlooking this gallery. You will find a list of them here: (also handy to suggest a DD). There is a special CV for community projects, curretly it's Astralseed. If you want to contact her about your project, the best way is through the CRCommunityProjects group (see the last point).
There are a few featured journals that appear at the bottom of your message centre, next to the featured poll and deviousness award. (You can minimalize this by clicking the arrow in the upper right corner.) What journals are featured here depends on their popularity - the number of favs and comments. A journal has exactly 48 hours after posting for a chance to get here. You can ask people to help you achieve this by asking them to fav and/or comment on the journal. This is also why it is often swarmed by point give-aways... If you don't manage to get here, nothing is lost! While it's a good means of promotion, it is hard to influence it, so let's rather look at the things you can do.
You can post a thread about your project in the dA forum. The right place to do it is here: forum.deviantart.com/community… , in the "Projects" subforum. Before posting, be sure to read the rules of this forum.
When one of the goals of the project is reached, when it enters a new stage, or just after some time. It will remind people on the project. (Don't do it every other day though, that can get annoying!). How to do it? On the right side of the journal, click the big "Edit with StashWriter" button if you want to change something in the project journal. But this will not notify your watchers about the change yet. When you want to do that, click the smaller "Edit" button that can be found under the "Edit with StashWriter". At the bottom of the page (similar to the submission page), check this option:
This is an option exclusive to premium members. You can set a poll with a link to your project, and a few words about it instead of the options, maybe even politely ask your watchers to share it, if they are willing to. Sometimes polls are easier to notice in the message box than journals, and it is a way how to remind on the project after some time even without actualizing the journal. Premium members can also use a custom widget in their profile. You can install such widget, and use it to advertise your project on your profile page.
Your signature is shown under every your comment. You can also use it for a very short advertising of your project - a few words and a link is enough. Then you just need to comment a lot! 
(But not spam...)
Friends and watchers
It never hurts to ask, right? There is a lot of people who would gladly promote a worthy cause, and chances are big that you will meet some. You can include the request in the project journal itself, or mention it in your next journals. It is also nice to thank the people who help you promote your project, for example with a feature of their art. (And you can mention the project again in the feature!) Community volunteers
You can recognize them by a little heart next to their username, and they are here to help you. If your project is focused on a specific gallery or art form, you can ask the CV overlooking this gallery. You will find a list of them here: (also handy to suggest a DD). There is a special CV for community projects, curretly it's Astralseed. If you want to contact her about your project, the best way is through the CRCommunityProjects group (see the last point). Journal portal
There are a few featured journals that appear at the bottom of your message centre, next to the featured poll and deviousness award. (You can minimalize this by clicking the arrow in the upper right corner.) What journals are featured here depends on their popularity - the number of favs and comments. A journal has exactly 48 hours after posting for a chance to get here. You can ask people to help you achieve this by asking them to fav and/or comment on the journal. This is also why it is often swarmed by point give-aways... If you don't manage to get here, nothing is lost! While it's a good means of promotion, it is hard to influence it, so let's rather look at the things you can do. Forums
You can post a thread about your project in the dA forum. The right place to do it is here: forum.deviantart.com/community… , in the "Projects" subforum. Before posting, be sure to read the rules of this forum. Actualize the journal
When one of the goals of the project is reached, when it enters a new stage, or just after some time. It will remind people on the project. (Don't do it every other day though, that can get annoying!). How to do it? On the right side of the journal, click the big "Edit with StashWriter" button if you want to change something in the project journal. But this will not notify your watchers about the change yet. When you want to do that, click the smaller "Edit" button that can be found under the "Edit with StashWriter". At the bottom of the page (similar to the submission page), check this option:After you press "Update", the journal will appear in the inboxes of your watchers, and also of the watchers of all groups the journal is posted in.
Polls and profile widgets
This is an option exclusive to premium members. You can set a poll with a link to your project, and a few words about it instead of the options, maybe even politely ask your watchers to share it, if they are willing to. Sometimes polls are easier to notice in the message box than journals, and it is a way how to remind on the project after some time even without actualizing the journal. Premium members can also use a custom widget in their profile. You can install such widget, and use it to advertise your project on your profile page. Signature
Your signature is shown under every your comment. You can also use it for a very short advertising of your project - a few words and a link is enough. Then you just need to comment a lot! (But not spam...) is a group dedicated to promoting and helping to run community projects, led by the current community projects CV and a lot of friendly staff. All you need to know about it is in this journal:
Your project will be added to the group's gallery, and also to the monthly review of community projects currently running at dA.
But some things are new to me, and I am going to have a try 