Well that’s all folks! After three months of terrific submissions, Virgin Media Shorts 2012 has closed its doors to entries and now our curators have the tricky task of choosing which films make the shortlist.

But this year, for the first time in Shorts history, they’ve got the film loving public to help. Up until July 19th (at midday), we’ll be counting how many times each film is shared online through Facebook and Twitter. So if you want to nudge your entry into the shortlist, get promoting and ask people to give it a tweet (with #ShortsLucky13) or like it on Facebook before Thursday.

It's all very well to say 'go promote your film,' but what does that really mean? Whether you're a technological whizz or still getting to grips with your retweets and hashtags, spreading the word about your short film is simple - but it can be confusing if you don't know where to start. So fasten your seatbelts, here's our whistlestop tour of self promotion and shouting about your short online

The Virgin Media Shorts Community

First up, start pushing your film to the thousands of film fans and industry bigwigs that visit our site.

• Introduce yourself: Follow Virgin Media Shorts on Twitter and Facebook. Say hello to us and to the Shorts community and post a request for people to watch your film. Remember, always be polite and don't spam!
• Share the love: We like to promote the shorts that are getting lots of nice comments on our social media channels. You belong to a real community of film makers who respond well to support and feedback, so if you give a fellow entrant a pat on the back and tell them what you think of their film, they might give your film a like or pass it on to a friend. Just because you all want to be crowned Lucky 13 doesn't mean you can't show each other a bit of love!
   

The Wide World of the Web

Next up, try and engage as many film lovers on the internet as you can. You never know who’s out there and how they might support your film.

• Look close to home: Email friends and family and tell them about your entry in Shorts, including the URL of your film on the site so they can view it with one easy click. You can do this direct from your film page by clicking on the email icon. Tell them you're trying to build up shares and ask them to help you out.
• Start (social) networking: Put a link up on your Facebook page and Twitter feed. This couldn't be simpler with the share icons below your film. Just click 'Tweet this' or 'send to Facebook'.
• Blog: Get people excited about your film by making a photo album with production stills, posting exclusive behind the scenes footage or interviewing the cast. This is super easy to do with Wordpress. The fresher and more interesting the content, the better.
• You have mail: Include details of your film in your email signature, so every time you rattle off a message to a mate or colleague, they'll remember your plight and hopefully go watch your film