The Best Way to Advertise?

Can anyone give me suggestions to promoting stores? I recently opened up a script shop and im not getting customers. The message board doesn't really get many people, so are there any suggestions ingame i can do to promote my store?

Customer service. Provide friendly, helpful service to your customers, or potential customers.

As word gets around that you're pretty durn friendly, word of mouth spreads like wildfire.

LF

Honestly I've only ever relied on one type of adverstising - word of mouth.
It's pretty genuine and more effective than anything else, the only setback is that it takes a lil longer to set up than other means.

To start building from scratch, I'd try and stick to ways that will leave your in world reputation intact.. by which I mean won't piss people off. Spinning signs are a good example of how to piss people off.

I know theres an in world classifieds, maybe hit them up - or even promote yourself by taking out an advert in one of the in game magazines (I only know of 2 big ones - both mature content).

Host an event near or by your store and make it relevant -- your store is to sell scripts, host a scripting class there or near the property - people who would go to a scripting class are people interested in scripts, i.e. probably the customers you are looking for.

Siggy.

Make sure your land is selected to "Show in Find Places" (under the pie menu in "About Land...". It allows people to find your store via the "Find" button and only costs L$30 per week.

You can also cross post information about your store or products to make sure it gets wide exposure. For instance, I posted the information below earlier to another forum but since I'm helping you and using the information as an example, I can legitimately post it here as well. This will make many people aware of your work and increase the likelihood that someone will bring it up in world during a discussion.


In preparation for the Neualtenburg kick-off party and Oktoberfest celebration on Sunday the 17th of October at 6:00 pm PST, Kendra Bancroft and I have created several unique, scripted and animated objects.

1. For those who enjoy breaking into the chicken dance to the sound of Rosamunde, we have the Neualtenburg Chicken Hat. The hat contains over 30 seconds of music and synchronized animations delivered either by touch, voice, or random. It's a must see and is destined to become an SL classic.
   
2. For those who aren't satisfied with walking around with the default SL-animated soda can, we've created a line of animated beer steins, textured by Kendra Bancroft and animated by Ulrika Zugzwang. Each stein contains a dozen animations and sounds which are assembled randomly for over 60 unique sequences.
   

Finally, in an effort to make my animations more accessible to those who are just joining the game, I'm slashing my prices. Now every animation and object is L$100 or less! Some items have been reduced in cost by more than half.

To see pictures of the chicken hat and stein and to find details on other animations, take a look at my new Oktober Online Catalog. Do check it out. It's a feast for the eyes and much more enjoyable then reading text in a forum.

~Ulrika~

Reiterating - be sure to find ways of advertising that don't piss people off...

Cross posting has in the past put a bee under the bonnet of several forum dwellers... not myself personally - just making you aware. of it.

The best way to advertise is to make people associate sex with your product. It's used in advertising all the time and most of the time it's subliminal, clever graphic design.

Advertising is a fabled, strange thing to me... I don't get the mechanics of it myself, but I can say that in the treasure hunt (i.e. Tom Green saying "I FOUND A TREAAASURE!" of SL, the Chicken Hat that Ulrika mentioned has become one of my favorites. It's a delight that doesn't necessarily serve a practical purpose -- unless you want it to -- and it makes me smile.

Oktoberfest starts in a few hours. Hopefully, I won't drink so much virtual beer that I'll have to use Eckhart Dillon's puker all over a picnic table. In other words, see ya there!