OK...Your turn..."Honest" Solutions for Business Owners

I really wish the other quote had appeared so you'd have gotten mine in context.

You said:



I said:

I got yours in context. Really, I did. The difference is, you can't teleport in real life. If you could, you wouldn't see the equivalent of Targets on every corner. Because nobody would bother going back to a store like Target when they can just as easily go to the factory... where there's more variety of products from that creator, and less lag. OK, in RL you don't have "mall lag"... or maybe you do, after walking around enough.

IRL I go to Target because I need a variety of thngs. It is convenient to be able to get them all in one location. In SL I rarely go shopping for a variety of things. If anything, it is a group of themed things. More often, it is a single item that I want to look at different vendors, so that I can find the best quality/best fit for my needs.

Here's what's worked for us.

We own our store. We list the land in search. Each of the business principals lists the store in picks, and one of us runs a classified add. The land description includes reasonable keywords for our products.

We consistently rank second in search for our products, behind a competitor who has both a few more years on the market and a lot more sales. Neither we nor our competitor use bots, camping, or any other artificial traffic-enhancement methods. We just make and sell the best products we can.

Yep, Menswear, there's still a gap in that market. When a space in my Mall does become open....i must confess i tend to give preference to Male fashion content providers on my waiting lists....still not enough of them around! Same with skins...far too many female skin creators....not enough for males.

I just went to all my mall locations, to renew rents for a few weeks. I checked the LM giver at one, and not really enough clicks to justify being there.....so decided I would pay a few weeks, then pull. But within a minute of me paying, the mall owner sent message and said "Thank You Mickey"......and that means a lot to me.....so I won't be pulling that one.

In an instant....I don't care about sales or traffic at that mall, and I don't care about LMs given....a simple Thank You will keep me there for another month....that's the bottom line.

Don't forget the simple and obvious things ....they mean a lot and go a long way, and most of the simple things are Free.

And I doubt you will see a lengthy debate on the ethics of saying a Thank You.

I don't like un-themed malls because they're all the same. They have pictures on the walls. Lots and lots of pictures. Waiting for them to rez and then looking at them on the off chance they contain something I like has not been very productive in the past, so I don't pay them any attention anymore.

A themed mall is more likely to have a good variety of what I'm looking for.

I went to HoneyBear's mall and forced myself to stay long enough to find something I liked. Had I not been on a mission I wouldn't have stayed. The top pic in her profile landed me in an empty store. I was spammed on arrival. My first impression was, "It's a mall." I saw traffic gaming (pay-for-picks, newbs hanging around a 'sploder). The build was unremarkable.

The pictures-on-a-wall shopping model just isn't working anymore. What value is that over a web page? Low-rez pictures in an environment that loads more slowly than web pages, presented in 2-D, like a web page.

In a world with teleporting, the idea of foot traffic needs to die. Nobody browses collections of unrelated stuff. There's just too much same-old same-old stuff in the world. The time for un-themed malls has past.

The shopping website that will beat SLX is going to be one that is invite-only for vendors and has rules against posting 6700 variants of the same damned thing. Maybe in-world malls with the same formula will also work.

Maybe an example of what I said about affiliate vendors will help illustrate the point.

Let's say I go to Mall X, where there are a bunch of stores; most of them are affiliate vendors. I peruse their shops, maybe buy an item or two, and then go home.

The next day, I go to Mall Y, where there are a bunch of stores; most of them are the SAME affiliate vendors I saw at Mall Y. I skim through the mall, noting that it is simply YAM (Yet Another Mall), the build is pretty, but otherwise uninspiring, and there's nothing that really sticks out more than Mall X. I quickly finish looking around, and then go home.

The next day, I go to Mall Z, where there are a bunch of stores; most of them are the SAME affiliate vendors I saw at Mall X AND Y. I note that it is simply YAM; the build is pretty, but otherwise uninspiring, and there's nothing that really sticks out more than Mall X OR Y. Before getting a quarter of the way through it, I decide it is a waste of time to continue and then go home.

If there is nothing interesting at Mall Y or Z, I don't bother going back, except maybe rarely, if at all.

It's not the affiliate vendors are wrong or evil. They may make great tenants in your mall. However, you really need to be careful about allowing too many of them in your mall, unless you know for a fact that they are not selling the same products in too many other malls.

The point was that they aren't good for what you are seeking, which are ways to make your mall unique and different to give people a reason to come shop there, and to come back regularly.

If it were me, I would limit the ratio of affiliate vendors in some way so that you have enough distinctive / unique tenants that you won't become YAM. Say no more than 25-50% of your tenants can be affiliate vendors.

As for people telling you to hang it up, I certainly hope you didn't get that from my words. I only point out that malls are not easy or trivial; it takes a lot to get one to going and to sustain it, long-term.

You've caught me in the middle of rebuilding. Had you used the Mall teleport in my profile, you'd have landed right where you were meant to...in the area I most want viewed...with clothes NOT on the wall, with example products visible. Excuse me for forgetting to delete one of my picks.

Spam? Let's see, you were offered a greeting, and a landmark, and a request to join the Subscribe O Matic - all in ONE blue screen.

If you call pay for picks and a sploder traffic gaming - you've just eliminated yourself from a whole BUNCH of places to shop...good thing you don't like malls.

And the moral of this particular thread, is there is NO way to please ALL the people ALL the time.

Conclusion? I'll continue to talk with my tenants and people I trust, and will make decisions to the best of my ability. If it happens to piss off one or five or ten of you...Terribly sorry, but that's how it is. There are 86,000 other people I can try to attract.

I have to admit, I don't like being offered those things either. Declining is a click away, and putting them in one request is much better. But I'd rather see an invitation to opt in rather than have to decline an unsolicited invitation.

Exactly right. And most of those people don't care about what you do to be visible, they just care that they find nice things.

Thanks, Cristalle.

I'll admit that I'm seething right now, so I'm going to lay low until I calm down, so I don't say anything else I may regret.

I visited Honeybear's mall, because I think if you are going to give specific advice, you need to make a visit. Also, because she gave me a Thank You last night.

It's crisp and clean, attractive, and easy to browse there, and the stores already there have good product, but I knew they would, as I caught their names on the roster when searching for the mall.

One suggestion - I use Places search when I know the name of a location - it's easier. I typed in Cherry Park Mall and it didn't show up....then remembered it was Mall at Cherry Park....so perhaps keywords used to say Cherry Park Mall too. It would have showed up if I just typed in Cherry Park....but best to consider several types of combinations of words used.

I got a LM when I arrived....which I needed...... and I DO want the mall location that I am in to hand out LMs to the shoppers....that is just a basic marketing tool that needs to be used....if I see they aren't using the basics....well, I doubt they will bust anything else out.

The rents are less than what I'm paying at other locations, so it's a No-Brainer for a store owner. My limit on traffic count to rent somewhere is 1000, and it was above that. I don't have to see a lot of fluff like hot dog stands and flower boxes....too much of that detracts from a storefront, and makes it hard to navigate.

Yes - you need to appeal to the shoppers...and perhaps add some fluff for them......but for now, I would think appealing to the store owners and getting it full is first step....and it met my qualifications. I also have no qualms about being one of the first to help fill up a mall and watching it grow. People helped me out in the beginning....you give that back to SL.

I see the mall advertised weekly in the forum classified, and that makes an impression on me. I already knew that Honeybear works hard....and that sticks out in a store owner's mind....would venture to say it does in a shopper's as well....so keep plugging away....it doesn't happen overnight.

I rented, and got an immediate Thank You from Honeybear. The malls I'm at now... say Thank You in some form or fashion.....the malls I'm no longer at.....never did once. Simple as that.

Honeybear, don't be indignant of someone who is giving you honest feedback. You really need to get that kind of feedback from folks.

Just from that feedback, and your response, you've already got some rather important action items which are probably severely damaging your mall's popularity.

1) Don't annoy your patrons. Annoyed patrons won't shop, will leave, and won't come back.
2) Don't annoy your tenants. Annoyed tenants won't stick around. Without tenants, you won't get and keep patrons.
3) Don't make people hunt your picks to get the "right one". If you make it a chore, people will get annoyed. See rule 1.
4) You're under construction. Finish your construction ASAP and don't promote whilst you are under construction. Construction can confuse people, and "unfinished" areas of your mall certainly detract from the experience. See rules 1 and 2.
5) Spam. Don't give anyone anything automatically. Ever. Put givers in obvious places throughout your mall. Make it clear BEFORE they click on it what will happen. Only give things out on clicks. People have a hard enough time with the thousands of landmarks, notecards, and subscriptions they get; adding fuel to the fire won't endear them to you. ESPECIALLY do not give out multiple things in one click. They may want your LM, but DON'T want a subscription. Spamming annoys people; see rule 1. Annoyed patrons won't shop, annoying your tenants; see rule 2.
6) You indicate that most malls have "traffic gaming" gimmicks. That doesn't make your mall stand out, especially if they are the same kinds of gimmicks that are standard fodder for malls. Find some gimmicks which aren't done elsewhere much, if at all, or put a new spin on a few old ones.
7) Lastly, find something unique to do with your mall, and promote that heavily.

When it comes to your business, don't be defensive when you get feedback; even negative feedback. There is always something good that can come from feedback, even from the worst troll. In fact, find the person who is the most grumpy about your mall, and commit to do everything you can to make him/her happy. You may not succeed, but you definitely will improve a lot of things for your other patrons/tenants along the way.

Seconded, with everything I've got.

If I want a landmark for someplace, and I see something to offer one, then it's easy to get one, just a click. Same with subscribe-o-matics, and so on. If I don't want one, or don't want one yet, then I don't want to be offered one. Blue popups are annoying, in my opinion, and I'd prefer not to have to click a window everywhere I go.

In RL, do you see people in stores running up to you, asking if you want a business card for the store you're in? Nope, but if you want to come back, you can remember the place for next time, and maybe take a business card if they're available. You don't have to push off giver-guy to be happy, and you can take a business card if you want one.

I guess you don't run across many flyer hander outers where you are....lucky you. But I agree with your statement.

No, but I do occasionally see people running up to customers as they enter trying to get them to take free samples, coupons, and the like.

I've never had someone run up to me and whisper "!QUIT" in my ear on the off chance I'm a robot, though. Let alone have one demand I click the button labeled 1214 to prove I'm not one.

Changed it to business cards to make more sense, and really, a closer correlation to landmarks, in my opinion.

Really? Ick.

Maybe I just live somewhere odd.

I just see things off to the side, usually, where you can opt to get samples, or coupons, rather than having people trying to shove them on you.

The ONLY instance of someone trying to push free samples on me where I REALLY REALLY appreciate it is at the grocery store. Especially when I am hungry. NUMMY!

Most Kroger stores have an occasional "free sample day", where they have around 5-10 stations around the store, peddling some new food product. I try to shop on those days as often as I can.

Usually when they're just opening, or when they have a new product. It's not routine. And, in any case, having a giver give me the equivalent of a free sample or coupon wouldn't bother me.

I've become accustomed to junk like landmark givers, but it still seems rude and makes me disinclined to return. That's just me, perhaps, but I can't speak for anyone else but me and my posse.

OK. Let me ask this. Honeybear....who do want to appeal to right this minute? Today.

What is your first step?

Do you want to appeal to shoppers, and draw them to a mall which isn't full yet?

Or do you want to appeal to store owners, and draw them in to get your mall full?

That's why I love CostCo =D Nummieeeees!

But, they aren't pushing them on you... in fact, I don't recall ever even being asked to try something. They just stand with their sample-cart-things, and wait for people to munch, then hope they buy stuff.

What is the difference? You're not being required to take the landmark when you get there, the same way you're not required to take the sample of food, perfume, or a flyer. Decline and move on.