In-World Magazines

The Advice on Sales thread gives birth to this little poll-

There are various SL magazines and newspapers etc... we of the Sales thread want to know where to put our money to best capture you- our prospective vict..erm - customers, yeah that's it - capture your attention...

So- do you read any inworld publication?

No

I read one, once. And if it's gifts attached, I can take a magazine. I don't read them. I think they will disappear.

No options fit me. I read on-line mags as I have time. MM comes to mind because it's pretty good. Others, hit and miss. Oh yeah, I'd like to take this opportunity to say that: PDF Sucks! (for publishing content that people are supposed to read on-line).

Im always picking magazines up..then forget about them..the few i have read were rather nice & glossy...and had great photos..I was considering using them for our store, but just havent got around to it and wondered , really, how many people DO read them.

I have to be VERY not-busy to read one...unless a friend is specifically featured etc..

I haven't seen a free magazine inworld that wasn't vanity publishing or an aggregation of press releases. Some pretty pictures but no words worth reading.

Pep (Not your target market anyway . . .)

I've got a few magazines in inv and never seem to get round to reading them. There are too many other distractions once inworld and I'd much rather read a blog or look at a website before logging into SL I think.

--
Aes

My partner and I flip through various magazines, most notably Second Style (for fashion) and Prim Perfect (for prefabs and landscaping). It's become much easier to look at them on-line, now that many use systems like Issuu.

apple ala mode thx

Yeah. Wtf is up with that, anyway? We really need a re-education camp for these publishers stuck with Old Media notions of layout control and all that crap. They give up so much web-ability for the dubious honor of looking good should anybody ever make a hardcopy. (Fat chance.)

Especially now, with an almost viable in-world browser and almost real web-on-a-prim, PDF is just quaint for SL-related publications.

I only read the magazines that have articles about me or my work in them.

/me wanders off looking smug

I voted "Yes," although I would have to reword the poll choice to make it fit how I feel about these publications. The "OMG" had me considering the pie option. I read more for information than shopping decisions. Metaverse Messenger is an especially good source for SL news. I also like to read interviews with those who have had a long history with SL.

Regarding shops: While the reviews have influenced me a little, I've "discovered" more shops by looking at the ads. These can convey a lot more than inworld search.

As for the format, I like pdfs. That preference is due in part to my use of Apple's Preview as a pdf reader. Prim Perfect recently began publishing via Calaméo, but I still read PP's pdf version.

Disclaimer: I've purchased ads in three publications, participated in promotions with some, and my shop has been reviewed in one. Nevertheless, my views were shaped long before I opened my store.

did you notice any change in sales when you ran the ads and has the thing about your store done?

If they're available on the web I'll take a peek, but in-world magazines are just good to decorate tabletops with, not for reading .

Prim Perfect in particular turned me off from ever even picking up a copy of any magazine in-world. If I click for a copy of a magazine that doesn't mean I want to get a bunch of spam as well every other day.

The literal magazine reproduction is a really clunky and heavyweight way of distributing digital information. I'd much prefer a web page with quick loading and easy navigation.

-Or perhaps an inworld display/exhibition to rez and look at, using the opportunities the SL media actually gives us.

Reproducing a magazine in SL, with the slow rezzing of pages and the clumsy page flipping, seems to simply be combining the worst restrictions of each media, rather than the best aspects.

An ad in Prim Perfect seemed to boost sales; ads in two other publications didn't help. I've advertised in only one issue of Prim Perfect so far and I've purchased ads for the next three issues. I'll also advertise a little more in other publications during the Christmas holidays.I agree.

I read them, but don't make any decisions based on them. Occasionally, I'll see a newer store in one, and visit, but don't necessarily buy because of them.

I didn't choose one answer in the poll

Also no. Which does not seem to be an option. The "Heck no . . have friends . . " doesn't really work. I've never asked any friend if there was something "good" in one of the newspapers/magazines.

I've looked at that one that was left in the hangout once. Tried looking at others, but most of them just do not really "mesh" well with being immersed in SL. And, oddly, none seem to really work well when I'm offline (either I find that they are pdf files on a website, which I can't open while at work, or I find . . well, I keep forgetting to look at the others, mostly because they tend to look like blogs, and I have grown weary of trying to find stuff on blogs).

A "Heck - No" here too.

No for me as well. In-world magazines are clunky and annoying and I don't ever get around to them. I have some SL-related magazines on the web bookmarked from when they are mentioned various places and rarely get around to them either. I occasionally glance at a blog or two, but I forget about them after a while as well.

Pie please.

I get them and they make nice accessories to use in photographs. That's it. And I read a lot of mags in RL, but in SL? Who can be bothered. Blogs are much better; usually cover the same material, easier on the eye and I don't have to go inworld to get them.

Couldn't check any of your options, Amara. Yes, I do read one online magazine (Homme Magazine) but I don't make purchase decisions from it; I merely read it.

Nope

Every now and then I read them, but mainly just to check if my adverts were done correctly. And yes, I do notice a sales increase when I do get around to buying adverts.

I don't read them much, but they do seem to collect them in my inventory. I prefer reading the blogs...