Business in SL: Yer Doin it WRONG

I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar but kind of figured the OP was an alt without going inworld. I also appreciated the fact that she/he didn't mention what she was selling as it told me she was looking for some pointers about marketing and not wanting to seem as she was advertising. The advise given could help others reading this thread without focusing on her specific products.

I love the fact that she isn't pushing her stuff in Resident Answers...

ah I see that now... see I do not base it on other;s posts
I was looking for where the OP clearly stated it LOL

thanks for clearing that up, I think my brain is as laggy as SL

absolutely!

at the same time, i was legitimately going to give her some of my money, because I wanted to support her passion. i'm nice like that.

as far as making assumptions, i quit doing that a long time ago. i was always wrong.... ie: never right. while i appreciate and support the spirit of a message's intention, i tend to be literal in serious discussions, which i took this as.

I admire your ethics in not using the RA forum to advertise your business - and going to the trouble of making an alt to ensure it. Have your main IM me in-world. If your product is not in direct competition to mine, I will gladly add your shop to my pics.

Also, perhaps you could hire someone to run the events for you and focus your attention on creation and having fun.

oh, and don't hesitate to pay a little for classified ads. they do work.

OK, so you sell avatars ... including skins ... for lower prices, to a tightly-knit community of mostly younger people. Hmmmm *ponders*

Dolls? Lolis? Emo vampires? particular anime characters? Tinies? I doubt your product would be furrys or mechs, not only because those rarely involve skins, but also because they don't particularly cater to 20-somethings. I also think nekos ... while they would fit the description ... are not a well-enough differentiated niche to be such a tightly-knit community. Anyway. That's the sort of product I'm now thinking you carry.

God I hope this isn't Grendels, I'd go into mourning if that store were in trouble.

The only sort of freebies I see working well for generating immediate business are the certificate ones for newbies. In fact, I just made an alt a while ago, and a newbie certificate took me to a store that I had always ignored ... but their creator had improved and now I'll shop there

The regular freebies work well for generating traffic and for creating brand loyalty in people for when they eventually decide to put some money in the game ... but that is a long-term investment.

You need to reach a new, more moneyed, set of consumers. Personally, I think SL fashion is poised to swing away from realistic human avatars. Perhaps you need to seduce some of that crowd, currently spending a bundle on near-photoreal-clothing, to you. Commission Nicky Ree to design an outfit for your avatars and throw a fashion show. Sponsor a competition for photographs or shapes or animations for your avatars, the award being featured in an ad or promo machinima promoting your product. Just spinning some thots here.

is that the things where under a certain age can get something for free?

how do they work? is there some kind of check on it, or do the store owners manually check the person's rez date?

do the items get sent with transfer? or are they commonly no transfer due to being a free item?

Unfortunately that didn't work so well... you were offered suggestions you later said you already tried. And there is no way to tell if they can be improved. For example maybe somebody tried something that your doing in optimizing the search results and it also did not work from them.. but they changed this and that and it helped tremendously.




Your right there, but the layout of your store/ products/ ads/ prices all have a huge influence of a shops sales.

but anyway, Good Luck. I hope you can figure something out that works for you.

Yes, usually less than 1 month old. The best place to put these certificates is the Free Dove, in addition to your own store.

Except for Szentasha, store owners check manually. A few request that you not "abuse" their certificate by using it for an alt ... they want actual new players. Szentasha actually has a vendor script that does the check and offers a different dialogue for new players.

The item is chosen by the newbie from the regular store stock, so has whatever perms the item normally has.
.

ah I see

well I guess one would be able to set it up how one thinks it would work best
most of my stuff is transfer, and ppl could easily abuse it with an alt, and end up getting a lot of stuff to sell

so I would prolly have them send me a notecard with the item name, and I would send a no transfer version of it



Thanks, I might set that up in my store (and look into freedove)

To the OP: Read your own descripton of the issues as if a complete stranger had written it and you'll probably realize that several points realy stand out.

If your customers buy a lot of your sale items, and rave about your store but don't buy items not on sale, then your prices are too high for your current market. Lower your prices and go for volume rather than high profit per item.

The events are costly and time-consuming and add little to your bottom line. If you don't enjoy doing them just for the hell of it, cut out the events and put that time and energy into creating more products.

Oooh! That's how I found a few shops I had never heard of. I made an alt and thought I would only use freebie stuff as I hadn't gone that route with my main. When I first came to SL, I just bought $L and went on my way. I didn't know anything about free quality items for the less than 30 days old. Didn't go to any freebie stores or used money trees or camped.

This alt was more of a personal challenge to build up an avatar without spending more than $L100, just to see if I could. Of course, I then discovered some great places my main knew nothing about. In one boutique, I bought almost everything they had for sale - just fell in love with the clothes there. I can't wait to see what else she makes!

Um, ya. I lost the challenge...

People are loyal to the shops they've 'discovered'. Not everyone who comes here spends all their time shopping, they kind of stick to what they know. New residents often do start with the freebie places, so offering a certificate for the newly born is a good way to get them while their young and not set in their ways.

Have you considered advertising in The AvaStar or Metaverse Messenger? Have you hooked up with the fashion blogs or the exploring blogs like the Mermaid Diaries? Or blogs that pertain to your roleplaying community? Where are you putting up those "rare signs/ads/vendors"? Are they in places that are relevant to your targeted market? If you serve a rp community you need to be creative about reaching this community and a strategic partnership with someone who makes complementary items (like furniture/gadgets/etc. to round out the experience) may serve you well.

You claim that your events are too expensive, and also that the community you serve would be distraught if you closed your shop. Stop giving away money at your events. If the group is as loyal and supportive as you think, then the parties will continue. If they're just there for the free cash, they weren't doing you any good in the first place. You'd actually be better off without the people that would leave if you weren't giving away money. The people that would be left would give you some key information about who your real market is.

True, and copies of existing products cost nothing to make, no raw materials required.
But then again I can't seem to sell my stuff at $50L, it becomes a question on advertising expenses vs sales revenue :/

Many of us are interested in problems other business owners have in SL and will go look at your store and potentially buy, if we can find it by checking you profile
Not all of us are so focused on making money that we won't spend money in world on good value products. There are others of course who only login to tend their own stores...............

Why don't you try the Guaranteed Visitors?

http://www.slbiz2life.com/en/gvisitors.html

A person looking you up in world will not find you if you don't advertise or at least put your store in your profile picks. I'm just sayin

that guaranteed visitors thing looks interesting, however I do not like how you have to create an account to see what the prices are

Thank you for your comment, you're right.
The price is L$10 per visitor (1-3 minutes visits) and then L$3 for each additional minute.

Well...it's after midnight here and I'm only gonna answer this off the top of my head......since I have no idea what your product is (and haven't been in world yet to further investigate) I can only go so far with my thoughts on this....

First, I also have an SL bsuiness....a small store that initially did fantastic. That was last summer....over the next few months, and after relocating, sales are dismal. I lowered my prices.....and set my current items to full perm as I will be moving IRL and I'll have to limit my SL time anyway. When I get back into the groove...I'm going to make all new stuff.

But.....what I've noticed after the 14 months I've been in SL is......no matter how good your product is (and I get complements all the time too)...unless you are willing to invest heavily in advertising and marketing.....it just isn't going to be noticed by the masses. When I search for certain things.....all the same places come up...the most popular and well traveled areas come up...... some do indeed have some of the best products....others don't....but they managed to saturate the market enough so that when joe and jane noob sign on and start searching for product A.......they will find what 'apears' to be the top 100 or so areas and go there....and the reality is that a hell of a lot of the best stuff created in SL is NOT found that easily in search.

Then there's the market your trying to reach.....who are they? Are they really mostly young people who don't have a lot of cash to blow in a cyber world....well.... dilemma then.....if you're in ti to make money...... that market isn't gonna work out. But, there's the frustration......we all want to make cool stuff and sell it and support our habit.....but then it toally becomes a burden and we resent it and suddenly the whole thing just isn't as fun as it used to be. So.... you gotta ask yourself whey you're in it in the first place. If making the money is truly the objective......work on the marketing aspect.....

Or, if you're like me....and you realize that the actual fun was in the creation.....and SL is just an indulgence you allow yourself for fun..... then do it for fun. Lower your prices (okay, not 1L, but perhaps a weekly bargain item....or some kind of promo that doesn't involve you giving away L's...but rather entices folks to come and take a look at what you've got for 'sale') When I adjusted the way I looked at my SL business..it became fun again...screw it....I'm not gonna get rich and I spend my own $$$ by choice and I enjoy it cause it's, well it's just cool.
It's entireoly possible I'm not making any sense cause it's late and I'm tired.....but something we got into for 'fun' shouldn't become a source of angst....if it does...we gotta change the way we look at it.
Beyond that....search needs a serious overhaul! I'm thinking it needs to be simplified to the absolute base search criteria.....by product type, period. No traffic...no malls and clubs being listed in search when ya look up 'masks'. Sort by type.....simple....to the point...accurate. I think allowing the use of so many key words in the desciption of an area has completely muddied the search process and made it nearly impossible for creators to market their items in a direct fashion. And traffic....that's such BS it's not even funny....we wont even go there. Perhaps... like e-bay......sellers and buyers should have to submit feedback so we all get an honest view of what's being offered and by whom. And everone gets just 1 classified per business! hmmmph! (with multiple locations listed if appliccable) LOL

that could get expensive and still not a guarantee they will shop... just come and stand around

I did have a look, and listed my business, but I will not be using the buy traffic thing LOL

Just do what you do best and most of all enjoy it. Be it building, texturing, making clothes, skin, hair, shoes, accessories. Male or female. Making poses, animating. Making guns, vehicles, gadgets.

Pick one, decide if you like it, then enjoy learning it and creating things. If these things are things people happen to like, then sell them. Thats where the money is made. You WILL get burnt out if you're just out to get money. The best way to make money, is to enjoy selling your creations, not PRODUCTS.