Business survey ideas

Under the auspices of the Second Life Herald, I'm planning to start an in-world survey of businesses across the grid. Herald interns will fan out with questionnaires, probably sometime in the next couple of weeks, and poll business owners about their recent level of sales, dwell, etc. The results will be used for articles of business and economic interest in the Herald.

I'm wondering what kind of information people would like to see collected in such a survey. Are you interested in knowing how many sex balls were sold last month at what price? Or would you like to be able to see where your business falls on the grid in terms of total sales or total # of items sold or something else altogether? Do you want to know how telehub proximity affects sales, how multiple store locations affects business?

Or do you just think this is a completely bad idea?

All input welcome.

Walker, I understand the intent may be an honest one, but in a closed society like SL where the cards are held so close to the chest of the land-makers, the Linden auction gods (as you just pointed out, we don't even know the POPULATION figures to set against that "media land sales" figure), anyone who gathers information, whether sincerely or with exploitative intent, will be looked at with suspicion by some. If I'm wrong, shoot me, see who else answers.

The reason is that information is scarce, often distorted, and often unavailable and speculation is rampant. That's why you need a freer business press, of course, and that's laudable. It would be difficult to justify yielding up all that business information when there are so many griefers and hard-edged competitors in the game.

It's also difficult to judge what "success" means. If someone only yields $500 per week even in telehub sales, are they a failure? Well, maybe not, if they have some dinky store selling something stupid, and it's a miracle it gets bought LOL. How will you judge? If someone sells $10,000 LL of widgets even 1000 from the telehub, are they a success? But no, maybe they deal in such large volumes that this figure is dwarfed by their many other businesses and groups which they won't tell you about anyway.

If a land group is open, you can join it and look at their dwell if you have to, but it's a figure that isn't always instructive because land can shift in and out of groups to sweep prims or sell or whatever.

There was a post recently offering a position to a grad student sponsored by Anshe to study SL business models, you had to wonder how much of it was plain old-fashioned trolling for info about the competition LOL.

The SLH has a nasty habit of using trojans on its websites. It is not viewed as a "safe site". I have sat on it and had it grab at me from all over the place and its efforts are recorded in Kaspersky or Norton Internet worm catchers. So....you have to wonder what that's all about, all that grabbing of ISP numbers (which we know SLH uses to "out" fake alts who appear to argue with themselves on the pages of SLH).

In the end, information gathered by land-scanners or by old-fashioned journalistic shoe-leather is information that is used to position a group or individual to compete with others in what is often a harsh and closed business climate.

To be more clear: I'm not planning to publish information about anyone's business in particular. The data will be used to gather a collective picture of business conditions on the grid, to try to get a clearer sense of what sells and what doesn't, for how much and for what reasons, if that's possible. Weighing whether a business is a success or a failure I leave up to the proprietor.


I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about here, just in the technical sense. Could you PM or email me (wallowitz [at] yahoo.com) about this, as I'd like to know more, but I don't want to hijack this thread. Thanks.

Walker,

Good luck with this, I am betting few if any will respond. That's my hunch. But shoot me if I'm wrong.

It isn't a "hijack" to raise the issue of how SLH gathers information on people (readers) and what it does with that information because that's what is at stake here. Every savvy reader of SLH (especially long-term) knows that SLH grabs ISP numbers. Ask Uri LOL. Maybe this is "ok" but it is annoying -- it is mainly doing it to flush out alts on the forums, I suppose, but it also gathers extra info about location and so on to use in various stories or whatever.

Some of SLH editors or those associated with SLH have businesses of their own (Simkast). So you do have to pose the question: why is SLH gathering business information? Just for pure, non-commercial journalistic purposes? Well, yeah, sure....

Let's see how many takers you get to this thread and to this effort. Even if you do not publish information about individual businesses, you will log and hold that information and be able to use it possibly in your own commercial interests, or to sell it, or make some commercial use of it down the line. I'm explaining why information like that doesn't flow so easily in this game always -- because the terms are so unfree and unfair at the get-go.

The Lindens do not post their own sales information in a very important area: how many new players buy premium accounts, how many new players buy first land, how many first-landers sell and move to larger parcels, etc. It's proprietary because while they are willing to tell you how many new subscribers there are (within reason), they don't want you to figure out their formula for land release so that they can keep it artificially valued.

It's hard to understand the land market without this information. So in that very harsh climate, where no one knows where the next telehub will be, and what land next to it selling for a song now might suddenly become worth $10/meter overnight, it's hard to expect people to be forthcoming.

Prok, my friend (if I may call you that): To what use other than journalistic could I possibly put a statistic like the number of sex balls sold in shops near telehubs in February? I mean, yeah, I could go and set up my own sex ball shop, but that's not what I do. I suppose Uri could start selling sex balls in SimCast, but I don't see that happening either. Why is it so hard for you to believe that I only want to do the only thing I've done since arriving in SL (other than building), which is to create interesting and/or useful "newspaper" stories about the grid?

This project does not envision collecting data on readers, btw, it envisions collecting in-world data from proprietors themselves, face to face. I have nothing to do with reader ISP's. I probably wouldn't know what to do with them even if I knew where to look for them. Has the Herald ever actually done anything with that information? Saying we *might* be using them inappropriately is like me saying that your FIC theories are a way to build yourself up at the expense of others, instead of what you claim it is: a way to make the playing field more even. That's exactly what I'm trying to do with this business survey project. I'm not ebil. More information = more fun for all.

So far this thread sounds like Sunday Morning Network Television.

Walker's playing "reporter", let him have his fun.

Sounds like a great project. What is going on in second life? What is second life like? That's GREAT, it adds meaning to SL for all the people who are playing "artist", "shopkeeper" and "craftsman". Those people like to be noticed, and Walker's doing that.

For most of us, this is all make believe. We don't need accurate figures.

Buster

Yes, as I said, the Herald has taken that information and used it to get one-up on TSO players, to out "alts" put on forums, etc. etc. Just go back through your own history.

I don't care if you think I "build myself up at the expense of others" because anyone who takes the amount of grief I take on this forum couldn't POSSIBLY be about "building themselves up". Really, Walker!

I don't notice any stampede of people eager to reveal to you what their sales figures are for telehubs or any place for that matter. Let's see if they do that. My guess is they won't. They don't want attention to failures or successes because it is a game riddled with suspicions, like any closed society. Well, go ahead, report, if you can find the information and get people to talk. Yes, it's fun to play journalist and fun to play store, too : )

You should really bring some toilet paper for when you word-shit on honest and thoughtful threads.

To be clear, Prok: I don't actually think that. I was using it as an example of some kind of speculative reasoning I found didn't hold water. My apologies. As you know, I am happy to keep helping build you up via the Candid Conversations.



Yes, and it is fun. And useful.

/me wonders what Buster is playing at...

Ehhh, can't hurt. I hope your bullshit detector is fully charged. Some of these merchants are so full of themselves that your numbers will be inflated.

When I hear "people ought to do this" and "people ought not do that" in SL, or "SL is for blah blah blah", it bothers me.

I think SL reflects RL. I don't think it is RL. It is a world of imagination, where everybody can be and do what they want to be and do. If somebody wants to be a winged fairy, flying around sprinkling pixie dust, great! If somebody wants to be a tycoon and do bookkeeping and profit studies, great! To each his own, goddammit.

Some people want to be whistle blowers and malcontents. (Not naming any names here.) Let them have their fun too, I say. The world would be so dull if nobody had any expectations.

What is Buster playing at? Buster's a creative tekkie who likes to build and code. But more than that, Buster is absolutely fascinated by the social dynamics of SL. Human nature on display, absent the Human Condition. Who couldn't be enthralled?

Don't you just hate people talking about themselves in the third person.

Buster

I look forward to seeing your builds, codes and enthrallment in-world, Buster.



Heh, but that's why we have "/me"!

This is true. But since the survey is anonymous and no merchants will be named, hopefully that will let a little air out of it. Hopefully.

I am now convinced that Buster is actually George Hamilton.

Because of his tan?

I'm honest and thoughtful too, asswipe. Go away and come back when you are prepared to be civilized. Your invasion of threads to attack me for no known reason only exposes you.

Panda's always exposing himself, usually to females though, so this is a departure for him. But there's nothing wrong with tasting form life's buffet.

Um, what were your sales last week, Ingrid? Last month? For six months?

How much land do you own and how much tier are you paying (business cost)? Do you pay rent anywhere?

Do you find that your sales are greater near telehubs?

How many stores do you have and what were the sales in each store?

How many service calls did you have to make last month?

How long does it take you in RL hours to make one of your houses?

Hmm...well I know the answer to at least part of one of these questions! You had a sale in Miens last night near the town square for $200, Palm Spring House LOL.

Oh? You don't feel like answering these questions? Well, why is that?

Watch it, Ingrid, Prokofy's about to FIC you

No, we've FIC'd him on someone else entirely for the latest Candid Conversation. Coming soon in the Herald. (As soon as I get off my arse and post it.)

No, I'm just testing out my skills to get a job as a survey jockey at the Herald. I'm going to put an alt on this one. : )

Close. George is slightly taller. Next guess.

I'd like to answer the questions...

I think Prok is right about one thing -- you're not likely to get accurate figures if you just ask merchants. In fact, that might be an interesting angle. What is the descrepancy between what sellers say sells, and what buyers say they want to buy.

I would actually be interested in things like vacancy rates in different parts of the grid (which you could observe, you wouldn't have to ask anybody.), rental rates, traffic in shopping areas, and what factors appear to affect these things. Mature vs PG. Near road vs. near telehub vs. near water. Snow vs green. Hilly vs. flat.

You can also observe the prices of items in stores and vendors, and the product mix. Ask merchants what their single best selling item is -- that might be interesting.

Another idea would be to post interns in shopping areas the way marketing firms do in RL malls -- waylay the customers and ask them the questions.

I think if you are armed with all the above information when you interview the merchants, they might be more forthcoming.

I don't think this is a dumb idea at all, and I would encourage you to go do it despite the drivel in this forum.

Buster

Asswipe? You.. you.. doody-head!

Good one.

I suggest pandastrong and Prok take it over to the GOT YA LAST thread --->