Advice on increasing sales

Now that I'm getting more proficient with the build system, I've created a few things that my friends agree are good enough to sell. I've asked established merchants for advice on the pricing, and rented a couple of mall spots, as well as been allowed to place vendors in one of my group members shops.

The problem is, my things just aren't selling. Is there any other way I can draw attention to my items, or is there some in-game form of advertising that lots of people look at?

Ways to promote your product:

* Post all new products in the forum. Not many people read the Classifieds, but it's a start.

* Sell your product at one of the websites, like SLExchange.com. You can buy an ad there too, for more exposure.

* Advertise at telehubs. It's free.

* Give away lots of free stuff. It's fun for you, everyone likes free stuff, and maybe they'll remember you.

* Hold an event where you give away your product as a prize, in addition to the prize money. Or maybe give your product away to all attendees.

* Sell at a very low price to undercut the competition. You won't make money at first like this, but you'll make more sales and increase your reputation. You can bring your price closer to the average market price as people learn the value of your product.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your enterprise!

Thanks Cubey!




\/\/\/ And thanks Al.

I'll add a couple:

* Create good marketing material. You already have Photoshop / Paintshop - use it. It only takes a few minutes.

* Offer options. If you are selling a pair of shoes. Sell a red set, a blue set and a black set. You now have 3 products instead of one.

* The customer is always right. If somebody wants to return a product, or says it broke and wants another, give them a new one - with a smile.

* Create a brand name / logo, stick with it. Build a reputation around it.

* Be patient. Right now it is very hard to get a product noticed. Build a store, stock it, but don't expect sales overnight. If it is a good product, sales will build slowly over time.

* Document it. If it is worth the time to make it, it is worth the time to write a brief notecard about it. Setup your item (or the box it is in) to hand out the notecard when it is touched.


Good luck!

I'll second this one. Make an ad that 1) really tells people what your product is about, 2) includes your logo, 3) tells them where to find it. I've seen many ads in SL that omit 1 and 3, oddly enough.



I'm not sure about this one. Given the choice, I think everyone prefers the shoes that change colours over the ones that don't. Maybe that's not the case in all markets.

Also, it's more effort for you, the builder, to maintain more than one version of the same product.



Sometimes it's hard to stick to this one, especially when there are some people who take advantage of this kind of policy to snag freebies. However, your *real* customers deserve to be treated like gold, so it's a good policy to have.



This can't be emphasized enough. Nobody takes over the market in a week or even a month. Success takes time and effort, but if you really enjoy what you're doing, that shouldn't be a problem at all.

Good points, Al.

Oh, I just thought of another suggestion for potential shop owners: don't build a shop -- build an interesting attraction that happens to have a shop in it.

Also, don't overlook advertising the landmark to your store in your profile as well. Then get out there and be seen.

I'll add one too... be patient Word of mouth is the best advertising but it takes a while for it to spread. Even for established merchants it can take a few weeks for new products to catch on and for people to hear about them and come looking for it.

This is kinda obvious but make things people want. Identify things that would makeSL better or more fun but are underserved. For instance, with all the forested and snow based sims few people make motorhomes or camping trailers. Once the need is identified, you make a good product and follow the advice presented here. Making a different version of the SL partyhat will not make you rich, trust me.

Have a product or vendor release event at a popular location giving away a few items as raffle prizes and with landmarks to your shop. *hint hint nudge nudge wink wink*