Advice on Sales!!

I kept my traditional group, though I sent out an announcement in it when I added the Hippo group notifying members they could switch and take back a group space. I still have the inworld group just in case someone would go looking to see if I had a group using search. Also, I am reluctant to give up anything that has my store name.

In truth, my inworld group was and continues to be very small, and I notice a fair bit of turnover in the members I do see. I assume that group space comes at a premium, and, honestly, how many group spaces does someone give up to furniture stores? Unlike Jojo's group, mine isn't that active, as I don't release a new product every week. However, people seem much more willing to join and remain in a non-SL announcement group. Interestingly, people join the group at my satellite locations quite often.

As I said, I use Hippogroups. I bought the kit on xstreet that came with a signboard I could size and retexture that is my group joining kiosk. There is also a server, which I rezzed on my work platform. In addition, there is a companion website ( http://www.hippo-technologies.co.uk/products/hippogroups/ ) where I have an account. Hippogroups charges a monthly fee to continue service.

On the website I can see my list of groups (with hippo you pay by number of subscribers, and can have several different groups, so if you have different businesses or a club and a business you can run it all under one plan), the location of kiosks where people can join, members in each group, and the location of the kiosk where they joined. Also, I send my messages from the website, and can include attachments as long as I loaded them into my server.

In my opinion, it's a nice set up.

I am still new to SL, but maybe post an Event on the events page promoting your store.

I check the Events page often and I recently found a shop that was having a sale. I went to the shop to check out the sale, and I've already purchased some items from them, including items that were not on sale. They also carry other items I want but still need to save up for.

Nice response: Thank you Falkor for your newbie perspective on shopping in SL.

Not so nice response: Do you think, n00b, that with over 3000 posts to the thread, posting sales in events just might have been already mentioned?

Pep (Ending a sentence with two prepositions as well - not a record, but impressive)

I'm pretty sure just about every possible suggestion has been mentioned, in which case maybe this topic should just be locked.

But if you expect me to read through all 218 pages worth of responses to double check, you must be living in a dream world.

people misuse the events page a lot.
Unless you are actually having an event (ie a contest or something) that lasts for just a few hours (as outlined via the events info on the events listing page) then please do not use the events listing page.

It is not classifieds, but sadly, many people use it exactly for that purpose, they spam it with their store info, in the pretense of it being an event, however, if you visit no one is there, there is no sale, and it is spammed over and over in the events listings

(an event is supposed to have a host/hostess and not last for more than 3 hours as per the events info page)



Not that they actually do this, I for one would love to see the events calendar cleaned up and monitored and kept clean.
The above is from here
http://secondlife.com/events/
(then click on the add events link, it will show you the rules for adding events)

if more people followed the rules, the events would be much much nicer to all of us.


PS I have been in this thread since it started and I do not recall anyone mentioning using events, most likely for the above reasons.

@Falkor

Please save your breath. If you read some of the postings by that individual in other threads, then you will understand why I am saying this to you.

To save time for those who do not want to click the links, here is the info for posting events...

Not everything has been discussed by any means, so it shouldn't

No, just post a random thought before you start some guerilla marketing eh?

Pep (Not fooled)

Using event postings can be very effective and I still look in events to see sales etc. I agree that the purpose of the events listings are for hosted events, however they have not just been used for that in all the years ive been in sl. I have found some pretty cool places by looking in events that i might have missed otherwise, even if the post there was not technically an "event."

Sometimes I will use events to post something new and different, tho I almost never do that anymore since I have built up the membership in my groups. But for a new biz owner, announcing a grand opening, an initial sale, change of location, etc....it can be quite effective if not overused.

with that said....lets work to keep the tone of the posts here positive and encouraging...we have done well with that so far and for me this thread is a haven from the crap that goes on elsewhere on the forums.

@Nimue - Thank you for the great info! I was thinking the Hippo group was free if under 500 members...but that might be a different server type group. My group is also very small with turnover; I tend to go in spurts with building. I agree, though, that even if most people join the Hippo group, it's still nice to have the in world group if for nothing else to have in my group listing as advertising.

@Falkor - Welcome to the forums New product releases and special sales and such are in the classified section of these forums and are a great, free way to advertise as well. The events are misused a lot, but as you and Jojo said, you can find interesting things there as well.

For me, I would use the events listing for a "Grand Opening" of a new store or something of that nature.

agreed grand opening would be something that makes sense

using the events just to bypass the cost of a classified is wrong (in my opinion) and apparently it is against the rules of posting events

of course people misuse it, the lindens do not monitor it so (just like in this forum) many folks will bend and break the rules, just because they know nothing will be done.

people will choose to do what they want to do, but they should also be aware of the rules. (If they choose to break those rules, then so be it)

*shrug*

(I did not mean to insert negativity, just wanted to point out that using events for a free classified is wrong)

Thought I had a bug on my screen lolz!

I actually dont use a hippogroup. To be honest i cannot afford the fees if my group gets over X amount oof people. I also didnt like the fact that someone else was keeping track of everything.

I actually found an in world mail list which works identical to the hippo groups but without the use of a web server. It is slightly manual. people click on your group list at your store and you have to go once a day or so and click on it and copy and paste those names to a notecard. That notecard IS your group.

You then use the mailbox in the set to send your notice. you just add your notecard of names, plus a message and any items you want to end and click it and click send.

Work exactly the same and sends them an IM.

It takes maybe 2 minutes a day of work to copy and paste names who have joined and delete names who have left. And to be honest for 1900L total cost (ie no monthly costs ever) this was a MUCH more cost effective idea for me.

There is also a thingy in there which will check for double ups of names. Though i havent looked at that it yet it is in there hehe.


As of this point i have kept my in world group btu i will likely drop it soon. I moved everyone frm that group over to the hippo group an to be honest my groups are pretty much full so the extra room would be a god send for me. Hehehe my group only had like 10 people in it anyway.(My new maillist group has over 70 within a week)

I like my hippo group, and even though it does cost me more than I want to spend a month, I would not give it up.

I LOVE how I can use the web to send a msg.

Just like anything else, each person will decide what works for them.

I love how we have all this different info in this thread... I need to go back through it and try to compile the different suggestions on marketing, and such, and notecard it and begin using it again, as I am starting to get the creation bug again...

(thank god! I was wondering if I would ever make anything again LOL)

You not doing anything wrong. Your landlady is doing everything right.

I have been to Cherry Park. Is very well laid out, is spacious and uncluttered. With simple elegant lines and unobstructed walkways. Also your landlady has a very good reputation. By having her as your landlady then you benefit from this. By having you as a tenant she trusts and recommends you to others.

In time this will increase your mainstore visits as well. Those not knowing you yet, will buy from you based on her recommendation and when they do they will come to know and trust you as well.

The 'Commercial' category was created for the purpose of grand openings, demonstrations, product launches etc.

I DO use events to advertise product launches. I post in events on some weekends when I have released a new product, and when I post I will also mention whatever 'gift' might be available in my shop as well. Does it help? I don't know really, but if all I get is one walk-in customer who comes to see my new product, and that customer buys one thing, then it is worth the time I spent to post it.

(by the way, I sent a query to LL back when I started doing this, for clarification about the host thing and having to have your land showing in search as 'hangout', those are for non-commercial events. The commercial events category was an add-on.)

I also post in events (of course) when I have an opening or a sale. When I rebuilt and moved my mainstore I had a 50% off everything sale and I was amazed at how many people came.

On another topic, if any of you are using midnight mania boards, be careful. The 'next owner permissions' glitch can cause problems...I put something in a midnite mania board and the board wouldn't transfer the item at midnite..only the empty box lol...really gives some good customer service practice.

Good point there.cheers

well, ok, it isn't the current topic...but I have a problem. I have searched high and low all over my blog info, and I can't figure this out so I will ask some more experienced bloggers for help

For some reason, my blog does not update on other people's blog lists. For example, I look at Amar's blog today and it shows my last blog as being a week ago (really, it was a few days ago). That isn't much but it means that somehow I did something right (I have no idea what, it was most likely by accident lol) last week...before that, her list showed my last post as one I had done like 3 months earlier, even though I update it pretty regularly. This has kept me from asking people to add my blog because who wants a blog on their list that never updates? And I have thought about trying to get onto a feed (altho I am in awe of some of the things I see on the feeds and wonder quietly if I measure up) but what would be the point if my blog doesn't update? And so I have poked, and prodded, clicked and searched and I cannot find the problem on my own.

What am I doing wrong, or not doing right?

Hmmm- check too, others who have you on there- it mightbe a setting on our blogs. Mine I do believe is set to show most current post from those linked in.

Couldn't agree more. Useful input to this thread so far has been excellent and a much welcome change from the norm. This is one of the few threads I like to keep up with.



I might be wrong here, but doubt the top quote was aimed at you. You stated a valid opinion and supported it with facts, whether or not anyone agreed.

*lightbulb goes off*

DOH!!! ohhhhhhhh I see... (I tend to skip a lot of specific posts if you know what I mean...)

Whew...

~ ~ ~

Sorry, just got back to see this. Dollarbies are fine and we even report 5L ones

ppsssttt....rha...prawn is right...hehe

Thank you so much for these words.

Unless my tenants tell me, I don't know how they're doing on sales, and shoppers rarely talk to me. I have moments of fear that I'm failing the tenants and won't know it unless and until they move out.

It's really nice to hear what others think...and that they think it's good