Advice on Sales!!

Welcome to the thread I don't think anything is as competitive in SL as the fashion market to be honest...but I could be wrong. But there are good people here who might have advice regarding prefabs and furniture, good luck!

Thanks for that...ill just bump this thread just in case the builders and furniture makers miss it

Hi Annisha- Welcome to the Thread.

Regarding your building, I wd advise you to join the Builders Exchange group in-world. Great bunch of people and very helpful. As for your poses, there are several good animation sellers that sell mod/copy poses and anims. Look into taking some classes inworld also- Search Events/Education. There are several good sit assist items available that wil let u install a pose in ur furniture and save the pose ball altogether.

Good luck!

Hey thanks for that Amar

So how is everybdy going with their buisnessses these days??

Is it alright to keep this thread going?

Hi, Annisha and welcome!

Whew...if you've read this entire thread you've been busy.




Absolutely! I build a little bit of everything in the furniture and home furnishings line, thus the "Attic" part of "Czari's Attic" - the variety of items one would find exploring an attic.



Amar already suggested the class idea and that is where I obtained all my pose balls and various animations. Actually you just need to make one pose ball for yourself, then add the different animations. NOTE: Most classes provide animations that have been ok'd by the creators for public domain, but I learned this year to double check particularly scripts so that I am not inadvertently using someone's work that was for a class demo only. If that is the case, the script is well noted with that info.

My store is very small by choice with just a few items. The in world location was graciously provided by one of the posters in this thread and I also placed all items on Xstreet SL. There is a big shake up going on there now (which can be read in another thread) so many of us are making changes in that area. Even only offering a few items and due to RL not really doing the marketing I should, I still sell several items/day which for my purposes is fine.

I also purchased a 512 parcel when I first went Premium with the intent of setting up shop there but (1) I tend to be a perfectionist/procrastinator (not a good combo...lol) so could never settle on a building I liked for the shop; then I got addicted to purchasing land and got over my head with tier (still not building my shop there, but had the beginnings of the foundation). I sold off all my land and now am back to a 512 which I plan to place a small shop on.

The tricky thing with a 512 is the 117 prim limit. This is more of an issue for furnishings merchants as customers prefer to see, touch, and try out those items rather than pictures; whereas 1 prim displays are the general method of displaying fashion. In my small mall shop where I have something like 50 or so prims, I still manage by seeing what sells and displaying those items, or changing out older items when I build something new, and then change that out again during holidays, for me particularly Christmas. So on a 117 prim limit, if you don't have a lot of items at the beginning, the space can be well-utilized with some thought and creativity.

One thing I've learned is that instead of a 1-story shop on a 512, find (or build) a multi-story building. Going upwards affords more space on a smaller parcel.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head for what has worked for me for selling in extremely small areas. Good luck with your new venture and great to have you join us.

Annisha, Welcome to this mega-thread. There's also a thread on search that has been helpful to many of us:

/327/b1/252152/1.html

You've no doubt read advice in this thread about creating new items and making other changes to keep your store from becoming stale. It's great advice. The amount of time I've had for SL has fluctuated this year. When I had no time to create, sales declined a little.

In August, I doubled the size of my store and created several new card designs. Sales improved even more than I expected.

My business increases dramatically during the Christmas and Valentine's Day seasons. The results from this holiday season are ahead of last year's. I doubt that would have happened without the changes I made in August.

Thanks for your very good advice guys...really appreciated :))

I have tried to get to many classes but unfortunately they seem to be held the time im asleep..im an aussie and our timezones are completely out of whack with the europeans and americans which tends to get frustrating *sighs*

I really enjoy building and im really enjoying the challenge of learning and researching the topic. Reading thru this thread kept me off sl for a week lol...but it was such a good read.

Czari i kept up with your story in the thread and i wanted to post and say "stop buying more land" lol. Miles im glad your back with your greeting card buisness to )

I was thinking about a 512 plot since im premuim. I guess with the huses i can always use a sky platform to have them rezz for customers (if i get any lol)

Anyway i hope you all keep this thread alive..its really helped me with so many ideas ect that im sure other people just starting out in the "biz" world of sl will find this thread fantastic!!!!

Take care
Hope to speak some more

If you ever need classes on scripting--and you may for doors & lighting in your prefabs--check out Simon Kline. He's the best scripting teacher I know. He's also an Aussie and most of his classes are held during times that should be convenient for you.

I think his site now has a schedule as well as some tutorials.

http://klinelabs.com/

hi annisha and welcome. i have a pretty successful home decor store with lots of items on my own mainland parcels. that has worked best for me at this point in my sales career. i now own almost a quarter sim just to have the prims available for my store. i would encourage you to just jump right in and experiment with sales. the more exposure you get over a longer period of time, the easier it will become.

the newest thing that has really boosted my sales has been the use of midnight madness boards. i actually use only one most of the time, but it has really supercharged things for me. im sure over time this will decline and ill try the next new thing. lol.

Hey there

Ill check out that script page,its nice to know about another aussie lol

Im one of those ppl that go to MM stores now. If i see a texture i like i actually buy some so once i open a new store i will give that a go.

Last night in bed (lol) i thought of a gimmick for my houses so im hoping that will help to lol

I might join up with the group to..biz owners...is that still active?

Hi Annisha

This little thread is a HUGGGGGEEEEEE part of how my business got to where it is right now. It went from a tiny little store with a few ok accessories to a florishing clothing and accessories store which notonly pays for itself but helps put me though school.

Take all the bits of advice you found and try them all, id say all the marketing mentioned here could be applied toany business in sl, not just fashion, although there is a skew within this thread for fashion as many of us have those types of stores.

IT is all about what works for you. As jo said she just trid MM board withhuge sucess. My exprience has been the total opposite with them (though i may be missing the groups i should be sending the notices about mine to im not sure).

Goodluck with your store and i am sure it will be a sucess

I third the MM board - ! Mine is a major success- it's hard at times finding MM Groups - I have made up a card of the ones I have had succes swith - I will get them and post them later.

As i said i belong to a couple of MM groups..one is called "lucky chair stalkers" but it mainly calls out MM boards. Most of these have fashion related items. Also i belong to a couple of MM groups for builders as well

Hey Eclectic i have been to your club quite alot in my early days of sl and actually met my first sl partner there lol. Anyway ive followed your story quite closely on this thread as well and i was impressed with how far your buisness had come I was also very pleased for others who had gone well. Im wondering how Rhaorth is going??? Ive been rooting for her to have some success because she has tried damm hard. So i went to her store the other day and joined her group.

Theres a few stores im going to check out. I went to Phil Deakens and thats massive and amazing and i went to Porky Gorkys to. I will be also checking out a few others such as Eclectics and Rhiannons who gave out free store space to you good people )

Well a lot happened here in fact

After being on my own (rented that is) homestead island, I decided that I could have a way more prims for the same money when going to mainland. After selling off the 4 Zindra plots I had, I bought a little over half a sim (yay for the group bonus of 10%) and set up shop there. The first month I kept both locations. Plus I rent a nice plot at HoneyBear, where I have my animation store. Even though I have that same store on my own land, I keep renting at HB as most of the revenue comes from there.

Well, it did cost me sales, as my furniture store did not yet get its place back in search. Then again, when I add the revenue of the plants, furniture and animations, I can still cash out each month, so no worries there.

Now I have my mind set on the other half of the sim. That is group owned, set for sale at 350K (!!!), and the group does not show any owner (all have same tag). Guess I will wait out untill they do not pay tier anymore Would really rock to have my own mainland sim, even though I already have way more prims then I need.

Well, I also put up a MM board, but I hardly think it is worth the hassle. Got a few sales from it, and a lot of visitors, but I do not have the time to keep changing the prize and call the boards, so I am not sure whether to keep it or not. A friend offered to call the boards for me, so maybe I will keep it...

As for advertising, I still think search all, advertising your new stuff on the forums and your own shop groups, and classifieds, are the best investment. Plus I am sure that the 4 homepage features on XStreet do me good as well. XStreet still is a good source of revenue and advertising for me, and with the latest developments I think it will only get better (though most people think different it seems).

Lately I have finally created some new stuff as well, and I intend to keep on creating more, my shop can use lotsa new stuff.

Well folks thats all for now.

Hehehe i actually recognised your name from fabs

Rha is doign ok i think we spoke briefly the other day, i knwo she still occassionally reads the forums so maybe she will pop her head in and give an update. I know she has been hit by the changes to Xstreet that many of us have been, this has meant a major changein marketing and selling for many of us.

Marcel on the friend helping you out I have two friends who do a lot to help out my store in echange for clothing ... heheh well they do it cos they wanna help but i insist on giving them gifties One is listing all my items on Slapt.me as we speak. all 2600 of them hahaha

These type of peopel can be your best friend,esp if it is something they like doign or you can give them items they would have otherwise purchased from you (both my riends are shoppers in my store so it works ell to give them not yet released items for free in exchange for helping me out).

Partial MM List am posting to:
MIDNITE MANIAKZ ;p
Midnight Mania Seekers
Midnight Mania Fashionista's
Midnight Mania Board Slap!
Midnight Mana Addict
J&M MIDNIGHT MANIA GROUP
Harper's Midnight Mania Shoppers
* A&P Midnight Mania * LC *
Help for Midnight Mania
Midnight Mania No Limit
Mdnight Mania Prowler
Midnight Mania Reunited
Midnight MadHatters
Mkdnight Mania
Midnight Mania Hunters
Midnight Mana Lovers
*CS Midnight Manacs!*

I have an alt for Advertsing only- so as to not clutter up mh groups- more than they are!!

I'm afraid I'm one of the ones who posted here (quite late in the thread, actually) and subsequently didn't go far. I made a few items, managed to box them and post them on XStreet, started looking at buildings to use for a store - and got thoroughly sidetracked building a haunted house. Then I got blindsided by RL, so never put out any new products or promoted the ones I had.

I've delisted my products from XStreet and haven't gotten around to listing them (all FOUR of them) on an alternate site.

I've had a bit of an interlude, and I've been building again, but I haven't decided whether what I've done is commercially viable, or if it's just for me. (Honestly, I'd almost rather show it off than sell it - I think my biggest reason for selling would be to see whether anyone else sees in it what I do.)

So, never made it as a content seller, because I've never really had my head in the game - but I still follow the thread, and I'm impressed as heck at those here who have gone far. Maybe when all this RL commotion shakes out a little...

Nic's post makes me think it has been a while since we toured each other's stores-

Nic- I wold love to see what you have done- for sale or not- Would you share a slurl please?

Who is up for another round of store visits?
How about we get something set up - either here or in world thru Biz Group?

So- If y'all are game, whether Biz Group members or not, post your slurl as an invite to come be seen.

We can then dicuss our findings and opinions - everyone of course being of the mind that thes are all subjective opinions and chances are we can all benefit form a fresh look see.

Nic i am glad to see you are back to building whether for fun or for selling. I thhink that for the mosst part the sucess in busienss in SL comes from loving the business more so than just the creation side of it if that makes sense? There are so many amazinnnnngggg creators out there who are barely known cos they dont care to or dont know how to market.

For me the whole store thing is what I love. Dont get me wrong i love the creation side of it.. but my passion is more than that. I love the thrill of finding new ways to market. I love the challenge of setting goals and profit targets for myself and matching or beating them. I find it fasinating to look over my sales reports and analyse what people buy and what they dont.

I supose it is the virgo in me. Who would have thought i would love this side of it all hehehe.

Ama id be up for it My store has grown lots and is really different now. Id love for people to wander and give me their thoughts

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Marsco/76/85/344

oh and thanks for the names of those groups Ama. I think i will definatel have to consider an advertising alt if i was to send to all of those hehee

Do you sign upwith them to send notice? or just put the info into chat?

E, something I've noticed about your MM and Lucky boards is that they are tucked away in the back of the second floor. If I hadn't known about them (through Sorcha being in your store group) I probably wouldn't have found them.

Since you've expanded, there are some blank walls on your lower floor which might make them more visible - or maybe you could put up a sign near the entry letting people know there are MM and Lucky boards upstairs. Posting them to the groups is a good idea, too, though I don't belong to any.

Your MM is one I tap every few days, when I remember to go by and do it, but it is a bit discouraging to get that email the next day saying "Sorry, maybe next time." Based solely on my experience as a customer, I'd suggest lowering your target or very occasionally forcing the MM board - as I think getting lucky every now and then tends to make people come back more often. (But I am not a MM merchant, so take that advice with a huge grain of salt!)

Naw thanks for that It is good to hear some feedback on it. I have a large set of new releases coming this week sometime so I will revamp the MM board thingy and move it and add soemthing new and try a few new things with it and see what happens

Well, it's very much a work in progress at this point, but it could probably use a fresh set of eyes - I'll post an SLURL next time I'm in-world.



I'd like that - and I really need to join the Biz Group, if you all don't mind me tagging on without a business at the moment. I'll have to shuffle and drop something - could someone send me an invite or a link to the group in-world?

E- I will pop over and check your place out tonight My slurl is in my siggy, so anyone feel free to pop over- wd love to hear your comments. As a comment I want you all to know, I am aware I need to work on the upstairs- like a sign saying - "hey! go upstairs"- wd be a good start!

As for MM's - they are awesome for generating traffic but though traffic helps, we want SALES! So I would further suggest folks put some of the more price-attractive merchandise near the board so people are drawn into looking at what else you offer. You don't want your MM so totally hidden away no one can find it- but you dont want it to be something one can hit and run. You want to find a happy medium so your customer has time to rez and look around but doesnt give up in frustration. I have left some places where the thing was so impossible to find i just meh'ed and moved on

I don't change my prize every day because I want to sell my stuff not give it away but i do want enough out there to be noticed. I think for that same reason a semi low target is prefereable because you get exposure with over flowing the market.

As for how to announce- some boards allow Notices, others only want chat IM's, some you need a special tag to announce where you will have to request the ability.

I keep a list that i read thru when i announce and a notecard so i can just copy paste.



E - I enjoy the marketing aspect also- it is a challenge and i am enjoying seeing the sales figures grow. Something else I would like to mention to those creating fashion and fashion accessories- do not discount the magazines in SL. Talon Faire is about to be featured in a Fashion magazine, I am very excited about that and encourage you guys to pick up a copy of it- I set a kiosk in TF - of course! Look into buying some ad space - they do get read. Those of you in home decor, look at Prim-Perfect.

Don't forget to keep up your blogs- get in with the Fashion feeds such as iheartsl.com and metavirtual. Every bit of exposure helps.

I am finding myself in a quandry over XStreet. I really hate the steps they have taken, and I had not had much in the way of sales before that it mattered one whit- but I must say in the last week after their draconian action, my sales have actually picked up!

What do I do? Persist in my original position that I leave them because of what they chose to implement? Or crunch the numbers and THEN decide if it is worth it to me to stay with them? Argh Decisions!!!

Im in the same position with Xstreet....

For me right now they are around 15% of my total sales and they make a nice little chunk of income. HOWEVER I have 2600 items on Xstreet (i looked at the numbers yesterday) and Xstreet doesnt make me L$26,000 a month (man would be so nice if it did hehehe). Much of the reason I have so many items isthat right now I offermy customers choice. have all the colour ptions as well a fat packs and a choice of perms on Xstreet just as in my store. I wanted my customers to have a CHOICE about how and where they buy.

This will definately not be fesiable with the new system. I consideredthe idea of simply offering fat packs on Xstreet. They dont sell anywhere near as much, usually around 1 in 40 sales for me is a fat pack. Given my fat packs are the equivilant of around 5 items this means i will be losing around 1/8th of my potential market by dropping off individual items.

On the other hand... I dont have a particular color or colours that stands out as sellign better thn others, so im not sure that would be a fesiable option and given that these new rules the listing price will be the same for all items and any item at $50 or under will be giving xstreet MORE commission it makesmore economic sense to leave fat packs. Even if i offer say 50 fat packs on Xtreet i will only need a sale of one a month or round about that to make back the income.

At the same time this is going to hit me a little hard as far as growth and income for my store which is disappointing.

My assistant and I have been working on getting my items up onto slap.me this week, with consideration to also adding to meta-life.net or even apez.biz.

I am not sure i will completely remove my items from Xstreet because as annoyed as i am at what Xstreet is doign i CAN understanding from their business standing... (although i wish they wouldnt treat us like idiots and would just admit this is a revenue raising venutre... i would have a lot mroe respect for them if they did) but my listings there will likey be cut down to 2% of what they currently are.

The funny thing for Xstreet is that this change for me if my sales of fat packs stays the same or raises by less than 50% they will take a loss on their net profit from me. The commissions and fees of 50 items with my fat pack sales as is will be LESS than what it is now (though i will also be looking at a significantly reduced income .... win win right )




Annyyywaaayy thats my ramblings about Xstreet hahahah you probably didnt want that much info. But i told you i kinda like this stuff and i hash it out a lot