Getting It Right With SL

Second Life has gotten alot of press for its ground-breaking virtual world which has been touted as a everything from an online sex purveyor, to a merchants dream. While some of it is true, as usual, the truth lies somewhere in-between. Whatever the spin favorable or not, we have to admit Linden Labs has done something very right. If nothing else they have captured the imaginations of thousands of users. Considering the growth rate, there is something compelling in that virtual world.

While there are definitely passive users, people who just visit to play and recreate, there are large numbers of people who are creating items in-world and are trying to sell them. Some have been amazingly successful and have replaced their real world income with the proceeds from the virtual world. Why is this so powerful a draw? Well, to be able to create something for free, then own it is pretty great in itself, but then you can turn around and sell unlimited copies of your creation with no cost to yourself for it’s production.

While I am not an experienced gamer, or resident of other virtual worlds, my understanding is that the other places retain ownership of anything created in their world. Now my first thought about this is that I wouldn’t want to create something that I then had to give away. But in the end I probably would, just because if I could sell the item, I could use the in-world cash to buy things myself and enhance my experience in their world. But what is wrong with that picture is that there would be no incentive for cross-world production. If I create a successful T-Shirt business in SL, I can then turn around and produce them in the real world, or vice-versa. My content has value now. If I gave up ownership of the creations, it only has in-world value in that I could use or sell the item there.  Given a choice, which I have, I will produce somewhere that I can retain the ownership of what I produce.

A recent move by Linden Labs to provide their code as open source has produced quite a bit of controversy and speculation. Why give it away?  We will only know over time of course, but we can guess there was some wisdom to it. They have done too well and put too much into the development to just make a dumb move and give it all away. One utility of this that I can see is that with outside developers, the world will become alot more diverse than LL would have made it, and it can be readily customized to be useful to private enterprise. One recent competitor, VastPark, is working on the concept of people producing their own worlds, which will then interact with other worlds to form basically a world of worlds. LL may have a similar concept in mind. If enough companies adopt the code to their own uses they can then connect up with the main Grid as they wish, and can even sell or license use of their entryway into the SL Grid. Of course LL will maintain the main Grid that these companies will connect up to, and will find a way to profit from it, by charging somehow for connectivity to the main Grid.

LL may also be trying to become the new “language” of web 3.0 and everyone will somehow use or “pass through” SL do go about their daily business and pleasure. Just keeping small percentages of the profit at that stage would still probably be lucrative.

The other possibility is that they are just poising to sell. They want to create bells and whistles, and create a buzz just to attract a buyer. Perhaps a company like Google would buy them up and connect it to Google Earth. Either way, I think LL has alot to gain from allowing the open source availablity.

Integrated Marketing Masters

Ok, don’t laugh…I found a company who has mastered marketing integration, online and in real life. The company is Ganz, and their product/website is Webkinz. I discovered this when I finally realized what my 11 yo daughter was involved in as she was typing in codes from her recently purchased (RL) webkinz clothing.

The way this works is that you purchase a Webkinz stuffed animal at a retailer. There is a tag on it with a code. You then go to the website, and can go in-world using your code. Once there you can get a virtual pet like the RL one you purchased. Then you can purchase items to enhance the appearance of your pet, and also decorate the room which you have selected for your pet to live in. Now, my daughter had purchased clothing…which, with the special code, allowed her to shop in the exclusive store in-world that only those who have made the RL purchase can shop in. Everyone will recognize her clothing as special.

The other aspect that makes this all so genius is that it is a social networking site. My daughter meets her friends in-world and they compare their rooms, and clothing. They can visit each other’s places. Also, they can meet new people in-world and become friends with them. By interacting, they can each see what others have done in room decoration and clothing. This encourages them to purchase more and different items.

Now here is another capture device: the kids can play games to earn points that they can use to purchase in-world items. So now they are deeply involved in the website. They are there to dress-up, decorate, socialize, and play games, which earn money, enhancing their experience with the dress-up and decorating. Amazing!

Imagine if we could do something like that for an automotive site, or home decoration site. I think all the basic principles of cross-marketing and viral marketing are present in this one company. Congratulations to them, and no, don’t be shy to look at the website, we often learn from the children…

Marketing Results Already

Wow, after the first day of having an event listed, the traffic to my store tripled. The highest traffic I had previously in a day was about 23. After the first event listing yesterday, I had 69 people to the store. The gallery had 63. I wasn’t really expecting such good results. My rental space slide viewers have made some impact, as I noticed some of the names showing up in the viewer area, then at the store or gallery. But the numbers have only increased slightly, which is good since any increase helps. But the event listing produced amazing results. So, for now I will be listing events, probably daily, until I have a Grand Opening, then I will probably go with half price sales as the main event, with a particular freebie always available.

Marketing Update

 

Ok, I know I just did my first Events posting, and, well, I’ve already made some revisions. Firstly, I can’t be offering free items every week like some stores or people will just wait for the freebie. A friend who has a jewelry store created a unique item that is the one and only freebie, and it’s always available. I may go that route. But I’m still going to list frequently, and have, in fact, listed the Gallery also.

What I plan to do now though is offer random freebies in both the store and Gallery, with the Gallery listed under Arts and Culture, and the Store under Commercial. Random reinforcement works best. So people will have to come back often to see if something different is free. I will continute this until I have a Grand Opening. Then I will sort out how to handle the weekly attraction, be it a freebie, or a sale (more likely). I think a half price sale could work, and will probably establish a spot for the weekly sale item. Here’s the latest text for the Store listing:

Kram’s Kreations is a new Home Decor Store. I will give away a Free item randomly until my Grand Opening. Come find the item with the Gold Star. It will be FREE! Check back often, you never know what will be FREE next!
And here is the text for the Gallery listing: Waves Gallery is a new Fine Art Photo Gallery opening in conjunction with Kram’s Kreations. Come get a FREE photo until the Grand Opening. I will randomly have one photo free until then. Look for the GOLD STAR. That photo will be FREE!

I have a greeter that I may place. I’m just not yet sure I want to do that. I think some people may not like being assailed when they show up with a Greeter that says their name, and sends them a Landmark before they even know it they like the place. I’ll decide on that this week.

So now I have two rental spots for my slide show viewers, have listed events, and have freebies available. My next step will be to plan a Grand Opening. I need to decide what to do, what would bring people to a home decor store and/or an Art Gallery. I don’t know if I will do them at the same time, or separately. I think the customer base is cross-over so it may work to do both. Someone who may only have come for the Art Gallery may discover the store, and become a customer. But I will at some point arrange something separate for the Gallery. I have a friend with a mixed-artist Gallery who may want to even host a “Gallery Walk”.

Meanwhile, I’m back in my workshop working on some new designs that have been floating in my head. I’ve already added one new torch to the store this week.

New Marketing Additions

Moving right along with my marketing plan, I’ve placed a suggestion box by the main sign in the main store. I’m hoping people who know how to use this will be more sophisticated shoppers, and will leave meaningful suggestions. I will also be collecting those cards for future use as advertising resources, sending out notices of sales or new items. I may start an update group so I will have a steady customer list for announcements and sales.

In addition, I decided that as an event, I want to do a grand opening. I think a Saturday will be best, but I am too busy this week, and I want to be at the grand opening as much as possible.

In the meantime, I have decided to post a weekly event. I am offering one of my items for free every week. I will post it Friday night for Saturday. The early listing will be for the European audience, and I’ll do a later listing for the US audience. Of course, my hope is that they will come for the freebie, and buy other items while they are there. The first event listing is done, so we’ll see if a free item draws people in. The listing reads: Kram’s Kreations is a new Home Decor store. Come explore and look for the item with the Gold Star. It will be FREE!

Now go to my store and get your freebie!

(find the SLURL listed under Blogroll to the right of here)

The New Campaigns

Second Life has been considered as a vehicle for retailing and product promotions. These attempts have had mixed success primarily because no one is yet certain how to do things in virtual worlds. But there is certainly a great interest in trying to use the 3D internet. Among those interested are social, health and political causes and campaigns. Some politicians have already made attempts at reaching supporters through in-world speeches and forums, as well as having campaign headquarters. The American Cancer Society had the Relay for Life in SL. Save the Children has had a presence and is experimenting with ways to get people involved in the cause, and hopefully to also make financial contributions. It seems that of all the causes, Relay for Life has been quite successful, raising over $100,000 in US dollars in SL. I remember the campaign from an in-world perspective. There were many points of contact for getting involved, and it seemed that groups both large and small were active participants, and encouraged their members to get involved and to donate.

Part of what makes these attempts appealing is that those involved in-world have a sense of being somewhere, and with other people. If you are simply messaging or even video conferencing, you are definitely sitting in your chair at home or work, and transmitting images and/or text. In SL, you are immersed in an interactive environment where you can not only review materials, but you can interact not only with other supporters, but often with the celebrities themselves. You loose the sense of I’m here they’re there, and feel like you are actually together sharing the experience.

I think the residents of SL are a somewhat skewed sample of those who are creative, and those who are a little higher on the intellectual curve. I base this on the fact that there is a learning curve to being able to function in-world, and you need to be self-motivated and creative to figure out things to do there. There is no pre-established program to follow, or rules of the game. I think these are people who may care about the world around them, which makes them perfect participants for in-world campaigns.

Some of the techniques for getting people interested and involved in these activities would be similar to those of merchandising of products. Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come. You have to let people know you are there, what you are doing and what you would like them to do. There can be event listings, classifieds, billboards, t-shirts, and simple word of mouth to spread the interest.

I think SL will be used more often for various campaigns. Other than the sense of presence and involvement there is the distinct advantage of not being geographically limiting. People from all over the world can be involved in synchronous events. It seems a perfect vehicle for political candidates, and even elected politicians to reach their constituents, and have real dialog with them. The dissemination of information for political and social campaigns can be dynamic, and multimedia with information stations available at all times.

The main stumbling block to increased utilization will be the fact that people have to create avatars, and go through at least some of the learning curve to find how to do things and get around in-world. This will not be attractive to many people. It isn’t like turning on the TV and becoming a passive observer. You have to participate at some level. Perhaps the Lindens need to develop a quick entry system with temporary avatars for those who just want to stop in maybe to just hear a speech from the President of the United States. They may have no interest in staying in-world, but want to see that event. This would greatly increase the utility of SL for special events.

New Rental Store

A friend of mine rented a satellite store in a nice mall and asked me to help her set it up. While I was there I found the pricing to be quite good, and it had a good variety of high end stores. So I rented the store next to her and placed my advertising slideviewer with some sample merchandise.  My friend asked if I could make the viewer larger, thinking it looked a little lost in the space. I felt a little foolish for not having thought of that, then enlarged it. It was much better. So, the lesson is to use your social contacts for business. I found a place and improved my presentation all because of one visit with a friend. I quickly went over to the other shopping center I’m using and enlarged the viewer there. Here’s a pic of the new store:

Later I was talking to a friend about events. She makes heavy use of the events schedule as her main method of advertising.  I quickly realized this could be my replacement for classified ads. I will of course need some kind of event such as a grand opening, free item, etc. I think the grand opening makes sense, but I may start with the freebie. Instead of offering it in a prominent location like most stores do, I want to make it more like a scavenger hunt, without being too involved. I think I will just advertise something like “find the item with the red star, that item will be free”. Then they will have to move through the store as they search for the freebie.

I’m not seeing a change in my low attendance numbers at the store at this point. If this continues, I’ll consider my slideviewer a failure, but will probably keep the locations and just place actual merchandise, with a notecard giver to the main store and gallery.

Progress Addendum

Well, if anyone saw my new picture viewer, you would notice a  picture of  Gazebos. And if you go to the store you will see this:

When you are there you will see floating text that indicates there is an area with Gazebos for sale. So my secret is out. I added a piece of land to place my Gazebos for sale; they were too big for the store, and I don’t like just showing gazebos in a vendor. I think people should be able to see, and walk around such a structure. Here is a view of the Gazebo area:

There are teleporters between the store and this lot. Since it’s in the same sim it’s easy to do.

The next area I am planning is one with my fountains and trees that I have made. Geez, I think I need my own sim.

Professional Marketing in SL

This week’s readings were about professional marketing in Second Life. We read about a variety of groups from individuals like Aimee Weber and larger companies like Metaversatility and The SL Agency as well as the country of Sweden, who used the services of the Electric Sheep Company. They all demonstrate that they understand how to manipulate avatars and buildings in the virtual world, and that they are using the available resources as well as they can.

These are all very productive companies who produce very slick promotions. I’m impressed with their professionalism and the level of skill they demonstrate. What I am not so impressed with is the impact their work has had. I am not aware of any of the work in world or in real life that any of these companies have produced. Relay for life is the only one I was aware of in both worlds. It seemed every group was doing something for Relay for life. It was the most pervasive campaign I have seen in SL. Apparently it was successful. Now, maybe I’m just someone who is out of touch with what is going on around me, or I’m just oblivious to advertising, but I really wonder who these campaigns are reaching. I wonder if the people they have reached are those who were already interested and seeking information on certain products, and productions.

Granted, this is a new medium and we have to experiment with it to see what works or not. As far as I know, other than viral marketing, there is no good way to get general event news out grid-wide in SL. I suppose if you are looking for something to do you can check the events listings. Personally, I haven’t even looked at the listings. I think long-term residents of SL already have things to do and don’t need to check listings.

Probably the most successful marriage of SL and RL was the recent CSI event, which I completely missed, not being a television watcher. This seemed to garner alot of attention in both worlds. This may be a key to how to use SL. It is a good way to cross over with a real “cool” factor.

Rather than just create really slick campaigns in SL or in multiple worlds, I think advertisers need to consider the audience more, and who they are reaching with these attempts. I think it takes alot of RL hype to make a SL project show some ROI.

Weekly Update

This week has seen progress in my marketing approach. I have scrapped the idea of using the classified ads since they were too expensive and didn’t appear to be useful. I also checked with a friend who seems to have had much success with her store, and she had tried the classifieds and came to the same conclusion.

Just to recap: here is the final store layout:

And here is the Gallery:

The new development is that I rented a space in the Promenade mall. I decorated the walls and floor with my own design. What I put in there is the new picture changer with photos of the store and gallery, a couple of sample products because I had enough prims left (and I hope to sell them as well), and the notecard givers:

As for the picture changer, I purchased a photo album picture changer that has a script. It’s basically just a flat prim and you insert your photos into the contents, then set your parameters for auto slide show or manual and the time intervals. I built a frame for it and then a stand with legs to put it at a good viewing height. I then added outriggers for the notecard holders for the store and gallery. Here’s a closer view of the final product in place:

I have made four of these and have this one placed. I rented another space in a different mall last night, but haven’t set that up yet. If this works out, it’s a very affordable way to advertise.