Under the Mango Tree--Tamsin Barzane

On October 25, cacao's new main store on Saminaka opened its doors. It was a proud moment--I was very happy with my building progress, since I had set myself the task of a Hausa traditional exterior, and felt my competence had jumped several notches. If the walls weren't covered with vendors, well...Rome's togas weren't all woven in a day. Even so, there was a flurry of new wrappers and headties, and a selection of embroidered men's gowns with--at last!--satisfactory shoulder folds, new sweaters and dresses inspired by African baskets and Kuba cloth. And plenty of room for growth!

I opened my first store in SL back in 1997, but it was a small venture. Since then I have experimented with art, furniture, fountains, clothing. While expanding my abilities in creation, I also had to expand my reach in terms of display, advertising, promoting and more. I'm not in the same category as my friend Tomi Melendez, who is on the cusp of abandoning other businesses and making SL her primary wage-earning endeavor, nor have I reached my (initial?) goal of being able to pay tier for the homestead from my earnings, but progress in earning has definitely jumped. While it's all fresh in my mind, I want to share some of my observations, because they may help others in making the jump from pure hobby store to semi-serious merchant. In no particular order, I present you with Tamsin's Rules of Mercantile Success. Proceed at your own risk--they don't all agree with things in SL published books. These suggestions are geared to those who AREN'T graphic artists, or 3D artists, or professional artists of any type.

1. Start small. There's nothing wrong with trying out several business directions till you decide you've found something you really want to delve into. While you experiment, keep your rent low and try out different locations. What you're doing may work better in one spot that another--especially if your merchandise is thematic. Don't lock yourself into heavy charges.

2. Advertise in the classifieds, and use tons of keywords. Write your little advertising blurb and then hit enter four or five times. In the space that isn't apparent when you look at a profile ad, write down every possible term someone might use that will lead them to your store. Some big merchants don't advertise, they just use their picks.But does 50L a week really break your bank? Nah, and it might bring you a big spender.

3. With my little stores, I might go for weeks or over a month without sales. Because my rents were low, I could indulge myself monthly for less than the cost of a Starbucks. And the wait was worth it--inevitably someone would wonder in who wanted four or five things. That works if your things are distinctive enough--find a niche that isn't overflowing! And nichers work that search engine and will turn you up sooner or later.

4. If you're really doing something elaborate, with sales, group only discounts, complicated profit splits, or gift certificates, go with Hippo Vendors. But if you're not, don't. Hippos take time to set up (though they're quick to alter), their scripting is complex and creates more lag, and they they aren't free like a flattened prim rectangle.

5. If you want your new fashion releases to reach a big crowd, but you're still a small fry, go with Vain, a huge free group, and hold off on Fashion Consolidated until you're big time. Why? FashCon allows no chat, while Vain has reasonable and useful chat. If someone asks, "Where can I get a cheesehead costume?" some Vainer is sure to know and will pipe up with an LM--and if you're a cheesehead costume seller, what could be better? Otherwise, both organizations allow one announcement per week, so go for the free one. Once you've built a following, FashCon is great.

6. If you want your traffic to go up, there are a few techniques that work. One of the best get-them-in-the-doors is the Midnight Mania board. MM Boards aren't expensive, and they're copiable. They give away an item if a target number of avatars "slap" a board before SL midnight, but people don't come to your boards unless you're already in a high traffic area or you call the boards. Create a secretary alt, who does nothing but join MM groups and announce your product and the current count. This works, but can be time consuming--call it four or five times a day and lock the board. But do the visitors buy? Only a small proportion, but it will pay back your Board investment. Will it pay back your time? It may. It certainly spreads buzz, opportunities, and new contacts, personal and professional.

7. Another traffic increaser is the Treasure Hunt--and multi-sim organizers may have seen your work in the MM boards and want to include you. Hunters, like MM scavengers, are highly organized. Get that secretary alt to join and announce yours. Traffic on my sim leaped from 300 to 1300 on my first hunt! Use the free events listings on the SL website--and list every single day the hunt is running, though it's a tedious exercise. But avoid choosing holiday months--my wonderful cantaloupe hunt lost out last month, hidden by the plethora of Halloween hunts.

8. Host an occasional event at your store--why can't your clients dance to a dj? It adds a little fun to a slow time and shoppers have leisure to notice the details on your vendors.

9. Create groups--both the usual subscriber, and the doesn't-count-in-25-groups Subscribomatic (which is free). Announce new items to your members, but wait till you have a clump of newness--no one wants day after day of one item releases.

10. Look for groups that allow postings upon approval--and find as many as are appropriate for your niche. Except for FashCon, don't pay for the privilege.

11. Avoid events, no matter how prestigious they sound, that require you to pay but have no way for you to show and sell objects--i.e., fashion shows. Money and time down the drain--this applies to ads in most SL magazines, too. Do you want to spend $60-$100 real life dollars for $25 worth of sales?

12. Promote incessantly, but in a non-annoying way. Find new angles, twists, events, to get people to see what you're doing. What about blogging? Writing comments on fashion blogs? New ning rings that are springing up? Look for new temporary or semi-permanent venues to show your stuff to new folks.


Well, this is a round dozen of suggestions. Readers with more (or different!) experiences, why not comment and help some folks?

Stepping Out to the SL Shoe Fair

I’ve been mulling over events, since this weekend I went to the SL shoe fair. Shoe Fair, you say? Never heard of it! And I nearly didn’t as well. I happened to be on when two group members of Vain were asking for an LM, and joined the clamor for one, despite one Vainer’s remark that she had heard it was “pretty lame”—a foot, but not shoe-related pun, let me point out. I bristled with indignation—well, I don’t have an animation for that, but did so internally—why put something down if you haven’t seen it yourself?—and hopped right over when the LM arrived (because Vainers have EVERYTHING in their capacious inventories and memories).

Well, she was right. Having visited the Hair Fair for an earlier issue, one difference was clear—there were only a handful of avis there Saturday evening. I stopped by again the next morning—I was alone. No buzz was being generated, that was clear—or, as one friend suggested, they may have crowded the place on Thursday and Friday.

Also missing was a sense of theme or fun. The event took place on a sim that acts like a virtual convention center, and everyone’s booth was a uniform size and type, elegant as booths go, but much of a muchness. A sharp contrast to Hair Fair’s Candyland theme, which was both a navigation system (with its path), a chuckle-inducer (I still have my low-lag meringue wig), and a way to let the vendors express a sense of personality.

Most heavy hitters weren’t there. No Moody, no Minx. Relatively few of the new prim toe models I’m eager to make without sufficient HUD knowledge. And not a single men’s shoe that I could see, except unisex sneakers—that just seems wrong! (I was in male form, having just shot some vendor signs for Cacao, and did a rare sneak-out without changing back into myself, so that may have magnified my indignation). It did introduce me to a few unknown stores whose products interested me, like Enkythings, Diva's and Bax.

There were more boots than shoes, and several fetish shoes that made me think SL’s large dom/sub population might find a trip worthwhile. Some of the vinyl and gleaming leather textures throughout the booths were really quite impressive, as if some virtual shoeshine booth had been hard at work.

Shoe Fair was actually very small, with only 18 booths acting as shoe boxes. Many empty booths remained in the convention center, suggesting the entrance fee was either high, the merchant contact rate was low, or some other factor mitigated against participation—again, a far cry from the full sim of Hair Fair. Perhaps it had to do with prim count? Displays were ads, rather than actual footwear—though that has never stopped me from buying.

Perhaps charitable endeavors helped boost Hair Fair? One or more or all of most vendors’ booths had a “Locks for Life” item, with profits donated to the charity. Or perhaps it was simply too short, being an extended weekend affair, rather than Hair Fair’s full week and a little extension due to some SL glitches.

I’m thinking of having two kinds of events in the early fall, and though I have no illusions that it will draw thousands, I’d like to reach respectable numbers. Groups are a great way to reach people, depending on the kind of event, but I haven’t heard much good about SL publicists—and I have no idea how to interest the Lindens into posting an event at sign-in time, though I imagine big-time charity involvement or intriguing CSI-like publicity are key. There’s an SL forum for discussion of promotion, so I’d better start reading.

But I’m feeling for Shoe Fair and its worn-down sole. What happened? Somebody did some hard work trying to organize and their efforts were kicked to the curb. That shoes—one of SL’s biggest sellers!—couldn’t draw visitors is a thought to sober the most enthusiastic event promoter. Write and tell me about your event triumphs and horrors, please!