Of course, it’s against policy to buy or sell WOW currency, so even if you could work toward mats to make special items, you still can’t really profit from your time.  But it’s a step in the right direction allowing more customization.   Will there ever be an RPG game like WOW that allows user-generated content?  Not without a hit on bandwidth downloading all the new shapes and textures.  Gamers will always want faster gameplay instead of better fashion, right?  We can dream about the converse anyway.

First of all was the hugely unpopular ‘Credit Pend’ which was supposed to go live on Monday, but never happened.  On Tuesday there was a brief announcement in the forums that the Credit Pend program had not been started and was going to undergo further testing.

Secondly, IMVU previously stated that the change regarding exact duplicate products being removed from the catalog would take effect this past week and on Tuesday they announced in the forum that it was now if effect.  Then, on Friday they posted that they had reversed the change ‘due to some issues that were discovered’.

Exactly who is running the show at IMVU?  Does anyone test these things?  The Zero Change Derivable (ZCD) policy seemed like a good one.  It would eliminate duplicate derivations in the catalog so that people who came in and simply jacked up an item’s price without changing it would not get paid for those.  However, it seemed that many other legit items were also cut.  I know for a fact that one of better known hair meshers had at least half of their catalog missing during the time the ZCD elimination was in affect.  This is probably due to the fact they used an alt to make the derivable and zero changed them under their brand name.  Totally understandable, yet a victim to IMVU’s untested change.

The credit pend system that will be in affect seems mostly geared to slowing down people who try and hack the system, take the money and run.  Although explicit items are against IMVU’s policy, it’s possible to get them into the catalog and sell them quick before they are reported, then cash out the money quickly.  With a credit pend, the cash made from ‘illegal’ items will be held and will thus be returnable when items are banned.  Without a profit, there should be less incentive to get them into the catalog.  Nevertheless, a good portion of creators are claiming that they shouldn’t be ‘punished’ for the problems of a few bad apples.  I have to agree.

In both cases, though, I have to question what is going on.  How are these decisions being made in IMVU?  It’s almost like there is one person simple toying with the controls while everyone else watches the profit margins.

For me, it all depends on the item.  The gown I released is a classic strapless gown which is very popular for bridesmaids, in addition to the white version which can be a simple, yet elegant wedding gown.  Since weddings have so many color themes, I find that I will get requests in many different colors.  Some of the least favorite colors will only sell a few, but the fact I have so many colors will bring customers who know there’s a good chance I have their color available.

More casual clothing seems to be best with a handful of color options that work best for the outfit, so I’ll only offer 5 or 6 colors of them.   So, what’s your opinion on it?

You can read the forum announcement here.

There will be a transition period to adjust to the credits pending.  From September 12-18, credits will be pended for 1 day and from September 19-25 credits will be pended for 7 days.  After which all credits will be pended for 14 days.

A quick browsing of the forum thread shows creators are happier about the shortened time, but still wish it wasn’t happening.  A few creators are still claiming to call it quits.  IMVU is a business.  They have to make policies that work best for them.  We can choose to work with it or not.  But I have to say, content creation is a lot of fun… if you can overlook the bumps along the way, the opportunity to have a rewarding career will always be there.

So, how are your Public Relations skills?  Have you had any experience marketing?  Any business, large or small, in real life, or on the web, needs some sort of marketing plan.

There are countless creators who start out in Second Life and IMVU who produce high quality products that should sell a lot, but never do.  The creators set up shop, add their items to the catalog and hardly get noticed.  They eventually walk away out of frustration.  Yet there are others creators who have average products and for some reason sell tons of them.  Well, it’s not up to chance… it’s how well their items are promoted and marketed to the online public.

It’s pretty naïve and egotistical to simply to assume your awesome product will sell itself. But, that’s how I did it the first time when I opened ‘Blaze*’ in Second Life.  You have to realize, though… that was back when there were less than 100,000 users (now there are over 10 million).  It really was a small world in 2005 and it was hard to find things you really wanted.  So, naturally, a well made black cloak and nice pair of leathers pants got people flocking to my store.   Now, Second Life and IMVU are inundated with tons of new products every day.  IMVU’s catalog passed the 10 million item mark within the last month and Second Life’s available items, inworld and in catalog is probably similar.

So how do you get noticed?  There are many answers to this question and it varies for every niche, but here are a few pointers to get you started in the right direction.

1. The first part of marketing is branding.  Your logo and how you present your items make a world of difference.   Your items need to be pleasing to the eye AND stand out for people to even consider them.   If you don’t have the creativity to carry out a unified look that sets you apart from everyone else, then get help with this, and be consistent.
2. Once your product is available, you need to tell people it’s there.  Find out where you can promote your wares to your target market.  Some niches are small enough that a nice group or location will get the best exposure for you.  Tell people in those groups that you have new items, but be sure that you are allowed to ‘advertise’ in certain.  Unwanted advertising is considered spam and you’ll risk being banned from the group.  Venues or publications, even niche blogs, may accept advertisements.
3. Being inworld and gifting items to people you cross paths may be a slow way to get the word out, but it just may get you more return customers.
4. Thank your customers for purchasing from you.  Maybe even give them another item.  This is an often overlooked tip because it can be quite tedious, but if you keep up contact with a customer, they are much more likely to return.
5. Stay active and keep creating.  Customers are always looking for the latest and greatest.  Keep your customers coming back by offering them something new on a consistent basis.

Once word of mouth gets out and you have a consistent customer base, you can alter your marketing strategy.  Continue doing what works and try new things.  As long as you are active and looking to improve, you’ll keep getting sales.

Getting the word out won’t be cheap, you’ll need to spend some money to make money, but in the end, if you do it right and you persevere, your hard work will pay off, and better than that, you’ll be making cash from what you love to do!

Premium members lounge in style.

Adding to the premium membership perks, Second Life just announced new exclusive freebies and benefits for subscription users.  They’ll be giving out periodical freebies like the nice set of furniture designed by SL creator Colleen Desmoulins which is available today.  Another new perk includes four new sandbox regions, exclusive to premium members and free from the non-paying account riff raff.  It’s all explained in this article, along with links on where to get your freebies!

For the casual user in SL, there’s really no huge advantage to having a premium membership.  You can even create and/or do most anything in SL without paying a dime.  The only thing you really can’t do with a free account is own land, but you can rent.  If you’re serious about creating in world, you may as well get a premium membership.  You’ll get a L$1000 bonus and a weekly stipend of L$300 which will actually defer over half the cost of the membership.  In fact, a yearly membership of $72 will award you L$15,600 over the year, which is worth around $62 on today’s market.

Ten bucks for monthly freebies, phone support, exclusive sandboxes, and land owner rights seems pretty cheap.

Users have posted many signs in protest of IMVU's new 30 day escrow policy.

In a forum announcement yesterday, IMVU informed content creators that credits paid for items in the IMVU catalog will sit in escrow for 30 days before being added to the creator’s credit balance.  So, they are holding your credits for 30 days.

Here’s part of their statement…

To read their entire post, click here.

There have already been thousands of replies to the posts with most develops upset and outraged about IMVU holding their credits, nor does their reasoning have a solid footing.

For me… I have several thoughts…

1. Anyone making a living off of content creation will need to budget well during the transition month.  You’re basically putting off a whole month of pay.  After that cash flow should be the same.
2. I’m not that knowledgeable about the problem with banned products or members getting hacked, but a 30 day hold on all creators to apply a band-aid to a few problems does not seem the right approach.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

I’ve been having fun making items in IMVU, but maybe I need to spend more time in SL till this blows over.

Checking out a new gown mesh in SL.

The big news this month in Second Life is all about Mesh.  It’s here.  It’s live on all regions and creators are going to town with it.  In addition to all the 3D objects that can now be ported from 3d programs into SL, fashion will never be the same with mesh clothing that actually adjusts to the size of your avatar and moves with it.

Just to check it all out, I purchased a full perm mesh of a gown from ‘Random Crap @ TenFifteen’.  I put it on and changed my size and it adjusted with my body size.  It didn’t adjust with minor details like chest/breast size, so I’m assuming a mesh can only adjust to major feature changes like hip width, etc.  That being the case, the dress was designed to cover a wide range of avatars.

The mesh itself cost me L$3500, which is equivalent to $14 USD.  It’s a one time purchase and allows me to use the mesh in SL over and over again.  That’s a lot different than meshes in IMVU where you pay a derivation fee for every single use.  Anyone meshing in IMVU will certainly be ahead of the pack if they brought their 3D skills to SL, but you’ll need to price meshes accordingly, with a higher flat fee.  There’s also a concern of copying since I could easily hand a copy to another designer.  Most designers won’t even thinK of that, because we hate copying, but there are always a few bad apples.

With my experience in IMVU and the skin tight meshes, the SL meshes look bulky, but that will probably improve over time as meshers push the limits.  I’m sure meshes will significantly change the look and feel of SL, which is a welcome addition to a world that certainly shows it’s age in many ways.

Some of them I’ve actively involved in… others I will check into and report on them here. There are certainly a good number of opportunities out there with different flavors to suit your taste.

Here’s the List…

• Second Life
• IMVU
• Frenzoo
• Avination
• InWorldz
• OSGrid
• Blue Mars

I’ve also added this list to the left hand sidebar.  Second Life and IMVU are the largest and most robust, while the others are worth checking into.  There are many other online worlds that are just too small to consider listing here.  However, if anyone knows a virtual world that should be on the list, please let me know in the comments below.

Cheers!

Of interest this month, is the opening of PhotoDune by Envato, as another sister marketplace to their stack of online digital images.  In fact, if you aren’t good at photos, you might want to take a look at their collections of 3D Art, Web Themes, Photoshop images, etc. and submit some files.

Envato has a large user base, a well run website, and pays a decent amount to digital authors who sell their files.  In fact, just a few months ago, envato announced its first member to reach sales of $7,000 in one month.  It’s worth a try.  Who knows, you might just make a few bucks from those files just sitting on your hard drive.