Common|Sensible

Thanks for all the fish!

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to a lot of blogs and news sites, most of which are Second Life-related and one thing I've noted over the last couple years is how people will start a blog and then kind of fade away posting less and less often, allowing that blog to sooner or later fizzle-out. It was started in excitement, for the fun of it and eventually the fun turns into a chore and it eventually withers. I started this and several other blogs for the same purposes and yes, it has definitely at times turned...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip: Reprise

2009-12-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

There are many who fear the Second Life (SL) economy is booming, growing, steady, slowing down or in the tank depending on who you speak to. For those who feel it is in some kind of steady to slowing decline, I beseech you to please stop for a moment and think "outside" the box. Retail rules in SL are vastly different from First Life (FL). For example, in FL as far as foot traffic is concerned, you want as much of it as possible. But this is not really the case in SL. Traffic just does...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 15 of 15: Genuine Customer Care

2009-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

There are too many creators who are paranoid about being "ripped-off" in SL. However, your customer care is far more important. Remove all incentives to steal your product! It is a proven fact that if you give your customer what they truly want at a fair price, except for a very few - they will purchase your product because it's the right thing to (and less hassle and risk.) There is practically no reason (very, very rare cases at least) to sell your stuff as no-copy. It is selfish on your...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 14 of 15: Showroom Optimization

2009-12-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Just like "hammock pricing", your point-of-sale (POS) optimization is integral to making it easy as possible for anyone to give you their money. A quick recap: on XStreet SL (XSL) you'll want to provide as much information as possible: highly detailed description - leave nothing out - and include the full instructional (how to use it) notecards. If it involves animations or effects - post YouTube movies and link to them - even if you must hire someone to make the machinima for...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 13 of 15: Hammock Pricing

2009-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

No matter if you create prim attachments properly or anything else, product pricing is Second Life is ridiculously inconsistent. You cannot judge quality based on price and many products are either under or over-priced. The example image here shows the wild variation between two products of the same type from different creators. This makes shopping for anything is SL hugely difficult and often frustrating. What if there is a better product for less money out there? How do I know I'm getting a...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 12 of 15: Prim Sizing Ability Matters

2009-12-10T06:32:00.001-08:00

Okay, this one's for all you avatar attachment-makers out there. Besides avoiding product art clutter, you also really need to pay attention to how your prim attachments fit your customers. Among the most frustrating thing I run across in an attachment is no-modify and worse, modifiable but still cannot be made to fit. Business tip to maximize sales: if it's "worn" it should be "modify=yes" and "copy=yes". The massive mistake many attachment-creators make is that they design and build...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 11 of 15: Avoid Product Art Clutter

2009-12-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

There are three kinds of product art in Second Life: good ones, not good ones, and liars. The good one clearly make the product of concern the main focus. The liars will touch-up their art through post-processing to make the product appear better than it really is. The "not-good" ones tend to be rather cluttered and become counter-productive. The same is true for your advertisement posters and marketing materials, especially when you have them placed all over the grid. I have run across...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

"Who Are The Hottest Male Avatars" (Are You Effing Kidding?)

2009-12-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know that Hamlet Au is blogging for a living, which explains the sometimes ridiculous subjects he covers (the goal of course to get readers and comments so the adverts will put food on his table.) But sometimes I simply can't help slapping my forehead in ridiculous imbecile laughter. Not at Hamlet... but rather at the people who actually comment on some of these articles - and I do mean the comment itself - not the person in general. It is the comments section of these posts where all the...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 10 of 15: Ten Locations For The Cost Of One

2009-12-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

Ever right-click to edit so you can see who created something, found yourself intrigued enough to search for them on XStreet SL and... they aren't there? So you view their profile, hit the "Picks" tab to see where their main shop is. Only to find they have three, or five, or (I have actually seen) nine different places to buy their stuff? Yikes! It's too easy for me to just teleport to your place. Please don't force me to pick between shop numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Just show me the one...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 09 of 15: Network Selling

2009-12-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before, I really would rather not endorse any particular creator or product in these tips. However, in this case I am endorsing a particular technology. It just so happens this technology as implemented is available through a particular creator and product: the Apez iVend vending system. Yes, I've heard horror stories before, please indulge me on this one. What makes the Apez Vendor system different is in the way it is packaged: the networked vendor server is free to use...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Linden Lab's Memorial Park: Visually

2009-11-27T06:32:00.001-08:00

Hades' Strumpet, Captain's Log: November the 26th, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu 1709 2009 - Ari Blackthorne, Master and commanding. It is early morn in a small port at the northern coast in the vicinity of Hyralios. The Strumpet carries no Supercargo this day, but ballast being the usual textiles of silk, wool, together linens, tobacco, sugars and coffee and precious fruits - the cause of our haste in transport. The morning sun barely rises as we make ready for sail, morning mists and fog...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 08 of 15: Reverse Panhandling

2009-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

Remember when you first came into SL what Gods and Goddess celebrities creators were to you? "ZOMG That creator spoke to me!!11ONE!" Remember how special that was? Believe it or not, if you create quality stuff, you are that celebrity to others. Use this to your advantage. Among the huge mistakes many creators make is to set out boxes of freebies and giving away t-shirts with your company name on it or other junk. It's condescending and serves no purpose, not to mention, it gives a bad...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Be Thankful? Don't Laugh, I'm Serious.

2009-11-25T07:45:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is the traditional day of "thanks" in the United States, and possibly other countries. Per the "wikipedia": Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday. Supposedly the first "thanks giving" celebration occurred in 1621 at the site...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

It's Official: Rezzable Is A Bottom-feeder

2009-11-24T13:26:00.001-08:00

Sure, big to-do when Rezzable announced they were leaving the Second Life grid for their own private corner of paradise. Hip-hoorah and big whoop. I posted my thoughts on the subject and also posted to the Rezzable blog about it my thought's on the subject. In those comments are wondered if it were a good "riddance" or not. Certainly the loss of such art is not a good riddance (and Bryn Oh is headed over there as well - I don't know if she plans to keep one foot in Agni or not - but if not -...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 07 of 15: Vendor Paradigms

2009-11-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Second Life markets are riddled with scripted vendor machines. A scripted vendor's purpose is to present many products in as few prims as possible. However they can be painfully slow to rez the product art - especially if product art is not optimized. By this I mean each time a shopper presses the "next" or "previous" button, they must wait for the new texture to rez. It is better to use one-prim sales boxes than to use a scripted display vendor if you can. Not to mention, you'll be saving...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip - BONUS: XSL Multiple Items In One Listing

2009-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Linden Lab have released a roadmap for changes to the way XStreet SL (XSL) will work and these include things such as: minimum L$3 commission per sale and L$10 per listing per month. But do not fret! These are good things because they will benefit you, the XSL merchant in the long run by helping to increase your visibility. This is a bit of an unusual tip because I am endorsing a specific product by a specific creator. There may be similar products with similar functions and certainly other...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

XStreet SL: Pay-to-Stay = Good Thing

2009-11-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Linden Lab has given a head's up that they recognize how screwed-up XStreet SL really is. How it's 'gamed' and a complete mess, with some merchants taking advantage of unsuspecting shoppers (such as selling stolen content or bundling freebies and calling it a "business in a box" and so on,) and how it is full of absolute junk. So the roadmap mentions that all listings will incur a L$10 per month charge each. Good. "Freebie" items will end-up in their own category. Good. L$0-based items will...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 06 of 15: Permissions Paradigms

2009-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

As of this writing, there are three permissions you may grant or deny the next owner of your creations: Modify, Copy, and Sell (Transfer). Use these permissions to control your sales - and at the same time, provide the most flexibility and satisfaction for your customer. To control sales through permissions, follow this simple rule: If it is worn, it should always be copyable and modifiable. If it is rezzed on the ground it should always be transferable, unless it is modifiable. If it is...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Are You The Emperor With New Clothes?

2009-11-18T09:33:00.000-08:00

IMs get capped a lot? Do off-line item deliveries fail? Peter Stindberg wrote a damned good detailed blog post on this subject (and in response to that, so did Ciaran Laval at his blog) - but one thing with regard to all of this that they both hadn't thought of to mention is the hiding of your on-line status. (Links to their respective pieces at end of this post.) As you know by now, I tend to be verbose, so please indulge me. The preference to 'hide' your on-line status actually might be...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

LindeX Changing Hands?

2009-11-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

"Online casino and poker group 888's business-to-business arm, Dragonfish, has signed a deal with virtual world technology specialist Linden Lab. Dragonfish will provide e-payments, fraud and customer support management services via its cutting edge back office functionality and advanced cashier interface. Dragonfish's e-payment solutions combine payment optimisation technology and fraud management including anti-money laundering with 24/7 multi-lingual customer operations that assist...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 05 of 15: Hit the 'Street'

2009-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you sell anything at all, it is imperative you do not under-estimate the power of the tool that is XStreet SL (XSL). You absolutely must list your products there, no matter if you make sales from there or not. Reason: many SL residents such as myself will use XSL for it's searching and shopping functions, then go in-world for the actual purchase. Along with your sales pitch for your product, include the entire instructions (if the product comes with any) as well. I was shopping for a...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

If Pink Asks, Answer

2009-11-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

For those in the know, I am posting 15 Second Life Selling Tips here at Common Sensible, the first beginning here. They are posted every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 a.m. Pacific (Second Life time). Since this is about the old "road to a merry merchant Christmas" (the 15th selling tip will be published December 22 - just before the 'big day', I wanted to point out to you that Pink Linden is sending out an email to SL Residents. Another good reason (if you take your SL business seriously) to...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 04 of 15: Informational Notecards

2009-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Always offer a highly-detailed informational notecard for every product you sell. Always. Even if you think you have nothing to say. Even if it will be the same notecard for every single product you sell (in which case, specify this so your customer isn't polluting their inventory with redundant notecards.) The reason is to make it easy as possible for anyone to give you their money and often what prevents a purchase is a simple, lingering question. The notecard will (must) answer that...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life Selling Tip 03 of 15: Creating Good Product Art

2009-11-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of the frustrating things shoppers face is having to decipher product specifications and details when they shop. To help make it easy as possible for buyers to give you their money, ensure your "product art" is visually as well as "rezzably" optimized to help sell the product for you. As already mentioned, your product must be the focus of the image; a clean, neutral background works best. But also, when taking snapshots of your product, learn to use the zoom feature (CTRL-0 and...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net

Second Life More Social Than Facebook

2009-11-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Tried a little experiment at FaceBook. Fail. I had a faceBoook account under my real name for a few years, but never paid much attention to it. It just struck me as a "cleaner" version of that train-wreck called "MySpace". Over those couple of years I've received a few "friend" requests, of those 90% were people I know or knew way back when. But once "friended" that was about the extent of it. There are a lot of "violations" to the Second Life Terms of Service (TOS) that we all agree to...

Full story at CommonSensbile.net