Marketing is half the equation.

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Blaze in How To, Marketing

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!