This is the last article in a series of articles by Caledonia Skytower about promoting and marketing your events in Second Life.
The whole series is well worth reading, and you can find links to all the previous articles at the bottom of this one:
by Caledonia Skytower Part 6. Tying it all together (Final) This series has covered a lot of territory this year, and I am changing the ending of it somewhat, as it feels like we are reaching a po…
This is the third article in a series by Caledonia Skytower on promoting events in SL.
As I was reading through the article, I was struck by a particular sentence:
“Most contemporary writers and bloggers are just trying to sift through all the dreck that pretends to be news trying to figure out what is really worth the time and coverage.”
With the advent of the internet and the information overload that has ensued, people are often overwhelmed and overtaxed.
Make their jobs easier and reap the rewards. 🙂
This is the second article in a series by Caledonia Skytower for Inara Pey’s blog.
As many of us know, promoting and marketing your events, whether RL or SL, can be a huge challenge.
Caledonia is sharing her years of experience with us, and it’s definitely worth a read. 🙂
This post covers the basics of marketing materials – what you should include, what you shouldn’t, and how you should always be open to change.
I can’t wait for the next article!
I am really looking forward to this series of articles.
I struggle in RL and SL with marketing – I think because I am uncomfortable with self-promotion.
Sometimes it all feels a bit like shooting in the dark and hoping you hit a target. 😛
If you are responsible for promoting/marketing something in SL, what are your go-to methods?
This is an interesting post from Daria over at Mesh Body Addicts.
Some of the pics are NSFW, so be careful before you click over to the full post.
I have to say, as someone who has frequented many of these shopping events, I’ve become much more selective about where I shop.
I do sometimes get early access to events through my blogging group, which is fabulous, because the lag is generally pretty low.
My computer is fairly high-end, however, so I don’t experience many of the issues mentioned here.
I do agree with the issue of people who seem to get into an event and then just ‘park’ there. I’ve also often wondered why most events are ‘full’ at 35-40 avatars, when I’ve been to many shows where there are double that amount of people.
When I shop, I do try to be a polite shopper – I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, I don’t wear a lot of attachments (soo many people walking around with pets attached – very annoying), and I often don’t even wear my mesh body.
I confess, I don’t demo a lot of things. I can’t think of something I’ve bought that I couldn’t make work. I know there have probably been a couple of things, but it’s few and far between for me.
I look at the event catalogues (or on Seraphim) to see what I might want before I go to the event, so I can get in, buy, and leave.
If there’s nothing I really want, then I’ve saved myself a trip, a lot of hassle, and probably a lot of L$. 😛
I haven’t event tried to get into Collabor88 yet, and I’m still seeing notices all over that people can’t get in.
I’d much rather shop an event like Mix, where you get a HUD with LM’s to all the stores and you’re not fighting every fashionista in SL to get in. 
The post is an interesting read – make sure you read through the comments as well. 🙂
This looks like an amazing and fun event!
Tons of fabulous artists and photographers from SL, lots of terrific merchants, and some great activities.
I’ve never seen a gingerbread house building contest before – it sounds fun!
Source: Windlight Winter Art Show & Winter Showcase | Team Diabetes of Second Life
I had a case of the blahs move in last week, and I’m having trouble shoving them out the door.
Things are busy, which usually keeps them at bay, but not this time.
I went to one of my favorite events yesterday, the theme was something I’m totally interested in, and I couldn’t find one. single. thing. to buy.
I even looked around twice, thinking I must have missed something, because surely there would be just one thing that I could use.
Nope.
There are so many events in SL, it’s impossible to keep up.
I don’t know how the designers do it.
Right now I’m sitting here looking at my rather large pile of ‘open these!’ boxes.
I guess I should open them.
Maybe I’ll find something cool I forgot I had.
I feel a photoshoot coming on. 😀
I’ve been reading with interest a new series of blog posts from Auryn Beorn regarding resources for new merchants.
She’s only written a couple of posts so far, but I’m finding it fascinating reading.
After reading her latest article, I was scanning through recent blog posts in my reader.
I saw yet another notice of a store moving to Marketplace only.
It got me to wondering – is Marketplace replacing mainstores in SL?
I know that cost is almost certainly a factor, given the price of land/rentals.
It also seems that events (where there are lots of different merchants in one location) are much more popular than mainstore shopping.
There have been a few events that have attempted to get shoppers back in stores (The Mix, currently running its July round, is one of them).
However, the general consensus from what I’ve read in various places (forums, social media networks, etc.) seems to be that events work and mainstores are just a money drain.
I am a little surprised by this, but clearly I am in the minority.
Given that the most popular complaint about SL besides land cost is lag, I don’t understand why shopping at a large event where the lag is generally horrible is preferable to shopping at a mainstore.
Some of the more popular events (like Uber, Collabor88, FaMESHed, etc.) are so jam-packed that it’s often several days before I can even get in.
When I first heard about Mix, I thought it was a great idea.
I loved the thought of not having to fight horrible crowds and laggy conditions just to do a bit of shopping (especially considering that sometimes I don’t even make a purchase at the event).
Plus, I had the ability to look around the store and see other items the creator had for sale.
If I like one item, I’ll probably like two or three.
I use Marketplace quite a bit, but generally only when I am looking for something specific – like a certain costume for a routine, or a certain accessory, etc.
Which isn’t always that easy (or successful), given the horrible search functions on Marketplace.
So, I thought I’d do a quick survey and see if I’m (as usual) standing over in left field by myself. 🙂
Where do you prefer to shop and why?
Please share the poll – the more responses the better!
Due to that pesky RL, I missed being in-world for about 3 days.
Wow, does time fly in virtual reality!
I missed the opening of the SL12B celebrations and 21 Shoe. 😦
I also missed ‘No Panties Day,’ which was yesterday, according to my calendar.
I missed 50L Friday and a 60L Weekend, darn it.
I can usually find some pretty great steals during those.
I’m still trying to find time to put together some LOTD posts with all of the goodies I collected from various events.
Genre opened their new round – the theme is Military and I picked up some nice items, including a set of cool poses I can’t wait to try out.
I stopped by The Instruments yesterday, but since the theme is Game of Thrones and I don’t watch, I ended up not purchasing anything.
I tried to go to SummerFest, because I want to pick up some of the cute summery items, but it was very crowded, so I’ll have to try again when I’m not trying to multi-task. 🙂
Due to my recent windfall, I stopped by Lelutka and bought one of their mesh heads.
I can’t wait to try it out when I have time to take some photos.
And I just realized I haven’t made it to Collabor88 yet either.
Yikes!
I’ve got some serious shopping to do.
The LOGO Alex head is still on my want list; I’m hoping to pick that up this week as well.
So I may look a little different in the coming LOTD posts. 😀
I’ve got so much stuff and it’s driving me crazy – I need to spend some time organizing everything!
And since I will be blogging this next round of A Tattered Page, I have to re-read the novel.
I’d better get busy.
Enjoy your Tuesday, folks!
I’ve been thinking about making changes to my blog for some time now.
I think I’ve finally decided on a new theme.
It may seem silly, but I spent a lot of time looking at themes and finding one that I think will work.
Now I have to spend the time to change over to the theme, redo all my widgets, make sure all my links are working, etc. etc. 😀
So the look of the blog may be in flux for a few days while I get all that accomplished.
I’ve also been slowly working my way through my inventory and paring it down.
The ‘Costumes’ folder is killing me, as I knew it would.
Some things are easy to delete, others aren’t.
However, I’ve made a HUGE dent in my clothing folders, so yay!!
I have a few more mesh outfits to go through, but everything else is sorted and ready for new stuff.
Which is good, since there are always a ton of events going on. 😛
Yesterday I visited FaMESHed, The Instruments, and Oneword – so I’ll have some cool pieces to include in upcoming LOTD posts.
I finally buckled down and applied to some feeds and was accepted, so I can also now happily claim to be a syndicated blog. 😀
Now that I’ve gotten a handle on where I’m going with blogging, I can get back to dancing!
I’ve collected a bunch of new props and such, and I’m itching to try them out.
I also need to finally unpack my new Stage Manager and learn how it works.
Enjoy your Tuesday while I’m slaving away sorting costumes. 😛
A Kat and A Mouse 