This isn't allowed? Advertising

[Codex Alpha]

I was more trying to clarify exactly what spam is, and what the major intent is used in the TOS.

LIke you said, its not up to anyone here then to worry how LL will interpret their own TOS.

I just know the difference between what is truly spam, what is truly offensive, and what is truly trolling/griefing in SL, and perhaps people have overreacted to the OPs actions.

I've seen truly bad behaviour in SL that goes unpunished from sandboxes to infohubs, so a little bit of patience and judgement from all parties, and a bit more freedom from draconian views and regulation would do SL a lot of good.

[Dillon Levenque]

A. I did not 'get that' from anywhere. I didn't get anything, actually. Read what I wrote. I was responding (quite clearly, to anyone who takes the trouble to read) to a post that suggested you might have intentionally placed your OP to sneak past the rules.

B. Please note (again, this will require that you read carefully) that my post began with, "LOL. You could be right.". That phrase means that while the post to which I was responding MIGHT have accurately described the situation, it also might be off the mark. I personally thought it was unlikely. It would take a pretty smart person to come up with that idea.

C. I didn't come from anywhere. I've been here the whole time. It's a forum, lots of people read what gets posted here. I have even commented in this thread (not to you, because I thought your questions had been answered accurately) back on Page 3.

[CheriColette]

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Phil Deakins wrote:

This thread has too many new pagefuls of posts for me to read all the way through........

 

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Well I have read all the posts and they are interesting. Yes took a while Phil, so I know where you were coming from.

Good discussion I thought. I cant offer any help about the rules of spam or not spam.... still learning things here.

And I havent been approached by someone advertising but if I was once it might be ok but I can see if it became a practice with many, it would spoil my sl time...which already is so precious. I make it a rule to answer anyone who comes to chat so you wouldnt be ignored....just after that offer I might (probably would). 

[Canoro Philipp]

it doesnt seem to me that the OP was trying to advertise her store by asking a question.

some of the regular posters in these forums are merchants, does that mean that they comment here and make threads to advertise? even if they never mention their store in the comments and threads they make?

if someone looks at their profile, and happen to find out that that person has a store, that was not the intention of the OP, she also never asked anyone to look in her profile.

i consider spam the action of sending advertising multiple times to 1 single person. even if that person has requested to not recieve any more advertising from that source.

@pussycat, the comparison of sex and powerpoint, and the church and car selling, sounds strange because those are two different topics, but the OP sample of the product and pointing out where to get it are closely related, not so separated like church and cars. is the same topic.

it must not be universal to feel rejection when someone approaches you with one topic that leads to another, it must be cultural or personal. i dont find it rejectable and im human.

[Czari Zenovka]

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Madelaine McMasters wrote:

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Antumbra wrote:

Instead of telling me you don't like what I do and calling me annoying and stuff how about just telling me what I SHOULD do. Again please excuse me for the way I have been advertising. I just don't really know much about how to advertise in secondlife.

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Ask around in the merchant forums, or read the various SL marketing guides (I found a few by googling "second life marketing". I'm sure there are more affordable ways to get your message in front of people who are looking for the kinds of things you sell, either by populating your product descriptions with the proper keywords, renting ad space at popular destinations, participating in merchant fairs, etc.

Your display name is difficult to read and virtually unsearchable. Consider dropping the unicode and using your account name as your display name, or adopting the name of your store.

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In answer to the OP in the post quoted above and tagging onto Maddy's post - I have a few practical suggestions for the OP if she is still reading:

*From what I can tell, you have a Marketplace-only store.  Nothing at all wrong with that (although some of my fellow merchants may disagree *grins*); I used to have an in-world store for 5+ years but for the last year decided to discontinue it for various reasons.  The point being I can relate to the OP with a MP store.   Selling strictly from a MP store *can* have a few disadvantages where marketing is concerned, ie. cannot participate in events such as hunts, etc

EDIT - Alrighty then...apparently the OP does have an inworld store, and a nice-looking one at that.  When I first looked at the profile, all it had was the MP URL.  I just thought to double-check the MP store and saw a store listed so I went in world to check it out and.....

 

That makes using every avenue you can to market very valuable and the first place to start is - your profile.  Unless it has been updated in the last 24 hours, when I checked your profile it only had your store's MP url link in the SL profile and the rest of your profile was blank - except for the RL photo.  I had no idea what type of item/s you sold.

The profile has been updated since I first posted this...well done!

Especially since, based on your OP, you get out and about a lot and talk to people, your profile is a major marketing avenue.  Many, many people enjoy reading profiles, in fact there are a number of "I Read Profiles-Type" of groups.  I do it myself when I find myself in a venue with a lot of people.  So, here is the free opportunity to promote your shop, your items, etc.  You can use the Picks section very creatively; perhaps put your newest designs in there or designs you have marked down.  Tell about how you chose to become a creator in SL, tell a bit about you, the person behind the designs.  ANYTHING but a blank profile.  Some long-time SL residents will pass over a person with a blank profile (to chat with, ask to dance, etc.), so *especially* if you have a product to sell, consider your profile your "calling card."

*As Maddy mentioned, Googling "SL Marketing" or related terms will bring up a wealth of info.  On the Merchant Home page on your MP, on the left hand side at the bottom there is a "Help Resources" link.  Underneath is a "Merchant Help Wiki" link that takes you to a page called Selling in the Marketplace.  On that page is a How to market your products link.

Additionally, there are entire SL blogs written on the topic.  Most of the ones I found over the years (some are now gone, new ones arise) I discovered from reading the forums and noting the blogs listed within signatures, etc.  Sometimes I heard of a SL blogger on a subject of interest (in this case SL marketing) from reading comments of other residents *about* a blogger such as "Oh, <so-and-so> just blogged about that."  Instead of running from the forums after one experience, I highly recommend reading the forums, even if you don't post, and even just skimming them weekly, to stay current with what's happening in SL, much of which will affect merchants.  Although only a tiny percentage of SL residents read the forums and a lot less likely post, those who do post have a LOT of combined knowledge to share.

*I agree with Maddy, right or wrong unicodes in names annoy some people.  I know, I know...but the fact is they do so again, especially if you want your name to be remembered/connected with your business, I would advise dropping those as well.

I wish you success with your business!

edit: spelling, clarification

Updated edit - To reflect an error on my part and updates since my last post.

 

[PaperB]

I Think you are right, there is a lot of cultural issues involved in wether or not one may find anoying or bad this kind of advertising. However, it has been studied that this kind of marketing is not proved to be successfull. Latests trends of marketing show that consumers react better when they dont feel they are beeing sold something.

Specially with stuff like sl products; these kind of products arent a first need thing. You dont need any of the stuff sold here you can be in sl for years without buying anything. So if you do buy you do it out of desire. Somehow, I dont relate desire with someone telling me out of the blue were i can buy what they are wearing. This might have to do with my culture and my studies.

Also, I did said this tread was some sort of advertising for the OP, because it is, not direct but it is because at least one people checked the OP store by now, but I did not said this was intentional, i dont think she did this thread to get some sort of advertising. This shows that there are marketing ways that dont involve spam at all and might prove to be more usefull.

[Pamela Galli]

If you read The Tipping Point, you will see that in this Information Age, word of mouth still rules. (There is more to it than that, but that is the bottom line.)  In SL, also it's about people seeing and clicking on things. All the other marketing stuff you can do, probably increases sales some, but I dont think by a lot (not just speculation, I do have some basis for that belief.)

[Qie Niangao]

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PaperB wrote:

I Think you are right, there is a lot of cultural issues involved in wether or not one may find anoying or bad this kind of advertising. However, it has been studied that this kind of marketing is not proved to be successfull. Latests trends of marketing show that consumers react better when they dont feel they are beeing sold something. [...]

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You know, now that you put it that way, it could be as much generational as cultural: today's prime consumer demographic has much less tolerance for blatant ad pitches than, say, our grandparents. I mean, consider vintage advertising using such ham-handed tactics as direct celebrity endorsements, compared with current trends of almost subliminal product placement, the more subtle the better, to sneak any commercial message past our now ever-vigilant and hair-trigger BS detectors.

[PaperB]

Yes, I totally agree. And this go beyond marketing alone. When you go to a store, younger generations prefer not to be follow by a sales person, unlike older people. Its an interesting thing to see what the process of buying is and how it differs from age to age, culture to culture. Here in sl i guess its more about people seeing what they like and search for it like one of last posts said, im inclined to think that best marketing here is wear your stuff and keep profile updated. Maybe a facebook, blog etc.

[Perrie Juran]

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Qie Niangao wrote:

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PaperB wrote:

I Think you are right, there is a lot of cultural issues involved in wether or not one may find anoying or bad this kind of advertising. However, it has been studied that this kind of marketing is not proved to be successfull. Latests trends of marketing show that consumers react better when they dont feel they are beeing sold something. [...]

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You know, now that you put it that way, it could be as much

generational

as cultural: today's prime consumer demographic has much less tolerance for blatant ad pitches than, say, our grandparents. I mean, consider vintage advertising using such ham-handed tactics as direct celebrity endorsements, compared with current trends of almost subliminal product placement, the more subtle the better, to sneak any commercial message past our now ever-vigilant and hair-trigger BS detectors.

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We do wonder about that mysterious 25th Frame.