Best ways to advertise new business?

[LiiLiiAmore]

Hello forum people :)

My partner and I have a brand new shop that is going to be selling clothing in the marketplace and if we make some lindens will then extend into an in-world shop. My question, though, is how do you feel is the best way to gain advertising for a brand new shop as such without spending a lot of lindens? I have read the knowledge base suggestions like create a blog, invite people to your group etc however as being a new store we don't exactly have a user base to be advertising such group and blog to in the first place. We have bought an enhancement to show a couple items on the apparel landing page but as of yet nothings come from it (Not to say we expect a sale right off the bat or even for people to enjoy our style or quality) but we are interested in a more direct way of advertising that will guarantee someone to see it without getting stuck paying 1000 lindens of rent for a poster or storefront in someone's mall that isn't frequented by visitors. We do have experience in selling avatar clothing with another website but are used to the advertising system of posting bulletins and freely advertising in the forum (which I have come to understand is a no-no for clothing designers?) so I greatly appreciate anyone's advice on effective advertising on/in SL for a new clothing store without going broke. Thanks!

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Direct advertising, such as sending information on a notecard , IM message etc. so that you are sure people see it,  is considered spam unless the receiver has signed up to receive it.  Spamming is against the TOS and most people don't like it.  Best case is that you annoy people, which isn't good because if annoyed enough, they won't shop there just because you did spam them.  Worst case is that you are AR'd and have your account suspended or banned.

Since you don't have an inworld store you can't participate in hunts, which is a popular and low cost way of getting people to your shop. 

Blogs work to a degree as people will search google for them. Be sure to optimize your blog so that it will show up if someone googles SL Fashion or other terms likely to be used.  Also you are allowed to put a link in your signature line to your MP store, your blog, and eventually your inworld store here in the forum and some other forums for SL residents and links in your MP listings.  Also be sure it is in your picks and try to get friends to put it in theirs.

Another possibility is to participate in some fashion showcases.  These are special shops where a variety of designers offer an item at a greatly reduced price or an item designed for a specific theme or both They can attract a lot of people and would give you exposure. I do custom work only and don't sell clothes retail, so I am not sure if you have to have an inworld store or if there is a fee to participate but it is worth looking into.  However there are people that post in the forum who do and perhaps some can give you more information on this as well as other tips.

 

[Nefertiti Nefarious]

There is such a large herd of clothing merchants that it's tough to get seen, and spending lindens on enhancements doesn't work well.

Look for a niche where there is little competition.  What items have you been looking for that you couldn't find?

Freebies work - but they have to be good quality. I try freebies, and if I like the quality, go back and buy more.

Open your account here with 20-50 products so it lookls like you are serious about it.

 

And take good pictures: uncluttered backgounds, well-lit, and show multiple views of the product. (back views, especially)

[Pamela Galli]

The most frequent suggestion is to give things away free. Everyone gets this advice. Most take it. Lots and lots of people are giving away good quality merchandise free.  

[Czari Zenovka]

Hi LiiliiAmore...for what it's worth, I've posted the URL to an extremely extensive thread about starting a new business in SL here.  As you can see, this is an old thread within archived forums and is VERY long, but you might want to scan it for any pointers that could be helpful to you.  This primarily applies to in world stores, but some of the suggestions include how to best present your product in the ad copy (that has been mentioned here) and similar comments that would translate to the MP as well.

I would suggest joining the WomenSTUFF group in world.  It is a part of a group that includes MenSTUFF and HomeSTUFF.  The group is huge and is how many of my new customers found me - via one of their hunts.  Again, this is not applicable without an in world location, but there is an area associated with the group where merchants can sell exclusive items (can only be sold within that group) which would help get your name and MP location out there.

Good luck to you.

[Deja Letov]

I know a lot of stores have moved to MP only stores, but I just don't know how well someone starting at with no physical in world presence will do...in terms of marketing. I think you will definitely get some sales on the MP even if you have no in world store, but I can tell you from my own shopping experience and how things are marketed to me, if I join a group for a store, they have an inworld store, in fact I can't remember even ever seeing a group to join who didn't have an inworld store. Getting some sort of group or list subscriber system, I believe, is crucial to keeping your business going. You need to keep marketing to people who have bought your stuff in the past because it's 10 times easier to sell to a current customer than it is finding a new customer. I'm just not sure how you would obtain those without at least some sort of inworld presence. my advice, take it or leave, get even just a simply basic account with your included 512 land and make a small presence of something. This would get people to maybe land at your place and hit that subscribe sign to join your group, you could even participate in hunts. You don't even have to sell anything, just put up a giant poster with a "touch here to view our marketplace listings" or something. I think this would give you a bit of an edge if you are actually trying to market and not just reply on random sales on the MP when you happen to have gotten lucky with the MP search...which is pretty jacked up anyway.

[Theresa Tennyson]

You could try taking good, interesting pictures of your outfits and posting them to your profile feed and mention that the clothes came from your store. If you, your partner and your friends "love" the posts they'll appear in "trending." However, you should try and make them pictures that people would like to see regardless rather than strictly hard-selling or it may backfire. Another advantage to posting things on your profile feed is the pictures stay around as a catalog.

You should mention in the main parts of your profiles that you have a store and link to it, and then generally try to be friendly, interesting people in-world. If people like you as individuals they may be more inclined to at least check out your store, and then you need to rely on the quality of your clothes from there on.

[LiiLiiAmore]

I greatly appreciate everyone that has replied. Both my partner and I have the store link in our profile and state that we are the owners so that if anyone has comments/suggestions/random babble they will know who to contact. Also, late last night we talked it out and because SL is so in-world based we ended up finding a really good piece of land at a cheaper-than-most-land-owners-rent price and currently have a store building up that we just need to get some actual product displayed in. Thanks again for everyone's input and we shall see where this takes us now that we have opened more options for ourselves.

[mtwtfss71]

Best of luck to you both! And just try to be patient. It takes a while to build up a customer base but it's also a lot of fun to do it. I started my brand a little over a year ago and it took a good 6 months of blogging, joining hunts and events, marketing in magazines, etc. before really starting to see regular sales. Now business is steady and growing. One word of advise... for the first few months, use your sales revenue to invest back into your business in terms of marketing. And good customer service also goes a LONG way.

[Jen Tafler]

In addition to the above, might I suggest going through the blogs that models and bloggers have up, picking a few and then sending them clothes to style and then post?  Also, opening a flickr account and getting some nice photos up and entering them into appropriate groups will also get the word out. Oh and joining groups such as BOSL, Menstuff, Womenstuff, and Fashion Consolidated.

[Princess Verwood]

Also don't forget to search the forums for this very question and similar. There are tons of posts and really helpful answers already posted! Congrats on your new store!