Managing Possible Down-Time during Peak Season

[Dartagan Shepherd]

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Mickey Vandeverre wrote:

oh, and in reverse....have met some people on twitter who sell real life product quite well - variety of things, mostly in home design or art or interior design services and they are fascinated by the creativity that comes from SL and by the marketplace too - all those different products offered.  I would imagine that if you had never set foot into a virtual world, browsing through the marketplace to see each niche that someone carved (some quite interesting!) would be intriguing to say the least.

A good while back, I had several come inworld to talk about it, and showed them the store....and they really wanted to get involved.  But some issues came up that did not present well in public, and I can't exactly smooth those over right now and encourage someone to give it a shot.  Which is a huge bummer.  That's why I get a little anxious about this tool functioning thing. 

Waiting.

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I'm woefully weak on blogging, Twitter and have slacked on social networking such as Facebook and LinkedIn, although we manage Facebook and LinkedIn and paid Google advertising for the day jobs. Might look you up on Twitter for some tips for that and blogging sometime if you don't mind a brain-picking session.

Interestingly, a few years back I'd still been selling some woodworked products (lets just say fantasy garden products), as woodworking had been a hobby-turned-business. I still maintain that a couple products that really took off that would do very well by upselling the RL version of the SL product ... meaning to create in SL the products I was producing in RL. They were inexpensive enough to pull that off.

But of course, there's the whole privacy and identity thing, and the way it tends to go, I wouldn't risk marring my RL business ventures with some person in SL that decided it'd be fun to trash my RL business. Had hoped to see a lot of that when I first came to SL ... the merging of RL and SL goods, but that hasn't happened in any big way that I know of. In fact, I don't know of an instance of that now here in SL.

I think the inhibitor is for the same reasons of privacy, but you would think any hand-made products would be a perfect fit for virtual/RL crossovers. Ah well.

But that would fit in with your advice about mitigating risk.

 

 

[Zanara Zenovka]

ROFL

It's a public forum. You don't get to complain that someone interrupted a private discussion when they add a post. Schoolyard argument strategies of "no one asked you!" don't work here, no matter how often you try to use them. If you don't want your swathes of unsubstantiated rhetoric challenged by the introduction of facts or logic, take it to IM.

My post about the relevance of profit margins was utterly impersonal - pure accounting basics. If you choose to take it personally and respond childishly, ("WOW  Amazing how that math works.  Not sure how that matters for this topic but that is cool huh." etc)., you should not be surprised to receive a critique of this immature response to any facts that don't suit your argument.

Again, it's a public forum. You can't just make up whatever you want and expect not to be challenged on it. Or complain to other forum contributers and call "not fair!" when these things are pointed out.

[Mickey Vandeverre]

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Dartagan Shepherd wrote:

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Mickey Vandeverre wrote:

oh, and in reverse....have met some people on twitter who sell real life product quite well - variety of things, mostly in home design or art or interior design services and they are fascinated by the creativity that comes from SL and by the marketplace too - all those different products offered.  I would imagine that if you had never set foot into a virtual world, browsing through the marketplace to see each niche that someone carved (some quite interesting!) would be intriguing to say the least.

A good while back, I had several come inworld to talk about it, and showed them the store....and they really wanted to get involved.  But some issues came up that did not present well in public, and I can't exactly smooth those over right now and encourage someone to give it a shot.  Which is a huge bummer.  That's why I get a little anxious about this tool functioning thing. 

Waiting.

---

I'm woefully weak on blogging, Twitter and have slacked on social networking such as Facebook and LinkedIn, although we manage Facebook and LinkedIn and paid Google advertising for the day jobs. Might look you up on Twitter for some tips for that and blogging sometime if you don't mind a brain-picking session.

Interestingly, a few years back I'd still been selling some woodworked products (lets just say fantasy garden products), as woodworking had been a hobby-turned-business. I still maintain that a couple products that really took off that would do very well by upselling the RL version of the SL product ... meaning to create in SL the products I was producing in RL. They were inexpensive enough to pull that off.

But of course, there's the whole privacy and identity thing, and the way it tends to go, I wouldn't risk marring my RL business ventures with some person in SL that decided it'd be fun to trash my RL business. Had hoped to see a lot of that when I first came to SL ... the merging of RL and SL goods, but that hasn't happened in any big way that I know of. In fact, I don't know of an instance of that now here in SL.

I think the inhibitor is for the same reasons of privacy, but you would think any hand-made products would be a perfect fit for virtual/RL crossovers. Ah well.

But that would fit in with your advice about mitigating risk.

 

 

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The blogging is where it's at.  It's how people make fortunes now.  It's not a sideline - it's a MUST.  By having a blog in first page of google search every day - you have major control.

You have to use twitter or facebook or google+ to direct traffic to it.  It's no longer an "option" - it's necessary.  For one of the venues I use - it's like 90% of their business leads - maybe more.

  Get going on that.

I think that as far as someone in SL trashing your RL business - it's risky - but I think that you have ultimate control as a real life person over an anonymous one when it's all said and done.  What's the worst that can happen?  They show up on your doorstep?  Yeah - they've done that - - and once they've done that, you can file a police report.  Odds are they won't go that far.  And their "threat" is not worth missing opportunity over.

A physical product business is going to have far more opportunity than perhaps .000001 % of the population of the world using a virtual world - - physical needs to come first.  But for someone who laid the groundwork in SL, and did so beautifully....would be foolish not to apply that process to 99.999% of the world's population.  And do a tie-in on both.

A while back I saw someone on twitter advertising doggy treats (physical product) on SL marketplace.  I thought it was brilliant.  But I don't think you are allowed to do that!  I think they were removed.  I do see that offering a virtual world product designed after a physical world product would be super smart.  Or vice versa, as you said. 

Or - if you had a huge presence and niche in a certain product line in physical, and were known as the go-to person on that online....it only makes sense that you should have that same presence in a virtual world marketplace and cover every angle.  Say it's home furnishings/accessories - those virtual world folks often decorate in a similar style here, as to what they would in physical world - you might as well cover both worlds, and much more opps in physical.

The virtual might not be a money-maker for someone who does well in physical - - but the presence opportunity will "someday" be required.  Someday.  Might as well get in on it right away and hold position for That Day.

When M. Linden was here, he spoke often of the above happening.  He seemed really passionate about it.  Looks like powers at be on a different track for that, and have neglected the retail aspects/opportunities....

but someone can run with that and control it on their own.  They don't really have support for it, but the trailblazers rarely do anyway.

[Dartagan Shepherd]

Didn't quote because it's awkward for me snipping out separate parts with this quote tool.

Will absolutely explore blogging and such more, starting to get the point that it's vital, I think.

Love the doggie treats idea, agree that was absolutely brilliant, heheh. How many people have pets in SL, right?

Also going off on a tangent, but it's great stuff about the RL to SL bits here.

LL is so busy with this weird kama sutra love machine thing, freeform management bunch of west coast yahoos coming up with whacky ideas about what a virtual world is and so wrapped up in everything but writing good software that works that they can't see the "real" business picture.

Agree that RL sales potentially outweigh sales in SL, but there lies the rub. The whole concept of "second" life rather than an extension of RL is the wrong direction as far as business goes.

Amazing how $75M profit can numb a companies vision. Or founders and a board that have this hippie open source mentality or are more interested in micropayments and playing games with fake currency and skirting RL liabilities.

The potential alone to expand to both a virtual "and" RL marketplace is amazing. They don't get it though, if we're selling RL goods as well they're not getting a piece? Or that people in SL wouldn't buy RL goods. Or that people wouldn't make use of a marketplace where selling RL/virtual goods would bring in a massive amount of users who'd at least give it a shot along with eBay and Amazon.

Here's a for instance: I've done my time in import/export/manufacturing. One way to get something manufactured is to send a CAD or 3D file off to China, approve the prototype and you're in business with a new line of products.

So now we've got mesh/3D with something resembling an industry standard (again a whacky implementation and convoluted set of "costs", but so be it).

The hook to bring in the world of import/export/manufacturing would be that you can see the product in 3D, meet with clients in a virtual factory, handle the process, save some money and time in prototyping, get your logistics ducks in a row. sell your existing products and off you go. The future of Alibaba in the making (a large marketplace of import/export which was acquired by Yahoo!).

The eBay of the future from retail on up.

Best they've done on that front is that SL is good for corporate meetings. Saves travel expenses. Here's a cookie for that one.

Their idea of merging RL though is getting us to upload pictures of our RL selves that preferably match our avatar pics, or linking our Facebook accounts. How innovative is "that"?

Of course none of this would work with SL as-is, any more than an enterprise version of SL worked, it'd have to be less of a toy and more business oriented (and tools, tools, tools that'd need to work.) And that without the games with funny money and RL currency in play. Piece of cake, PayPal for instance now supports micropayments. And without being overly impressed with themselves on pricing.

None of this would hurt the virtual merchant one bit, in fact, it'd increase revenue for those selling virtual goods. Might even be more job opportunities for people creating virtual goods that get designs bought by companies producing them as real life goods.

They can have that one for free, although if you put this current management and board behind it they'd probably botch it horribly. Plenty more ideas and opportunity where that came from.

Keep ignoring and underestimating merchants though with a wide array of RL experience, doing a bang up job of it so far.

Those business people you were talking to that were interested in SL? They'd be here in a heartbeat under the right conditions.

[Mickey Vandeverre]

Yeah...ton of opportunity there, and not just with offering your physical product as a virtual product, but even simply as using the virtual world to just display pics and links of your physical product as a presence.

I've seen some already do this, but it was a while back, and I don't have an example....but just renting a spot in a mall with your advertising for physical product and link to web site or blog would be good exposure.  Several artists with their art galleries do this.

It can be done now.

On the corporate meeting thing, that was exactly what I was trying to offer to a few people from twitter - offer them conference space above the store, but ran into a few glitches there.

It would serve me well as advertising for store and also as traffic.  But could not pull it off because they wanted to be able to advertise in the land description their group charter etc. info - and they also wanted voice - which would spread across store, not good while people shopping.

Plus...the day they came in, the voice thing had some glitches and that was a huge turn off indicating that it is not reliable for a conference (which it isn't really)

Considered moving them to home base in Costa Rica for a beach setting meeting, but again ran into same glitch there, and they wanted option to promote in land description wasn't workable.

Considered Renting them a vacant lot, in which they could control voice feature somewhat (but in past I've noticed that voice carries over several lots sometimes)....

but they wanted more control over the land rental than what I could offer....but at same time did not want to pay or commit to their own piece of land for that control....

so there were a variety of issues that needed to be resolved for someone using it experimentally like that.

There are places that are set up and geared toward a conference room atmosphere, but when scouting them out, they would still be same glitches as above.

Would require some tweaking and offering of a different type format than what we are used to, to encourage that on a regular basis for someone or to offer it as experiment without a lot of financial risk - even if it's just a hundred bucks a month - no guarantees on functioning at a scheduled meeting time, which is crucial.