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adriannesuz McMinnar

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Everything posted by adriannesuz McMinnar

  1. I've been focused on improving in Blender so it's been a while since I've sent any marketing notices in-world. I sent a few the other day and it felt like they didn't have the same reach or impact that they used to. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of good inworld marketing groups that they feel seems to have a good result. Thanks!
  2. I'm no land baron nor do I want to be. Just a small potatoes creator. I accepted years ago that any small amount I cash out every so often will always be minuscule compared to the endless hours of effort and care I put into everything I create, but it does sting that now that amount will be even less. A decrease in land prices for land barons helps me not, thank you very much. I would have much preferred giving LL extra money in the form of an a la carte option to premium that would motivate me to create more, not less.
  3. Thank you! You know, for some reason the option to see signatures was unchecked in my settings. Now I can see everyone's links. yay!
  4. Oh, actually I don't. I see whatever is in the title that appears under the profile picture, but no link. I added my store link to my forum profile. I thought that is what coffee meant. Obviously, I need to become more familiar with the forum. 😆
  5. Oh.. I had not even thought about that. Thank you. I just did it. 🤗
  6. So in an effort to help my mother with her assisted living cost I put my entire store on sale and setup a gofundme. My question is, is there anything against the TOS if I put the link of the gofundme at my personal store? I didn't see anything about it, but I don't want to do anything that will get me into trouble or sent to linden jail since it's personal and not an official charity. 😬
  7. This is true, and while I think it is (of course) fair to pay for the service, if SL wants to reach more customers and be more competitive, I feel like these hikes are going to result in only a select few with a large disposable income to be able to truly enjoy all SL has to offer. I can't even fathom paying $200/year for SL for premium plus. It was tough enough for me to stomach the regular premium price hike to $99. I feel like it's pushing out a lot of creators to make way for mostly consumers.
  8. As a creator I feel truly stifled with the small parcel of mainland and land impact offered. The only thing that would tempt me is a larger mainland parcel and prims. I would be willing to pay probably around $130/year because I already think $99/year is a bit ridiculous. It's a hobby for me because basically I don't make enough money for it to be anything else. There is a constant learning curve and it requires a great amount of time and energy to get anything back from the money put into SL. At least, give us some more land and prims to work with. I don't spend my time out at clubs and exploring. I spend it in a studio creating. There is only so long I'll do that and pay out the nose with little in return.
  9. Us smaller brands have some more conservative options as well. I agree though. I most enjoy mixing and matching from different stores. Usually, if I wear something less conservative waist down, I cover up more on top and vice versa.
  10. When that happens to me, I just buy something for 0L and all my cash shows up again afterwards.
  11. I'm completely with you on this one. If they are going to increase MP fees, I'm only interested in Premium Plus if it comes with a land increase. As a creator, I could really care less about the other "features". If not, I will just continue to downsize, get rid of my second premium account and keep just the one basic and 1024 land. I can't keep up with the squeezing. 😆
  12. Sounds nice, but possibly quite laggy if I'm not mistaken. And I could be since I don't know much about scripting. Personally, I like to click on a vendor and see all the contents inside before I buy and I think that's not something you can do with vendors like Caspervend. But, I would even forgo that ability if there was no discernable difference to the lag in my shop.
  13. I do like the idea of keeping separates on the MP as an option. Thanks for the replies! I know it's not going to make everyone happy, but if I'm going to make changes, it's helpful for me to get some feedback from consumers so I truly appreciate it!
  14. Not sure if this is the exact right place for this post, so correct me if I'm wrong. I'm downsizing (again) to help offset the new price increase and that means reducing prims also. I would like to ask generally if people prefer a color change HUD that's a bit more expensive than a single color choice, or if they prefer to simply choose a less expensive individual color they prefer and then buy a fatpack if they desire all options. A color change HUD will cut down on my prims, but I don't want to shut out customers who prefer to purchase a single individual color or pattern. Thoughts?
  15. I actually like the idea of a gift card with Ls. On the one hand it would make it easier for some to purchase Lindens and on the other, seeing it up there on the supermarket display with all the other gift cards would be its own form of advertising. A lot of people might be curious to try if there were a snappy slogan or image on the card.
  16. How does that math work out? 300L/week = 1200L/month. Divide that by the going market rate 251L = 1USD comes out to $4.78/month. That times 12 comes out to $57.36/year. Seems a bit off your estimate unless I am missing some information. The increase in and of itself is really not so horrible unless you have multiple premium accounts and then it adds up.
  17. Instead of raising the stipend, I don't understand why LL didn't just leave everything as is and THEN release their super premium plan for those who want more. It seems like a shock to current premium members to suddenly have their membership fee increased then hearing they can choose an even more expensive option later. It just feels a bit like a money grab to me, but then I'm one of those who are kind of clinging on as best I can because of a limited economy. I already feel like I'm paying that $4.50 price for a small soda at the movies and then hear "Oh our small sodas are now $6.50 instead of $4.50, but wait!!! For just $2 dollars more you can get a slightly bigger already overpriced product"!
  18. I wish there would be some premium options depending on what you are in SL for, like an option for the general user and consumer, and then one for merchants, performers, basically anyone trying to earn money in SL. I know that is unlikely. For me, I would be more interested in more land or cheaper tier / more prim allowance, etc. and could give two hoots about more offline IMs, access to premium areas and experiences. Not saying that isn't important of course, but everyone has different needs and I hope LL will consider that when thinking about NEW super duper premium plus.
  19. Advertising should already be included and implemented in any decent business plan. As it is now (and I may be wrong), it feels like SL is using us as a word-of-mouth advertising method.
  20. There IS a thread discussing exactly how LL could improve its business model and suggestions for more profit (many of which have nothing to do with increasing already excessive, IMO, fees). I paid almost US$600/year for 5 years AFTER already deducting the stipend, which I basically spent on land search and classifieds anyway. That doesn't include continual event fees, upload costs, hiring of bloggers or models, buying builds, shop decoration, etc. That was in an effort after 5 years of being an unknown boutique to try and grow and compete with some larger brands. Recently, I downsized all that. Mainly because trying to compete with brands that have constant new releases forced me to push out some things that really didn't inspire me (constrained by time and or event themes or colors) and I couldn't take the time to really add the quality and detail that I would have liked. I wasn't feeling creatively satisfied so I decided to cut back on as much overhead as possible to allow myself more time for quality over quantity. I would hate for it to go away either. Apart from the money invested, I care more about the decade of time I spent trying to create something different and unique to what everyone else makes. But apart from you and I guess another 1%, most people don't go into the boutique they drive by on their way to Walmart. BUT, if they keep raising fees, it would be like SL was going away. For me at least. I would be pushed out in terms of what I want to get out of SL. Just as if they removed the ability to have SLex. It doesn't affect my experience and technically SL is still here, but it might as well go away for some other people who rely on that for their overall experience here. I appreciate constructive criticism and opinions, but you are looking at SL from a completely different dynamic and your opinion would probably be better received if you had any experience as a merchant or creator. But I sincerely do appreciate hearing from the consumer end and I am open to knowing anything else potential customers would like to see from SL creators, so for that, I thank you. IMO, what SL really needs to invest in is some decent outside advertising. In the 10 years I've been here, I've seen perhaps two banner ads and the quality was laughable. They need to hire ANY decent blogger or SL photographer to really show what is possible here. And they need to address and dispel the reputation that SL has of being populated by perverts and weirdos.
  21. I completely agree. My shop may be small, but it has been a sense of peace and creative outlet for me for 10 years. We develop, evolve and adapt, and the real joy of creating here in SL for me is putting real heart and effort into something, even knowing that at the end of the day it will most likely be drowned out by everything else overflowing the market.
  22. 0. My profit margin for the past 3 years has been 0, and I'm ok with that. As I said, I don't expect to make real money here, but I'm also not trying to lose money either. Like any decent brand, unless you are quite successful, most profit has to go right back into growing the brand. I used to pay $47/month tier additional to my premium to have a nice inworld presence and that was fine because sales covered the cost. Once my youngest daughter was born, I just didn't have as much time anymore and competition at the mid-level to get people in the door is ridiculously competitive (as is in RL, I realize). If you're not constantly out there promoting your brand with designer events, social media and advertising, traffic drops away like an anvil. All of that does cost and add to overhead, btw. Not to mention creators that are having a hard time keeping up with the 3D quality demands themselves so have to invest in mesh templates as well. Unless you are a creator, I think you don't realize the actual overhead costs involved, particularly considering a typical item in my shop sells for... roughly 35 cents (Because ya know...gotta compete with 50L Fridays, 40L Thursdays...etc). Hoping soon that I can come back with even better new content when I have a little more free time as my girls start school. Not trying to be a martyr here, just giving my two cents respectfully.
  23. I totally get that it is a luxury item, but I feel like SL is making things harder and harder for at least the small business creator to stay in SL. If instead of drinking that espresso at the coffee shop, I spent my time there creating pretty, different cups that customers could buy and use for their coffee experience and then I turn around and give that earned money right back to the coffee shop after also paying a premium fee to be able to do so and then the shop suddenly decides I need to pay even more on top of that....well, it's just not much incentive for me to stay. Maybe it is a bad analogy, and I know that it is my choice to do it and I enjoy it, but still, after upload fees, processing fees, cash out fees, high tier costs, and premium memberships, at what point are creators like me getting nickel and dimed to the point where we are completely shut out?
  24. For me, this may actually make me have to seriously rethink staying in SL. I’m not saying that price increases are not typical for a business, but I feel like SL is already getting plenty of cash from me for what I actually get in return from them. I don’t care about more group slots or offline IMs. Lower tier for everyone, not just land barons if you want it to be useful to me. I am a hobby creator because, well, I just don’t have the free time I did when my shop first opened its doors 10 years ago. I’ve gotten married and now have two small children, but my shop in SL has always been a much needed creative outlet for me. I guess I am just not the demographic that SL is interested in although I have been a loyal long-time customer since 2008. Maybe I am an atypical SL user in that I don’t spend hours hanging with friends in clubs, socializing and such. I spend that time in my studio creating and working on my products. Even more now, because the learning curve keeps getting higher for creators and now I have to prepare clothing for multiple mesh bodies, plus color options, HUDS, vendors, setting permissions for a million items for just one article of clothing it seems, etc. But that’s ok. I love creating and especially love that others like my products enough to buy them and wear them. I would rather take my time and make something that I feel is unique and interesting and a reasonable price rather than push out cookie-cutter weekly new releases and join every event (not that it’s bad, I honestly just don’t have that kind of time required to grow a large SL presence so I really can’t compete with those major brands). I’ve been happy enough to create knowing that basically every linden I earn goes straight back into LL’s pocket to pay for my two premium accounts (one for me and for my building alt) plus investing in SL by buying furniture and landscaping for my shop, hair and skins for my vendors, BUT, that doesn’t mean I can afford to lose an ADDITIONAL $54 a year plus the new processing fees for the privilege of trying to create interesting and new content for users. I already feel like I’m paying a 100% tax to SL for that. I was actually making plans to hire a builder to create a new custom store for my land, but I’m nixing those plans now. It really makes me sad to say it, but after 10 years, I might just have to close the doors. I’ve had to slowly scale back over the years, sell land and make do because of the excessive tier pricing. Part of the fun for me was being able to decorate my shop and make it look unique and fun, but I can hardly do that with a few measly prims and 1024 if I even just keep one premium account. So why bother anymore? It seems there is no place here for my kind of small business. I see a future of only big name brands and BIAB merchandise in club mall stalls. I’m not looking to make a living by any means, but I don’t want to constantly hemeorrage money to SL either. I guess I’ll finally have time to learn to play my Ukelele. P.S. So glad they backtracked on removing group slots for basic members. That was some a**hole decision making there. We're all integral to SL, basic and premium alike!
  25. Ok! So the problem seems to be solved now. Oddly enough, somehow in the graphics tab, Enable Lossy Texture Compression was checked. Unchecking that seemed to fix all texture issues. Thanks to everyone who tried to wrap their head around the problem and help. I really appreciate it!
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