Luna Bliss

So far I've never felt comfortable asking a customer to do anything for me without giving something in return, and the few times I tried this technique I always gave a reward. I was mainly offering that suggestion to Rya since he didn't feel comfortable offering a payment for reviews and considered that 'gaming'. However, what I discovered was that when I offered rewards some customers said 'oh Luna you don't need to give me anything to do that - I'm happy to review it'. Many just didn't know it was important for merchants or even know the process for leaving a review. I might try requesting a review from certain customers without offering compensation in the future though - customers that have been purchasing from me for a long time for example, or customers that needed a lot of time/assistance from me. I look at my loyal customers more as 'friends' and don't have as much professional distance from them, and so don't consider requesting a review as 'begging'.

I hate all these business games, and am too lazy to participate in most, or maybe just sick of it all. Rya your creations are really good, and you should be making more money (I remember you saying awhile back that you weren't). What about just messaging a customer and asking if they'd leave an honest review - don't even offer a reward, and make sure you explain that you want the review to be honest with both positive and negative (if any) aspects of your creation?

Deja yes there are some other grids that look promising. I feel more secure developing a store on a grid that's been around for awhile though - a place more tested and where you can read about users experiences on blogs.

Gaga I think you need to do a little more research into how Opensim/Osgrid was founded, and how this manifested recently in those who bullied the above mentioned woman into near suicide (because she wouldn't share her content anymore and joined another grid they despised), and how a woman's beautiful artwork (painted plants) were stolen and how she was subsequently trashed for simply standing up to them and reporting the theft. I am not criticizing what you are trying to do in Opensim, and i enjoy reading your articles and know that you build well, and I can see from your writings that you don't believe in theft. I know that there are many others like you in not-for-profit Opensim grids. I hope that Opensim will one day evolve into what you envision - a world where both commerce and sharing can exist side by side - where both sides give respect to the other. It looks like this HG2 is a step in the right direction. My only reason for posting here was to caution content creators reading this thread to be careful. Many have spent years developing their content and depend on sales to pay for some of their bills. My side will always be for the freelancing content creator in the Metaverse, however that evolves. It has not been an easy road - you've got proprietary game companies trying to squeeze more and more from you, and people yelling at you that you're either not a TRUE artist or a spiritual person if you want to be compensated for your efforts, and those in the Opensim realm thinking everything should be shared "for the common good", and customers who try to get you to do custom work for 5 cents an hour. I just have to say, as I posted on another thread...can't a freelancin girl just earn a little money around here?

Gaga (Talla), isn't it true that when you travel from grid to grid that any particular grid owner could suck up your entire inventory and change it to full perm? I know progress is being made with the new Hypergrid development to allow safer commerce, but it isn't in place yet, and I still feel suspicious regarding how much protection it would actually provide. And what about the philosophy Opensim was founded on..that all content should be free? I know you said on another blog that you don't know anyone controlling Opensim in that way..but aren't they the coders and so would have ultimate control? And what about the woman who created free content for Opensim for years, who was recently bullied into near suicide because she wanted to go to some of the safer, closed grids and make a little money? Is it safe to participate in a system whose basic organizing principle is forced sharing? For now I only feel safe in the closed Opensim grids like Inworldz, Spoton3d, and Avination...but I am keeping an eye on how Opensim progresses.

Sheesh..this is all so complicated..can't a freelancin girl just earn some money around here?

Spica, perhaps you should hone your skills more, and expand your market beyond Halloween/Pagan items, and explore marketing techniques. Throw in a little luck, and some finger-crossing that SL doesn't totally collapse, and you could be making more money (and hopefully stop posting constantly how horrible the greedy, overpriced, and dominate big in-world stores are).

The kindest words, are the unkind words, unsaid. The kindest words, are the unkind words, unsaid. The kindest words, are the unkind words, unsaid....

Lukeh, while this idea is a great one for any individual merchant to implement from time to time, I'm afraid the effect of adopting this for the entire MP would only have the effect of lowering the value of all content on the MP even further. If every content creator participated in it, or even a large percentage of them, then content with a greatly discounted price would always be available as a shopper searched. Everyone might as well just slash their prices 75% and leave it there because if you had anything at the normal price a shopper could easily search through the MP and find the same thing on sale (it's just too easy like this with a centralized MP). LL has already found numerous ways to devalue our content - they give extra weight in Search to cheaper items, they started advertising the world as a free world, and on and on - we don't want to start helping them. They presented this idea long ago only we would pay for banners to advertise the sales.

7. Move to Inworldz

ok thanks Darrius, I will do that this coming week.. Or we could talk 'bad Nostradamus' .........................and the hungry Eagle flew on and on, with nothing but the big green sign in view....

I can't believe I'm requesting this of you Darrius (and I do say this lovingly as i've always enjoyed reading your texts)...but could you be more detailed here? Darrius wrote: " Instead the people that I do see routinely and repeatedly .. over and over and over again .. in the Enhancement Scrollers are those Merchants that are known to be long-time members of the community and that are seen to receive benefits and advantages routinely .. in almost every way thinkable."

oh NO...someone who does math! We better get you a DarriBarri552 alt account quick and send u over to Linden Realms (don't forget to buy your premium account/linden home along the way though)

You guys are acting again like you think they intend to take us or our businesses seriously.

Hold on there Josh...things might pick up. From what I've heard the summer slump is slumpier than usual. I'm starting to think the MP is more messed up than usual I'm selling the same on the MP but my inworld sales are a LOT lower - I suspect many browse for items on the MP and buy inworld, and if Search is messed up this could be the cause. However...I do think most people in business creating things for the land...well our days are numbered

thanks

For most merchants there is a bit of a summer slump. Sales are pretty much the same for me, but I don't really sell much on the MP (compared to inworld). I did hear some in the Commerce group expressing that Search was unusually messed up, returning a bunch of Adult listings, so when my store customer mentioned the same thing it did make me wonder if Search had gone especially bonkers.

A shopper told me Search wasn't working right anymore...that it was showing lots of Adult stuff that was really annoying to her...and so she has been going to inworld stores for the first time. I guess my naughty waterfall that I can't get out of Adult is leading the way for me. So..take a pic of some of your houses with nude people standing merrily on the porch I guess, and put your new homes in the Adult category

maybe that's only the case if you actually sell the sim to someone else (the 50 usd being waved then)

I know this isn't the right place to ask probably, but isn't a sim rename included in the 150,00 usd fee for moving it? They are wanting to charge me an additional 50 usd and I swear that used to be included?

Full estate rights. 15,000 prims Price negotiable Will include a landscape if desired Contact Luna Bliss

I sent my 340 items to DD in 4 chunks...but I am using Firestorm. One chunk had 90 items. V3 does not allow many items to be dragged into the outbox folders at the same time. Also, be sure you're logged into your MP area when you do this...seems to prevent this 'won't initialize' thing.

I know you didn't mean to Arwen...who would think such a thing would be used for griefing. It seems that if there's a way they will find it! Oh well, being on the streets might be a greater harm..

Please don't post here how items are aborted. I had a griefer doing that to me...ordering thousands of real dollars worth of items...all aborted.

Flea I think there could be other reasons you had such a good sales jump during that period (other than switching to DD). I had a big jump then too but I had not switched to DD.