Connection Failed

Try as I might, I no longer find Second Life enjoyable. The people there are still great, but it is difficult watch Linden Lab’s actions and still support their product. Therefore I won’t recommend Second Life as a place for business anymore. I’ll leave this blog up until the domain name expires.

Thank you for those who have read this blog and reached out to me. I wish you the best in your own endeavors.

-Todd

Reconnecting With Second Life

I must admit that I’ve been losing interest in Second Life. This is probably not someone who’s running a virtual world business should say, but it is the honest truth. I’m not a hype machine that can pretend this is the best thing since sliced bread when it clearly isn’t.

These days, I only log in to Second Life only because I have to, not because I want to. The wonders and possibilities it once held are fading away. In its place is a slow build up of disappointment, cynicism, and boredom.

This is not how it should be.

Todd’s Guide to Virtual World Business

Photo by Brain Farts / Joschua

Want help with your Second Life business? Here is a reading guide to find just what you need.

A blog is a great medium for news and journal, but not so much for finding old but useful articles. Personally, I hate digging for content as well. That’s why I’ve made this post.

This list contains many of the articles written this far. It is broken down by topic for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy, bookmark and share with friends that might find it useful.

-Todd

Quick Tip: Would You Like Fries With That?

Photo by Valerie Everet

Once upon a time, a woman went into a fast food restaurant for lunch.

Coversation A
Amy Partime: Hi, may I take your order?
Jane Hungry: Yes, I would like a burger.
Amy Partime: Would you like a cheese burger, double cheese burger, or chicken burger?
Jane Hungry: Just a cheese burger.
Amy Partime: Would you like something to drink?
Jane Hungry: What do you have?
Amy Partime: We have coke, ice tea, and root beer.
Jane Hungry: Give me a coke.
Amy Partime: Diet or regular?
Jane Hungry: Regular.
Amy Partime: What size?
Jane Hungry: Medium.
Amy Partime: Would you like fries with that?
Jane Hungry: Sure.
Amy Partime: Curly fries or regular fries?
Jane Hungry: Regular is fine.
Amy Partime: What size?
Jane Hungry: Medium.
Amy Partime: Ok, your total is …..

This was the only way people ordered food. It is easy to see that there is room for improvement.

Coversation B
Ben Partime: Hi, may I take your order?
Joe Hungry: Yes, give me combo number one.
Ben Partime: Ok, your total is …..

Thus combo meals was invented and became an essential practice.

Moral of the story: Make buying your stuff a simple decision.

-Todd

Does Blogging Help Your Business?

Does blogging about your product help your business?

Many Second Life businesses do have blogs to help promote their products. Some are very product focused containing only posts about new products. Others are more personal with occasional mentions of their in-world happenings. Regardless of which style you choose, here are a few reasons for you to give it a try.

A Question Of Talent

Most of us believe we have a some skill advantage when compared to our competition, but are we right?

I began this article with a poll because I wanted to know the general self-evaluation of one’s talent. For the record, I voted with the majority as well. I really have no idea what the results would be, but it seems to demand some analysis.

Does it make sense for most people to be better than most people? That sentence doesn’t even sound right…

There are two possible scenarios for this:

How to Choose Between Copy VS Transfer

Original photo by sabeth718 / Ray

Are you using the right permissions for your product? How do you weight out the benefits of different permission settings?

One great thing about selling in Second Life is that objects have built-in permission settings to reduce misuse. Copybot aside, it works pretty well most of the time. The three available permissions: Modify, Copy, Transfer are all very straight forward in allowing what the next owner can do to your creation.

Most products in Second Life have either Copy permission or Transfer permission, but not both. Otherwise, you’ll be giving it away for good. Lets take a closer look at the benefits between Copy VS Transfer.

Do You Have A Release Schedule?

How often do you release new products? Do you do it on a whim or on a consistent basis?

People like certain things to be predictable. Customers are no exception. June Dion of Bare Rose releases new products multiple times a week. Therefore, her customers return nearly just as often. Regularity is a good thing.

Having a release schedule lets your customer knows exactly when to come back. It also gives yourself a deadline to reduce slacking off. Unfortunately, keeping a release schedule is very tough. But there’s hope!

Tips For Measuring Your Marketing Efforts

Photo by Marjie Kennedy

So you’ve just bought some ads for a big marketing blitz. Are the ads worth the price you’ve paid? or are you simply wasting money away?

To answer this question, you need to know how many new visitors were brought to your shop as well as how much they’ve spent. Let me share some tips from myself as well as a forum post I came across on the XStreetSL to help tackle the problem.

Five Ways To Say No Without Being An Ass

Original Photo by M Kuhn

Whenever you say yes to a request, you are doing so at a cost. Sometimes that cost is insignificant, while other times you end up wasting your life at a task you loath for someone you barely like. Um…yeah.

Don’t end up saying yes to others at the expense of saying no to yourself. Life is too short. Learn to say no for the sake of creating more time for yourself. Learn to say no politely for the sake of creating time without stinking up your reputation.