As noted below, I had surveyed visitors to the House of Skin and Garden Gallery as to why they did not buy anything, when I promised to reimburse them. Basically, it was the promised reimbursement that deterred them--they did not trust it. So yesterday I changed this to ask that they IM me what they wanted and I would send it to them.
So, then had 23 visitors, and now no one requested anything, even though free. Again, surveyed the visitors as to why. (I use the Super Greeter gadget that emails me every night a list of the day's visitors). Not many responded, but among those that did, the answers were varied--they could find better elsewhere, there was nothing they wanted, skins were not not in the color tone they wanted, no skins for older people, and so on. Over the two days, one answer got us. That was that things were "messy," or it was hard to see or find things. We had tried to make the place comfortable and enjoyable. But we also could see the point.
Yesterday then, we totally reorganized the garden to hang all the paintings in their own alcove so they could be seen easily. And in the House we divided Skins, flexis, and clothes from each other. All this, we hope, will encourage some to pick up what they like free.
Aside from laying out things better, two suggestions about skins that we may act on-- provide different skin tones--such as pale, tanned, and tanner, and even very dark. Also, we could make skins for older people, a niche we could fill. Such skins are generally not available.
Pikake and I want to thank all those visitors who received an IM from me asking why they did not get something that was free, and answered honestly. I enjoyed meeting some that came again to the site to better answer my query. All were frank and nice people to meet, and I am happy to say, became new friends.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Bumbling Through
With our previous stores, we tried to attract customers by scattering freebies about. They did attract customers alright, but they seldom bought anything. People came because they wanted freebies, and were not serious shoppers. Now that the our new store is on our land, we can use the SL events list to advertise. So yesterday we advertised a get acquainted one-time only sale--buy anything and be reimbursed for the first buy.
About 25 came, but no one took advantage of the sale. I could not believe it. Everything free, even L1,000 skins, and although limited to one buy, still ....So, with apologias, I IM'ed each of them to ask for help to understand why they did not take advantage for this sale. About ten responded that, in short, they thought this was a scam, could not trust my promise to reimburse them, the clothes/flexi/skins were for newbies, did not have the money for the first buy, and did not see something they really wanted. Fair enough.
So, we changed the event. Still a get acquainted event, but rather then promise to reimburse them, we asked that they email me about what they would like to get for this one time only opportunity, and we would send it to them. Thus, no trust involved. Six responded and wanted skins, two wanted paintings. All sent.
But, no second sales. Nonetheless, people did visit the store and garden gallery, and I did get some good comments on what they saw. Building up good will, and a word of mouth reputation is slow, and we don't expect much real business for awhile.
About 25 came, but no one took advantage of the sale. I could not believe it. Everything free, even L1,000 skins, and although limited to one buy, still ....So, with apologias, I IM'ed each of them to ask for help to understand why they did not take advantage for this sale. About ten responded that, in short, they thought this was a scam, could not trust my promise to reimburse them, the clothes/flexi/skins were for newbies, did not have the money for the first buy, and did not see something they really wanted. Fair enough.
So, we changed the event. Still a get acquainted event, but rather then promise to reimburse them, we asked that they email me about what they would like to get for this one time only opportunity, and we would send it to them. Thus, no trust involved. Six responded and wanted skins, two wanted paintings. All sent.
But, no second sales. Nonetheless, people did visit the store and garden gallery, and I did get some good comments on what they saw. Building up good will, and a word of mouth reputation is slow, and we don't expect much real business for awhile.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
ENCOURAGING VISITORS AND SALES
Now that the House of Skin and Garden GAllery is set up and panting for visitors, the question is how to encourage this. We could put freebies around, but this has not been successful at the stores we rented. We could have a large, grand opening party, but that would be one time only and is not our style. We decided instead to use the events list regularly, which is now available to us. we could not use it before since we did not own our own land.
Advertising freebies does attract visitors, and we will do it in this way. We now make (and signs are up saying this) the first and only the first buy of a skin, clothes, or painting free once only--even if nothing else is bought--and even sold for $1000. Doing this is easy. SL keeps a daily record of all transactions, and records the name of a buyer, what bought, and when. With that record we can reimburse any buyers first buy. We now promise to do this in 24 hours.
The first such "event" was today at noon. We will soon see how well it works
Advertising freebies does attract visitors, and we will do it in this way. We now make (and signs are up saying this) the first and only the first buy of a skin, clothes, or painting free once only--even if nothing else is bought--and even sold for $1000. Doing this is easy. SL keeps a daily record of all transactions, and records the name of a buyer, what bought, and when. With that record we can reimburse any buyers first buy. We now promise to do this in 24 hours.
The first such "event" was today at noon. We will soon see how well it works
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Updating This Blog
This blog used to concern only my The Gallery and the SL Democide Museum. But since the last blog entry in early June, much has changed on the gallery side. The Museum remains the same, while the gallery has evolved into a shop selling skins and clothes and a garden gallery--the M&P House of Skin & Garden Gallery. I will sketch the history behind this, or our education in SL business.
The Gallery used to rent the first and second floor of the anchor store at Fortuna Plaza for about linden 2,400 a week. It was very nice, brought in about 20-25 customers a day, with money to spend. But few did in the gallery, and sales did not pay our rent. At first we made the second floor our home and this changed when I became interested in the art of fashion designing--skins, flexi, and clothes. We at first sold my efforts in a small kiosk in the gallery, and with the encouragement of some sales, turned our second floor home into a skin and clothing store and made a skybox to live in. Still, sales did not cover the rent.
We tried to encourage more visitors by advertising, but we did not have a niche product and had to compete with those paying thousands of Linden to advertise their similar wares. Moreover, since we were renting we could not advertise events to invite customers. We put up or rented some advertising signs, and also, scattered freebies around. But, this did not make a major difference.
Then the mall was sold, and a beautiful hiking park nearby was eliminated. Our visitor count dropped to 3-5 a day. Time to move.
We believed that the most important criteria for a new store was location, location, and location. So we separated the gallery and clothing/skin stores and rented for each where the sim visitor count was near 100,000, and our gallery/store would be near the action. So we rented at Vienna (Wein) freebie mall, at > $$$ FREE LINDENS HERE! $$$, Live, and at a popular Japanese place. We ended up with six stores, which collectively had about 500 visitors a day. Wow, we thought at first. But again, few bought enough to pay the combined rent.
Our mistake was in assuming that a lot of visitors would mean a lot of sales. No way. For the most popular locations at which we rented stores, the customers were not out to buy, but to get freebies and Lindens. They only came into our stores to window shop, and even advertising that we cut all prices by 85%, and including freebies in each sale, made little difference,
Although I liked the idea of people viewing our gallery, and even the skins and clothes as an example of fine art. we could not long subsidize it.
So, we closed all the stores, and bought enough land to make a new home and our own store. The land level is our home, while the store is a skybox of about 4800 sq. m., about 700 m. high. It is a house of skin and clothes and a landscaped garden gallery. My wife, Pikake, did a beautiful job landscaping the garden and helping set up the house.
We have tried to avoid some of the annoyances of other stores. There are no campers, no salespeople, all items are sold as copy and modify, and guaranteed. Wwe respond immediately to messages. We pipe in classical music, and at our 700 m. height we have a great view of sunsets and dawn. There is no lag, and all clothes and skins are rezzable. And, dance balls are in the garden. Enjoy.
To SLUR to the Museum, House of Skin, or Garden Gallery, click the picture in the sidebar
The Gallery used to rent the first and second floor of the anchor store at Fortuna Plaza for about linden 2,400 a week. It was very nice, brought in about 20-25 customers a day, with money to spend. But few did in the gallery, and sales did not pay our rent. At first we made the second floor our home and this changed when I became interested in the art of fashion designing--skins, flexi, and clothes. We at first sold my efforts in a small kiosk in the gallery, and with the encouragement of some sales, turned our second floor home into a skin and clothing store and made a skybox to live in. Still, sales did not cover the rent.
We tried to encourage more visitors by advertising, but we did not have a niche product and had to compete with those paying thousands of Linden to advertise their similar wares. Moreover, since we were renting we could not advertise events to invite customers. We put up or rented some advertising signs, and also, scattered freebies around. But, this did not make a major difference.
Then the mall was sold, and a beautiful hiking park nearby was eliminated. Our visitor count dropped to 3-5 a day. Time to move.
We believed that the most important criteria for a new store was location, location, and location. So we separated the gallery and clothing/skin stores and rented for each where the sim visitor count was near 100,000, and our gallery/store would be near the action. So we rented at Vienna (Wein) freebie mall, at > $$$ FREE LINDENS HERE! $$$, Live, and at a popular Japanese place. We ended up with six stores, which collectively had about 500 visitors a day. Wow, we thought at first. But again, few bought enough to pay the combined rent.
Our mistake was in assuming that a lot of visitors would mean a lot of sales. No way. For the most popular locations at which we rented stores, the customers were not out to buy, but to get freebies and Lindens. They only came into our stores to window shop, and even advertising that we cut all prices by 85%, and including freebies in each sale, made little difference,
Although I liked the idea of people viewing our gallery, and even the skins and clothes as an example of fine art. we could not long subsidize it.
So, we closed all the stores, and bought enough land to make a new home and our own store. The land level is our home, while the store is a skybox of about 4800 sq. m., about 700 m. high. It is a house of skin and clothes and a landscaped garden gallery. My wife, Pikake, did a beautiful job landscaping the garden and helping set up the house.
We have tried to avoid some of the annoyances of other stores. There are no campers, no salespeople, all items are sold as copy and modify, and guaranteed. Wwe respond immediately to messages. We pipe in classical music, and at our 700 m. height we have a great view of sunsets and dawn. There is no lag, and all clothes and skins are rezzable. And, dance balls are in the garden. Enjoy.
To SLUR to the Museum, House of Skin, or Garden Gallery, click the picture in the sidebar
This blog used to concern only my The Gallery and the SL Democide Museum. But since the last blog entry in early June, much has changed on the gallery side. The Museum remains the same, while the gallery has evolved into a shop selling skins and clothes and a garden gallery--the M&P House of Skin & Garden Gallery. I will sketch the history behind this, or our education in SL business.
The Gallery used to rent the first and second floor of the anchor store at Fortuna Plaza for about linden 2,400 a week. It was very nice, brought in about 20-25 customers a day, with money to spend. But few did in the gallery, and sales did not pay our rent. At first we made the second floor our home and this changed when I became interested in the art of fashion designing--skins, flexi, and clothes. We at first sold my efforts in a small kiosk in the gallery, and with the encouragement of some sales, turned our second floor home into a skin and clothing store and made a skybox to live in. Still, sales did not cover the rent.
We tried to encourage more visitors by advertising, but we did not have a niche product and had to compete with those paying thousands of Linden to advertise their similar wares. Moreover, since we were renting we could not advertise events to invite customers. We put up or rented some advertising signs, and also, scattered freebies around. But, this did not make a major difference.
Then the mall was sold, and a beautiful hiking park nearby was eliminated. Our visitor count dropped to 3-5 a day. Time to move.
We believed that the most important criteria for a new store was location, location, and location. So we separated the gallery and clothing/skin stores and rented for each where the sim visitor count was near 100,000, and our gallery/store would be near the action. So we rented at Vienna (Wein) freebie mall, at > $$$ FREE LINDENS HERE! $$$, Live, and at a popular Japanese place. We ended up with six stores, which collectively had about 500 visitors a day. Wow, we thought at first. But again, few bought enough to pay the combined rent.
Our mistake was in assuming that a lot of visitors would mean a lot of sales. No way. For the most popular locations at which we rented stores, the customers were not out to buy, but to get freebies and Lindens. They only came into our stores to window shop, and even advertising that we cut all prices by 85%, and including freebies in each sale, made little difference,
Although I liked the idea of people viewing our gallery, and even the skins and clothes as an example of fine art. we could not long subsidize it.
So, we closed all the stores, and bought enough land to make a new home and our own store. The land level is our home, while the store is a skybox of about 4800 sq. m., about 700 m. high. It is a house of skin and clothes and a landscaped garden gallery. My wife, Pikake, did a beautiful job landscaping the garden and helping set up the house.
We have tried to avoid some of the annoyances of other stores. There are no campers, no salespeople, all items are sold as copy and modify, and guaranteed. We pipe in classical music, and at our 700 m. height we have a great view of sunsets and dawn. There is no lag, and all clothes and skins are rezzable
The pictures below show the house and garden.
It is at $$$ FREE LINDENS HERE! $$$, Live, and at a popular Japanese place. We ended up with six stores, which collectively had about 500 visitors a day. Wow, we thought at first. But again, few bought enough to pay the combined rent.
Our mistake was in assuming that a lot of visitors would mean a lot of sales. No way. For the most popular locations at which we rented stores, the customers were not out to buy, but to get freebies and Lindens. They only came into our stores to window shop, and even advertising that we cut all prices by 85%, and including freebies in each sale, made little difference,
Although I liked the idea of people viewing our gallery, and even the skins and clothes as an example of fine art. we could not long subsidize it.
So, we closed all the stores, and bought enough land to make a new home and our own store. The land level is our home, while the store is a skybox of about 4800 sq. m., about 700 m. high. It is a house of skin and clothes and a landscaped garden gallery. My wife, Pikake, did a beautiful job landscaping the garden and helping set up the house.
We have tried to avoid some of the annoyances of other stores. There are no campers, no salespeople, all items are sold as copy and modify, and guaranteed. We pipe in classical music, and at our 700 m. height we have a great view of sunsets and dawn. There is no lag, and all clothes and skins are rezzable
The pictures below show the house and garden.
It is at
HTTP://SLURL.COM/SECONDLIFE/LITTLE NECK BEACH/22/16/715">HTTP://SLURL.COM/SECONDLIFE/LITTLE NECK BEACH/22/16/715
It is now open to enjoy and shop.
The Gallery used to rent the first and second floor of the anchor store at Fortuna Plaza for about linden 2,400 a week. It was very nice, brought in about 20-25 customers a day, with money to spend. But few did in the gallery, and sales did not pay our rent. At first we made the second floor our home and this changed when I became interested in the art of fashion designing--skins, flexi, and clothes. We at first sold my efforts in a small kiosk in the gallery, and with the encouragement of some sales, turned our second floor home into a skin and clothing store and made a skybox to live in. Still, sales did not cover the rent.
We tried to encourage more visitors by advertising, but we did not have a niche product and had to compete with those paying thousands of Linden to advertise their similar wares. Moreover, since we were renting we could not advertise events to invite customers. We put up or rented some advertising signs, and also, scattered freebies around. But, this did not make a major difference.
Then the mall was sold, and a beautiful hiking park nearby was eliminated. Our visitor count dropped to 3-5 a day. Time to move.
We believed that the most important criteria for a new store was location, location, and location. So we separated the gallery and clothing/skin stores and rented for each where the sim visitor count was near 100,000, and our gallery/store would be near the action. So we rented at Vienna (Wein) freebie mall, at > $$$ FREE LINDENS HERE! $$$, Live, and at a popular Japanese place. We ended up with six stores, which collectively had about 500 visitors a day. Wow, we thought at first. But again, few bought enough to pay the combined rent.
Our mistake was in assuming that a lot of visitors would mean a lot of sales. No way. For the most popular locations at which we rented stores, the customers were not out to buy, but to get freebies and Lindens. They only came into our stores to window shop, and even advertising that we cut all prices by 85%, and including freebies in each sale, made little difference,
Although I liked the idea of people viewing our gallery, and even the skins and clothes as an example of fine art. we could not long subsidize it.
So, we closed all the stores, and bought enough land to make a new home and our own store. The land level is our home, while the store is a skybox of about 4800 sq. m., about 700 m. high. It is a house of skin and clothes and a landscaped garden gallery. My wife, Pikake, did a beautiful job landscaping the garden and helping set up the house.
We have tried to avoid some of the annoyances of other stores. There are no campers, no salespeople, all items are sold as copy and modify, and guaranteed. We pipe in classical music, and at our 700 m. height we have a great view of sunsets and dawn. There is no lag, and all clothes and skins are rezzable
The pictures below show the house and garden.
It is at $$$ FREE LINDENS HERE! $$$, Live, and at a popular Japanese place. We ended up with six stores, which collectively had about 500 visitors a day. Wow, we thought at first. But again, few bought enough to pay the combined rent.
Our mistake was in assuming that a lot of visitors would mean a lot of sales. No way. For the most popular locations at which we rented stores, the customers were not out to buy, but to get freebies and Lindens. They only came into our stores to window shop, and even advertising that we cut all prices by 85%, and including freebies in each sale, made little difference,
Although I liked the idea of people viewing our gallery, and even the skins and clothes as an example of fine art. we could not long subsidize it.
So, we closed all the stores, and bought enough land to make a new home and our own store. The land level is our home, while the store is a skybox of about 4800 sq. m., about 700 m. high. It is a house of skin and clothes and a landscaped garden gallery. My wife, Pikake, did a beautiful job landscaping the garden and helping set up the house.
We have tried to avoid some of the annoyances of other stores. There are no campers, no salespeople, all items are sold as copy and modify, and guaranteed. We pipe in classical music, and at our 700 m. height we have a great view of sunsets and dawn. There is no lag, and all clothes and skins are rezzable
The pictures below show the house and garden.
It is at
HTTP://SLURL.COM/SECONDLIFE/LITTLE NECK BEACH/22/16/715">HTTP://SLURL.COM/SECONDLIFE/LITTLE NECK BEACH/22/16/715
It is now open to enjoy and shop.
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