Day 102 – Let’s Chat

Good morning, kids! Let’s have a chat for a sec.

We’re coming into the summer season [at least for some of us] and as such, I’ve already started to see people saying, “My sales are down!” This is very common in the summer, but usually doesn’t happen until about mid-summer or so when folks are out and taking vacations and saving up for the upcoming school year and all that jazz.

Do you remember us discussing back in February why you may not be getting sales or being blogged? There was actually a whole big list of things that I had, but I had done just a little condensed version then. So as the whole “I’m not getting sales!” thing seems to be coming up again, let me tell you another reason why you might not be selling anything. [Provided that your stuff is actually good and not crap like we discussed in February.]

Please remember that this is all opinion, so don’t be all butthurt about it. 🙂

Are you a creator who uses a social media forum such as Plurk, or Facebook, or even SL Universe? Yes? Then you MUST start watching what you say!!!

I know, I know. Creators are people just like anyone else and they should be allowed to say what they want. And I agree – up to a point. But let’s face it. Most people don’t like supporting creators who have been huge jerks to them or to their friends. Also, if you’re the person with the constant crisis, the neverending litany of excuses as to why your life sucks, the almost monthly “threats” that you’re going to close your store if you don’t start making sales, that could be the reason why no one is shopping you. People will help out once or twice to give you a boost, but after a while it’s a bit annoying and quite damaging to your brand.

I’m also going to extend this to your CSRs. If you have someone who promotes your brand, you need to make sure they’re not out there throwing shade and being disliked. That reflects poorly on you! How many times have you had really awful service somewhere, like a restaurant, and so you stopped going? It’s almost the same thing. Even if your CSRs service is impeccable, if they’re out there being a raging nutcase on Facebook or Plurk, people will remember and be less likely to shop you.

Now I’m not saying you have to be Susie or Stevie Sunshine all the time. People want to know the person behind the product. We all have bad days here and there. If you don’t depend on your sales for more than just extra spending money in SL, then it probably doesn’t matter. But if you DO use your SL money in the outside world, if you cash out, if you use it to pay for your sims – just think before you type once in a while.

And that’s my opinionated post for the month. :-p

Day 91 – The Face

So earlier today I noticed something while browsing through Flickr and it is something that’s bothered me for a while. I mentioned it on Plurk and to my surprise, some people agreed with me. See if you can tell the difference between these two pics.

The face, right?

See, this bothers me. When someone uses a more action type pose, I feel like they should try to adjust their face more to show more expression. I mean, that pose is called “Jump for joy” and the expression in the first picture makes it look more like “Jump for nothing much, really, because life sucks and who cares anyway.”

The easiest way to put a little more expression in your face is by using an Emoter HUD [Or if you use the Mystitool, there’s an emote thingy in it]. But if you don’t want to use a BIG laugh like I am in the second picture, you can do what I sometimes do and click on the emote you want, then unclick it and try to catch your face as it goes back to normal.

Or, if you’re even slightly handy with Photoshop, you can do an emote, like a smile, and take the picture. Then take a picture with your face normal. Cut out your smile in PS and move it to the normal pic and line it up. Sometimes you get a better look than the squinty face smile. I usually then use liquify to push my cheeks up a little just to make it slightly more real.

Sometimes I even use makeups to give my face a little more expression, like eye shadows or teeth layers.

Expressions are your friends. Try it! Sometimes it takes your picture from Blah to Yay!

Day 48 – Advice Givery Again!

Oh hi! I woke up all advice givery again! Aren’t you excited? :-p

So in the last advice post, we discussed bloggers. This time, let’s turn to the creators! You hear a lot of things on plurk, and there are two things I hear quite frequently. “I’m not getting many sales!” and “I’m not getting blogged!”

For the sales thing, someone inevitably chimes in with, “It’s the economy!” And sure, the economy is pretty crappy and that doesn’t leave a lot of extra money for luxuries [which is what buying stuff in SL really is, if you think about it]. But there are stores that seem to do really well ALL the time. They almost always have someone in the store buying something – even when it’s NOT a sale day or event time. They easily make enough to pay for their full sim and/or enough to cash out every month. So why them and not you?

Take a look at your stuff. The number one reason you’re not making sales or getting blogged is that your items just aren’t that good. I know. Ouch, right? No one wants to hear that! And I know what you’re saying. “But Ali! I asked my best friend and my SL mom and my SL sister and my SL cousin! And they all said it was coooool!”

Yeah, they mostly lied.

Well, not LIED, but if they love you, they tend to overlook some mistakes you might make, or they don’t want to hurt you. Sometimes it’s better to ask someone who is more impartial, OR make sure that your friend/family member is willing to really be straight with you. Ulaa usually asks me to do a walkthrough of her builds before she starts the final stuff for them just because she knows I’m the first one to scream “TEXTURE GLITCH!!!!” if I see one. And if YOU’RE the friend being asked what you think of someone’s item? TELL THEM. You do them no favors when you’re too nice. It’s like when someone’s told their whole lives that they have a nice voice, then they go to American Idol and are told that they suck. You always see the disbelief in their eyes because they honestly didn’t know.

Oh, also? You might not be getting sales if your store sucks.

Okay, so that’s just an abandoned store I found on mainland, but you get my drift. :-p

And that’s my advice givery post for today! Keep in mind that this is all just opinion, and may not have anything to do with you or your sales.