Fashion Marketing for New Designers
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
, Posted by Suztv at 7:02 PM
- Put your name, your shops name and a landmark to your store in your creations container (bag, box or whatever) or in the vendor
- Get a blog and blog about your arena (fashion, building whatever) weekly if not daily
- Join the FashionPlanet rss feed
- Join SL Exchange and OnRez - post your products there
- Come up with and use a logo - put it on EVERYTHING you do!
- Post your latest items on SL Forums, SL Exchange and SL Shopper
- Take clear pictures at different angles to use in your advertising (I cannot stress this one enough, bad pictures do not sell your product and may even turn away potential customers.) See this article by Material Squirrel- Pet Peeves
- Advertise on blogs (banners), in magazines and in-world (classifieds, billboards etc..)
- Take part in charity events and offer your help or items
- Cross-post - meaning that in your blog, notecard, listings, homepage etc.. you have links going back to your blog, shop slurl, SLExchange, OnRez
- Join FashionConsolidated
- Create an update group (Subscribe-O-Matic, or SL Groups)
- Give out freebies - or dollarbies
- Be nice to the customer - even if they are not nice to you
- Offer to write for a magazine
- Host a treasure hunt
- Use your profile and your recent profile pics to market your store and items
- Spend time in your shop and TALK to your customers, I have made so many sales this way and it also lets you know what your customers want. Plus word gets around that you are approachable.
- Have a suggestions box in your store and a sign indicating where it is.
- Create and release something once a week - if you can't do that, hold an event or sale on the weeks you don't make anything or release anything.
- Buy, Build or have a Building made that looks and emulates the products you sell. That means if you sell "cutesy" clothing, your store should be "cute" - don't put cute clothes in a ghetto building. It just seems odd.
- Know your customer - this one is a biggy. Know if they prefer "transfer/mod" or "Copy/Mod", Know if they prefer "Drawn" or "Photosourced" etc... Your customer expects a certain product - don't change it and expect them to keep buying. If you make goth clothing and suddenly decide to make Haute Couture - your customer base will drop and you basically have to start over and build up a new base.
- Make your signs easy to read - even at a distance. Also consider adding a small description on them.
- Price your items according to the market - don't price jeans at $L500 unless you KNOW they are damn good and you are SL's answer to denim. Look at others doing similar things and how they have priced their items. Don't low-ball either - this is a red flag to fashionistas, as most content thieves low-ball the prices on their items.
- Join groups that are about what you do; If you build- join a builders group, if you design - join a designers group, etc...
- CLEARLY label your items and include your name or your business name in the label - don't just call that new bookcase you made "bookcase" call it "WIDGET**Bookcase**Chestnut brown" - this makes it easier for people searching in their messy inventories, all they would have to type is WIDGET...
- Send review packs - Don't wait to be asked. Find out who accepts review packs and how they'd like to receive them. Don't be discouraged or offended if they don't blog them. If they like your items, they will surely blog them or at least send you some feedback, which is always wonderful. ** Myllie Writer's comments
Here's a list by Tanya Book that has some interesting ideas: Marketing your stuff in Second Life
I have to disagree with number 24 when you say
"Don't low-ball either - this is a red flag to fashionistas, as most content thieves low-ball the prices on their items."
My prices are definately low, but I don't steal. I think lower prices get your name out there better and faster. :)
True - but be careful. I have found that initially it may benefit you but as you grow and become more well-known your customers may expect those extremely low prices and if you suddenly raise them you won't sell a thing. I'm not talking about just charging L25 for shorts when everyone else charges L200 - I mean offering an entire pack of 24 for L25 (unless it's a sale or event). I am also not telling people to go with what everyone else does - but I think the pricing goes with "knowing the customer", the items listed here are just a guideline for new designers or business owners really. In SL - anything is possible.
Oooh - some links for y'all on design and other things.
http://materialsquirrel.blogspot.com/2006/08/pet-peeves.html
http://alaskametro.blogspot.com/2006/08/public-service-announcement-bad-design.html
http://slfashionnotices.wordpress.com/2007/06/11/marketing-your-stuff-in-second-life/
Excellent tips, Sioxie! Thank you!
I would include just one more tip:
- send review packs.
A lot of bloggers have review policies somewhere in their blogs. Don't wait to be asked. Find out who accepts review packs and how they'd like to receive them. Don't be discoraged or offended if they don't blog them. If they like your items, they will surely blog them or at least send you some feedback, which is always wonderful.
Yes Millie - that is one more! I wasn't sure whether to put that in since the SL Fashion blogosphere has changed so much in the past year. But for new designers it can certainly help.
one more suggestion: Owners/designers, PLEASE make the lighting in your shops user-friendly, esp. in stores where demos are used.
Dark wood flooring/carpeting and/or poor lighting sends me right back out the door since I find it hard to scope out the details on the demo.... :O