How to market your products

nThis article introduces the essentials of Second Life commerce promotion and provides links tofurther useful resources. There is a lot of information here, so we suggest you bookmark this pageand refer to it as needed.nnCopywrite to excite!nnThe key to making your product stand out fromthe thousands of other products on the SL Marketplace is creating a compelling listing. A greatlisting captures the attention of browsing Residents and helps them make an informeddecision.hnnnQuality copy -- the title and description of your product listing -- can make or break asale. Get the consumer excited about purchasing your product. A well-crafted description makesyour product both more alluring and more memorable. Be sure to check your spelling andpunctuation: a sloppily written listing can make potential buyers think your product is poorlyconstructed, too. Your listing should reflect the care and attention to detail you put into creatingyour goods.nnGrab attention with a catchy headlinennTitles matter! Here are some tips for makingthe most of them:nnInclude the specific name of your product.nIf your product comes in differentcolors or versions like "Lite" and "Pro," make this clear.nIf you have a personal or company brand,include it if space permits.nInclude keywords to make your title more searchable.nDon't type in ALLCAPS; it's visually aggressive and may turn people off.nSome sellers use special characters like ***~*~ to decorate their listings, but this too may be off-putting and may also hurt your searchrankings. If you really want your listing to stand out, consider using a listingenhancement.nnExamples:nnLuxury Renaissance Villa - Low PrimsnHandcrafted Bronze Anklet -Limited Edition!nSuperTek's Low-Lag Animation Overrider v2.0nRavstyle "Lynnie" Hair - RainbowFatpacknConnect with your customersnnGenerate a following by creating listings that showconsumers who you are.nnMake it clear to your potential customers that they are dealing with acaring person. They will be more likely to ask questions that could lead to a sale.nLet individualquirks shine through. Adding personality to your products elevates them above generic "piles ofpixels."nCall attention to what's unique about the wild dress or wacky gadget you're selling,especially if it is (as far as you know) the only offering of its kind on the whole market.nBe specific.Make a clear list of features that is easy to understand at a glance.nBe honest about knownlimitations or bugs that inhibit your product's functionality. Transparency earns your buyers'trust.nOffer practical solutions to problems.nIf you have a proven record of unbeatable customerservice, say so!nIf you have received positive testimonials, or a video review, let your customersknow. Future testimonials can snowball as a result of early praise.nYou should also let buyers knowif your product is a limited-time offer or a special edition -- but be honest. No one wants to purhcasesomething "premium" only to discover later that it is widely available.nIf you are open to doingcustom work, make this clear. (Conversely, creators who are too busy to make customs often list thisin their inworld profile.)nKnow your target market and tailor your listings accordingly. Let potentialcustomers know exactly how your product will help them have a more enjoyable SecondLife.nnExamples:nnFed up with belts that cut into your avatar's waisth I have a solution foryou...nThere's an interesting story behind these poseballs and it comes from my own love life...nThishair fatpack means you'll get all of the colors shown in the photo. The headband isn't part of thepackage but an included styling notecard shows where you can buy this and other accessories.nTheeasy resize HUD means you'll never have to waste time fiddling with the building tools!nItem listingfieldsnnThe following fields are in each of your item listings. They help describe your item toshoppers and can also help you organize your merchandise:nnSKU - This stands for Stock-KeepingUnit and is a unique identifier for each item.nVersion - If you have your own product-versioningsystem (for example, many scripted gadgets issue updates), enter the number here. For example,"2.0".nItem Status - Can be Active or Inactive. This is the same thing as Unlist/List on the Manageinventory page.nMaturity Level - Can be General, Moderate, or Adult. Please note that if you set thematurity level incorrectly, our automatic filter process may correct it without notifying you. For

more information on how to rate your item, see the Marketplace listing guidelines.nMeshh- Usedthis setting to indicate whether your item is composed of No Mesh, Partial Mesh, or 100% Mesh. Ifyou do not have payment information on file or have not completed the Mesh IP Tutorial, you mayonly choose No Mesh. hThis setting is useful for Residents who are using Second Life Viewers thatdo not yet support mesh content; to them, your object may appear to be composed of flattriangles!nPermissions - What the customer can do with the object. Note that setting this does notchange your original item's permissions-- you need to set those beforehand and check the sameboxes here.nIf your item has permissions subtleties, make sure to check hnote them in the Extendeddescription below. For example, a robot toy's colors may be modifiable, while the script inside therobot is no-modify.nIf you wish to place specific license restrictions on your item, check UserLicensedhand describe the terms of the license in the Extended description. hFor example, you maywish to sell an object with full copy/modify/transfer permissions, but disallow resale except underspecific conditions.nnInternational tabs - If you've localized your item for additional languages, clicka language tab to enter that information. Each language is a separate listing, but listings in severallanguages can be created simultaneously.nSL object name - Corresponds to what the object isnamed in your inworld Magic Box. You can change this by clicking the Edit associated object button.To learn more, see Changing the item associated with a listing.nItem title - You can leave this thesame as the SL object name or expand it to be more descriptive for additional visibility. This field issearchable and can be up to 120 characters.nProduct features - Call out up to five specific highlightsto emphasize why someone would want to buy your stuff.nExtended description - Details about yourproduct in plain text (the old Xstreet BBcode isn't supported). This commonly includes expanded infoabout the Product features, Permissions, and other fields. You can also link to a video tutorial orother rich documentation. Many merchants use it to provide customer service info, although EditStore Information is probably a better place for that. Also, product manuals should be provided as aDownloadable PDF as mentioned below. This field is not searchable and can be up to 5,000characters. While you can have the text of a URL in these areas, the text is not linked to the page.There is room on the merchant page for links to the merchant's web page or blog.nKeywords -Specific terms you expect this item to be found with when customers search. This field is searchablefrom Marketplace search and can be up to 200 characters, including commas and spaces.nCategory- Click Change category to get category suggestions. In the popup, search categories, then click thecategory that fits best from the list. If you can't find a relevant product category, include keywordshso that your product comes up when shoppers search using those keywords. You might also suggesta new Marketplace category.nItem price - In L$. If this item is a freebie, enter 0.nPrim count - Thenumber of prims this objects is. Subtleties can be explained in the Extended description. Forexample, if you're selling a set of furniture in which the chair is 20 prims and the table is 30, be sureto let the buyer know.nSLurl - This is usually a link to your inworld storefront, or at least a place theobject can be viewed in three dimensions inworld. Whenever possible, enter a specific link to theexact location instead of a generic one to the front of your store. Learn more about SLurls.nVideoURL - Have you made a video tutorial or a marketing promo to show your product in actionh Thiscan be a delightful way to quickly show what it's all about. YouTube is the most popular video site,but there are many alternatives. The Video URL can actually be any standard URL, but the link puthere appears under the listing's Details tab as View Videohh.nnn nnnnnAvailable quantity - This isusually Unlimited unless you are selling something like limited-edition art. Limited items are oftensold as no-copy so the buyer can't duplicate them.nImages - While this field isn't required, it's one ofthe most important to communicate what you're selling, so include at least one image. Click Uploadan image to get info and choose a JPG, PNG, TGA, or GIF image file from your hard drive. You canhave up to 8 images for an item.nAnimated GIF - The Second Life Marketplace supports animatedGIFs. They can be up to 1 MB (which means you may need to use an optimizer like Photoshop's"Save for Web & Devices") and, like other images, up to 700x525 pixels.nDownloadable PDF - ClickBrowse to choose a PDF from your hard drive. PDFs can be more beautiful and readable thaninworld notecards.nYou can include extended content in a PDF, like additional high-res images and

Flash movies.nThere isn't a limit to the size of the PDF file, but you should use your buyers' time andbandwidth wisely.nIf you don't own Adobe software on Windows, you can use Microsoft Word orOpenOffice to create PDF files. On a Mac, almost every application can print to a PDF file.nWerecommend that product instructions go into the PDF file. Product specific EULAs (end user licenseagreements) should also go there. If you only have one EULA for all items, we suggest you put this inyour store policies area, linked from your merchant profile, and also duplicate it in thePDF.nnRelated Items - Related items are commonly variations (such as different colors of the samebasic thing) or complementary (under a coat listing, you could have an umbrella as a related item).Click the button and then type an item name "Second Life Cheats Lidens Dollars" or partial name topull up matches from your Marketplace product listings. You can have up to 8 related items. In theMarketplace, these items appear at the bottom of the detailed listing.nDemo Item - Want customersto be able to try before they buyh Demos tend to be clearly limited versions of the real thing you'vemodified in advance: for example, a skin with a "DEMO" tattoo on it. Click Add demo item to chooseone. Demo items themselves can be unlisted.nListing Enhancements - You can promote your item byfeaturing it on different Marketplace pages. Learn more about listing enhancements here.nRevenueDistributions - The revenue distributions feature allows payments to be automatically distributedamong multiple Residents. For example, you might share profits with a co-creator of the item;forward a percentage to the owner of the item's brand, if you are a sales affiliate; or send theproceeds to an alt account you use for holding and selling L$. Distributions are based onpercentages, not fixed dollar amounts. You control revenue distributions by clicking Add Distributionon the Edit item listing page.hnPhotograph your productsnnPost a picture! Regardless of howcompelling your description is, few shoppers are willing to buy a product sight unseen. Taking asnapshot in Second Life and saving it to your local hard drive is free, so there is absolutely no excusefor not uploading a picture with your listing. Here are some tips for how to use photos to greatestadvantage:nnMake images bright enough to display well in a browser. Dark images make theconsumer think you have some flaw to hide. When in doubt, brighter is always better.nnShoot yourproduct from multiple angles. You can have up tohttp://hack-cheat.com/second-life-hack-cheat-tool-generator-download-unlimited-linden-dollars/ eightpictures per product listing, so take the opportunity to show off different angles and variations. Forexample, show how a buildng looks inside, outside, and under different lighting conditions. Show theback of a dress as well as the front.nDon't skimp on image dimensions. Images are shown in previewslots, but their full-size versions can be up to 700 x 525 pixels (aspect ratio of 4:3).nAvoid JPGovercompression, which adds ugly blurring and artifacts.nFeel free to create a beautiful compositeimage with text and stylized graphics, but always include some accurate raws as well. Don'tphotoshop or hide flaws in the actual product. Some imperfections, like the visible transition frommesh clothing to sculptie attachments, are inevitable, but airbrushing them out is deceitful to thecustomer. Don't do it!nAdjust your graphics settings to High or Ultra, and let customers knowh thatyour product will benefit from being viewed under these settings.nJagged edges can be avoided byenabling antialiasing, as shown in this video:nnnUnless for intended effect (like a glow lamp thatlooks best at night), choose a fairly neutral http://free-hack-tool.com/second-life-hack/WindLightsetting, such as the default midday that represents colors accurately, as shown in thisvideo:nnnThough using a facelight to enhance the ambient appearance of skins and similar productsis fine, make sure you tell your customers exactly what is and is not included the productpackage.hnRate mature products appropriatelynnThe Marketplace maturity rating system has thesame categories as the inworld system: General, Moderate, and Adult.nnnIf you sell goods of anadult-rated or moderate-rated nature, make sure that they are clearly marked as such. This helpscustomers looking for such goods find them while hiding them from those who aren't interested.Now that there are teens on the main grid, rating your products responsibly is even moreimportant.nnnFor more information on what these ratings mean, see the Marketplace Fee andListing Policies.nnOther advertising strategiesnnTake the time to research and try out the variousstrategies below to find the ones that work for you.nnFeatured ItemsnnEach of your products can

appear in the Marketplace Featured Items, which are shown in prominent places around the site.These listing enhancements make a product more visible and allow interested shoppers to clickthrough and -- if they like what they see -- make a purchase moments later.nnnLearn more aboutListing Enhancements for Featured Items.nnFree stuffnnOffering free or almost free items is afantastic way to get your name out there. It not only makes you more visible; it makes people likeyou!nnnImproving your search resultsnnWe keep our search relevancy formula private to preventpeople from gaming the system. However, we can tell you that the formula includes:nnAverageratingnPast sales over a chosen time periodnSales ranknSearch term matchingnnThe best way toimprove your search results is by creating excellent products and marketing them effectively. Learnmore about search rankings.hnnSharing brandsnnMerchants can increase brand visibility and offermore complementary items by sharing a brand. Please note that merchant stores are categorized bymerchant name, so a storefront can only be associated with one merchant.nnInworld storesignsnnYou can create a store sign that sends inworld shoppers to your storefront on theMarketplace website. For the sake of branding consistency, we recommend adapting the samegraphics you use on your Marketplace and inworld stores.nnnTo create a sign:nnCreate a signobject. For help creating objects, see the Building tips article.nRight-click the sign object and chooseEdit.nIn the Build window, click the Content tab.nClick the New Script button.nDouble-click theNew Script in Contents to edit it.nCompletely replace the script's contents with thisscript:ndefaultnntouch_start(integer total_number) n// load a dialog with aURLnllLoadURL(llDetectedKey(0), "Visit my Marketplace Store","https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/30");nnnnnAfter you've added the script:nnCustomize thehighlighted text above to specify your store. The store number is shown in your browser when youlogin to the Marketplace and choose My Marketplace > My store.nClick Save.nClose the New Scriptand Build windows.nClick your sign object. A notification should appear with a link to your web storeon the Marketplace. This is what your customers will see.nWiki help pagesnPosts andthreadsnBeyond Second LifennSuccess on the Marketplace begins with a good understanding ofSecond Life culture and procedures. If you are new to selling, look closely at listings for items youyourself have purchased and take careful note of what appeals to you. Look to more experiencedcontent creators for ideas -- but don't plagiarize their copy.nnnOnce you have a handle on the basicsof the Marketplace, you might turn to external sources of inspiration. Consider the local markets youvisit regularly; how do they present their goodsh What about newspapers, magazines, or eventabloids -- how do they grab your attention and keep you readinghnnnHere are a few specific links toother sellers' guides we've found helpful in crafting the SL Marketplace:nnnThese copywriting andSEO tips generally apply to the Marketplace:nnnResidents have suggested these helpfullinks:nnnUseful reference books:nn