I’ve been spending quite some time in Second Life already, getting networked and helping a number of people set up their business, building and landscaping their land. I’d offer my services (design, marketing) in exchange for their knowledge and I’ve been to many many places and met quite some interesting people who’ve all been really helpful in lining out the path to walk here. Pretty soon my partner and me will be releasing our very own clothing brand in a store I’ve created. The most important lesson I’ve learned is that you have to give something in return when you ask for something. It doesn’t have to be money, it can be an experience as well. If you want an audience to give you attention, you have to give them a reason to do so. That’s why we’ve created an environment where people can come and chill, with a gigantic waterfall where they can swim, sunbathe, dive or relax… where lovers can meet for a romantic get-together while enjoying some good podcasts, music videos or old black and white classic movies. Our store is located next to this very relaxing spot, close to the ocean border and surrounded by lovely neighbors. We opted out for an island, because that feels like a total waste of money and it would take all the regular traffic away. We’re also far from big enough to fill the island with ’stuff’. The store would look so lost on the large strip of land, and we didn’t want to go big at once. We want to be found and want to be IN the world, not on some remote island where half of the world never comes.
My partner is making the designs for the clothing line from scratch, so we’re not only going to have something unique to offer, it’ll be fashionably sexy as well. I’m very curious to see how this experiment turns out. I’ve been talking to a few dozen of entrepreneurs and business owners and got a ton of good tips on how to approach the Second Life audience. There are a few other plans as well that are still being developed, I’ll get to those as soon as they’re starting to become more real, but it all looks very promising with a few very talented people ready to go at it.
I think there’s an opportunity here that just begs to be taken. If you handle it right and be very aware of how to position yourself in this world, things can actually turn out to be just splendid. I’ll post some screenshots of the location if we have our opening party. I met some in-game DJ’s who’ll come give a great show, some dancers to entertain and enough people to have a small crowd to fill the store and the yard. If all goes well and the designer stays on schedule… you’ll be updated really soon.
As for being careful about how to do things in Second Life, have a close read at this article from The Fast Company. It’s an interview with the puppet masters of viral marketing, the blokes from Campfire. The article is about many things, but also about the approach of Second Life for Pontiac. What follows is a quote that quite sums it up just perfect:
This is a new platform for Campfire, but the art, as ever, is to ensure that Pontiac makes the experience of Second Life better for the community that’s already there–then transfers that luster to its real-life brand. The strategy so far is to have Pontiac financially support virtual car-related businesses, such as racetracks and drive-ins, in an online universe where people can create anything but need real-world dollars to do it. (Pontiac won’t let us disclose the real-world twist slated to come at the end of the campaign.)
But before the group can get into hashing out specifics, the Campfire guys offer a warning to the ad team at Leo Burnett, Pontiac’s agency, about the sensitive socio-economics of this unusual microcosm. Another carmaker, Monello tells them, nearly committed a massive faux pas earlier this year when it started giving away virtual cars to Second Lifers, instead of charging the market rate of about $5. “People who had been on Second Life for years, building cars and selling them, would have immediately gotten pissed off because this big corporation came in and totally crashed the car economy,” Monello explains. Make a similar mistake, he says, and the only thing Pontiac would be known for is how its “marketers are f–king up Second Life.”
A sin I’ve witnessed happening and learned important lessons from.
Find me in Second Life: Coolz0r Courier.