Learning fast, pt. 1: promotional groups

Salacity History Part 5...

In that quaint little shopping district called Mode St. Andres, I not only had my first-ever in-world store—I also made my first professional acquaintances. I'd had friends who were designers already, but these were the first friends I made through my store and designing. (A big shout-out to Phedre and Alex is called for here.)

One major piece of advice that these two ladies gave me, regarding growing my store and brand: joining groups that allowed you to promote through them. It seemed like both of them were in over a dozen active groups that generated a good bit of traffic to their stores, and they urged me to seek out groups appropriate for home and garden wares and do what it took to get into them.

I found a few, and some allowed me to join right away. Others had requirements, some of which I could meet and others I couldn't. Some were simply inactive, or at least the people that managed the group were (making it impossible to get into). What these groups enable you to do is promote items, new releases, and sales in your store through their group—which means that (depending on the group's membership) potentially thousands of users will receive your notice. Some groups are way more effective than others, but for a beginning designer then any group is more promotion than I had been receiving so far.

There's certainly more to say about in-world groups and their value to stores; look for a "Myths and Truths" post about this topic coming soon.

I really learned a lot from my peers in Mode St. Andres; I'll share more about my experience there in the next post. (I wish now I had taken more photos along the way so I could include one with every post. Sorry!)

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