Branding:Your logo or branding is the first and main visual representation of your business that customers will see whether in the search tool, on the front of your premises or even in a vendor and it is important that you get it right.
There are a number of great artists and designers in SL who can help you if design is not your strong point. For example at Textures R Us, by LillyBeth Filth, there is a whole team of artists who do custom jobs. There are even some branding consultants in SL who can advise you to a high level.
Branding is essential in this day and age as recognition of products depends on a memorable image or perception. A strong brand will conjure up emotions,aspirations and memories and will inspire loyalty. In SL, this is mostly achieved with a strong visual image, although slogans can help too.
To achieve a good brand status in SL takes time and there are many design and marketing issues to take on board. As with laying out a shop, it is best not to have a cluttered image for your logo. The name of your business and perhaps an item associated with your trade is enough.
My logo has strong colours and an image of a flying book. The black and yellow colours and the simple font also make it reminiscent of Other 'how to' book series.
Once you have designed your logo put it on everything that you sell or giveaway. A logo is only as effective as how much you use it.
If your business is selling items, you should even put your logo on the boxes you pack items in. If someone leaves one of your boxes in a sandbox you will get free advertising in a high traffic area for several hours.
Make sure your notecard and landmark have transfer and copy permissions so anyone chancing by the box can take a copy if they are interested.
Many RL principles apply to SL branding and I can only really touch thes urface of this topic. One difference in SL is that things move much faster and you will see the results of your work sooner rather than later.
Do remember that once you have settled on a logo you shouldn't change it without a seriously good reason or all your hard work at building up your brand could be lost.
Events
Events are a great way to increase your traffic and bring new customers or clients to your business. Your options for events are as big as your imagination.
It is best to use your imagination and organise an event that will bring potential customers to your premises that might not otherwise visit your business.
You might hold a fashion show, a talk by an expert (which might even be you Once you are established!), bring a well-known figure into SL to do a question-and-answer session or have a party it's entirely up to you. Be sure to tailor your event to your target audience.
To list an event you need to do the following:
Select SEARCH and click on the EVENTS tab.
Click on the SEARCH button.
Select CREATE EVENT. A notice will come up asking you if you want to go to the Second Life events web page.
Click on OK to go to the Secondlife.com events page.
Now select ADD EVENT from the Secondlife.com website. You will need to select I AGREE to the rules on creating events.
Add a name for your event. You should be brief, factual and concise here. Next add a description. This should be one paragraph only, and a brief one at that.
Remember to reiterate where and when the event is. You will then need to add the date and time for your event.
Remember to Put the SL time rather than your RL time zone. You should think about which time is most convenient for as many different time zones as possible if you are trying to get people from all over the world.
You should add a duration for your event. The default is only 10 minutes.
Add a category for your event whichever fits your event the best.
You can also add a cover charge for your event where people have to pay to attend. This isn't recommended as nearly all events in SL are free and you won't get many people attending.
Finally, you should add the location for your event from the list and click to SAVE EVENT
Listing your event on the SL website will bring a lot of traffic, but nearer the time, don't forget to 'group notice' your group. Send your group an IM to remind them that your event is starting and let all your friends know via a friends conference IM..
If all this sounds like too much hard work, you could always find a marketing consultant to hold an event for you or look to sponsor an existing event. For as little as a couple of hundred Linden dollars you can sponsor an event and reach around 50 or 60 people in one go.
Extracted from How to Get a Second Life ©2007 madddyyy Schnook and Andrew Sullivan, published by Fusion Press. Available from www.amazon.co.uk, www.visionpaperbacks.co.uk and all good bookshops.