Posted in business in SL, fuck you LL, money, rant

What LL Has Taught Me About Business

My shop, Clover’s Kitchen, has existed in SL about 3 years and change (minus a break between December 2009 and March 2010). Between its start in 2008 and now, I’ve gotten better at building and scripting, technology’s gotten better, sculpted prims have become amazing, and people’s needs have grown and changed. And so it only makes sense that I fix old products that aren’t as good (like my 20 prim Easter basket from 2 years ago, holy cow), make changes, and keep working.

I’ve learned from LL’s example of what not to do, not to worry about the shiny things that I want to add to my store (like camping for items or other promotional gadgets) before first focusing on the quality of the product itself.

I’m not the happiest of campers with LL right now, in particular regarding the Marketplace. At the time of this posting, a solid 1/6th of my Marketplace listings are unavailable, due to a glitch that’s causing links to other people’s listings (but still with my product images) to appear in my shop, instead of the actual listing to my product that’s supposed to be there.

One. Sixth.

While the Lab is working on getting Direct Delivery to actually function correctly (which in my opinion should be a high priority, before they so much as think of setting a deadline for us to switch over to it), they’re enhancing the reality of my Second Life experience by causing me to work harder than usual just to scramble together enough money to make ends meet. Just like in real life!

Oh, so, in my ranting way, what I was getting at is this: check your product. Especially the older stuff. If it’s not up to scratch anymore, get rid of it and replace it with something that is.

Also, talk to your customers and ask what they think. You’ll learn more from your harshest critic than your most flattering supporter, if you’re really willing to hear what they say.