More on promoting your business in SL

Responding to my post about SL business marketing and profile picks two weeks ago, fellow Victorian designer Marrant Vita asked how I keep track of who puts my shop in their profile picks.

I thought it was worth a separate blog entry unto itself, because the program has proved so successful for me thanks to a product I found on XStreet.

The Profile Picks Gift Vendor, which I put out in my shop in Caledon, does all the work for me. I have two signs up -- the first is for the dress, and contains a notecard about how to participate in the profile picks incentive program.

The second sign, located underneath the first, contains the script. The customer puts my shop in their picks, then returns a day later (24-48 hours is supposedly how long it can take for results to appear in Search). When they touch the second sign, the script contained within then searches Search for that person's profile. If it finds my shop in their picks, it delivers the dress.

There's even a website where I can view who has participated in the program.

I should add the caveat that only account-verified avis can participate, which means that they have payment information on file with Linden Labs that verifies their identity. The SL search engine itself is currently set up so that only the profiles of account-verified users are indexed.

It's worked wonderfully and I can definitely recommend it -- it's very much worth the price. I have seen a marked improvement in my Search returns, in addition to
some keyword tweaking I've been doing to both my land descriptions and my classified ads.

Marrant's business by the way is called Marrant Vita's Victorian Needs, and she makes wonderful scripted products such as an antique sewing machine, a bread baking set and cleaning supplies.

She also makes amazing children's clothing -- you can get an entire set of clothes and a wood wardrobe for 500L -- and scripted toys, like her dollhouse and a wooden train set.