Selling the Invisible in Second Life® by Sitearm Madonna ; How to Brand your Solution Provider Business for Fun and Profit

Selling the Invisible in Second Life® by Sitearm Madonna

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Selling the Invisible in Second Life®

How to Brand your SL Business for Fun and Profit


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Objectives

• A more powerful perception of branding and selling

• An updated web presence (Web 2.0)

• An updated booth presence (Web 3D)


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Topics

• How do we make the invisible visible?

• What business are we really in?

• What is a brand and why should we care?

• How do I create a brand?

• Where can I learn more?


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How do we make the invisible visible?

• What the heck is a Second Life?

• What is a Digital Virtual Environment?

• Does the outside world understand?

• Do WE understand?


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Second Life Brand

• Second Life is a 3D virtual world created by its Residents (people like you) that's bursting with entertainment, experiences, and opportunity.

• The Second Life Grid™ provides the platform where the Second Life world resides and offers the tools for business, educators, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs to develop a virtual presence.


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Alternative Branding Statement?


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What business are we really in?

• Are we providing a product or a service?– Products are visible; services are invisible– So which is it for digital virtual environments?

• Before you brand, check your service– Assume it needs improvement – it can’t hurt

and it will force you to improve– Ask yourself, “Is this what the market wants?

What would the market LOVE?”


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Focus!

• “The more you try to be all things to all people, the less you will be anything to anyone”

• Stand for one distinctive thing that will give you a competitive advantage

• In your service, what's the hardest task? What is the big skill you could develop and market that clearly implies other valuable skills in less complex areas? Position yourself as the expert at this task.


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What is a brand and why should I care?

• Now that you have a Service and a Focus you need a Brand

• A Brand is what makes your Service and Focus VISIBLE– For the same amount of selling effort, a

branded service makes more sales than a non-branded service.

– Prospects routinely choose brand-name services virtually sight unseen.


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A brand is a NAME

• It’s your name, not your product

• It’s your name, not your service

I am not a rose

What am I?


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The Warranty of a Brand

• A brand is more than a symbol.

• In the public's eye a brand is a warranty.

• It is a promise that the service carrying the brand will live up to its name, and perform.

• A service is a promise, and building a brand builds your promise.

– Harry Beckwith


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How do I create a brand?

• Name - Distinctive• Image • Tag Line• Subliminal Messages

• Does it light YOU up• Does it light OTHERS up• Does it stick over time• If not, fire it, and make another!


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FedEx Brand

• What are the subliminal messages?


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Case Study Ms. X

• We are going to consult Ms. X to start and brand a new Solution Provider Business

• We are going to advise her on:– SERVICE– FOCUS– NAME– IMAGE

• Ready?... GO!


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Ms. X VitaWork Experiences• Advertising Copywriter • Auditor • Computer Programmer • Consultant • Corporate Trainer • Database Administrator • Management Consultant • Photographer • Public Relations Specialist • Small Business Owner • Special Events Marketer • Web Page Designer • Youth Worker

Educational Experiences• Business administration • Computer information systems • Computer technology • Economics • Foreign languages • Interdisciplinary studies • Mechanical drafting • Music • Physics • Psychology • Religious studies • Statistics • Theatre


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And the SERVICE IS…

• Group response…


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And the FOCUS IS…



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And the NAME IS…



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Reflect

• Was this a realistic example?

• Can you relate?

• What did we learn?

• What can we apply to our own FOCUS and BRAND?


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Top twelve ways you know you need to improve your brand

Web 2.0 Presence• Do you have professional

imagery• Do you have your own domain

name• Do you have your own blog• Do you follow best practices

for Search Engine Optimization [KEYWORDS]

• Do you follow best practices for Facebook

• Do you follow best practices for Twitter

Real Life Presence• Do you have a LinkedIn profile• Do you have a professional bio• Do you have a professional

image consultant• Do you have a real life

business outreach program

Web 3D Presence• Does your in-world booth

reflect your web 2.0 presence• And vice versa


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Seeing is believing

• Restaurants are in the entertainment business. People go to restaurants for the experience.

• Our perceptions are very vulnerable to influence. Like good restaurateurs, service marketers must create the visual surroundings that will enhance the client's perception of quality.

• Watch - and perfect - the visual clues you send. – Harry Beckwith


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Summary

• More and better marketing is not the answer to every business question.

• To succeed spectacularly in a service business, you must get all your ducks in a row. Marketing is just one duck. But it is one very big duck.

• Improve your service quality. But never forget that the prospect and client must perceive that quality. It is not the hotel's service quality that wins us; it is the hotel's merchandising of its quality

• The more you can see the patterns and understand people, the more you will succeed.


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Useful References

• Selling the Invisible - A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, Harry Beckwith, 1997; Chapter Noteshttp://www.siterma.com/selling_the_invisible_chapter_notes.html

• Top 10 Ways To Improve Your Personal Brand Image Online, Brandon Uttley, 2009http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/75026

http://www.siterma.com/selling_the_invisible_chapter_notes.html

http://www.siterma.com/selling_the_invisible_chapter_notes.html

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/75026

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/75026