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Kilani

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Post: 1373238_1 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:21:18 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:21:18 +0000

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Make sure you read the Minishop Rules & Guidlines!
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Hello! Welcome to my guide for making and managing a successful Mini Shop. Why is this here, I mean, doesn't Kitsune already have one of those? Well, I'm glad you asked that (no really, you did, ok?). Kitsune's thread is very lovely but I wanted to make more of a guide than rather advice. I am in no way trying to "compete" with her thread.

So, here's my guide to owning a successful shop! I own one myself, and hope that my experience will help enlighten those that own one already, or want to get into the business. By the way this is no short guide, so if you want a puny little "1. make teh itam.. 2. sell teh itam.. 3. GET RICH OmFG!!!111one", then look elsewhere, kk?

Also, I'd like you all to remember that this guide is constantly in-progress, it is not complete. I am simply trying to do the best that I can to help Gaia. ^_^

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// Table of Continents \\
1. Introduction <- You are Here
2. Starting Out
3. Attracting Customers
4. How to Behave Properly
5. Making Quality Products
6. Getting Organized
7. Your Shop Can Help Your Inventory Too!
8. The Dos and Don'ts
9. Thank Yous and Links!
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Other Useful Guides
Sky's Gaia Tutorial/Guide Thingie~

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Since my thread was made I have kept a log of updates made to it. Here they are, ahh.. don't you just love thinking about the good old days? Well, okay maybe just I do. I'm sentimental like that. whee

Updates

March 20th, 2004
And so ye thread was created! I'm trying to work this into a better and better guide. I promise I'll try my hardest to make it a quality thread. User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

(By the way thanks to my boyfriend for giving me a nice layout to rip off <3 his guide thread XD)

Kilani

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Post: 1373238_2 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:22:20 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:22:20 +0000

Back in the old days, starting a shop was not much work. You make a post, put in some images... yadda yadda yadda, bam, quality shop! However.. that doesn't seem to be the case these days. There are thousands of shops now, and so many have died out in a matter of days.. weeks! But you want a long-lasting business relationship on Gaia don't you? Well, that's good, but you better be prepared!

Firstly, you need to figure out what you want to sell. Now, originality is nice and all.. but it's not neccessary for a successful shop business. However, that does not mean you should go ripping off an image you see on the net my friend! That is against Gaia's rules, and that will get you banned (or at least despised by the entire mini shops community, which is trust me.. not a good thing).

You need to take into hand what kind sell well in the business, and what don't. While unique animals like Koala Bears and Chipmunks are adorable, they will sell only half as well as a cute Tiger or Fox. Why? Well, because it just appeals to almost all of the public. You don't have to even like Tigers or Foxes. To tell you the truth, (now this is just between you and me) I didn't like Bunnies or Rabbits very much when I made my shop. Now I love them! Well, kind of.

Mini Shops however aren't just limited to cute fuzzy animals! There are all sorts of things you could sell, avater portraits, avater edits, winamp skins, desktop wallpapers, website layouts, bumping services, writting services, the list goes on and on. Afterall, variety IS the spice of life.

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Once you figure out what to sell, it's time to create a thread for reserving your shop posts. Why are we reserving? It's always more appealing and less confussing when you don't have everything in one big post. Take out notepad. Yes, that program that's been on your poor deprived computer that you haven't layed eyes on for years. First you want to start writting down all the posts that you're going to need. You want one for each adoptable type you're selling (one for Cats, one for Dogs, etcetera), and then the other basic you-need-to-know posts: Rules/How to Order & Custom Information, Donations Recieved & Limited Edition Owners, and Link Banners & Affiliates. Don't forget to make a few just-in-case reserves.

Tip: To make it easier on a Customer, have a "Table of Contents" in the first post with links to all of the posts.

Okay.. now, onto making your shop's images. Your shop should have.. 1. A header to go at the top with your shop title. 2. A divider line, to seperate differant areas in your posts. 3. Sample images. You want to protect against people stealing your work so put SAMPLE across everything you are selling!

It's not too important how great you are at making graphics, but it can turn someone off who sees your Title image first. You want your graphics to go with the type of items you are selling. If you're selling cute things, make cute fluffy graphics!

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Items, check. Reserved, check. Graphics, check. Prices, huh? Oh yeah, that's right, the priiices! After all, you're not giving these things away for free are you? (You are? Hook me up!) Everything in your shop should be priced according to: Effort, size, quantity, and how much you have to do with the item. Are you just delivering it? Do you allow custom markings and accessories? You must put all of these into consideration. The longer it takes you to make and send out an item, the higher you should price. For the smaller items (that are only the size of the mole on your back--YES I SAW IT) you should charge about 20-40 gold. For the medium sized items, about 50-70. Finally, for the large items, around 100-150.

For Limited Edition items, price them according to how many you have available. If you sell them in loads of 20, try pricing them around 100-200. If selling in loads of 40 or so, halve that. You can also sell these by Time Limited instead of Quantity. The same rule applies, the longer you sell them, the cheaper they should be.

Tip: Limiteds tend to sell like hotcakes, if you're in a fix for money, these are the way to go.
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Post: 1373238_3 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:24:56 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:24:56 +0000

Now that you have your shop all set up, you need customers, right? Right. When you first open, it's reccommended that you put "Grand Opening!" in your shop title. One way to really get customers is.. that's right, Bumping (Which to some people stands for Bring Up My Post). If you can afford it, hireing people, or holding a contest for bumping, can get the job done without you there all the time. Wether it seems like it or not, people are much more likely to go into a shop that's constantly on the first page, than they are to go on one that's always on the 7th page. It's a fact that people tend to not venture out of the first few pages of Mini Shops.

Holding contests isn't just limited to bumping. This is another great way to gain customers. You can hold raffles where people buy a pet, and get a ticket at a chance of winning a Donation Letter from Gaia. Sell 30 100g pets, and you're not even spending a dime! Or.. gold, rather.

Important!: Make sure you get the item before you hold the raffle. You don't want to be stuck with no item and tons of angry people!

Another contest type is to give the 100th person to order, or 100th order, a prize. Every hundred or so orders you give another prize.

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Probably the BEST way besides bumping is becomming affiliates with other people's shops. Make sure you make more than a few buttons and banners for linking to your shop. Each banner or button should have a picture of some of the items you are selling (or a picture of your most popular item).

Tip: Don't forget to put a button in your signature!

If you can afford to, get involved in charity events. Make a special item just for a certain charity or quest thread. This can help boost sales, and help the needy at the same time! Now that's something that's good for everyone.

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Post: 1373238_4 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:25:46 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:25:46 +0000

Having good manners and being polite is key if you want returning customers. It's always good to send a "Thank you, have a great day, and please come again!" message with the items you're sending out to people. You should also send a reminder messsage for people to upload things to their own server and not direct-link with the items, as people tend to not read Rules. (Unless you allow direct-linking, of course. But who does?)

If you encounter ignorant people, stupid people, or jerks in your shop (which, you will), ignore them unless you can't. For instance, say someone is ordering something from you and sends you a PM even though it clearly states in your shop that people should post for orders (hint, hint).. be nice to the person. They don't mean any harm. They're just lazy, really. Just politely tell them that you cancelled their trade, and you would appreciate it if they would read the rules next time and that they should post their order at the thread if they'd still like to recieve the items.

If someone comes into your shop and starts saying things like "OMG THIS SUX U STUPID 555" then tell them to please stop their bickering and leave. If they keep up then tell a mod, there's no reason to start up a flaming session in your thread.

Always keep the atmosphere friendly and welcoming in your shop. People are not going to want to order from some place that can't keep it calm and fun for 5 minutes. If you feel like you're about to burst out screaming, get off of the internet, go outside, and kick around rocks in a mumbleing fashion. Basically, take time to cool off.

Remember, people will remember you from outside of your shop. If you are a jerkoff outside of your store, and only nice to customers, it won't do you much good. Try to always be nice to people on Gaia, a happy place brings happy people. Or was it the other way around.

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Post: 1373238_5 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:26:48 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:26:48 +0000

Getting into the Mini Shops business is often exciting for one. Planning, organizing.. the thought of owning your very own store! Don't let the excitement push you, take your time. You need to spend your time on the merchandise or services you're offering. Brush up on your skills, look up tutorials. The quality of your merchandise will be a big factor in how well your shop does.

If you think you can't draw worth didly, then don't offer drawing services. There are so many things you can do, you must be bound to have some skill. Heck, bumping certainly requires no skill. There is always something you can offer to sell in Mini Shops, just don't make one for the heck of making one for some quick cash. If you work things right, you can get a steady cashflow of 3-5k a day!

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Here are some links to helpful sites that should boost your skills 5023480230482038%+

.Photoshop Tutorials
Good-Tutorials.com <- awesome
Penguinpedia
phong

.Pixel Art Tutorials
Doodle Dollies
Precious Pixels KH

Kilani

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Post: 1373238_6 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:28:54 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:28:54 +0000

One of the most important things as a shop owner is to be as organized as you possibly can. Being organized and taking the best routes can significantly lower the ammount of stress and actual work you have to do.

You're going to want to keep a huge notepad file of important notes and lists. Start by making a list of links to all of the images that you sell. Then when you want to deliver you can just copy-paste the image urls to the PMs and send it on it's way. Gradually add to the list, if you want to make template Thank You messages that's just fine. This is also good for including the "Do not Direct Link" message, and one about how your FTP might be down at the time of recieving.

Keep a list of all of your customers, in the future it will be nice to have a list of total customers.. and think back to the first ones. You can also give prizes this way, which is mentioned in the chapter of "Attracting Customers". It's your choice to make a list organized alphabetically, but you should also catalogue them by name in your file to know who is the 100th, 200th, etcetera, if you want to offer prizes.

If you have pending custom orders, write them down. You don't want to forget someone's order that you already accepted the trade for. You should also keep a list of customs you are waiting on in the same file, especially if you order them often.

Don't forget to keep a log of all the donations you've recieved! It's best to shorten this list by adding it in with the list of total customers. (For instance, xx donates 555g, you put xx's name in the customer's list with (555g tip) next to his name).

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Finally, if you are going to put some of these lists in your store (and you are, you know you want to show off all your awesome customers and donators), make sure that whenever you stop adding donations and people to the lists in your shop, put a marker in your notepad file.

List Setup Example

Past Total Customers (By Post Order): Merili (555g tip), Sky Render, Alton Brown, Merili, Xellena
Start Adding to Shop Lists (Customers & Donations) from Here: Egg Man, lanz0r (1,000,000g tip), Sky Render
^ The names on the list above ("Start Adding to Shop Lists" wink should be periodically moved to the lists for your shop, which is sorted Alphabetically. The tips you recieved (in parenthesis by some names) should be moved to the Donations list for your shop. Names should not be repeated in the lists for your shop! v
Past Customers - 4 Total: Alton Brown, Merili, Sky Render, Xellena
Donations List: Merili- 555g

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Post: 1373238_7 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:30:10 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:30:10 +0000

The Exchange is a scary, scary, place. People shoving posts up left and right, scammers, rude people.. it's very hard to sell anything in the exchange these days without letting something go for 1% of it's value. That's where your mini shop comes into place.

If your shop becomes a thriving business (and if you work hard at it, it will), then you will most likely be known as a trustworthy person. In fact, many people will be your fans. At least, that's what I tell myself to help me sleep at night. Selling your inventory items in your shop can help make the sales easier, and faster. Instead of having two places to bump, you only have one.

Make sure it's organized, with images and base prices. Note if you're willing to go any lower on the prices, and how someone should go about trying to buy something from you. If people like you, they will most likely be willing to spend a little bit of extra gold to buy something they want from you instead of scower the exchange.

This would also be a great place to list things that you are looking for to buy.

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Post: 1373238_8 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:32:30 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:32:30 +0000

1. Don't Steal.. anything. You will be caught, the higher powers know all. (Actually there are just people that go everywhere on the net so don't think you can swipe images from a cute japanese site)
2. Don't flame. Flaming is stupid and only attracts the wrong kind of attention to your shop.
3. Don't be too strict. It's nice to have a good set of rules for people to go by but cut them slack! Don't expect everyone to follow your rules and guidelines picture-perfectly.
4. Never use images your friend said they made for selling in your shop, unless you actually saw them make it. Friends are thieves too, you know. (I've seen this happen way too many times)
5. If you use images by someone else for making graphics, ALWAYS link to the sites and give them credit.
6. This number is EVIL so you should ban this number from every list you have!! Just kidding.
7. Turn off the Caps Lock Key!! If you are used to using it then remove it from your keyboard. It will do the world (and my boyfriend) alot of good!

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Post: 1373238_9 created on Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:33:37 +0000
Posted: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 23:33:37 +0000

These are just a few people that I wanted to thank for helping me with my thread, thanks so much to all you wonderful people! Much kissu. Kissu kissu!

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Sky Render - Thanks so much for making my temporary graphics! My fingers hurt so much. ToT