This is the first speaker Q&A posting in a 2-part series for the upcoming March 21st AIMS event: the Marketers Roadmap to Second Life. Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing spent some time with Jay Moonah, event speaker and Internet/Media technology consultant, musician, and podcaster.
SS: Can you tell us a quality/benefit of Second Life that the average marketer would not know?
JM: One mistake that I feel many make when thinking about entering Second Life is the idea that you have to build something right away. A lot of companies jump directly to building a store or an island before they think about what they're going to do with it. In my view, the best order of operations is:
- Engage with residents at meet-ups and event appropriate to your interests/business goals. For example, if you're with a car company, you might find SL car races are a good place to start.
- See if appropriate events are open to sponsorships or other kinds of partnerships. Many have islands and other properties CRYING for interesting event to draw resident traffic. See if you can put on a seminar, an event, a conference in-world.
- Once you've engaged the community in these ways, THEN you can think about building. Chances are you'll build something much more appropriate and useful!
SS: What is one tip that you would give a marketer that is looking to start a project in Second Life?
JM: Be creative -- try to find a unique niche and create valuable experiences for your audience. Look around first to see what is already happening, and identify how you can both fit in AND stand out. And remember, that you are interacting directly with your audience in SL, listen to what they have to say and adjust what you are doing accordingly.
SS: What are some of the challenges of taking entertainment to Second Life?
JM: There are some technical considerations, such as making sure everyone in the band is logged in, they are at the venue, and they have instruments. I would highly recommend to performers and presenters that you go to some shows in-world and see how they operate. Residents are generally really helpful so ask questions!
You also need a streaming media server and client set-up. This isn't that hard to set-up, but again ask for help when you see a musician or DJ who is doing it in-world, chances are very good they can explain it to you.
Like any event, publicizing it is important. There are "groups" in-world (essentially mailing lists) appropriate for live music, club music, etc. Join these and check with the group owner if you can publicize your event with that group. Also post information on your blog and other sites, and send info to those who do blogs, podcasts, etc. that are appropriate. The flow between different social media spaces is often overlooked. Note that you can create a "SLURL" (Second Life URL) at slur.com that will allow residents to jump directly from a web link to a location in-world.
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