Originally Posted by: Allustrial 
Maybe you are and I just haven't noticed yet but you may want to advertise. While a lot of us who have been here a few years are aware of the new site because we used Uvdeviant, many are not. So far I've told four or five people about Uther3d and they had no idea it even existed. I would guess somewhere in the vicinity of 80% of RLC's members dont use the forums or even have any desire to, that's a lot of missed business, especially the new folks who never knew there was another option. If you are already advertising, then oops, ignore me
You are absolutely right, Allustrial!
However, a business is a process. Advertising needs to take place at the right point in that process to be successful, otherwise its just wasted time and effort.
Look at what we started with. A broken, failing system, that people had given up on. We came up with a game plan, set a date, and put our plan into motion. We promised users functionality back by May 1st, and we met our first deadline. Bringing the AAE, and Catalogs back online, newly branded.
But as you have noticed in this thread. There were some problems. The clothing was white. Many people emailed us asking for assistance; some even did so here in this thread. It took us two weeks, but the problem is now rectified. There was nothing we could do to speed the process up, as we needed to collaborate with UV on the fix. Their focus understandably is on RLC 2, so we had to work on their time frame, and their schedule, or this fix would have never been completed. Had we advertised prior to that, and someone bought white clothing, it would have been a disappointed consumer, who may not have given us another chance. Now, the clothing sales market is booming on U3D. And honestly, Im shocked. I never thought there would be this much volume, this fast, with the primary catalog obviously being UVC. But people like Ray, and Maya have already earned hundreds and hundreds of rays, and there are at least 50-60 other designers who have already had sales on U3D. All with no advertising to this point.
And the AAE? Wow. Again beyond my dreams. While there are some people, like the last poster and a bunch of others, who are extremely jealous of other peoples successes, and want you to believe UV is dying. They will tell you RLC 2 is going to be a failure. Take a step back and look at who those people are. You wont find many successes in their virtual resume, and some even with some serious blemishes. They just dont want to see others succeed because they cant on their own. They make blanket statements, using terms like "most" as was mentioned above - but will never back up their information with facts because they have none, and are simply sulking over the positive results of others. The bottom line, in 17 days, 102 AAE subscriptions. And this doesnt count the ones we gave away for free to people who had a balance in their UVD account that disappeared with UVD. My best analysis is that by the end of May, somewhere between 200 and 250 people will be using the AAE! Now by my estimation, that is about 1% of users active in a 72 hour period, using the AAE. Thats incredible for one month and is only going to increase in time. The AAE is alive and well, and gaining momentum!
That moves us to property and prop platform of U3D. While the property catalog is working as it was, the prop section is still a major disappointment. As we have said in a few posts recently, the prop catalog is not even at 50%, and of that limited selection, many of them arent even working. We are in the process of updating this, even as I type this message right now. We need to get as close to 100% as possible. Could you imagine the disappointment of a new seller or buyer to not find the prop they want, or to find it and have it not working? And as I said, over 200 props sold in the first 17 days. Thats just awesome.
Our website is averaging over 1500 page views a day. People are coming, looking around, listing items, buying items. Again far exceeding my expectations for this point in the project!
The support from the community has been incredible as well. People like Xaoz who has offered us the usage of all of his tutorials. So many great ideas from users, like Gabriel. Most recently Monaro who has just sent us all his prop models so that we can try to bring the prop system to a fully functional level. And then just the people who are frequent users of the system... Dusty, Wumps, Tigs, Driftr, Christine, Tina, Gez, John, Armand, DurtyJay, Prof Star.. and the list goes on and on. Many of those sellers have the U3D catalog iFramed onto their profiles, and are helping us to advertise. And just take a look at some of the recent forum posts:
SaphyeRose on U3DAyane on U3DTergiet on U3DRight now its all of you, helping us to get the word out that U3D is up and running.
Id be very remiss if I left out Utherverse as well. Staff has been awesome. They have allowed us some publicity on the splash log in screen. People like Daun who was so instrumental in providing information in the early stages when all the uncertainty was floating around the community. Aaron, and his awesome tech support, who finally helped us end the white out. And of course, Elena. Cant say enough about her. She put together the parties to make this whole project happen. She has been the go between for all questions we have that we couldnt get answered. She has helped us get some thing we needed for some upcoming features. She has put up with Ari, Terg and I for the last 45 days or so regarding this project... and still hasnt blocked us on Skype. So when you read this Brian... its time for a big raise for that woman. Read dollars, not virtual shopping currency!! But the whole UV team, has been a great help, and continues to be.
So yes, Allustrial, advertising is coming as we get things to where they need to be not to disappoint any perspective new users. What are our plans you might ask?
We plan to expand our friends list on the U3D account from the current 5200 to at least 5 times that, including all active users from 2016. At that point we plan to create tutorials, especially for the AAE. We need to show people how the AAE can make their avatar stand out from others. Exactly why a small fee of 20 rays is worth it to stand out in the crowd. We will send these tutorials out via email, comments, bulletins, etc to make people aware of its functionality. Eventually we will get to prop tutorials, clothing, etc. When people see what can be done, hopefully its functionality they feel they will use.
We want to create better profile advertisements that people can use to sell their creations. Let every user that hits every profile of a U3D Merchant see that there is another marketplace for clothes, props, properties. Things better than just an iFrame on the side of the profile. In addition, we are working on a new wishlist system that will be much more comprehensive that what we currently have.
We intend to do some outside world advertising to bring in new users as well. We have tons of experience with affiliate sign ups, and can use the new U3D website as a showcase for the entire Utherverse platform. It will bring in a new type of user than what the basic affiliate advertising focuses on.
Our most recent addition of sales notification emails has been very successful. So many people asking; Who Are you? What is U3D? etc etc. These are vendors that already have items for sale on U3D. They Didnt even realize we are back up and running. As they sell, they find out via email. As they continue to sell, they add new props, properties, clothing - which is already happening at a great rate. The market is strong, and our vendors are realizing already this is just additional income for them!
New features will help us. We are working on some automation for decos. These features becoming popular will advertise themselves. If we can continue to bring new features that arent available on the UV platform, people will find use for them. As others see their usefulness, more will be inclined to use them. I cant elaborate on these features right now, dont want to create too much of an uproar, and additional negativity from the customary few.
And probably one of the best advertising advantages that we have... Terg and Ari. Two super trustworthy, very popular, extremely intelligent users who so many look up to for their accomplishments in so many areas on Utherverse. Users see their involvement, and want to be a part of it, and feel safe doing so. Everybody wants to be part of something big and exciting.
The plan is in motion, and to this point, thanks to everyones support is way ahead of schedule. Advertising will come as the time is right. If anyone has any specific ideas for us regarding anything including features and advertsing, as we have said in this thread, and as you have seen by some of the new features already, we are listening and doing what we can to make U3D useful to all of you! We want your feedback.
