Weaponsmith Archive
Thread: How do YOU promote your business?
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Czar243
Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:11 am
#1
Hello all, I have finaly started creating weapons (Namely Melee weapons, I dont have the resources for the ranged yet) that stack up will with my fellow weaponsmiths on the server - I would like to know how did you start to promote your weaponshop? I stood in town last night shouting my Loc and my melee weapons vendor was up, etc - But, honestly when I run through a town the last thing I look at are the peoiple that are spamminmg - does this help? I try not to shout too often, but its a double edged sword, you are going to either annoy someone or miss possible customers that are running through town.
So anyway, what is your opinion? how would you get customers to start to "Walk thru" the door?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, so I could make a little cash to buy better resources, to expand my business.
Thanks!
Decipio/Starsider
So anyway, what is your opinion? how would you get customers to start to "Walk thru" the door?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, so I could make a little cash to buy better resources, to expand my business.
Thanks!
Decipio/Starsider
Tomper
Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:26 am
#2
Spamming is bad yes.
I sell my pre-master-made weapons on different bazaars cheap. Then I write down the names of everyone who buy these, and once every other month I send out a newsletter with information about my store and the weapons I sell there. People have given me positive feedback on this, as they find the newsletter informative and not too "spammy".
Itchybacca
Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:59 am
#3
Pay attention to people looking for weapons, keep spatial chat open. THen step in and promote yourself. Make sure you leave WS tag up.
Wait for people to come to you, noone likes those At Keyboard/Away from Keyboard Spammers promoting their business. THey want a Weaponsmith who is personable, who is willing to help them with any questions you need. One huge plus is knowledge about every weapon you make, from there you will establish your first series of repeat customers, and your name will grow. If your product is good, and your price competetive your business will promote itself without need of Spamming.
Wait for people to come to you, noone likes those At Keyboard/Away from Keyboard Spammers promoting their business. THey want a Weaponsmith who is personable, who is willing to help them with any questions you need. One huge plus is knowledge about every weapon you make, from there you will establish your first series of repeat customers, and your name will grow. If your product is good, and your price competetive your business will promote itself without need of Spamming.
Czar243
Wed Mar 31, 2004 7:35 am
#4
Those are both great ideas!
I plan on having merch so will be able to put myself on the plant map, just will be a bit before i'm there..
I really like the newsletter - I guess selling a stack of regular lower level weapons, better than the average on there would be a good start, then I could make my mailing list! I would not want to put a Rykk blade on there that I have real built up, but a few of the first line weapons would seem a great deal, to myself and to the customers (I always had trouble finding starting melee weapons on my brawler)
Also - for pricing I have been running around looking at various weaponshops finding something that would be comperable to what I make and set my pricing from there.. Is there any other options to do this? I obviously want to give my customers a good deal - and I want to make as much money as I can.
This board has been a great source of information, so thank you!
I plan on having merch so will be able to put myself on the plant map, just will be a bit before i'm there..
I really like the newsletter - I guess selling a stack of regular lower level weapons, better than the average on there would be a good start, then I could make my mailing list!
I would not want to put a Rykk blade on there that I have real built up, but a few of the first line weapons would seem a great deal, to myself and to the customers (I always had trouble finding starting melee weapons on my brawler)Also - for pricing I have been running around looking at various weaponshops finding something that would be comperable to what I make and set my pricing from there.. Is there any other options to do this? I obviously want to give my customers a good deal - and I want to make as much money as I can.
This board has been a great source of information, so thank you!
milltech
Fri Apr 02, 2004 9:50 pm
#5
Offer weapon repairs while standing around in the starports, won't be long people will ask for your shop location.
Xieflow
Fri Apr 02, 2004 10:37 pm
#6
It's easy.
Advertise on your trade forum. (And make a post on the regular board letting people know you hit master and what-not)
Make sure you include what you are selling, the stats, and the prices.
Also, make lots of "contacts" in-game. If you go hunting with someone, when you finish, ask if they need a weapon, and give them your shop location. If you buy resources from someone, let them know what you are using it for, etc.
Quality doesn't sell weapons, customer service does.
Advertise on your trade forum. (And make a post on the regular board letting people know you hit master and what-not)
Make sure you include what you are selling, the stats, and the prices.
Also, make lots of "contacts" in-game. If you go hunting with someone, when you finish, ask if they need a weapon, and give them your shop location. If you buy resources from someone, let them know what you are using it for, etc.
Quality doesn't sell weapons, customer service does.
MonroeThanes
Sat Apr 03, 2004 12:42 am
#7
send the wp to hunting groups, i did this even while holowhoring entertainer, never hurts.
repair weapons for free but tell them, "in return i get to send you the wp to my shop"
write a nice thank you for shopingletter, include the wp and the written coords, send it to a friend, then have him reply it back to you with all the > > things removed and youve got yourself a good way to make sure that every single customer has the wp back to your shop. you should also do this as a flier inviting people to come to your shop, i have an AS and DE alsokeeping vendors at my shop, trust me it helps to listthat you ahve all this stuff here and the names of the other crafters. if you dont have other crafters just give them a sample, list the weapons you will have on your vendor,but make them go out there to see the stats. this is a good way to make sure they have the wp and have the ability to hit FORWARD and send it onto a friend
one thing youll find about SWG crafting market is that its not too different, you would be challenged to tell the difference between a 3month old smith and a 6month old smith, its the new guys that just got there and the older guys where you can see the difference, but you will notice that people become very attached to their crafters and will often return and pay alot more moneyif you can make your name stick in their head.
another good way to get the word out is to make a factory run of 100 laser carbines/rifles, scout blasters, dl44s, and both flavors of curved swords. use regular components unless you just have an abundance of advanced componets to waste, and just sell these on the bazaar, be sure to name them "Laser Carbine by XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" and in the auction description list the wp to your shop. you shouldnt do this once business starts to pick up, by pick up i mean you break into one million profit, after that you should stop selling on the bazaar to let the novice smiths have a market and to keep people from ascossiating your name with low ball prices.
never tell a customer the stats on a weapon, always make them go out to the shop, you might give them a rough guess, but getting them in the store is half the battle, they will probably buy something if you can just get them to open the vendor.
take some special orders, it helps to build your loyal customers, dont charge them for the assembly if they have bought things from the vendor, if its a random guy just charge him the average price of a weapon, i charge in excess of 250k for a special order because i only make weapons a few times a month but i make thousands at a time, i run 9 factories day and night for a week, i dont take the special orders because 1. they are annoying and 2. i get sick of "is my weapon ready yet?" tells, be very promt with your special orders to help you build up a following, this is called paying your dues, we all did it at one time or another, though some people will tell you to do it all the time, just too tedius for me, too many other things to do ingame than make weapons by hand, ive been a MWS since october and i just recently capped on weapons crafting xp, doesnt help that we get no UXP these days, if UXP even exists anymore
you might offersome guild a discount, this helped me to get my feet off the ground, if you can get the guild leader to buy from you and extend the deal they will usually send that out to other people in the guild
bark in coronet and theed a few times just to help people that are looking for a smith, just use at least a 100 second delay, keep the message short and sweet, no need to do this when business starts to pick up, and dont do it religiously, i personally never go to the people that are there barking afk all the time, but barking on your way to the shuttle is a fine idea, get the macro typed up and have some guild mates use it while waiting for the shuttle or something, be subtle but get their attention
price the weapon what YOU think its worth, dam the competition,competitors in SWGwill ALWAYS follow a price hike. i would much rather sell fewer weapons at higher prices to satisfied customers that know they can get exactly what they want from my vendors, then have to stock tons of weapons at lowball prices and just count on steerage.
make the decision know what kind of crafter you want to be. do you want to be a noob helper selling good weapons at low prices? youll have good sales volume this way. do you want to be the best and be able to charge what you want on weapons? better start working on tripple amazing schematics or get the PvP guilds to shop at your store, they are always willing to pay top dollar for any edge. do you want to be well respected and prosperous? take special orders at a flat rate, provide great customer service, and have a decent selection, youll make fine money here but dont expect to be able to throw money at skill tapes and krayt pearls on a regular basis. make up your mind now and stick to it, you can move upwards in these categories but anyone that moves down is going out of business most likely.
get ready for the tells asking for krayt vks and stuff like that, especially if you wear the MWS tag, dont annoy anyone now or shove them aside, youll find some of your really annoying customers turn out to be whales and tell all their 'friends' about you. they will shop exclusively at your shop as long as they get the weapon they want each time, but get ready for some stupid questions, comes with the territory, check the "Questions you never as a WS" thread we have going, youll get a good laugh and find some snappy responses and ways to shove these people aside without bruising egos
the second best advice you will ever get-
YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY ARE AS DUMB AS YOU THINK THEY ARE. if they have given you a reason to think they are morons, then they probably are. never assume they have comonsense or reasoning and dont ever let them tell you how to make weapons, if they say they want something like an improved trigger, just agree with it and charge them extra for being annoying
and the absolute best advice you will ever get-
NO EMPTY VENDORS, EVER!
nothing annoys a customer like an empty vendor, and i dont blame them, i hate empty vendors with a passion. always keep a selection on there, since your starting out 10 of each type of weapon you make is plenty, as time goes by and you see more customers increase this number and youll see you always make more money each time you increase volume.
caught me in a chatty mood tonight, usually dont help my competition at all, but this is most of what ive learned about running a business in SWG, since thereare no TV or slogans or add campaigns there is the challenge of making sure these people know your there, the advertising game is actually harder than the crafting game, harder by a long shot. these are some of my best tricks, theyve worked well for me, i know im not the most popular smith on the server, but i get lots of compliments on my weapons and my bank account more than supports my jedi habit, and thats all i want
Jaxin_Riens
Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:28 pm
#8
i personally do the bad thing and spam, however its at a leisurly 2 min per message while i slice weapons, its a good way to get alot of business.
CairnTrenor
Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:58 pm
#9
Best thing is to get advertising 3 as soon as possible, but until then keep posting on your servers trade forums. Personally I don't like spamming in starports, tried it for awhile but it didn't really result in any increased sales. The newsletter is also a good way to reach out to potential customers.
The single most important thing for you to do before you have established a good name for yourself is always be nice to the customers. Personally I anwer every tell and email I get, doesn't mean that I will always make what they want but I know it's annoying for customers that don't get replies to tells and emails and they are not very likely to buy any of your weapons either.
The single most important thing for you to do before you have established a good name for yourself is always be nice to the customers. Personally I anwer every tell and email I get, doesn't mean that I will always make what they want but I know it's annoying for customers that don't get replies to tells and emails and they are not very likely to buy any of your weapons either.
CabbageHead
Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:18 pm
#10
Spamming can be annoying and I believe people who do it too much should be suspended for a few days. Although it is bad, I must admit that, thatit worked on me. When I was a n00b, I bought exclusively at spammed stores, because I didn't know where any others were. Over the months, Ifound out where the good stuff was, through friends. The trade forums help too. I think they should add a spam channel on chat, so shoppers could see it and everyone else wouldn't have to /addignore all the time. The length and frequency of the spammed ads could also then be controlled.
AspiringBountyHunter
Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:28 am
#11
I sell weapons cheap on the bazaar. Like powerhammers for 3.5K. In the desription, put your name and the waypoint of your vendor. Just make sure the weapons you put on the bazaar are still good weapons.
Dodece
Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:28 am
#12
Promotional gifts, and emails. Get online then run a generic people search. Basic email free to the first ten customers through my door will receive a free fwg featherweight just for showing up. This is a great way to get business. Just tag the waypoint on the email. Use the examine key to even better effect go to a bustling town near your shop, and if you examine someone with no badges. Odds are he is new, and will be in need of better weapons in the future. Another good way is to tag along with low level hunting groups, as people progress to new levels you can sell them a weapon on the spot and give them a waypoint to your shop.
Lastly use the bizarre, but only sell lowlevel weapons at a major discount. High level players will ignore it even if the price was right. I made the mistake of doing this with vibroknucklers. Only to realize one day that high level players were following me to the bizarre and buying them as soon as I put them on. They loved the price, but never came to my shop. Do things like dl44s dlt20s and things of that sort.
You need not use merchant to get advertised. Since ninety percent of the advertiseing threes do not carry a whole lot. Word of mouth is better. The email method I find is far better then spamming, because all someone has to do is look. You do not fill the air with the same things over and over again. It might be uninvited, but it certainly is easy to erase a email or even ignore it. Better then forceing people to group in order to have a conversation.
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