After reading Prad’s post this morning, and then seeing all the comments something occurs to me.  The idea of freebie’s and freebie hunters increasing is actually a selfulfilling prophesy.  Before you all flip out think about it for a minute.

Back in November ‘06 when I started in Sl there were a few *Freebie warehouses*.  And frankly the quality was well, questionnable then and horrible now.  I picked up some stuff but until I bought my first bunch of lindens and actually went shopping, I wore the same system skirt and shirt, changing the textures myself.  Ditto on the hair. 

I’m not a big freebie shopper.  Most of the time I almost feel embarrased to take one.  If I see something in a shop that’s free and looks awesome I’ll pick it up if I’ve never been to the store before.  Usually though, my freebies come from very generous friends, lucky chairs(which I don’t seek out either) and the groups I’m in.

So here’s my theory….

Store owners are constantly looking to improve traffic, boost sales etc etc.  Think about how many clothing stores there are all competing against each other.  So, you want to increase your traffic and boost your sales.  What can you do?  Here’s some options:

1.  Have a sale.  Drop the price for a week on some items.  Do it often on different things so that no one knows what will be on sale and when.

2.  Re-release retired items.  Did you see all the people at Last Call before they closed and previously retired items were re-released?  Yeah, full sim, a lot.  You may have to tweak the quality of the older items but that shouldn’t be a show stopper.

3.  Advertise Advertise Advertise.  Got a blog? Get on all the fashion blog feeds.  I read them everyday, write down what I want to see and make the rounds later.  Don’t always buy everything but I do go and look.  Sometimes I’ll even buy something that wasn’t on the blog.

4.  Have an event at the store.  Treasure hunts, live DJs, parties whatever.  Have a contest.  All these things will get people to the store.

5.  Flickr contest.  I love flickr contests.  I don’t join all of them.  Two of the ones I joined recently I even won something.   Yay me!  Ya know what happened, I ended up going to the stores, a lot.  Give a gift cert as a gift for winning and you get repeat customers.  Not only did I use up the cards, but I spent more while I was there.

6. Lucky Chair.  Put some limited edition coolness in a lucky chair.  Leave it out for a short time.  You’ll boost traffic yes.  Not sure if you’ll get people buying other stuff though.

7.  Group freebies.  Sure, send freebies out to the store group.  Make is a subscribe -O- Matic(S -O- M0 though so people don’t use up groups.  I’ll stay in a S-O-M group.

8.  Pay for an ad on search.  How much to spend is up to you.  Spend a lot, or a little, change the amount if you are running a special event.  This is probably not the best way to go, but hey, I use search so I’m sure other people are too.

So, there are 8 suggestions for store owners that don’t include the ever popular *freebie*.  Lets face it though, not every store will succeed.  It takes hard work and dedication.  Just as it does in RL.  You get what you put into it.  Work hard, maintain your integrity and stand up for what you believe is right, you’ll be a success.  It may be a more winding slightly  uphill road but when you  reach the top, you’ll be able to look back and be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

Or, you can stick out freebie after freebie and deal with the complaints from the so-called *entitled*, boost traffic but not sell anything and get more frustrated.

One other point to make….

If you put freebies out, people will expect freebies.  Stop giving them away and people will eventually be *forced* to pay for what they want.  Those that are willing to do that will stay in SL.  Those that aren’t… well…. don’t let the door hit you in the arse on the way out.

/end rant

Sometimes you just never know what’s going to happen at the Crown.  I say that in all honesty.  Whether it’s attack of the Penguins, attack of the sculpted Noob or any variation on that theme, you just never know.

Last night was no exception.  A typical Tuesday you’d think.  Bonni dj’d, then I dj’d and then Prad dj’d.  So that’s about 7  hours straight of live(well live as in not radio) music.  We had a good crowd going all night.  Some new faces and old ones.  Everyone is welcome at the Crown.  Whether it’s a new resident or an old timer, all are welcome.  You’ll even find a Linden hanging around every now and then.

So last night with the usual nutty suspects  around you never know what will happen.  And so, the *Haven’t slept with Prad* club was born.  I honestly don’t know how it happened.  All I remember clearly is Lands daring Prad to dare her to do it, and him doing it.  And so, it was born.  She’s got a post all about it on her blog here .  Now we all pick on Prad unmercifully.  He always takes it fairly well usually jumping in himself.  I think my favorite quote of the night was *who is prad?* made by one of the patrons last night.  She or he was not a regular of the bar and wasn’t familiar with who was who. 

There were other bouts of insanity last night as always.  Far too many to comment on and you really had to be there.   So please, stop by the Crown and Pearl some night.  You’ll be glad you did!

Not many people like change.  In fact, quite a few get so upset by things changing they go off the deepend and do some really stupid things.  Me… I’m ok about some change.  Change can be a good thing.  Stepping outside your comfort zone and exploring something you’ve never done or taking a chance with someone new or even just deciding that the status quo isn’t working.

Change is all around right us right.  In the US the election is 2 weeks from today, HUGE changes there.  I won’t spend a lot of time on that today.  My feeling is, things aren’t good now.  The leaders of this country(political, financial, business, environment, all of them) got us here.  They screwed up.  They shouldn’t be allowed to continue screwing up.  If you screwed up your job this bad you’d get fired.  So, I’m gonna vote to fire a lot of them.  ‘Nuff said on that topic today.

There are a lot changes coming up for Angel Square and it’s neighboring islands.  If you’ve been to Angel Square since yesterday you’ll see that the island off to the East is now called Crown and Pearl and a copy of the Crown is there.  Yep, the Crown is moving again.  She’s got her very own island this time.  No specific opening date yet but it’ll be after Halloween.  Look for the current Crown to undergo some scary changes as we prep for Halloween festivities.

You’ll also see that The Reach is looking a bit sparse.  That’s cause I’m moving off and renting it out for a few months.  The Reach was beautiful and Rrish did an amazing job of landscaping.  Thank you again Rrish! But everyone needs a change and I miss living on Angel Square.  So, I’m moving back in!  Look for building to begin after the Crown moves. 

Coming soon to the market is the gallery.  A showcase of artwork by Crown and Pearl patrons, Angel Square residents and anyone else who wishes to participate.  Space is limited but we’ll rotate artists monthly with a new theme every 2 weeks or so.  If you want to participate, drop me an IM in world or leave a comment here.  You’ll need to be in the residents group in order to rezz on the land so if you aren’t already in the group let me know so I can add you.

 So, there is a whole big bunch of changes coming in the next month or so.  I’m excited about them.  It’s impossible to change your home every couple of months in RL but in SL, just rezz a new house and your all set.   I look forward to the next few months and all the changes coming. 

Join us at the Crown and Pearl and on Angel Square, it’s bound to be a lot of fun.  You really won’t want to miss it.

So, the campaign season is starting to wind down here in the states.  Two more weeks and we’ll have a new President.  On November 4th we’ll go to our  polling places and cast our ballot for either Senator Obama or Senator McCain.  Who am I voting for?  Obama.  Yes, I’m a registered Democrat.  Yes, I’m a liberal.  Beyond all of that though, I’m voting for who will be the best for the country.  If I honestly thought McCain was the one for the job I’d vote for him but he’s not the right one for the job.  Nor is his running mate.  So, my vote is clear.

I’ve been voting in every election since I was 18 years old.  It is a privilege to vote.  Every vote does count, just look at Florida.  I’m disheartened when I hear someone say they won’t vote.  That they don’t like either of the candidates so they simply aren’t voting.  Ok, you don’t like the candidates, I can understand that.  However, by not voting you aren’t exercising your right to participate in the process.  Therefore, I don’t want to hear you complain.  If you don’t like how things are right now, and who does, then go vote.  Vote the incumbant party out.  Then you can say you did your part, you participated.

If your a woman you have no excuse to not vote.  A number of woman fought very hard for us to have the right to vote.  Don’t squander it.  Beyond that, there are a number of issues important to women right now.  If you don’t vote then how can you possibly make sure those issues continue to be important?  Every vote counts.

If you haven’t been over to the Crown and Pearl yet, then you don’t know.  Prad and I are running for office .  

Remember, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain so get out there and vote!!!!!!

I’ll be there, voting for Senator Obama and Senator Biden.

Ok, enough of the heavy topics on the blog for awhile.  Today lets talk about what’s coming up for Angel Square, The Reach and The Crown and Pearl.

First The Reach… Fall and winter will descend on the Reach in the next month or so.  Look for another photo contest once everything is all wintery and icy.   Skating parties on the inlet and sledding down the hill.   I love Christmas so don’t be surprised if the decorations are up early.

Angel Square…  There are shops available to rent.  If you know anyone looking for a reasonable rent have them contact me.  Coming soon the Square will be an art gallery.  Yes I know there are loads of galleries in SL.  I’m hoping to make this one different.  This will be open to anyone who wants to exhibit a few of their pieces.  Just a few rules though… If there is a theme set, your pics need to be in the theme or i’ll return them to you.  No artist will get more than 3 boards in which to display their art.  You’ll have the ability to change them whenever you want.  In order to exhibit, you need to IM me so I can add you to the Angel Square group and give you have build rights.  This is not a place to sell your items.  If you want to do that, there are shops open to rent.   This is a gallery for people to exhibit their work within SL.  

The Crown and Pearl… I’ve heard rumblings coming from under the floor lately.  Everyone knows there is a crypt under the Crown right?  I’m not quite sure who Prad buried under there or if the burial ground was already there when he started building but I wouldn’t be surprised to find the dead crawling out from under the floor.  You really just never know what’s going to happen at the Crown.  Especially at this time of year.

So, that’s the big news.  There’s some land available for rent or sale on Angel Square so IM me if you’re interested.  Or you can leave a comment here.

This is kind of an aside from two of my previous posts.  Here’s my question for all of you:

Is it ok to lie to someone?

I realize this isn’t a black and white topic.  There is no short yes or no answer.  But should there be?  Think about this for a moment.  You meet someone you like, that you’d like to get to know better.  Do you tell them the truth about your situation up front and hope for the best?  Or.. do you wait until they’ve invested in a relationship only to find out it was under false pretenses?  Or.. do you never tell them and hope they don’t find out?

For me, there are things I DON’T want to know.  But some of the bigger issues I’d want to know up front.  Male in a female av, married, gay pretending to be hetero, approximate age.  I’d prefer to know this stuff up front.  Why you ask?  Because to find out later would feel like a betrayal.  I don’t want to be lied to.  I may not like what you tell me, but I’d rather here it up front.  Lets say your a male in a female av or vice versa.  Your female av and I are great friends, shopping hanging out etc.  I tell her things that I wouldn’t tell a male friend(girls are like that).  then I find out I’ve been confessing these secrets in fact, to a guy.  Woah, major betrayal.  How can I trust this person now? 

If your married, why hide it?  Ashamed of it?  Or are you just looking for a good time and figure if people know your married they’d stay away?  Some will.  Some won’t.  Me, i’m in the stay away category.  I don’t get involved with married men in RL or SL(SL married/partnered). 

The age thing I’ve talked about before.  I’m not going to rehash it again.  I met one guy in SL who was gay in RL but wanted to be hetero in SL.  He didn’t do it well.   He’s now openly gay in SL too.  He can buy my clothes anyday btw, he’s got fab taste.

So what do you think?  When is a lie ok?  Is it ever ok?  Have you ever lied to someone you are really close to and regret it now?

Have you ever come across a situation in which the only emotion you feel is total disappointment?  It’s happened to me recently.  I’m not going to go into any details except to say that sometimes you really don’t know people.  You may think you do, but you really don’t.  it’s rare to have another human being open up to you and bare their soul to you.  We all hope if we do that we won’t get trounced.

So when you think you know someone and they act in direct opposition to their perceived character – disappointment.  In myself for thinking better of them?  No.  We should hold everyone to a higher standard then we do.  But when you do, you face disappointment.  I’m not angry or hurt by their *betrayal*.  I’m disappointed in them.  I expected better of them.

And then there are the people who I’ve dismissed for one reason or another.  Many times petty things. We women can be that way you know.   I’ve come to find out though that I was wrong about some of them.  It’s hard to admit that.  Not only to myself but also here, in public.  And yet I do because it’s important to do so.  It’s important to admit when your wrong.  I want to make it right with those that I’ve dismissed out of hand for really no good reason other than I didn’t want to like them.  Such a petty thing.  This makes me disappointed in myself. 

Someone the other day said that he was glad he talked to me because he had the impression I was all serious but that I was a lot of fun in actuality.  He also gave me the impression he was afraid of me.  Of me!!!???  Can you believe it?  I was shocked.  I don’t mind certain people being afraid of me, they should be.   But really, I’m harmless!  (stop laughing Prad) 

I’m going to try to forget about those who’ve disappointed me.  Giving them any more of my time or thought is a waste.  I’m going to forgive myself for disappointing me though.  I’m also going to do my best to not dismiss anyone.  That’s not the person I want to be.

Someone had tagged me with this meme ages ago, via email, before I had my blog.  I found it today cleaning out my archives and decided to share it.   

List 3 things..

then..

Tag at least 3 people….

What were  you thinking when you first met your current/most recent main squeeze (husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other, sex partner, WHATEVER!) in SL?

1.  Who is this sexy black cat, I’ll scratch behind those ears.  rawr

2.  OMG I really didn’t just say that to HIM!

3.  Dies of embarassment…

Tagging….

Prad

Ryker

Kitty

Go for it guys!