SLoupon Update

Since original launch, SLoupon has had a major change to the business model. SLoupon is now - through September 30 - only $L1 to join, after which will be significantly reduced from $L350/mth to $L99/mth which can quickly be recouped on just one SLoupon purchase and which is affordable for even the newest of noobs. SLoupon now has 150+ members and roughly the same on the website/social network. It continues to grow daily with both members in the SL group and on the website.

What is SLoupon?

DEFINITION: SLoupon (sloo-pon) Noun. A group discount system in Second Life whose members can enjoy a discount of up to 50% and more on merchandise from SLoupon member merchants all across the grid. SLouponer - Noun. SLouponing - Verb. IE "Hey, let's all go SLouponing!"SLoupon is a monthly subscription based service in which only members of the SLoupon Group will have access to the reduced price items by registered merchants. Each SLoupon Merchant will place items substantially discounted for SLoupon Group members only... things like apparel, hair, animations, skins, and more.

You must be in the SL SLoupon group to purchase from the SLoupon vendors at merchants' locations.

By joining, you will be entitled to discounts of up to 50% and more on many products and services we shop for every day like clothes, hair, animations, skins, home & garden, textures and more. To become a SLoupon member and start saving, you'll need to join the inworld "SLoupon Group" by visiting one of the SLoupon Kiosks and joining. After you've become a SLoupon member, you may also register on the website to stay on top of all current deals (now at over 350), join the Forums, create your own Profile, network with other SLouponers, get a list of all Kiosk Locations and more.

Visit the SLoupon Website. Please note that you must register before you can get "into" the website and see all the available Discounts:
http://www.sloupon.biz

SLoupon currently has over 50 participating merchants including Gizza Creations, Paris Metro Couture, Sassy!, MEB, Evolve, Alice Project, X-Clusives Animation, PipSqueeks, KO Textures and many more!

SLoupon was created by myself, Seth Regan, and Brandy Maltas (Mankind Tracer & Kalli Birman in SL). The goal of SLoupon is to offer great deals for residents and at the same time, provide Second Life stores more exposure to the SL populous.

If you are interested in becoming a SLoupon Merchant please go to this link:
SLoupon Merchant Information

Find a SLoupon Kiosk at Club Graffiti in The Village:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Good%20Day%20Sunshine/158/59/50

SLoupon on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/SLoupon

The Business Side of Second Life Music - Performing isn't Free!

It's no news that over the past few years, the economy is still in bad shape, not just here in the USA but globally. Its effects can be seen all over and similarly, in Second Life. Today I looked at the national average for gas prices on GasBuddy and it's almost $4.00 per gallon (at the time of writing this Blog). Lucky me, here in California we're at the top of that list at >$4.05 per gallon. As a good friend pointed out who lives in the UK "... where we pay $12 USD per gallon!"


There are many content creators (CC) in Second Life... fashion designers, animation creators, scripters, hair, shoes, on and on the list goes. These CC's provide something that SL residents purchase for $L which of course, equates to real money. NoLook at the time spent on creating a single pair of jeans for example. It could be a few hours or it could be more (in total amount of work). Once these jeans are done, the CC sets them for sale in their store(s) and if they know how to do a bit of marketing and if the jeans are of a good caliber and quality, they can sell for at least a few hundred $L... repeatedly.


Now let's take a look at a day in the life of a live performer in SL. There are performers who have to travel to a studio to hold their live performance and pay for studio time. For the sake of this example, let's take that travel time, studio costs and gas expense out of the equation for a minute. This performer has equipment like a guitar, which has strings, which most pros will change quite often. There is setup time, rehearsal time, writing new songs (as original artists do), learning new covers, purchasing backing tracks (for track singers). 

Brandy and I spend a good amount of time writing and sending out promos and marketing in Second Life, Facebook, blogs, the web, etc. for each and every performance/event I hold. Then the artist gets to the venue... early... because they have to setup the venue with their tip jar, group invite, etc. They then perform, usually for an hour, many playing free at tips only venues, hoping that the residents who have just spent $L1,000 on their avatar's hair will tip them a few hundred. Sadly, as I have experienced, most attendees do not tip. So an artist walks away after all this work and expense with maybe $10-$20.


Wait, it gets better. As I mentioned before, the jeans designer is done once they've finished designing and setting out their merchandise for sale. After that, each and every sale that comes in is what I like to call "cake".. A.K.A. recurring revenue or even Passive Income. They don't have to do any more work on those jeans that are already set for sale.


This is the major difference. An artist does not have that luxury of being passive with their work. They MUST constantly be engaging, looking for new shows and bookings, creating events, on and on the list goes as does the work for both artist, their booking agent, their manager and even hosts (all of which also need to be paid).

The short of it is, I am writing this blog because I am seeing some incredibly talented artists in SL, both veterans and new artists, busting their asses entertaining, showing people a great time and sadly, going unrewarded for their hard work. Why is it so hard for people to understand that artists are "working" too and that they too deserve to be paid for their work. Is the "content" that performers provide any less valuable than those jeans? Performing is a service and some artists do sell products in their CD's and other merchandise. So if nothing else, show your support by purchasing their merchandise.


I'll close this blog with a reminder $L250 = $1.00 USD


In SL you don't need to drive to a see your favorite live performers. You don't need to shower, get dressed, buy food or even buy drinks. That's a whole bunch of money saved. If everyone in attendance at a performance would tip one dollar to the venue and one dollar to the artist, things would change in a big way. So in essence, for two dollars, you CAN make a BIG difference! I've owned and operated businesses for most of my adult life and after over 5 years of performing live in Second Life, seeing things, watching and personally being on the front lines, you can trust that I do know a thing or two about it.


I certainly don't mean to come off in a bad light or stir up controversy here, but I have friends that are struggling and it frustrates the hell out of me when I see a very good artist walking away with $3.00 USD for a full one hour show and all the work that goes into it. Yes three dollars! As for the venues, well even more importantly, as they are the ones footing the bill for the residents' entertainment pleasure.


Let's all do our part to help keep live music alive and well in Second Life. PLEASE think about this and in the kind heart that I know you have, do the right thing.

Where in Second Life is the Concert?

“Where in Second Life is the Concert?” Hunt

On Feb 4th, 2012 from 6pm - 9pm SLT for the first time ever,  Mankind Tracer & The Follow will be performing a back to back concerts in a SECRET location following a 2 week long hunt around Second Life starting January 20, 2012.

Hunt info:

We will be limiting the hunt to 50 participating locations to keep the hunt small and manageable for existing and new fans. Often times, hunts are over excessive, leading people to give up and not visit all participating locations. We are purposefully keeping this hunt on the smaller side and the items hidden, but not too difficult. The idea is that people do finish the hunt and equally as important, spend time in your stores.

REQUIRED: Each store will need to provide a quality freebie.

About Mankind Tracer:

Seth Regan has toured professionally for over 20 years with both original and cover projects and has had national airplay. Known around the grid for 5 straight years of stellar performances as Mankind Tracer, Seth shares his insightful original music, also performing the best rock hits past and present, adding his own unique style to each song. Influences include Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Pearl Jam and many others including classical influences, which can be heard in Seth's well crafted music. Along with audience requests driving the show’s interaction, Seth’s performances are always fun and full of energy and sure to get you hooked!

In Second Life, Seth has many achievements in the past 5 years including: Headlining major Linden Lab and Second Life events including SL6,7,8B, Burning Life, Burn2, Winterfest, Best of SL’s Major events and has received many awards including BOSL’s Best Live Performer Award 2008 and BOSL Lifetime Achievement Award 2011, Listeners’ Choice Award, among others.

Visit Seth Regan's Official Website HERE

About The Follow:

The Follow is a panoramic rock band trio that has been performing in SL for over 2 years. The band entered the virtual world of Second Life (SL) as a way to continue touring while protecting the environment, not to mention its wallet!

Influenced by U2, Radiohead, and Pink Floyd, The Follow have enjoyed sharing stages with various artists such as Plain White T’s, Billy Corgan’s Zwan, & Gravity Kills. With seven albums, one DVD, and hundreds of live performances, The Follow received airplay on college and commercial radio across North America while supporting the releases by touring in the United States and Europe.

As a rare back to back line up, this should prove to be one of the year’s most well attended concert as both Mankind and The Follow are known to pack venues at their own individual shows.

Visit The Follow's Official Website: HEREfree, free, music, marketing, blog, free, free, free, music, pr, seo,blog,free,free,free,free,free, live music, make money, money, free money, gift, gifts, seth regan, mankind tracer, secondlife, second life, sl, facebook, twitter, social, alexa rank

Promotions:

The hunt will be featured in the SL Destination Guide and on Mankind Tracer’s and The Follow’s website(s) and blog(s). Promotions will also be strategically placed on Facebook, Twitter, Second Friends and throughout Second Life, giving the event combined promotion to over 500K+ unique users. Special “Event Kiosks” will also be placed at every hunt and sponsor location adding more fun and interaction with the event and providing hunters the information and SLurls they need to complete the hunt.

Facebook Event
Event on Second Friends


Hunt Locations:

To be one of only 50 participating locations we are allowing, you will need to agree to have a quality freebie, use our hunt receptacle and allow a kiosk to be placed at your location - which will also be used for promoting the hunt. Kiosks will be scripted to keep track of hunt analytics, therefore scripts will need to be permitted at your location by having them set to “ON”, or the kiosk will need to be set to your Land Group. (Please see the information below for who to contact about participation fees.)

Sponsors:

Sponsorship for the hunt will be limited to only 10 sponsors. All sponsors’ images, branding or logos will be placed in our promotions, on the kiosks, mentioned during the concerts, on clickable (via SLurl) promotional posters and graphics placed on or around the actual concert stage, which will drive more traffic to your location. The clickable promo poster will also be set to give the event notecard.

For more information about sponsor and location fees please make contact as soon as you can. The order of visited locations during The Concert Hunt will be determined on a first come first serve basis. The earlier you get in, the sooner you will be placed on the roster order.


Kalli/Brandy: brandy@sethregan.com 
Seth/Mankind: info@sethregan.com