[doHTML]<p>If you're a consumer, which, if you're alive, you likely are, you already
know what Branding is. Branding is a marketing term used to describe the way
that products associate themselves with people. By now, you likely know that a
red and white can typically means that there is Coca-Cola inside, even if the
letters aren't there ... a Yellow cereal box associates with Cheerios, and so on
and so forth. You're familiar with brand names and the brands that you purchase
because they've all gone and used branding successfully in their marketing. </p>
<p>You may think that this has nothing to do with being successful in an on-line
RPG considering that we can all pretty much make the same things, but there you
would be wrong. There are several effective means of branding your products in
SWG, and each of them can be taken into account when one sets out to become a
tailor. </p>
<h3><b>Keeping You on Their Minds</b></h3>
<p>The essence of Branding, and why it works, has to do with simply keeping your
name on the minds of your customers and potential customers. When a customer
thinks 'I need a new shirt', you want your name (or your shop's name) to be the
first thing on the customer's mind. To achieve this, we need to make sure that
we've firmly planted ourselves in the customer's mind from the moment that they
consider buying a piece of clothing on. There are four main avenues for doing
this: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>Prior to Sale - Bazaar Listing: </b></p>
<p>Even if you're a Master Tailor with a list of clients and a shop all your
own, it's a good idea to make thorough use of the Bazaar. Make a list of the
highest-quality items that you can sell on the Bazaar for 3K or under. Make
sure that these items are things that people are likely to buy ... make sure
that each one is a 'hot ticket' item. That way, they will sell quickly, and
the items that you have on the bazaar will always be 'fresh'. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A side note to the above:&nbsp; Some tailors advocate creating items with
your shop's waypoint in them to place as a sort of 'ad' on the Bazaar.&nbsp;
I've found this to be a perfectly good waste of a spot on the bazaar.&nbsp;
You can use that spot more effectively by serving up something to your
customer that they actually want than by using it as an ad on the bazaar.&nbsp;
However, to each his or her own, so the ultimate decision on whether or not
to do this is up to you. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>When listing each of your items, be sure to put a bit of a script in the
description of the item.&nbsp; I note who it was made by (important because I
don't simply sell my clothing, I also sell a friend's furniture), numeric
waypoints to all of our shops, and a note on who to contact for special
orders.&nbsp; Descriptions aren't <b>that</b> widely read, but they are read
enough that people <b>will</b> notice. </p>
<p>Post-Sale - Bazaar: </p>
<p>After selling something on the bazaar, you've now got the name of someone
who's interested in buying clothes ... at least one piece.&nbsp; You can now
open the door to them for other possibilities.&nbsp; Draft your most recent
customer an e-mail thanking them for the purchase.&nbsp; I have several form
letters set up in advance for these sorts of things, and I usually devote the
first half hour that I am on-line a day to sending out thank-you letters.&nbsp;
</p>
<p><b>Include in this letter: </b></p>
<ul>
<li>A thank-you to the customer for purchasing one of your items. </li>
<li>Waypoints to all of your locations and the nearest city each location is
closest to. </li>
<li>A note on how the customer would go about making special orders. </li>
<li>A note on the more expensive things (such as bio-engineered goodies)
that the customer could buy at the shop.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Optionally, you can also add: </b></p>
<ul>
<li>The address to a web site catalog (your own or another). </li>
<li>A brief listing of other items you sell at your store (if you sell more
than clothing). </li>
</ul>
<p>I can not tell you how many customers have been driven my way simply by
keeping up at this.&nbsp; My response rate is about 5 new customers for every
twenty-five items that I sell on the bazaar, and that increases the longer I
keep it up.&nbsp; If you're going to use a form letter, be sure to use the
customer's name or a personalized greeting at the top of the letter so that
they know you've kept track of their name.&nbsp; If they are a repeat
customer, welcome them back and thank them for again purchasing from you. </p>
<p><b>Post-Sale - Shop: </b></p>
<p>After selling something on the bazaar, you're going to want your customers
to come back again to buy more.&nbsp; This could have been someone who bought
something on the bazaar and came to your shop after getting your thank-you
letter, or they could have been a walk-in customer who just happened to stop
in while traveling.&nbsp; Either way, you don't want them to forget you. </p>
<p>Draft a similar letter to the one above, however in this one be sure to
acknowledge that they purchased from your shop rather than the bazaar.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>I<b>nclude in this letter: </b></p>
<ul>
<li>A thank-you for purchasing from your shop. </li>
<li>Waypoints to all of your locations and the nearest city each location is
closest to. </li>
<li>A note on how the customer would go about placing special orders.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Optionally, you can also add: </b></p>
<ul>
<li>The address to a web site catalog (your own or another). </li>
<li>Instructions on how to contact you about big orders, or wholesale
orders. </li>
</ul>
<p>Again, be sure to acknowledge the customer by name, and to include a
'welcome back' statement so that the customer knows that you're actually
paying attention to your sales!</p>
<p><b>Post-Sale - Special Order: </b></p>
<p>I take the bulk of my special orders via mail.&nbsp; The most obvious
reason for this is so that customers can put in orders while I am off-line,
and then I can make them when I come on-line.&nbsp; The second reason for this
is so that I can remember what it is that a customer has ordered, and the
third reason for this is so that I am not tied-down to sitting at my shop and
helping one customer at a time. </p>
<p>After a special order has been completed, I send a note to the customer
letting them know that it is ready.&nbsp; There, I give the waypoint to the
shop that the store is at, and a note of thanks for the special order.&nbsp; I
also include a message asking the customer to come back again at any time. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Any marketing plan can blow up in someone's face if not executed with
discretion.&nbsp; No one likes to be spammed with a zillion e-mails and no one
likes to have anything thrust into their face time and time again.&nbsp; A
little bit of discretion goes a long way.&nbsp; If a customer purchases ten
items, don't send them ten thank-you e-mails ... only send one.&nbsp; If a
customer comes back three times in as many days, don't send a letter for each
return appearance ... they've already gotten one or two of them, leave it at
that.&nbsp;&nbsp; There is a fine line that you have to avoid crossing between
making the customer happy that you've acknowledged them and thanked them and
irritating them with constant marketing. </p>[/doHTML]