Words Words Words
I’m a good writer. Every now and then, I can be a great writer. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been writing, or how much I’ve written- I can always improve. I gauge my work by reaction from readers, and ultimately my clients. Growth from both criticism and praise is an important part of any enterprise. Listening to my clients, my readers and the community is just smart business.
One of the joys of being a writer is helping a client communicate. When their ideas are translated to copy that communicates with their audience, my clients are happy, their customers are happy, and I’m happy. My clients know that communication is imperative to their business, and their words matter. If they don’t effectively interact with their client base on some level, they’ll lose them.
I don’t understand why Linden Lab isn’t able to grasp this simple business concept. It’s not rocket appliance. Communication with clients is a basic tenet of any business. And when dealing with a community based product like Second Life, it’s arguably the most important aspect of doing business. Simple updates, well written and posted in an obvious place would serve the Lab well. Second Life is a complex product, and requires its community of users to participate on many levels- but ultimately monetarily. After all, Linden Lab is a business, and Second Life is a product. However, the complex relationship between the bottom line and the community puts the Lab in a rather unique business position.
It’s this unique position that could so benefit Linden Lab. But time and again, opportunities to grow the community (which benefits the bottom line) are missed, chances to communicate effectively are squandered and the Second Life product suffers. Unfortunately, this translates to the community suffering as well. It’s a vicious cycle.
I don’t claim to understand all of the complexities of running a business like Second Life. It might as well be rocket surgery to me. But I know words. I understand their importance, and their power. I want to know more about what’s going on with a product that I use on a daily basis, and where I spend what little mad money I have. But in the absence of words from Linden Lab, I’m left to read words from others. The Second Life community understands the importance of words as well, and they use them quite effectively to criticize, compliment and speculate. But is speculation good for business?
Hire me, Linden Lab. Tell me what you’re doing, where you’re headed and how you’re going to make things better for Second Life, and let me translate those to words for your clients. Let me help you communicate with the community that pays the bills. And if not me, then hire someone else to do this. Use your words, Linden Lab. Or lose your clients.
They should, but folks like you and Mari are probably “More valuable as residents than potential employees.”
Such a mistake they make.
-ls/cm
Brilliant post. You hit the nail on the head (again).
/me stands and applauds.
Great post !
You’re right it is so obvious to most people with any knowledge of communication, marketing or any kind of interpersonal skills that the Lab falls flat on their face every time in this department; if they’ve ever been on two feet in the first place.
You compare it to common business practise elsewhere and I think that’s where the explanation can be found. They don’t treat us or regard us as business customers. To them we are cash cows who have voluntarily imprisoned ourselves within their gilded cage. As such they feel no need to listen to us or inform us in the same way that prison guards don’t undertake market research of their clientèle and ask them, “What do you want or feel you need in a 21st century cell?”. Like those prisoners are our only means to change the environment is to breakout and make a run for it. Only then might the authorities ask, “Why are you doing this and how the Hell are we going to stop you doing it?”
Once upon a time, I am told, Lindens either were hired from the Resident ranks, or spent enough time inworld that they had some clue what was going on. Now, the disconnect is huge. We merchants have begged the Commerce Team to listen to those like Sassy Romano and Darrius Gothly, who understand coding, project management, AND SL — and who time and again have warned the team in advance of some new “feature” release that unless attention is paid to X, Z will happen. And they don’t, and it does.
So we just end up screaming LISTEN TO US! and TALK TO US!
Your running _____ surgery gag totally cracked me up. I agree they’re in dire need of substantive and consistent communication. Another important capability they’re missing is the ability to see things from the perspective of their customers. Did the person who wrote the announcement about their SL9B position really believe that kind PRspeak would be credible? It seems to me that it was bound to alienate the very group of people they were trying to motivate:
“Second Life’s 9th Birthday is coming up in June! This year it’s all about you — the denizens of the grid, the sultans of Second Life and connoisseurs of creativity— and we want to highlight the many unique and innovative ways the community has made Second Life their own.”
I think it would be great if they’d hire you.
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