Business of Surf Part 4.5

I overlooked one group not to piss off! Vibes, Lissa may seem nice and sweet, but I heard that her enemies are buried under the deck.........I'm just say'n

THE BUSINESS OF SURFING

Part #4 Life is Hard

So I’ve given you a few things to think about now here comes Syx’s 6 cold hard facts.

Fact#1

If you’re renting a HS sim, running waves and hope to break even or make money its not going to happen! Sorry its life here in SL running more then one or two shops will kill your waves and people will not come.

Fact#2

If you’re renting a Full sim, running waves and hope to break even or make money its probably not going to happen! You’re going to have a ton of prims to work with, but just not enough space to make it work.

Fact#3

Man/Woman cannot live on donations and events alone! The SLSA has a Board of directors, Team of Sim managers, Event Planers and a large membership and only in the last 4-6 months have been successfully running their sim on Donations and Events. You don’t have those types of resources!

Fact#4

If you want to be a popular well-known beach you are at some point going to have to host a surf comp. Now you say “YES!” this is something I can finally do. Sorry no you can’t, you can if your HS sim is connected to your Full Sim, but its likely you don’t have that either. Remember an HS sim holds about 20 people, where is everyone going to watch the competition from????

Fact#5

It takes a lot of effort; probably more then one person can handle. I would highly recommend you have the help of one or two trusted SL friends.

Fact#6

Don’t piss off the; SLSA, SSI, ASSSBL, ASA, HP, SLSA HOF, Surfwatch, other surf sim owners, CIA, FBI, MI-6, The Mossad, KGB, NAACP, …. Well you get the picture. (I live my own rules) DON’T PISS PEOPLE OFF!

Next I'll tell you how I've managed to make it all work!

SLSA Returns to Monkey Cove

The SLSA Surfing Tour makes its annual stop at Monkey Cove for an Open and Pro event. May 7, 2011 @ 11:00am SLT and the following Saturday May 14, 2011 @ 11:00am. Remember the open event is "open" to anyone that wants to sign up.

Hope to see you there!

The Business of Surfing Part 3

The Business of SL Surfing

Part #3 Rules to live by

So you’ve decided to jump feet first into Surf Simdom! There are a few rules that you may want to follow. Now if you’re doing this just for you and your friends, make your own Damn Rules! If you would like to attract more then you, your alt and that girl you met at the strip club that’s really a dude here are a few things to think about;

It seems simple, but be nice! Be nice to the people that come to your beach have free activities for them. Example; have free rental surfboards. This is great for new surfers and board is a big investment for someone new to SL or surfing. Make it an environment you would like to visit.

Design a beautiful environment. This isn’t hard to do; with the advent of complex sculpties there are lots of low cost/low prim objects out there to make your beach a paradise.

Start a Group for your beach. You’d be surprised how this can help spread the word about your beach and at the very least it will build camaraderie with your regulars and people that love your beach.

Invest in a nice wave. A lot of us that have been here a while can appreciate a nice set of SSI pipes or fluffies, but most will not. Give them a newer wave to surf. Understand a wave investment is going to be between L$8,000-L$25,000.

Buy a few Surf Board vendors. Not only is this a nice convenience for people that may want to buy a board, but it also may provide you a little spending money. Don’t get too excited no one ever made their fortune on surfboard vendors.

Be attentive to your guest's needs. Be a helpful person, engage the people make them feel comfortable, answer questions, listen to suggestions. Don’t be an ass! Again seems simple but I see this rule broken all the time. Remember there are a lot of new people that have no idea of the customs, rules or even how to properly work their AV. If someone does something wrong talk to him or her and explain it. Your first reaction shouldn’t be to ban them for life!

Banning: Banning should be a last resort and you should be willing to listen to someone that wants to be permitted access again to your sim. If they're a well known griefer, copybot, or generally bad person then by all means don’t allow access, but if its someone that just didn’t know the rules give’m another chance.

Get involved with Surfing groups and organizations.

SLSA is Second Life’s premier surfing organization. They hold surf competitions, have classes to teach surfing and are a well-organized group.

ASBBL is the Brazilian surf group that also holds surf events and is a very friendly and welcoming group.

ASA is the Australian Surfing Association. They are an extremely fun and welcoming group. This group’s mission is to be fun first and foremost.

All of these groups look for sponsorship every season. SLSA and ASA also look for beaches to hold their competitions. The quickest way to get your beach exposure is to host one of these competitions. There are requirements to hosting an event so be sure to check with each group

Part#4 Next Week

Surfing Like You've Never Seen Before

http://www.grindtv.com/surf/blog/25938/a+dreamlike+wave+found+in+an+indonesian+river+is+stunning+surf+world/

Surf Shop 6 Reopens

Surf shop 6 Reopened on April 1st, no joke, I've really tried to open the store up so its easier to see all the great boards.

There are also some new fun elements like the crashed Sea Plane in honor of my friend Dee and Huey the Surf God, Be sure to visit Huey before your comps for luck ;)

I've also added the Hot new LSD boards and Waves by Luscious Starship. These Boards will give you a different feel while surfing.

Also added are brand new tanker designs by FAKT, Pray for Surf and "Real" Fish Designs by SSI. The SSI Fish boards debuted at Surf Festival last year but have not be widely available until now.

I really have a love for the store and it wouldn't be possible without the support of creators and designer. These people put a lot of hard work in to provide entertainment for all of us, so enjoy the new shop I had a blast building it.