Bureau for the Improvement of NS Businesses [Organisation]

by **Ceni** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:31 pm

Nerod Empire wrote:What do you recommend me to improve and get more people in my Patent Office? viewtopic.php?f=6&t=263460

Advertise, advertise, advertise. Get Malt & Jung to help you with that.

Another thing that you don't have going for you is a history. Really, with an OOC service, you wouldn't think you need a history, but you do, especially in this case, where you're going to have people ask "Why should I pay you money if I can do this in my own nation?". You're going to need serious quality with this kind of thing.

Start with how your company was founded. Was it originally a government office, a consortium of private businesses, or something else? Have a lot of detail on the beginnings of your company. It'll give your company a better reputation. You need to also tell how the business/company expanded. What is the course of the expansion? This will help you a lot with your business.

Also, you need to work on your actual service. Give more detail, a lot more detail about your service. What exactly is it you do? What are the exact criteria of your patent selection process? Why should we choose your business? Registering a patent is a simple process, but in order to get more customers, you need to give a lot more detail in your application and process of being accepted by your company.

by **Nerod Empire** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:34 pm

Thanks, Ceni. I will try that.
But, who is Malt & Jung?

by **Maltropia** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:40 pm

Nerod Empire wrote:Thanks, Ceni. I will try that.
But, who is Malt & Jung?

Malt is me, Maltropia, and Jung is Jungastia.

Anyway, these are the posts I always use when people ask about advertising -

ViZion wrote:A few ways to do it...
Signature (obviously)
Actual advertisement threads (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=66657 < fun fact.. myself and several other nations back then had an advertising war between our airlines)
Promote it in your RP's - for yours, maybe you're RPing in a character RP, you could have your character drinking tea from your company, linking back to your storefront.

Those are 3 very good, and surprisingly uncommon ways to promote your storefront. I'm amazed how few people do any of those 3.

Maltropia wrote:I'd also recommend that you actively seek out the kinds of storefronts that would be most interested in your products - restaurants, hotels, maybe the classier airlines - and post a marketing letter. Some industries, especially food/drink-providers and pubs/restaurants, or airports and airlines, have a lot of interdependence in providing business for each other, and you can't just sit and wait for customers to come to you.

by **Rhodevus** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:55 pm

I am making my third storefront. My first one, being a test (completely failed) and my second was one I worked pretty hard on (it was a green energy store selling solar panels, hydrogen powered cars etc. It also flopped). After spending some time away from GE&T, I decided to try and make a new storefront, this time for something I rarely see on this forum.

It is an alcohol shop, where companies, people and nations can buy large or small quantities of various drinks to use. Most of it is complete, but I need some help with writing the storefronts history and any other general suggestions to make it more attractive to view. Thanks!

Rhodevus

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=264833&p=16864761#p16864761

The Ethanol and Drink Company

by **Feebland** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:25 am

Maltropia wrote:I'd recommend that you make UG's Guide to Creating a Storefront your first port of call, since it pretty much covers all the bases.

Feebland wrote:This is a great tool for beginning players. I would like to join the Bureau. I have only a single storefront (see signature), but I intend to develop more in the future. I have expertise in aviation (aircraft, not airlines), ships (both civil and military), and fish/fishing. For evidence of my knowledge, you can see my Factbook (link below) for naval systems, and my Storefront for fish. Aviation stats and specs are my hobby.

I think I'd like to see more evidence of your work, etc., before I add you to the Members list, but feel free to offer advice anyway.

Alright. Thanks!

by **Lun Noir** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:28 pm

From:

Ralf Williams,
Head of International Sales,
Universal Storage Networks,
9000 Discovery Way,
Ste #2100
Oniera, Red Conch Beach,
Lun Noir

Rcpt:

General Services Division,
Bureau for the Improvement of NS Businesses

CC: Lucas Finley, Universal Storage Networks

Request for services.

Dear sirs,

Universal Storage Networks is a corporation acting as a spearhead for the nation of Lun Noir breaking into international trade, we have had a difficult time achieving success in the global marketplace. As the one responsible for growing the international sales division, it would be remiss of me not to seek out a consultation from the BINSB. Realizing there are always areas for improvement, and even some changes that we have considered internally, we would like your expert advice in what would help make our business more successful.

Cost of travel and hotel accommodations can certainly be included in the consultation cost. I will be serving as the primary point of contact. If you need any information about us before producing a quote for your services, I'd be happy to address them.

Sincerely,
Ralf Williams,
Universal Storage Networks

OOC: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=260446

by **Maltropia** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:57 pm

Rhodevus wrote:I am making my third storefront. My first one, being a test (completely failed) and my second was one I worked pretty hard on (it was a green energy store selling solar panels, hydrogen powered cars etc. It also flopped). After spending some time away from GE&T, I decided to try and make a new storefront, this time for something I rarely see on this forum.

It is an alcohol shop, where companies, people and nations can buy large or small quantities of various drinks to use. Most of it is complete, but I need some help with writing the storefronts history and any other general suggestions to make it more attractive to view. Thanks!

Rhodevus

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=264833&p=16864761#p16864761

The Ethanol and Drink Company

I'm not really the person to talk to about drinks' companies, but I recommend you look at a few competitors' storefronts for inspiration, particularly Neu Engollon's Burgunden Breuerie and Nouvel Ecosse's Attico's Drinkeries which is in a similar market.

Visually, I'd recommend a few main changes. The logo's unnecessarily big, taking up far more space than it should. If you crop most of the background above and below the text, it will work much better. Then, with the font below it, try upping the size so that it's closer to the width of the logo above. The flag counter there, while it's sometimes cool to see, just makes your storefront look a bit messier and less professional than it should. If you want to keep it, try moving it to the bottom of your opening posts instead.

Also, you use the [align] tags far more than you need to; one set of tags will be enough for everything up to the first paragraph. This may just be personal taste, but I'm seeing more underlining than is necessary. Underlining is for emphasis and headers: if it's already prominent and centred, it shouldn't need to be underlined.

Here's my recommended code for the OP, up to just before the main body text:

I have removed your Flag Counter from that code, so be aware of that if you want to keep it.

Lun Noir, just to let you know, this is purely an Out of Character thread, so there's no need for the letter.

I'll get to your request when I've another moment spare, unless someone else beats me to it. Definitely, though, I'd say that's the sort of storefront that should also seek out customers, as it's a rarer market in GE&T. I'd particularly recommend seeking out banks and the like, as they'd be among those most in need of data protection.

by **Lun Noir** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 5:01 pm

Maltropia wrote:
Rhodevus wrote:Lun Noir, just to let you know, this is purely an Out of Character thread, so there's no need for the letter. I'll get to your request when I've another moment spare, unless someone else beats me to it. Definitely, though, I'd say that's the sort of storefront that should also seek out customers, as it's a rarer market in GE&T. I'd particularly recommend seeking out banks and the like, as they'd be among those most in need of data protection.

Yeah, I figured it was OOC, but it felt really fun to post my interest in character. Couldn't resist.

Thanks for your initial comments, look forward to your response and take your time!

by **Jungastia** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 5:36 pm

Maltropia wrote:
Rhodevus wrote:EDITED

EDITED

I would add to Malt's thing. Differentiate yourself, so instead of being a one stop shop for all different types of alcohol, be a specialist distiller with three great whiskeys, or Gins, or even have say a few different spirits/liqueurs. Or be a smaller brewery, doing a few types of beer. or is your nations geography suits it and history, be a wine estate.

Target at the middle to upper end of the market. I can give you ideas of real world companies that are along the lines I'm suggesting if you want me to.

To boil it down. Three to five excellent well detailed products are better than thirty one liners. Take your time, and we're all here to help - plus as a student I'm well versed on alcohol

TG me if you want to chat any specifics.

Jung x

by **Nouvel Ecosse** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:55 am

Maltropia wrote:
Rhodevus wrote:-SNIP-

-SNIP-

I would suggest actually giving your products brand names. I run Attico's Drinkeries, and it would be far easier to buy and forward on your products to my hypothetical customers (Of which there are thousands) if your products were more unique. Rather than just "Blonde Beer", which is really more of a description than a brand, why not try something more original? Perhaps give a history to the product as well. The following is one of the products I sell, which could perhaps be described as a blonde beer:

WALRUS LAGER*: Originally brewed by visiting Danish monks who were marooned on Nouvel Ecosse, Walrus Lager is still to this very day made by the monks of Moon Town Monastery, who continue to pledge their time to making one of Nouvel Ecosse's finest alcohols. Nobody knows why they make it or how, but all we know is that you will love it. Available in its entirely unique bottle, shaped to resemble a Walrus which inhabit the lands around Moon Town, Walrus Lager is both tasty and unique.

All I'm suggesting is that a little more information is needed, and that I would certainly feel more inclined to buy your products to sell in my pubs if they were branded.

by **Heleventia** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:51 am

I would like to become a member of the Bureau?

by **Sensorland** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:12 pm

So, I happen to enjoy making storefronts that are unusual; businesses that differ from the normal GE&T atmosphere (Arms, vehichles, airlines, etc.) Only one of them has been successful. CleverBulb™ (You can find the old storefront here).

So, what would you all reccomend to improve it?

by **Maltropia** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:05 pm

Lun Noir - What you have so far is a very good start. I would definitely recommend adding a section about the company itself, explaining in no uncertain terms what you sell and what your history is. It needn't be more than a short paragraph, but it's something most storefronts should have. Also, I'm not sure why, but the text feels - to me, at least - a bit... blocky. Try adding a line between the main text blocks in the Services and each of the hyphenated lines below.

Another idea to break up the text might be adding a small picture or two along the sides, even if it's just 200 pixels across and of a server room. I'm not saying you need pictures - storefronts should never need pictures; it's just a suggestion.

Heleventia wrote:I would like to become a member of the Bureau?

Couple of quick questions first. Aside from GETrax, do you run any storefronts? What would you consider your areas of specialisation in GE&T? I know you know how to rank storefronts and dole out advice, but outside of GETrax I've never really seen you in this forum.

Sensorland wrote:So, I happen to enjoy making storefronts that are unusual; businesses that from the normal GE&T atmosphere (Arms, vehichles, airlines, etc.) Only one of them has been successful. CleverBulb™ (You can find the old storefront here).

So, what would you all reccomend to improve it?

Mostly I'd recommend cutting down on the size, or at least height, of your pictures. As it is, they take up far more of the storefront than they need to compared to the amount of text you have. The most important part of the storefront should always be the text and how you use it to draw in a customer, with the pictures being secondary to, and supporting of, the text. Writing more about each product would be a good idea, if possible, as would adding more products - strip lights, for example.

by **Lun Noir** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:15 pm

Maltropia wrote:Lun Noir - What you have so far is a very good start. I would definitely recommend adding a section about the company itself, explaining in no uncertain terms what you sell and what your history is. It needn't be more than a short paragraph, but it's something most storefronts should have. Also, I'm not sure why, but the text feels - to me, at least - a bit... blocky. Try adding a line between the main text blocks in the Services and each of the hyphenated lines below.

Another idea to break up the text might be adding a small picture or two along the sides, even if it's just 200 pixels across and of a server room. I'm not saying you need pictures - storefronts should never need pictures; it's just a suggestion.

I appreciate the input! Will circle back to this thread once some updates have been made based on this feedback.

by **Sensorland** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:53 pm

Thanks Malt! As it is, adding more products is always on my to-do list. I'll see what I can do about pictures and increasing the wording.

by **Heleventia** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 3:10 am

Maltropia wrote:Couple of quick questions first. Aside from GETrax, do you run any storefronts? What would you consider your areas of specialisation in GE&T? I know you know how to rank storefronts and dole out advice, but outside of GETrax I've never really seen you in this forum.

Q. Aside from GETrax, do you run any storefronts?

A. No. I am in the final year of my high school so I am really busy, till next May at least. I have been planning for a long time to start a bank cum stock exchange storefront. I have some rough sketches in my drafts. Whenever I plan to work upon it, some priority in RL comes up. I will work upon it in June 2014 and plan to release it by August 2014 which will coincide with perhaps my first days of college!

Q. What would you consider your areas of specialisation in GE&T?

A. I consider myself as a Jack of all trades. I do not have any specialisation but I am well acquainted with the basics and a little more of this forum.

Q. I know you know how to rank storefronts and dole out advice, but outside of GETrax I've never really seen you in this forum.

A. I am pretty busy in RL but I visit NS almost daily or during the weekends at least. I like GE&T so I spend most of time here. I am active in General ( my most recent discussion: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=263582 ) and somewhat active in FN&I ( my embassy request application: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=249136&p=16405351#p16405351 ).

I would like to add that I love helping people and even though, I do not own any storefront and I do not have much experience RPing but I think that I can play some part in making the new players comfortable playing this game.

by **Vandelstein** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:49 am

Hi again. I've just launched my third storefront. It's around 90% complete because I felt sleepy and I'm going to complete the final 10% sometime this week after my finals.

Anyway, so the storefront is called Alto Aerospace and I'd really appreciate any helpful input you guys may have on it. Also, I think I'll follow your suggestions regarding Skyway Airlines and Helsingberg International Airport.

After reading your feedback, I took a look at my airline storefront and I ended up thinking it was a bit of a mess with a single post having all the information instead of the multiple posts I used on Helsingberg Int'l Airport and Alto Aerospace. I might end up redoing the whole thing with a better layout.

My Helsingberg Int'l Airport storefront also looks a bit bulky due to so much information, but I can't seem to decide which parts to remove. They all seem like important information for an RL airport.

Thanks for the suggestions with my two previous storefronts I hope to hear from you soon regarding the third.

Oh, and because I feel a bit fancy today, here are fancy-ish image links to my storefronts. Hehe

by **Crookfur** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 3:44 pm

Biggest issue with Alto Aerospace is the copy pasta from the Airbus and Boeing websites which you should be looking to remove ASAP. As Skyworld pointed out many of the claims for these aircraft whislt holdign true on Rl are a nonsense in NS.

It is personally quite disappointing to find such a nicely put together stroefron that ends up only containing rebranded copy pasta. With your obvious talent it shouldn't be too difficult to coem up with your own stuff, even if you were just to apply some more modern, possibly cutting edge, touches to existing aircraft. An easy start would be to say take your A320alikes and alter them with a more current streamlined look (hints from the dream liner/A350/737max etc), different engines and new wing tip devices etc etc basically anythign to make the designs more up to date, relevent to NS and above all more yours.

by **Mikia** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:39 pm

hi me again does anyone know how to make a good navy ship/jets? would like a website or something.

by **Crookfur** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 3:08 pm

MIKIA wrote:hi me again does anyone know how to make a good navy ship/jets? would like a website or something.

Do you mean create images of or create the written descriptions stats of naval vessels and/or aircraft?

For images of naval vessels there is shipbucket but if you are goign to venture into that you will really need to pay close attention to that community's rules.

Really the best bet is always to draw thigns yourself. It doesn;t have to be increbibly detailed or brilliant art work but a clear idea of what you are tryign to draw will always help.

To be honest there is so much to doing your own art and also to creating "good" write ups that its alsmot imposisble to cover it in any depth in one post. However there are three thigns that will always make your art and your write ups better: Research, research and MORE RESEARCH. Seriously start with genreral wiki pages on the kind of thing you want to create, then progress to specific examples before going off and having a good long look at the kind of sources wiki links to.

by **Maltropia** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 3:39 pm

Heleventia - I'll think about adding you to the Member list over the next few days, and get back to you then.

by **Vandelstein** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:33 pm

I've been giving it some thought and I think I'll give up Alto Aerospace a second time and replace it with a hotel chain. I didn't give much thought to Alto when I was making it and I found myself drawing a blank for several days now. I still have no idea what to define each aircraft with without sounding too repetitive, or worse, by using the exact words in Airbus' website as I wrongly did in the first Alto Aerospace storefront. Would it be a good idea to let it go or am I just having a creator's block?

by **Vitaphone Racing** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:45 pm

Vandelstein wrote:I've been giving it some thought and I think I'll give up Alto Aerospace a second time and replace it with a hotel chain. I didn't give much thought to Alto when I was making it and I found myself drawing a blank for several days now. I still have no idea what to define each aircraft with without sounding too repetitive, or worse, by using the exact words in Airbus' website as I wrongly did in the first Alto Aerospace storefront. Would it be a good idea to let it go or am I just having a creator's block?

It sounds like you should let it go and possibly come back to it later if you're struggling for ideas and have bigger ambitions elsewhere. With any storefront, there is a need to do quite a bit of background research on the type of business you hope to operate, and if you're designing you should also be doing research into the type of things you're intending to produce on NS. I'd perhaps think about going right back to the drawing board and doing some extra reading on how Boeing, Airbus, Embraer (and more, the more examples the better) market themselves and doing some extra research on airline construction so you can write about your products a little easier. You should also figure out some sort of company profile; you could aim to be a seller of cheaper airliners and look for ways to reduce costs etc. or you could aim to sell cutting edge aircraft and you could look around for newer technologies developed in RL which you could feature. More often than not, innovation is key to success.

As a tip, it makes it very hard for yourself if you release a storefront with a full complement of products, like an airliner in every class for example. You're much better off starting with one or two well designed products and expanding from there. NS isn't RL in the fact that even if you aren't selling what people are looking for, they'll still buy from you if you've done a good job.

You could (and should) apply much of this logic to your hotel chain as well.

by **Aurora Confederacy** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:20 pm

I would hang on to Alto Aerospace for a while, do some research etc as to what is needed, save the link in the fact book. you can have a store front in active for ages as being WIP as you work on it

have a look here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=182620 for ideas.

by **Maltropia** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:12 am

Few updates to the Member roster: San Pellegrino Romana has been added to the list. Heleventia has been declined and Ceni has been removed, as neither really have what we're looking for here.

Bureau for the Improvement of NS Businesses [Organisation]

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