Better Business Bureau [Feedback & Advice]

[Maltropia]

So you're making a storefront. You have a product you want to sell and you have a name for your company, but you don't know how to market it. You don't know what to put into your opening post to grab people's attention, or how to describe your product so that it doesn't read like an instructions manual written entirely in pig Latin. You like what you have but you don't know where to go from there. Fortunately, there are people who do.

The NS Better Business Bureau is comprised of members of the GE&T community who are experienced in storefront design and everything that goes into it, and are willing to aid new players in adjusting to this community. They are here to help you get the best mileage out of your storefront. In other words: you are the Better Business Bureau. If you have a question ― any question ― about how to improve your GE&Ting, this is the place to ask; if you want to provide advice, tips, tricks, or critique, this is the place to do it.

This thread exists because we believe that the best resource the GE&T community has is itself; that it is GE&Ters who most want to see this subforum reach its fullest potential and have the knowledge and ability to get it there. The Better Business Bureau strives for this, as only the GE&T community can. Collectively, the Better Business Bureau (and this community as a whole) comes packed with:

Years of experience in storefront-running and product design;

Diverse areas of interest and expertise to provide better and wider coverage;

Professional and helpful feedback on every aspect of GE&T;

Roguish wit and dazzling good looks.

How does it work? It's surprisingly straightforward. Ask your question and get a response. Post your storefront and get feedback and critique. When you do, keep in mind that the more you give us to work off the more we can help you.

Want to help out? Anyone is welcome to offer advice in this thread (and even outside it!) and free to disagree with what others have said. This isn't an echo chamber, and varied advice is encouraged. That said, please try and keep things professional; this is not a "chat thread," but a new incarnation of an advice and assistance thread. Players of all types who want to see better businesses in GE&T should feel free to participate.

Wondering why this opening post seems so short? That's because it's not a guide, and there's only so much that needs to be said. The last version of this idea waxed lyrical and detoured down memory lane, which missed the point a bit. This thread is to provide help, suggestions, feedback and critique. The important stuff comes later. Happy GE&Ting!

---

Some useful links:

• GE&T Welcome Thread
• GE&T Discord server [Offsite community resource]
• Unofficial Guide to Creating a Storefront
• Storefront Formatting Guide
• Guide to Advanced Formatting and Design

Previous versions of this thread:

• Falkasia's Thread, '10 - '11
• Yohannes' Thread, '11 - '12
• Maltropia's Other Thread, '13 - '15

[Tippercommon]

Looking for general feedback/criticism of my new storefront: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=443568

[Kyrusia]

Looking for general feedback/criticism of my new storefront: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=443568

(Image)

Moderators and Mentors receive a 10% discount on all purchases.

I'm not even really active as a player in GE&T, and I want that discount.

But no. As you're well aware, mil-tech isn't my forte, spare to say I am very much a fan of the formatting, the lineart, and the graphic design incorporation. Exactly the sort of skill I've come to expect from you, Tip. Well done.

Beyond that, I'll leave this for someone more qualified to give you some serious feedback.

[Yohannes]

Edit: After much thought and consideration, I have elected to withdraw from this thread. Best wishes and good luck.

[Tippercommon]

I'm not even really active as a player in GE&T, and I want that discount.

But no. As you're well aware, mil-tech isn't my forte, spare to say I am very much a fan of the formatting, the lineart, and the graphic design incorporation. Exactly the sort of skill I've come to expect from you, Tip. Well done.

Beyond that, I'll leave this for someone more qualified to give you some serious feedback.

*insert thumbs up emoji here*

[Yohannes]

Edit: After much thought and consideration, I have elected to withdraw from this thread. Best wishes and good luck.

[Lamoni]

Looking for general feedback/criticism of my new storefront: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=443568

I am very much liking the way that you have put your storefront together, and for a lot of the same reasons which Kyrusia has already mentioned. I should ask though, is there no plan for a naval section in your storefront, since you seem to have included everything else (ground, air, firearms, etc)? I am looking forward to any products that you will come out with in the future, since there really isn't anything to criticize here.

[Tippercommon]

Looking for general feedback/criticism of my new storefront: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=443568

From quickly reading the thread I couldn't see anything wrong with the thread itself. I am not going to go into whether there is any overpowered claimed stats/technical details, etc. (that kind of questions should ideally be thrown to the NS Military Realism Consultation Thread (Allanea, the opening poster, is a regular poster in the Global Economics and Trade sub forum himself)

So putting that aside, your storefront is an example of a lovely arms manufacturing storefront. It has got: (i) custom made arts (representing the designs), (ii) write up and (iii) technical details/specifications. I love it! Will order if it's going to be opened soon?

Thanks! And it is opened; products will just be added continuously as I make them for my Anterra projects.

[Crookfur]

Looking for general feedback/criticism of my new storefront: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=443568

I have a couple of wee things I noticed and a couple of things that might need expanding or amending slightly.

On the sk70 it talks about it both being roller delayed blow back and then has a short sentence about rotary bolt locking which I suspect is a transposition from the stg53 blurb which makes no mention of the locking part of its mechanism.

On the smg the blurb makes a specific mention of the collapsible stock but it is illustrated with what looks like a fixed stock. It's no biggie but something to watch for. Also on the smg you might want to clear up and expand the regulator function. Myself and several others know exactly what you are talking about but it isn't an entirely accurate way to describe what the system does and its not immediately clear what it's point is.

Finally on the helicopter a 35mm gun sounds a bit much especially on a small nose/chin turre. However lacking further detail on the gun itself this may or may not be any kind of issue, its just something that sticks out on first glance.

I hope this helps.

[Tippercommon]

-snip-

Hi,

I've addressed the issue about the rotating bolt; it was just an oversight. The collapsible stock blurb has been taken out of the SMG description. The reason why it was there was because two versions of this had been drawn up: one with a collapsible stock and one with the fixed stock. The collapsible stock variant was the original and what was what the writeup was written for, but the fixed stock one is what my nation actually uses and sells.

For the gas regulator function, is this a more appropriate description?

"Finally, a gas regulator switch is provided ahead of the magazine for give the operator the ability to reduce the muzzle velocity of supersonic rounds to subsonic speeds, eliminating the sonic boom characteristic of supersonic rounds down range. When paired with a suppressor, this reduces the Mp 84's auditory profile significantly."

[Tippercommon]

-snip-

Thank you! As for naval, probably not. I'm probably just going to expand my air/ground warfare inventory as I'm not really into drawing warships.

[Crookfur]

-snip-

Hi,

I've addressed the issue about the rotating bolt; it was just an oversight. The collapsible stock blurb has been taken out of the SMG description. The reason why it was there was because two versions of this had been drawn up: one with a collapsible stock and one with the fixed stock. The collapsible stock variant was the original and what was what the writeup was written for, but the fixed stock one is what my nation actually uses and sells.

For the gas regulator function, is this a more appropriate description?

"Finally, a gas regulator switch is provided ahead of the magazine for give the operator the ability to reduce the muzzle velocity of supersonic rounds to subsonic speeds, eliminating the sonic boom characteristic of supersonic rounds down range. When paired with a suppressor, this reduces the Mp 84's auditory profile significantly."

Yup that works.
Yeah I had thought the other stuff was just little errors that needed a bit extra proof reading.
Nice work anyway.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=433566
Are there any suggestions as to what more I could add in terms of text? I feel like there should be more than just the history (ignore the broken images, I'll fix it later).

[Yohannes]

Edit: After much thought and consideration, I have elected to withdraw from this thread. Best wishes and good luck.

[Arthropol]

Hello GE&T community!

I'm looking for suggestions to improve my airline storefront- viewtopic.php?f=6&t=419746

I'm personally thinking maybe more text in the overview and services sections. Some things are still WIP, I plan to add title pictures like the ones for Economy Class, Business Class, etc, for everything.

[Pashana]

If you all could give me advice on how to make this better, as I wish to create this as an actual item of interest for the use of people to actually, 'become known'.

National Septim Treasury

If good as is, I will gladly update what is required when required.

[Crookfur]

If you all could give me advice on how to make this better, as I wish to create this as an actual item of interest for the use of people to actually, 'become known'.

National Septim Treasury

If good as is, I will gladly update what is required when required.

One thing that does leap out at me would be to make it VERY clear what your "storefront" offers in real terms to other businesses. At the moment it is very unclear what sort of services are on offer and why they would be worth a 30% cut/commission/tax.

[Pashana]

If you all could give me advice on how to make this better, as I wish to create this as an actual item of interest for the use of people to actually, 'become known'.

National Septim Treasury

If good as is, I will gladly update what is required when required.

One thing that does leap out at me would be to make it VERY clear what your "storefront" offers in real terms to other businesses. At the moment it is very unclear what sort of services are on offer and why they would be worth a 30% cut/commission/tax.

Its more of a way to show that your storefront is active. And the services offered is basically a representation of your storefront from a honed in treasury. Though funds go in, the majority of the purchase goes to the intended recipient. It's also a master thread to show what storefront I personally own and will make accounts for, but it's also a place for people to represent themselves for, well, themselves.

[Yohannes]

Its more of a way to show that your storefront is active.

Hi Pashana!

I am sorry if I sound dumb (or slow ), but I still don't get the meaning of this. Active in what way?

Though funds go in, the majority of the purchase goes to the intended recipient. It's also a master thread to show what storefront I personally own and will make accounts for, but it's also a place for people to represent themselves for, well, themselves.

From what I am getting so far it seems basically, in character wise, the institution/company/business behind your storefront is asking people to sell their storefronts (i.e. their in character companies) to your institution, and in return they will get the perks/benefits of becoming a member (owned by) your company?

If that is wrong please do let me know (I am sorry)

Regarding popularity and popular storefronts

With regard to making your storefront "popular", you can do that with any storefront so long as you have a group of players who are dedicated and willing to advertise for your storefront (this is what happened with other seemingly popular storefronts; they have people who do "hey, check this storefront out" to new players and non GE&T players in the NationStates and International Incidents sub forums. The other way to make your storefront "popular" is to mass telegram players in non RP regions to advertise your storefront (and what it does)... but all these things are not what the Global Economics and Trade sub forum is all about

This sub forum is about not just selling our products (and services), but also about actually designing the very product that we want to sell itself. In 2018, popularity (that is, how many posts there are in your storefront thread) means nothing if the storefront (or the design you are selling) itself is, I am sorry if this sounds rude (I can't find a way to soften up the word), garbage. Any person can advertise their storefronts and mass telegram people; doesn't mean they are accomplished Global Economics and Trade writers/members of this community, unless, of course, people respect them for what they have done (i.e. their designing skill, writing skill, graphic editing skill, etc.)

Sorry if this is a long post

But I just want to say: concentrate on the quality of your storefront (for arms manufacturers or any other manufacturer, e.g. car manufacturer, aircraft manufacturer, etc., that would be: concentrate on the quality of your designs), not whether it will be popular or not. The quality of your storefront (and/or your design) (the writing, the designing process, etc.) will be the thing that will make established members of the community (and I am talking about people who use their alternate accounts too) go "I respect this guy; they put a lot of work into their storefront."

We are the Master of our in character thread - creativity is the key

If, say, even after putting so much work into your storefront (and it will show), there is still no one who post in your storefront, then this is why GE&T 2018 is amazing: you can post in character things yourself. Have an embassy programme in the Factbooks and National Information sub forum? Telegram people who have posted there (who have an embassy in your nation) to see if they would be interested to be featured in your storefront. If they say yes, then you can creatively make in character post, news style (or the traditional story writing style) about what's happening between their nation's businesses and your company/storefront

This is one example: viewtopic.php?p=34071658#p34071658

Caracasus didn't go "I want to buy [xxx]". Instead, the player posted something that gave me the permission to go deep in character wise. It has advanced the worldbuilding aspect of my nation, and it has also benefited his nation in character wise too.

In your case, if there's no one who have posted in your storefront, you can simply telegram your NationStates friends and see if they would be okay with you creating a news style (like that) post (in your storefront thread) about the things happening between some fictional companies in their nation and yours (maybe business transaction, partnership, I don't know)

Don't wait for people to post in your storefront; remember, it is your RP thread, just like in the International Incidents sub forum. You can write about just anything that you want. You are the master of your own thread. Create a story for others to see, and make your storefront popular by posting in character stuff there, without waiting for other people to post there. That will advance your storefront more (you are in control) than waiting for people to post in your thread

Why only a few can do the above

Edit: the problem with the above approach is... you actually must know what you are doing. If you are creating a bank storefront, for instance, you can't possibly do any of the above if you don't know anything about financial services and banking in real life. But then again if that's the case we must ask the following question: if someone don't know anything about what they are selling (and are too lazy to do any quick Google research about how to roleplay it)... why are they selling the thing in the GE&T sub forum in the first place?

2020 edit: I do not hold these views any longer, my apologies.

[Yohannes]

Hello GE&T community!

I'm looking for suggestions to improve my airline storefront- viewtopic.php?f=6&t=419746

I'm personally thinking maybe more text in the overview and services sections. Some things are still WIP, I plan to add title pictures like the ones for Economy Class, Business Class, etc, for everything.

Hi Arthropol,

I love your Arthropol Airlines storefront (as it stands; in its present condition: it's so much different than what it was when it was first created). I know that there will be some things there and perhaps some players will see wrong things (e.g. the pictures are too large, there are some typos, etc.), but for me personally (and tbh I make a lot of typos myself ) I love seeing the storefront because the thread is informative, i.e. there's overview, history, information (writing) about each section. It's not just a thread filled with pictures (and no information). There's actually information there, and it allows me to see, feel and imagine what Arthropol Airlines is actually like (if it does exist) in real life

I also like the way you've spoilered all the large pictures (so the too large pictures don't destroy the formatting of the storefront)

It's also not too long (I need to learn how to do that myself for the Bank of Yohannes) so people are not bored (a huge wall of text can dissuade people from reading)

2020 edit: I do not hold these views any longer, my apologies.

[Arthropol]

Hello GE&T community!

I'm looking for suggestions to improve my airline storefront- viewtopic.php?f=6&t=419746

I'm personally thinking maybe more text in the overview and services sections. Some things are still WIP, I plan to add title pictures like the ones for Economy Class, Business Class, etc, for everything.

Hi Arthropol,

I love your Arthropol Airlines storefront (as it stands; in its present condition: it's so much different than what it was when it was first created). I know that there will be some things there and perhaps some players will see wrong things (e.g. the pictures are too large, there are some typos, etc.), but for me personally (and tbh I make a lot of typos myself ) I love seeing the storefront because the thread is informative, i.e. there's overview, history, information (writing) about each section. It's not just a thread filled with pictures (and no information). There's actually information there, and it allows me to see, feel and imagine what Arthropol Airlines is actually like (if it does exist) in real life

I also like the way you've spoilered all the large pictures (so the too large pictures don't destroy the formatting of the storefront)

It's also not too long (I need to learn how to do that myself for the Bank of Yohannes) so people are not bored (a huge wall of text can dissuade people from reading)

Thanks for the feedback, Yohannes

[Pashana]

Its more of a way to show that your storefront is active.

Hi Pashana!

I am sorry if I sound dumb (or slow ), but I still don't get the meaning of this. Active in what way?

Though funds go in, the majority of the purchase goes to the intended recipient. It's also a master thread to show what storefront I personally own and will make accounts for, but it's also a place for people to represent themselves for, well, themselves.

From what I am getting so far it seems basically, in character wise, the institution/company/business behind your storefront is asking people to sell their storefronts (i.e. their in character companies) to your institution, and in return they will get the perks/benefits of becoming a member (owned by) your company?

If that is wrong please do let me know (I am sorry)

With regard to making your storefront "popular", you can do that with any storefront so long as you have a group of players who are dedicated and willing to advertise for your storefront (this is what happened with other seemingly popular storefronts; they have people who do "hey, check this storefront out" to new players and non GE&T players in the NationStates and International Incidents sub forums. The other way to make your storefront "popular" is to mass telegram players in non RP regions to advertise your storefront (and what it does)... but all these things are not what the Global Economics and Trade sub forum is all about

This sub forum is about not just selling our products (and services), but also about actually designing the very product that we want to sell itself. In 2018, popularity (that is, how many posts there are in your storefront thread) means nothing if the storefront (or the design you are selling) itself is, I am sorry if this sounds rude (I can't find a way to soften up the word), garbage. Any person can advertise their storefronts and mass telegram people; doesn't mean they are accomplished Global Economics and Trade writers/members of this community, unless, of course, people respect them for what they have done (i.e. their designing skill, writing skill, graphic editing skill, etc.)

Sorry if this is a long post

But I just want to say: concentrate on the quality of your storefront (for arms manufacturers or any other manufacturer, e.g. car manufacturer, aircraft manufacturer, etc., that would be: concentrate on the quality of your designs), not whether it will be popular or not. The quality of your storefront (and/or your design) (the writing, the designing process, etc.) will be the thing that will make established members of the community (and I am talking about people who use their alternate accounts too) go "I respect this guy; they put a lot of work into their storefront."

If, say, even after putting so much work into your storefront (and it will show), there is still no one who post in your storefront, then this is why GE&T 2018 is amazing: you can post in character things yourself. Have an embassy programme in the Factbooks and National Information sub forum? Telegram people who have posted there (who have an embassy in your nation) to see if they would be interested to be featured in your storefront. If they say yes, then you can creatively make in character post, news style (or the traditional story writing style) about what's happening between their nation's businesses and your company/storefront

This is one example: viewtopic.php?p=34071658#p34071658

Caracasus didn't go "I want to buy [xxx]". Instead, the player posted something that gave me the permission to go deep in character wise. It has advanced the worldbuilding aspect of my nation, and it has also benefited his nation in character wise too.

In your case, if there's no one who have posted in your storefront, you can simply telegram your NationStates friends and see if they would be okay with you creating a news style (like that) post (in your storefront thread) about the things happening between some fictional companies in their nation and yours (maybe business transaction, partnership, I don't know)

Don't wait for people to post in your storefront; remember, it is your RP thread, just like in the International Incidents sub forum. You can write about just anything that you want. You are the master of your own thread. Create a story for others to see, and make your storefront popular by posting in character stuff there, without waiting for other people to post there. That will advance your storefront more (you are in control) than waiting for people to post in your thread

Edit: the problem with the above approach is... you actually must know what you are doing. If you are creating a bank storefront, for instance, you can't possibly do any of the above if you don't know anything about financial services and banking in real life. But then again if that's the case we must ask the following question: if someone don't know anything about what they are selling (and are too lazy to do any quick Google research about how to roleplay it)... why are they selling the thing in the GE&T sub forum in the first place?

Let me give a slight example to what this storefront is.

Imagine a family owns a restaurant. That family gets an offer they couldn't refuse, then another person owns it under a different name with same staff. That's what you think this is.

This thread is something simpler, the person still owns the storefront and all rights to it, especially if its trademarked. They just pay a fee to have their storefront added. It's like a giant advertisement thread, where people can add their storefronts to be advertised for a portion of their purchases and the preliminary fee. It's what I call 'advertised buying', someone wants their thread to be publicly known, for a price, they can add their storefront, like a conquest without a conquest. Its smart buying and, though people may not do it, there will still be some sort of profit from it.

[Yohannes]

Let me give a slight example to what this storefront is.

Imagine a family owns a restaurant. That family gets an offer they couldn't refuse, then another person owns it under a different name with same staff. That's what you think this is.

This thread is something simpler, the person still owns the storefront and all rights to it, especially if its trademarked. They just pay a fee to have their storefront added. It's like a giant advertisement thread, where people can add their storefronts to be advertised for a portion of their purchases and the preliminary fee. It's what I call 'advertised buying', someone wants their thread to be publicly known, for a price, they can add their storefront, like a conquest without a conquest. Its smart buying and, though people may not do it, there will still be some sort of profit from it.

Hi Pashana,

Thank you for the information (and correction)! A commendable idea, wishing you the best of luck with the storefront. I will leave this to the other more marketing savvy players as this (most definitely) not my field

[Astronea]

I started my storefront, ACC Defence Division, as little more than a bored hobby to tack on to my Nationstates roleplay. I was using realworld designs or variants thereof, with very little write up or statistical information. Over the years as my activity has come and gone, I've updated it with original creations, images and gradually increased the quality of my writeups, starting with small arms up to more recently ground vehicles. I'm pretty pleased with how my small arms section is looking for detail, but am looking to expand on my ground vehicles section.

Any feedback on design, layout, general quality would be greatly appreciated. I definitely want to look into some modular "design an IFV" ideas that allows customers to customize their loadout for a vehicle with a variety of modifications. Any advice on how I could go about this would be great. Is there anything I could add to my storefront, anything that needs fixing? Also, question: is having a minimal catalogue that simply lists items, with hyperlinked pages that depict individual writeups etc better than giving some description listed for each product on the storefront itself? Should I create a separate thread for the catalogue all together?

Again, any feedback, however little or large, would be brill. Cheers. Storefront in question: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=362737

[Azadeshia]

It's not complete, but I need some suggestions :- viewtopic.php?f=6&t=443826