The Makeover Agency in Second Life

UPDATE: I have announced the winner of the Avatar Makeover in the comments of this blog post and the winner of the Interior Design in the comments of my YouTube video.

I used to get about 10 to 20 people contacting me on a daily basis asking me to help them style their avatar or figure out which skin or mesh body part to purchase. Unfortunately, if I were to assist everyone that asked me to do this for them I would never have the time to blog or make videos. That’s why a while back I did this post: Do you offer Personal Styling Services in Second Life?

After doing that post the number of people contacting me daily did go down a bit, but not completely. That’s why I was so happy to hear about the Makeover Agency. The Makeover Agency in Second Life opened its doors to the public in June of 2018. The owner of the agency is SarahBeths, and she, along with a number of image consultants offer personal styling services to Second Life residents looking to update their avatar. They have also recently added Interior Design as a part of the services that they offer.

Links for the Makeover Agency

• The Makeover Agency SLurl
• Blog
• Flickr
• Avatar Makeover – Packages & Pricing
• Interior Designing – Packages & Pricing

Interview with SarahBeths

I had a chance to ask SarahBeths a few questions to learn more about her and the agency:

Strawberry Singh: Can you tell me how long you’ve been on Second Life and what got you interested in joining it?

SarahBeths: I’ve joined SL on very very late July 2017, so I’m only a year and some months old.

What interested me in joining it was the ability to be creative in world, to build, do music, while also have the social aspect SL can offer. All of those aspects you don’t have while playing games like the Sims for example. It is very enjoyable for me, as I can express my creativity in-world while meeting new people from all over the world.

Strawberry Singh: Are you the only owner of the Makeover Agency and what made you decide to start it up?

SarahBeths: I am the only owner of The Makeover Agency, yes. I somehow don’t consider myself like that, as it really is a family. I communicate a lot with my team and do my best to always have their opinions and keep them updated on what I am doing for ‘The Makeover Agency’. I really value this, and respect every one of them, they are as important as me, as I wouldn’t be where I am without them. These human values can easily be lost in the virtual world, and I really have it in heart to point out that every individual I’ve worked with, from my team, clients or even some places owners are really to be valued and thanked.

I decided to start it up simply because I was, as all of us once were, helpless when I started, and didn’t know where to turn to when I needed help with getting into mesh, and clothes. I felt lost, and it took me a lot of time to work around it all. I do know now there are some groups, and also specific popular brand groups, but you need to look for that information, and people usually don’t bother, especially if you’ve just joined or returned after a long time. SL is meant to be fun in the end, not looking for informations only to get lost in them, so it’s understandable.

What I learned with The Makeover Agency is that people need hand-in-hand help through every step, and it is something that wasn’t offered before. I hope I somewhat achieved that.

Strawberry Singh: At the agency, do you help people update their complete avatars or just style with clothing? Do you help them decide on which mesh bodies and heads to purchase? What is some of the decision making you assist with?

SarahBeths: We do help people with any kind of requests, it can be from transitioning into mesh completely for new residents, or returnees, to just changing style clothes or find a way to express it more.

Yes, that is our goal, to provide help to whoever needs it. We do some pre-work on our side from what they wrote on the notecard, mostly information that will guide us through the session, for example to which stores they go to, what kind of clothes they wear, where do they hang out, if they’re familiar with mesh… This is our work basis, and from that we take them to mesh stores to get demos and try them on to decide. I think it is important to note that we guide them and offer them choices, but they always have the last word. The most important thing for us is to procure the best help we can while being neutral. This really is a team work, we give them the information and they pick out what they need, and we help them and guide them through, one can’t work without another.

Strawberry Singh: I know that the Makeover Agency was established in June 2018 but in the past month you have also added Interior Designing as a part of your services, what made you decide to do that?

SarahBeths: I had requests pretty early about opening an Interior Design service, but I didn’t want to rush it out, and mostly settle the avatar service first. One of the main problems was to really know what kind of service I could offer in the Interior Design service, and how to fit it the best to resident’s needs. It was a thoughtful project, and I did some research and work before gathering a team of interior designers to open the service after making sure the packages would reply best to the needs.

What triggered my decision was first of all, seeing a lot of people renting lots and houses, and either don’t know how to furnish it to fit it best to their style (or don’t have time to) and end up leaving them empty, or just don’t know where to find interior designers to help them personalize their spaces. There’s no place like home, it’s the place where we eat, the place with friends and family, and interior designing helps reflecting that and triggers the special memories and people we have. It is common sense to think that if it’s expensive, it is best, but it is not always true. There are some very talented interior designers in-world, but I get back to what I said earlier, find the information can be a burden in-world.

Strawberry Singh: Can you tell me about some of the pricing and rates you offer on both of your Makeover and Interior Design options?

SarahBeths: Sure! First of all, we tried our best for it to be budget compatible, meaning you can reach out to us whether you have a low budget or not, we always work something out.

More generally, the two services offer three packages:

– Standard

– Premium

– A la carte

I will start with the avatar makeovers service.

The Standard Package is at L$3,250. We offer a session with someone that needs help, a delivery of memo containing all advice together and shops visited within two days, and also a before and after portrait shoot.

The Premium Package is at L$5,520. We offer the same features as the Standard one, but added features that contains two meetings a month and two months after the session for following, to keep them updated about clothes and style events, support for a month and also a surprise package.

For the Interior Design Service, we also have the Standard and Premium Package.

The Standard Package is at L$ 3 000. We offer what we call a room concept board, which is us virtualizing your room at our office so people can see how it is added together and give them tips about matching furniture, colors, and themes. We also offer a detailed furniture list plan, and a shopping list with links of recommended items.

The Premium Package is at L$ 5 000. We offer everything from the Standard Package, but decorate and set it up directly at the client’s place. Additional rooms are at $L 1 500.

If there is landscaping to do, it is to be discussed too, as prices vary.

For both services, the ‘A la Carte’ package is for any personalized help that we can offer, or for people that don’t need everything from the packages. This is the one we often use for very small budgets.

Strawberry Singh: I often get people contacting me asking me for assistance with technical issues they may be having with their mesh body parts, is this something you also help people with?

SarahBeths: Yes, we offer a free service for quick fixes, as we’re almost always available in-world. We sometimes have people that drop by and need help with a neck fix, or just with understanding their HUDs. People need to understand that it is okay to feel lost and look for help, it is not a shame, and we are here for that.

If we know it will take some time, or we sense that the person may need more understanding, then we don’t rush it and put it under an ‘A La Carte’ package.

Strawberry Singh: Are there any other services offered by the Makeover Agency?

SarahBeths: No at the moment, although I already had some requests. But as I said, I am taking baby steps.

Strawberry Singh: Is there any other information you’d like to share with me?

SarahBeths: I am always reaching out to popular stores to set up special prices or offers for people that are reaching out to us. I don’t mean to change everything at all, but I think offering a service like we do at ‘The Makeover Agency’ and having popular brands working with us to make it easier for new residents or returnees could really be a great thing on Second Life. Joining forces is always better than working independently. Hopefully if some are reading this blog, they will work something out with us.

If I may add a few words, I would like to thank you for taking time to know and write this article about us, but also thank my wonderful team of consultants and interior designers, clients and people I crossed paths with for this amazing journey. I wouldn’t be here without all of you, so thank you so much. And hello to Patch Linden too, because he’s every girls crush!

Questions for Cosima

I also spoke to one of the agency’s senior consultants and asked what she normally helps people with and what got her interested in becoming an image consultant, and this is her answer: 

Cosima (CozBasejump): Well, I help people with pretty much any issues or questions they have about their avatar. Most of the people I’ve worked with are relatively new or are people who’ve been in SL a while, but in both cases are new to mesh avies. I talk with them to get an idea of what their goals & preferred styles are for their avie. i try to get to know them a bit, and then I suggest avatar components, clothes, hair, makeup, etc. that will help them get to where they want to be, in terms of appearance. Our services are very personalized to each of our clients — I’ve worked with people who wanted a steampunk look, several guys of various ethnicities, etc. in each case, I was careful to provide them with things they really liked, not just a “standard-issue” mesh avie. I’ve typically spent something like 8 – 12 hrs with each client — although 1 or 2 have run longer. it’s always fun, and a great learning experience.

As for what got me interested… well, i’m one of those people who “reads the instructions” pretty obsessively, in fact. I’ve learned a lot about SL in general, but I really like the fact that there’s always more to learn and, I like meeting new people, finding out what they’re like and all. It hasn’t been very long at all since I put my avie together, and I remember how confusing some of that process was. So if I can help people avoid some of those headaches, I’m for it.

Two giveaways for the Makeover Agency

Sarah was also generous enough to offer two free packages to my readers and subscribers, so I am doing another giveaway! One of you will receive a free avatar makeover and the other will receive free Interior Designing services. To run the giveaway for these two services, I am going to ask you to leave a comment on either this blog or my YouTube video (which I am embedding below) and I will pick one winner from each place. Here are the rules to enter and win:

• If you want to win a free Avatar Makeover from the Makeover Agency, leave a comment in this blog post with your full Second Life username (not display name). The giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 31st at 6am SLT. Around 6am SLT, I will use the Pick Giveaway Winner wordpress plugin to randomly choose the winner and I will then announce the winner’s name in the comments of this post and give your name to Sarahbeths so she can contact you and setup your appointment for the Avatar Makeover.
• If you want to win free Interior Designing services from the Makeover Agency, leave a comment in my video below with your full Second Life username (not display name). The giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 31st at 6am SLT. Around 6am SLT, I will use RandomCommentPicker.com and let the website choose the winner. I will then announce the winner’s name in the comments of the video and give your name to Sarahbeths so she can contact you and setup your appointment for the Interior Designing Services. Here is the link to the YouTube video you need to leave the comment on to win the Interior Designing Services: https://youtu.be/xGLbmEFBcZw
  

A big thank you to Sarah and Cosima for taking the time to answer my questions. Based on the amount of people that contact me for assistance with their avatars, I think the services that the Makeover Agency offer are invaluable. I really hope those of you that need the assistance can get it through them.

My Style Details can be found in this post: LAQ Rain Bento Mesh Head