Cool banner :O very original. However, I do have some suggestions. First, in my experience, anything but a 4M NB Ad you almost certainly won't make your neopoints back, especially with the low profits required to get any customers if you are in a small mall. Second, the bit saying "Mall Managers Shop" on the banner annoys me, because the way I see it, everyone in a mall is equal, so why should everyone link twice to the mall manger? It can also be annoying, if you are running low on space in your shop description. Some may disagree with me, saying mall managers put work into running the mall, so they deserve more exposure, but the way I see it thats just exploiting your position. And finally, I personally think anything but main market malls are a waste of time, as you will only get marginally more customers, its not worth the effort of being in a mall and meeting its requirements.

Very cool banner!! I saw you ad in the listing yesterday and thought your banner was exceptional (though the instrument that is almost touching the box that it is contained in bugs me a little, LOL). I don't mind your manager link but I do think you need to add more info to your mall page and show the ad if you insist on doing one. About that, I agree as well that unless it is a 4 mil board or on the occasion when you can get page 2-3 cheaply -- ads ARE NOT WORTH the fees at this time! The same can be said for being in a mall as I only get about 2-5 hits from being in a mall on any given day which I am not sure it is worth that at my size (166). If anything it may even hurt sales since most people assume malls are over-priced. When the shops in a mall are not in any market it makes the mark-ups even more painful for customers to bear and here's why I think that... I get the impression people don't mind paying more if they can see most of the category in one shop instead of a very small picture of it. If you're going to use the SW to find items then you use it...but if you're in a huge main market shop you can just browse in there and pretty much see (in the good ones) what is for sale in that category and make your selections instead of fooling around with the SW/SSW. People need to get over the mystique of malling and focus on the point/bottom line of their mall -- not all malls have the same goals. I am pretty sure my mall is focused on helping it's members get to market size while giving members some mall experience before we get there to see if we really want to continue. And many realize that malling is not for them at my level so we constantly have openings and people who really don't try to get customers in their shops so there is no traffic flow virtually from my being in a mall or paying for NB ads. But at my level that is expected however frustrating it may be. As a neopoint making venture / advertising strategy it is a waste of time & neopoints to be in a mini-mall/non-market size mall. Not a total waste but very close. So make sure you know why you are starting a mall and state that. If you are joining a mall find out what the goals of that mall are. If the goal is just to create / use a pretty banner -- then create the pretty banner and give it to one of the main market malls whose banners are ugly and demand that the artwork be linked to you.... yeah! LOL! Sorry about my mini rant.... you do what you want, I know you will anyway. You should know your goals though and state them so you don't have to close the mall when you don't get what you want from it and other players. The other players in your mall is the wild card in malling. Uncommitted players can ruin a perfectly great mall...all you need is a few to ruin the morale of the whole mall so be careful who you let in and keep in your mall. _____________________________________________________ ~ Mimi's Ménagerie Avatars ~ http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=temps_bons&misc

I dont even need to post here. Both posts are very informative and exactly my views.

[quote=killercars5000]Cool banner :O very original. [/quote] That's what I said to him the first time I saw it. Too bad the other established malls didn't come up with that idea. It would have been a hit. It's actually one of the best banners, I've seen so far. If not the best.

Nice banner! you need to get rid of the typo you forgot the l in petpets/supplies;)

[center] Mm, yeah, nice banner, but the guitar still has a smidge of the white background to the right on the bottom, and yeah, it really ought to be a smidge higher up. :/ But very nice. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------- [url=http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=raine_storme&misc]~~ Come visit my map shop ~~[/url] [/center]

[quote=temps_bons] As a neopoint making venture / advertising strategy it is a waste of time & neopoints to be in a mini-mall/non-market size mall. Not a total waste but very close. So make sure you know why you are starting a mall and state that. If you are joining a mall find out what the goals of that mall are. If the goal is just to create / use a pretty banner -- then create the pretty banner and give it to one of the main market malls whose banners are ugly and demand that the artwork be linked to you.... yeah! LOL! [/quote] She makes a lot of great points - including those about losing sales/it not being worth it until you hit a marketplace. What I've quoted is of particular importance - There are tons of horrible noticeboard ads and mall banners. You could make a petpage offering your services and such. Make MM malls link to you - now that would help with sales/traffic! I like your banner's concept and layout, but I do think I might keep scrolling past it if you don't add a bit of color to it.

heh i actually made a look up using the xp theme back then but it clashed with the browser so didnt end up using it anymore