One of the founding missions of Hypergrid Business is to promote OpenSim, so we are happy to provide lots and lots of opportunities for inbound links on pages that readers actually visit when they’re looking for new places to try.
All of these are completely free to all OpenSim grids and service providers. Here’s what you need to do.
Active grids list
The Active Grids List is one of the most visited pages on the site, and it lists all the grids known to be active and accessible to the public.
To get your grid on this list, please email maria@hypergridbusiness.com with the following information.
Mandatory information for listing:
- Grid Name
- Grid Website (could be the main website, or a Diva Wifi page, or a Facebook page, or OpenSimWorld listing.)
- LoginURI
- Is it hypergrid enabled? Is so, hypergrid address.
Optional information:
- Terms of Service page
- Intellectual Property Rights page
- Infringing content takedown request page (see Kitely’s for an example)
- Do you have Vivox voice or another voice system?
- Do you have Gloebit currency or another currency system?
- What is the main focus of your grid?
- When was the grid founded?
Popular hypergrid destinations list
The Most Popular Hypergrid Worlds page is a list of all the hypergrid-enabled grids, sorted by active user numbers.
To get on this list we need the following;
- Grid Name
- Website
- Hypergrid Address
- Stats Page (that shows 30-day active user numbers)
If you don’t have a stats page, your grid will be at the bottom of the list. Here’s how to set up a stats page.
If you are a building a hypergrid travel hub or an in-world viewer directory, this list is a good starting place to get the hypergrid addresses for the most popular grids.
Free land page
The Free land in OpenSim page is a place for new and old OpenSim users to go to find free land for homes or stores.
Some grids even offer entire full regions.
To get on this list, please send us:
- Grid Name
- Website
- Snapshot of region (horizontal snapshot, no text please!)
- How much land is available
- Is it for anyone, or grid residents, or new residents only?
- Any restrictions, such as must visit land at least once a month?
- Instructions for how to get the free land
- Hypergrid address of the land area, if hypergrid-enabled
Freebie shopping destinations
People love getting free stuff, and our Freebie Shopping Destinations page tells them where to go to find them.
You can submit as many regions as you want, but the landing spot on the region must have a clear view of at least one of the main shops — users shouldn’t have to hunt around the region. If they don’t see anything right away, they’ll assume they came to the wrong place, and leave.
There should also be a reasonable amount of free stuff, not just one starter avatar set or a couple of promotional freebies in a store otherwise filled with commercial content. Make it worth their while to visit.
And it should go without saying that all the content must be properly licensed. Confirm that the content is being distributed by the original creators or is correctly licensed by those creators, or that it is CC0-licensed content like that by Linda Kellie. If there are any restrictions on the use of that content, such as for personal or non-commercial use only, please post clearly visible signs to that effect and include the license terms information in a notecard or description on every item.
Nobody wants to build a beautiful region only to be sued by original content creators for having illegal content on it. And even if you don’t get sued, you can be subject to a takedown request that takes down your region — or entire grid — or be on the receiving end of a lot of bad publicity.
If you see a region on this list that offers infringing content, please email me at maria@hypergridbusiness.com.
To get on this page, please send us:
- Grid Name
- Website
- Snapshot of region (horizontal snapshot, no text please!)
- Description of the content available, license terms, and other pertinent information.
- Hypergrid address
Gloebit shopping destinations
Gloebits are the most popular currency on the hypergrid, and the Gloebit shopping destinations page tells people where they can spend them.
To get on this page, please send us:
Grid Name
- Website
- Snapshot of region (horizontal snapshot, no text please!)
- Description of the content available, license terms, and other pertinent information.
- Hypergrid address
Free ads
In the right-hand sidebar on Hypergrid Business, we show ads related to OpenSim. There are four ad slots, and a lot more ads than that, so the ads are randomized. We also put the newest ads on top, so refreshing the ads with seasonal content, new offers, and new images will not only get more attention from readers but help ensure higher placement.
Here’s how to get a free ad:
- Produce a JPG or GIF that’s 300 pixels wide by 250 pixels high, where the text and main image are clear and legible.
- Create a page, either on your site or on social media, with more information about the specific offer or promotion or event that you are advertising.
- Email the image as an attachment, along with the link to the landing page, to maria@hypergridbusiness.com.
Here’s more information about how to create a good-looking and effective ad:
- Get a free ad on Hypergrid Business
- How to make an ad for Hypergrid Business
- How to create an effective ad
- How to make a landing page
Land sales page
Do you rent land on your grid and want to be on our Grids Renting Land page?
To get on this list, please send us the following:
- Grid name
- Website
- Grid logo image
- The price of a single, standard, 15,000-prim region (If the price is $10 or less, we will also list it on the bargains page)
- Link to the page where people can find more information. This must be a public page. In fact, as a general rule, don’t make people register first. Take their money first, then take care of the bookkeeping. Every time you make them jump through a hoop is a chance for people to say, “I’ll do this later” — and then never come back.
- Special offers, variable-sized regions, and other info such as voice support, currency, hypergrid, and whether the regions are available for hypergrid visitors or only for residents. (Tip: take their money even if they’re not residents. You get income, and you don’t have to worry about storing their inventories. Win, win!)
Articles
Do you want an article about your grid, service, event, shopping area, or even about a new publication you’re launching that will compete with Hypergrid Business?
You can get one. The only requirement is that it would be interesting for our readers.
So, the fact that you have a Linda Kellie region on your grid isn’t particularly interesting, but maybe it’s the biggest collection of Linda Kellie content on the hypergrid. Or it also includes legal, CC0-licensed content from a hundred other designers. Or maybe it’s themed for a special occasion, like Valentine’s Day or Christmas.
You can send a news tip to maria@hypergridbusiness.com — that’s how I get most of our story ideas.
Then, if I have time or the freelance budget, we’ll do the story.
But what if I don’t have the time or the budget? You can write the story yourself! You know what our stories look like.
Write it up, put the fun stuff up top, take some snapshots, and email everything to me. Please put the text of the story in the body of the email, and the images as attachments. Include your name, headshot, bio, and any links you want us to include in your author box.
Don’t have any big news to write about? Write an advice or opinion column, or reviews of hypergrid destinations, or OpenSim content, or performers. Things like, “My 10 favorite shoe designers” or “5 great live performers to check out” are useful for readers and fun to read, and you can include a little soft sell for your grid or services in the article.
Pro tip: write about virtual reality. VR articles get a lot of readers. In fact, VR-related content brings in the majority of views on this site. People interested in VR might also be interested in land in virtual worlds, so feel free to submit reviews of VR headsets, apps, or 360-degree videos. Then put the pitch for your grid in your author bio.
Here’s some more advice about writing articles for us:
- Submission guidelines
- How to pitch a guest article
- 10 ideas for a press release
- 10 steps to a good press release — plus one bonus step for a great one
Link to us
In you’ve been mentioned on this site, feel free to include links to any Hypergrid Business articles or pages. Full details and logo images here.