In this episode, we focus on small businesses and how they can creatively enter the Metaverse, start to utilise NFTs and get ready for the whole world Web 3.0 but more importantly how they can do this and make money. 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE 

Wisher Vodka – https://wishervodka.com/
Gucci Town – https://vault.gucci.com/en-GB/story/metaverse
Louis Vuitton – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/louis-the-game/id1574401807
Wendy’s – https://www.roblox.com/games/1128872512/Wendys-Restaurant
Fender Stratoverse – https://www.oculus.com/vr/5379532172106762/?intern_source=blog&intern_content=%2Fhorizon-worlds-spotlight-fender-stratoverse&utm_source=www.google.com&utm_medium=oculusredirect
Dencentraland – https://decentraland.org/
Fortnite – https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/home
Roblox – https://www.roblox.com/
Sandbox – https://www.sandbox.game/en/
Alo Yoga – https://www.roblox.com/games/8523408215/Alo-Sanctuary
Horizon Workrooms – https://www.oculus.com/workrooms/
Occulus – Buy Quest 2 Headset (Affiliate link) https://www.oculus.com/referrals/link/londonwebgirl/

EPISODES MENTIONED 
All episodes – https://www.womenofthemetaverse.co.uk/podcast/

PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Allison Bornstein – https://allisonbornstein.com/
Gemma Sheppard – https://www.instagram.com/sheppardstyle/
Lex Nicoleta – https://www.tiktok.com/@lexnicoleta
Lydia Millen – https://lydiaelisemillen.com/
Victoria McGrath – https://www.inthefrow.com/
Sammi Jefcoate – https://www.sammijefcoate.com/

We hope you enjoyed the show and that it inspired some ideas as we bring our most important episode. 

If you have any questions, comments and/or want to become part of our community join us on our Facebook group and/or on Discord. 

Or visit us here: 
Website: https://www.womenofthemetaverse.co.uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wotmworld
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WOTMWorld
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wotmworld

IMPORTANT NOTICE
This podcast is for entertainment and education purposes only. We do not give any investment or financial advice and we strongly recommend you always DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. 

Episode Transcription

Cheryl00:03

Welcome to women of the metaverse. I am Cheryl

Angela00:07

Hello. I am Angela Harkness. We have been, and are still on a journey to discover the Metaverse Web 3.0 NFTs and anything that we are required to know to join this world

Cheryl00:21

From this podcast, we will help you to unlock how the Metaverse is going to impact your brand. Your business and even your personal life.

Angela00:30

Join us as we take the mystery out of this new digital universe.

Welcome to women of the Metaverse. In this episode, we are gonna be taking from all of our previous episodes, the research we have done, and all we have learned, we are going to use our creativity and come up with ideas as to how small businesses, your small business can start to transition and create income from the ]Metaverse, NFTs were 3.0 and all that connects this digital universe.

Cheryl01:07

This is such a great episode because when we ask the question, what do you wanna hear about? This is exactly what small businesses wanna know, how can we earn money? Yeah, so it was great, you’ve been

Angela01:22

excited about this one. 

Cheryl01:23

I have, because I knew that I would learn some new, well, get some ideas, learn some new, Metaverse insights.

Angela01:30

It’s also, it is taken longer than we thought to create because I thought it would be one of those episodes where, oh, we’d write it out or we’d come up with some ideas. And then again, it’s another one. The more you dig deeper, the more ideas there are, and the more you think, oh, we should add this and we need to talk about this.

So yeah, yeah’s, there’s a bit and two haven’t we actually, yeah, we giving out, but we have to into, we have spit in too, but there was so much to go through in this episode.

So Cheryl tell us more?

Cheryl02:01

Okay. So when you read and listen to some people, they talk about the metaphor as if it’s far away in the future.

And we don’t know what it’s going to look like yet, but we have to understand the Metaverse is not a thing. It is an evolution of technology. Our online world becomes more of a 3D version rather than the 2D world that we are used to. Smart Contracts on the blockchain will start to become more common rather than the physical paper copies boards will become DAOs and tickets will become NFTs.

It’s not like a. Light switch where you can turn it on and off. It’s a gradual advancement. What we want to try and convey in this episode is not to wait for something to take place. There will be no big announcement because it will slowly happen. And before you know it, everyone has jumped on board and you may have missed.

Gartner’s research predicts that by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse. That’s a huge percentage. Only four years away. Investment company, JP Morgan Chase recently said that the Metaverse will generate. $1 Trillion in annual revenue for businesses spanning a cross-section of industries.

How exactly that’s a good question? The Metaverse is rapidly evolving and you can be one of the first to earn some serious coin. If you act now.

Angela03:47

I wouldn’t mind a little bit of that one, one trillion.. Me too. Right. That would be nice. Right? Just a tiny percentage of that

Cheryl03:54

of that in your, in your house, secluded

Angela03:56

yeah, in my house, in the middle of nowhere, it is a daily occurrence now to read articles about big brands who are entering the Metaverse brands, including Gucci, Louis Viton Wendy’s Fender Stratocaster, Timbaland.

To name just a few, but we wanted to talk about small businesses. Those with real-world budgets and small teams. Let’s talk about one of our favourites. We have mentioned it in several episodes. Now Wisher Vodka episode five. If you have not listened to it, a specialized grain-free vodka. It wasn’t until they.

opened a virtual distillery in Decentraland, held events and released a collection of NFTs before they sold a physical bottle of vodka. I love it. It’s so genius. Brilliant to that company. I just love them the key to this and what we are trying to get across in this episode is that when they sat down to create this strategy, they made the Metaverse and NFTs part of it, as well as using current marketing strategies.

So

Cheryl05:02

we are going to get a little bit tough with you. Now we understand that this may not, well, this may seem at the moment, like a big hill to climb. You may not even be able to get your head around what this means for your business, but it is so important to understand what this is. To familiarize yourself with the lingo, what the technology is and what is available to you and who in your industry is already utilizing the Metaverse and NFTs.

So we strongly advise at this stage that even if you are not ready to enter this new digital universe, you need to be prepared. You have to be considering a strategy to transition your business into the Metaverse.

Angela05:51

Also, if you have not listened to all previous episodes, there is no shortcut here. All of the previous episodes are imperative to your learning and becoming knowledgeable and gaining experience.

When Cheryl and I started this podcast 16 weeks ago, we thought we knew a lot. And we did, we, you know, we had been talking about this, like we said, for a long time, but over the past 16 weeks, we have learned so much our knowledge has exponentially grown and our experience because we’ve used things, we’ve got a wallet we’ve brought NFTs, we’ve gone into a Horizon Worlds.

We’ve done lots of different things. We cannot tell you enough, about every step within what we have learned, we have put into the podcast. So if you listen to each episode, you yourself will be taking steps forward. And once you’ve listened to our podcasts, go find others that are talking about the same subjects and go and listen to videos.

We cannot stress this enough about how you can’t be left behind other businesses in this area,

Cheryl06:56

or consider also how your brand might want to connect with customers. Through Metaverse elements such as NFTs. This episode is going to be about small businesses that already exist and ideas to help you transition your business into the Metaverse.

So, Angela, why don’t you give us some ideas?

Angela07:16

Okay, you will hear the phrase, put your brand on steroids a lot. It will become a standard phrase, but basically, the Metaverse and everything else that surrounds it means that your ideas can be limitless. You are not bound by rules and regulations. The crazy ideas you may have in your mind, you can create in the metaverse.

This digital universe gives you an opportunity to be playful and really push the limits of your brand. We’ve seen many experts in this area, heed the warning to businesses who are entering the Metaverse. You need to make your brand stand out. You can create an environment where people can come to engage.

You can sell purely digital products, or you can use your Metaverse space to allow people to shop and then send them physical products. Let’s talk about an industry that we all know yoga. If you are a yoga teacher or you have a brand which sells yoga clothing, you could create an environment in the Metaverse.

Whether that means you purchase land in Decentraland or Sandbox, or you could create a free yoga studio in Horizon Worlds and teach a form of yoga class where avatars attend. But this could be for personal training of any kind. If you teach meditation or martial art classes or spinning classes, anything physical, you can make this digitally based.

How could you let your imagination go wild and enable people to become really immersive? How could you include gamification and stretch the limits of an avatar? Your studio gym can be anywhere. You can have part of your class by the sea and switch to the top of a mountain for the second part of the class.

Avatars can levitate bodybuilders can lift whatever weight they want and what they want. Do you gamify it so they can lift buildings? You may have animal avatars attending your sessions. You could even hold sessions underwater. Your yoga mats could have special powers. Again, limitless opportunities for you to be creative and create an incredibly captivating experience for your clients.

You can create digital wearables that suit your sessions and fit your brand. And you can sell in your shop items that will physically be sent to your clients. You could create NFTs that are for a special collection of physical workout clothes. Alo Yoga is a new airspace company, and this is the perfect example of what we are talking about.

They have created a partnership with Roblox and in the spirit of gamification, they hold classes which are free and you can collect daily affirmations, yoga poses, and earn items that allow you to buy from the Alo store. So the physical story as well, which is just incredible. I love that

Cheryl10:19

we have heard about big fashion labels that have entered the Metaverse, but there are many small businesses in the fashion industry.

So for example, let’s say you are a stylist. You can certainly hold virtual sessions with your clients using VR technology, visiting brands and shops that have already entered the Metaverse such as Selfridges and Gucci town. You could use 3D modelling to style and present clothes that you like. If anyone has seen the amazing Allison Bornstein team on TikTok, then you have seen her talk about the process of choosing.

Your three words to depict your style. Imagine Allison using 3D modelling to show full views of outfits so that a client could truly see what the outfit could look like on. Holographic technology has been developed and will soon be readily available. Imagine as a stylist, being able to take clients shopping without you or them even having to leave your house, it would really be able to make your business go global, you can become a stylist that completely works in the virtual world, helping clients create their digital wardrobes.

This is exactly what Gemma Shepherd presenter of Channel Five’s. 10 years younger in 10 days. She has partnered with Roblox and Metaverse investment firm, Metaventures to become the first Metaverse stylist with the impressive title of Metaverse Global Fashion Director. Sounds pretty impressive.

The role will see her help avatars become more unique, helping them style their Roblox digital

Angela12:11

wearable. You know how I feel about avatars and the clothes as well. She’s going to be a star. So this is perfect to see her. This is perfect. I know, I know. Influencers’ worlds are gonna change with brands already creating their own digital influencers brands that are currently relying on influencers may start to change direction because they can create their own 3D version.

But influencers can get ahead of the game. They can create their own brands in the Metaverse. We have spoken about this a lot because there are definitely at the moment, a theme to the worlds and the lands they’re kind of built, like, I don’t know, square brick boxes. There there’s some box. Very contemporary.

Yeah. Very boxy, like they are to look like these contemporary homes. And it’s not to everybody’s taste. I want something that is a bit more of a, of like the lifestyles that I enjoy. So for example, the lovely Lex Nicola and the Coastal Grandmother label and her love of Nancy Myers that has gone viral, she could create.

Coastal Grandmotherverse a world in the Metaverse, where it is completely Coastal Grandmother, styled. She could create gamification where you could get to style a Nancy Myers room. You could win Coastal Grandmother, digital wearables. It could be by the sea and the garden could create this experience of living that lifestyle.

Or imagine Sammi Jefcoates in this, the Metaverse everybody knows that. Is it

Cheryl13:42

the, um, gorgeous later, uh, it’s Wednesday that’s get dressed.

Angela13:46

Yes, we love her, but imagine what she could do in the Metaverse those leather harnesses that she likes and her belts and her brass chains. Yes, definitely. And chains and everything.

She could go crazy with them. She could put wings on them. She could have crazy nails. The bracelet stacks she have could go all the way up her arm. She could have a whole outfit of made out of a bracelet stack in the Metaverses. She would be amazing d as an avatar in the metaverse.

Cheryl14:12

A few of my favorite influences are Lydian Millen and Victoria McGrath.

You could walk into those worlds, you can perhaps go into their wardrobe and pull out their wearables. You could rent her clothes. You could open up her vanity draw. This is all in the Metaverse go to her. Vanity table. See what perfume she’s worn that day. You can buy it straight away.

Look at the makeup that she’s wearing. Yeah. And all the while she can be earning a commission. I think that’s

Angela14:48

Definitely the future. Yeah. And I think it’s, I think for influencers, this is one to, for them to almost really be aware of, because it could be that if brands at the moment, because some brands put a huge amount of money into using influencers and if they can create their own 3D version and we’ve seen them, they actually create this backstory to them.

Then. that could be something where it potentially takes businesses away or business away from influencers. So if you, if they get ahead of the game.

Cheryl15:19

Makeup every day either. I’m sure that’s exhausting. Yeah. God

Angela15:30

So there is huge opportunities for influences.

And it might mean this might mean they have to change directions slowly or do really strong partnerships. Like Lydia she partners with Karen Millen and they put out a lot of collections, but they could be putting out collections in the Metaverse. So there’s, you know, there’s a lot of scope there,

Cheryl15:55

Victoria, Lydia.

Sammi watch this

Angela15:58

space. Yes. watch this space. Yes, the coaching industry can be a massive player in the Metaverse. There are so many small businesses offering an endless type of coaching. A lot of it over the past couple of years has been done on platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. So people have got more used to not having face to face meetings, but VR coaching allows you to create.

Different experience at a whole new level environments can be relaxing and can be changed to suit each client and can take them away from their day to day grind. You can hold one-to-one sessions, master classes or events, and that’s very easy to achieve with what exists already with Horizon Work Rooms.

What, if you were the first coach to send your clients Oculus as part of their package, it shows that you’re forward thinking you’re constantly learning and advancing your skills. I know that I would be blown away if a coach did that, I would find them really innovative if they said, oh, we are gonna hold these sessions here.

I

Cheryl17:02

would totally impressed. I would love that. Yeah. Yeah. And it would force me if I wasn’t totally tech savvy to embrace this world and get

Angela17:12

involved. Yeah, I agree. And imagine just being able to like change the scenery, you know, because I love that. When we go into Horizon WorkRooms and we are by the sea. I love that.

But if you were somebody that liked to be in a forest, you could create that environment for them, or you could create a cabin environment or the top of a mountain, anything at all, where it suits the clients and gets the best yeah. Stuff, the

Cheryl17:38

clients, it just gives in the whole new experience and to be the first person to do that.

I think that’s a great idea, Angela.

Angela17:45

Yeah, I think it’s

Cheryl17:46

smart. Okay. So let’s talk about the future of web. Because the future of web design and development will most likely depend on the following. So we’ve got Artificial Intelligence, so such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision making and translation between languages.

We’ve got Virtual Reality, which is 3d modeling and interactive environments. Augmented Reality with remoteness becoming more common. There is a great opportunity to use this, to build solutions, not to mention the importance and understanding of understanding the Blockchain. Smart Contracts, NFT development, and even DAOs.

So without a doubt, it is very exciting time to be a web designer or developer businesses need to think in terms of the future and how they can harness these technologies to real world applications using the Metaverse. If you are a designer or an agency, you need to be able to talk to clients about this.

You need to be having discussions about how their websites will develop and transition. If a client asks you, you need to have the answers. Traditional websites and other digital products aren’t going anywhere, but they need to be reworked in terms of what is expected of the future of web design, same for graphic designers and illustrators.

It’s an absolute, no brainer that you should be looking into.

Angela19:24

Exactly. And there’s so many things on there. When you look back, you don’t, you don’t have to do it all. Like you said, at the beginning, it’s not like a light switch is not gonna go on and off. You know, just learning 3d model modeling is a start isn’t it.

So, and asking the right

Cheryl19:39

questions from the beginning, like it might even be when you are doing your brand guidelines, that you’re gonna be introducing yes. More questions and really thinking about the, their company and how they are going to be using 3d modeling and, and NFTs. Metaverse and , blockchain, you know, these questions need to come now and, and you might even, you’re probably impressed a few clients moving forward.

Angela20:04

I, yeah, exactly. Because if you’re not thinking if a company isn’t thinking about it, but you’re asking those questions when, when they actually start to think, oh God, this needs to be part of our plan. They might remember that you asked them first and to come back round, or it could be if you go to clients every couple of years and.

Are you thinking about this yet? Are you thinking about this yet? Because you need to sort of push clients on a little bit. I think web designers need to do that. Don’t they, you know? Yes, definitely. It, you know, we don’t do this type of website now it’s this type of website. Yeah. They need to help clients advance.

Definitely. Yeah. And events. We can’t forget about events. This is already one of the biggest elements to the Metaverse people holding events. We have talked about. Metaverse fashion week, Wisher Vodka, again, holding events in their distillery. In the Heights, the film held a block party in the Metaverse for the launch of the film.

If you have a business that works in events, there is such a lot of money to be made by transitioning your business to the Metaverse. There will be launch parties that we already mentioned. There will be weddings. Yes, I’m sure avatars are gonna get married. There will be birthday parties. Companies will hold events in the Metaverse.

The opportunities in this industry are endless. Yeah, definitely. So up to, this point, we have only mentioned a few type of businesses, but we want to show you that there are ways now to start to move your business into this new digital universe to start. Think about ideas to start to research what other small businesses like yours are doing, or look to bigger companies and scale down.

So, Cheryl, do you wanna end us on some final wise words? Of course.

Cheryl21:55

Okay. So you can get started by making some very simple steps purchase of VR headset. Start to explore Horizon Worlds, hold some meetings in the Metaverse. you could add a wallet to your website. You could create your first NFTs by doing this alone.

You are one step further into joining this world. You are ahead of the crowd, and more importantly, you can start making money and taking advantage of the limitless opportunities that are available to you. So we will see you next week for more Metaverse insights. Bye for now.

Angela22:40

Thank you for listening to this episode of women of the metaverse.

Cheryl22:45

You can find all the information links and people we talked about in the show notes on our website.

Angela22:51

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please comment and subscribe.

Cheryl22:55

Join us again in the next episode, as we continue this exciting Metaverse journey.