Guide to Doing Business in Second Life-41238

Build it, Script it, Sell it

Building items people use and scripting animations takes a bit of time investment in the learning and the doing, but even building simple things can create a cash flow while you hone your skills.

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Access developer resources and find out about the SL Developer Program, which provides you with a web listing so those seeking assistance in creating builds or scripts can find you. Also see  TUI (Technical User Interfacing)  to find out about their training courses.  Once you are in SL, do a search for the groups Academy of Second Learning and TUI. Join these groups and they will send you announcements about classes. Also search in “Events” under the “Education” category to find classes that will help you build your marketable skill sets.

Dress the Second Life Elite

Fashion is a force in SL. This is a place where women pine for pricey ($4) Nonna Hedges haute couture gowns, men gift their girlfriends with jewelry, and you can find Doc Martens in a punk shop off a dark alley. The game creators enable ways to easily create very simple clothing, but for the kinds of fashions that will have avatars storming your store in droves, you will need Photoshop skills, building skills and even some scripting skills. Don’t expect to make a fortune, but a number of clothing and hair designers make their primary real life incomes in SL.

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It’s not enough just to know how to wield a Photoshop wand and build. SL fashion is very competitive, and you must know what’s hot and what’s not. Before you think about jumping into fashion design or mingling with the SL jet set, visit Second Style,  the Vogue of SL, and SLATENight (SL Arts and Total Entertainment). At the fashion section of the SL web site, you will find not only fashion blogs, but guides and templates that will set you on your way to becoming an SL fashion designer.

Be a Virtual Donald Trump

Here, people speak of virtual land baron Anshe Chung in hushed tones of reverence or disdain, and gossip about how she just made her first $1 million -- cold, hard, U.S. currency -- in SL land deals. The real money in SL is in land, even if it is composed of pixels. You can make a fortune or lose your shirt in real life money, depending upon whether you are savvy or naïve. If you do not buy directly from the Lindens, beware. When buying from private residents you are usually just renting the land, though they may call it “buying”. If they leave SL or decide to evict you, you will lose your land without recourse. Often, you are not permitted to resell this kind of land.

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Land is not cheap, so before investing, read all about it on the land section of the SL web site. One way to buy land is directly from the Lindens at auction. No matter how you buy land, once you buy more than a very small parcel, there is a monthly fee, so if you plan to resell it, do it fast. Want your own private island, maybe to set up a resort and nightclub complex? You can order one from the Lindens as land becomes available for $1,675 for 65,536 square meters (about 16 acres). Monthly land fees for maintenance are $295.

Promote Your Real Life Business

Many real life companies are entering SL as a way to raise their visibility and drive real life sales. Some companies open storefronts and use them not just to promote their real-life businesses, but also as an extremely cost-effective way to test out new designs and concepts before launching them in the real world. Other companies hold events, parties and conferences targeted at either SL residents or those they bring online themselves specifically for the event. The visuals of SL make the experience much more real than a webinar, and virtual conference facilities are used for everything from classes to global sales seminars.

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See the business section of the SL web site as a starting point. Consider hiring an SL business and marketing consultant, someone who makes it a business to help real companies set up a viable presence in SL and meet their specific business and marketing goals. Like exploring any foreign country, it takes awhile to learn one’s way around SL, and companies who just send in one of their marketing managers for a week or a day are likely to be disappointed with the results.