New Member, Need Help With 1st Land Purchase

I just signed up for premium and need some help. I thought it would be a bit more straightforward and maybe I'm missing some key elements here, but I need assistance getting me started...

I've played on SL for a few weeks now and yesterday created a new Avatar and signed up for premium so everything is still pretty much brand new and pristine.

I logged into my account and so far it shows my L$ amount to be zero instead of the promised L$1,250 sign-up, so that worries me.

However, it does show I have the 512 SQ. M. in allowance. I've not yet figured out how to go about utilizing that and securing my own small piece of SL on which to build.

Any suggestions or help?

Bonuses are paid after 45 days.

You use the land search to find land, limiting to Mainland only. You have to buy the land, but there are no monthly maintenance fees on the first 512m.

Edit: Search>Land Sales>For Sale - Mainland (drop down menu)

First - it takes a while for the $1250 to show up.

Second, when you have your $L, look for yellow on the map, and buy what looks nice and has a fair price.

Ah, gotcha. I see. So I buy the land using L$, and then whatever I've bought, I do not have to pay monthly fees on the first 512 SQ. M's. I thought that was what the deal was.

And I'm not sure what you mean by bonuses are paid after 45 days... I signed up yesterday and was billed for my first month. I should get $L1,250 very quickly, plus $L300 weekly stipend. If I do not get any L$ for 45 days I'd be peeved.

My understanding is I do not get a referral bonus until 45 days after a friend signs up...

No there is a delay on the bonuses -- you dont get them immediately.

Check item 4 here:

http://www.secondlife.com/whatis/plans.php

You'll get the stipend on Tuesdays, although I understand it sometimes doesn't show up until the second Tuesday after you sign up.