Hi this is my first post, please be nice :)

Hi, I just joined Second Life yesterday and I was wondering if there are any good threads I can read about how to make money in SL? I mean like enough money to derive an actual income from. I tried using the search function but it doesn't work for some reason. I just get a blank page.

Thanks for any help, I am hoping to learn more about this game.

Edit: I edited the title on the advice of a poster, to make it more relevant to my post.

It's too general of a question because there are many ways. There are some books out there like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Second-Life-Metaverse/dp/0470179147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226904951&sr=8-1

Without knowing your skills or interests, start up funds or whether you want to do something fun hoping it can become profitable it's hard to give any advice.

Thanks, I understand that it is a broad question, and that it cannot possibly be answered in one post, but I'm sure it has been discussed on here a ton and I am just looking to find some discussion threads that I can glean ideas from. I have tried using the search function but for whateer reason it doesn't work.

But please don't buy into the hype that it is easy to make an rl income in sl. The people I know that have business work very hard for what translates to a small rl income. It can be done but most importantly you have to enjoy what you are doing to get that income. Then yes it is possible. And I wish you good luck in your sl future.

As a side note... Spend some time exploring all the wonderful creations and people here and decide what type of business you are interested in.

Well, to make any kind of sensible income from SL you pretty much need to either create content (building, graphics/texturing, scripting, animating, often a combination of more than one of these) or work in the real estate business (speculating on land, buying and reselling or renting). Either route takes a lot of dedication and hopefully a bit of talent or at least a "knack" for the type of work involved. It helps a LOT if you find something you enjoy doing to begin with, and it helps a lot if you can provide something at least somewhat unique.

Customer service and developing positive word-of mouth are hugely important in almost any area.

If content creation appeals, spend some time in the relevant subforums (scripting tips, building, texturing, animation tips) to get a sense of the types of issues involved.

For some good discussion on how to run a more successful retail (content creation) business, check out this thread:

/327/ac/274749/1.html

For one take on the real estate biz (pardon me for such a crass and shallow term for what can truly be an inspired and inspiring labor of love, in the right hands), search for posts by Desmond Shang regarding Caledon (his victorian/steampunk world-within-a-world, a hugely popular and successful themed rental land enterprise). Desmond is a creative and astute businessman of the highest caliber, pay attention young Padawan

There's lots else to read I'm sure, that's just what sprang to mind.


Full disclosure: I personally have a mildly successful content creation business and like to think I'm something of a jack of all trades, but I don't come anywhere close to deriving a living wage from SL. Mostly due to the fact that I haven't worked hard at it, and I'm still learning how to market myself (that will become more important when I have a more complete range of products to offer). So take my advice with a grain of salt, or ignore it completely.

Welcome to SL, Darrin.

You probably won't like this answer, but the ways to make money in SL (in a general sense) are exactly the same as they are in RL. You either work for someone else, or you start a business of your own. And the possibilities for both are as varied as you could possibly imagine. It's a big world, and opportunities are boundless.

The catch, as Damien1 mentioned, is that it's not easy (nor should it be). If you want to make decent money, you have to work hard. That's equally true in any L. Whether it happens to have an S or an R before it is immaterial. As the old saying goes, the only place to find wealth without work is the lottery line, and we all know what the chances there are like.

I make my living as a 3D artist, and the bulk of my work the past couple years has been SL stuff. I create professional builds and content for large corporations, small businesses, government agencies, and sometimes individuals. I'm currently self employed (which is the way I prefer it), but I've also worked as an employee for development companies in the past. If you've got artistic talent, and a skillset that includes the digital arts, there's no reason you couldn't do the same thing I do.

Another option, if you've got the same skill set, is to create products for people to buy "off the shelf" in-world. I know several people who make their livings selling skins, clothing, furniture, toys, etc.

If you've got programming skill, you could learn LSL, and make money writing scripts, either for your own products, or for other people's. (I often require the services of sub-contract scripters, since that's something I'm not good at myself.)

Other options are to play the money market, or the land market, or to rent land to others.

Or if it doesn't conflict with your moral sensibilities, you could work as an escort, or do any number of jobs in the adult industry.

And that's just for starters. If you're enterprising, you might be able to invent an industry no one's even thought of yet for SL. The sky's the limit.

But whatever you decide to try, let me say once again, do NOT expect to make any substantial amount of money without working hard for it. Well, maybe "hard" isn't quite the right word. Coal mining is hard. Anything you could possibly do in SL is pretty easy by comparison. Maybe a better way to say it is don't expect to make a lot of money without investing serious time, effort, and dedication into what you're doing. Whatever you do, you get out of it what you put into it.


Incidentally, I haven't read the book Clubside recommended, but after glancing at the table of contents on Amazon, it looks like it might be a good read for you. Really, though, I think the best advice is what Damien1 said. Take a look around, explore. See what other people are doing, and see what ideas spark from that. Good luck.


ETA: Anti's post appeared while I was writing mine. Good stuff in there.

QFT!!!

My advice: Start with it as a "hobby that pays for itself".

but that'd take all the fun out of it...

now let me get this straight, someone told you that you could make cash in SL so you hurried up and joined?

first off, they lied to you... not so much in the absolute sense, as the 'buy my book of secrets that tells you how to make millions by buting more crap I'll try to sell you"... seriously

but never fear, I'm here to rescue you, just send me 3 easy payments of (um hey guys what does a sim transfer cost these days?) and I'll show you exactly what you need to do (ie lie cheat steal)

ok, not fair. there are successful business people in SL.... they use their skils (or vast investable income) to create things (or just be land barons) that people want.... it takes lots of work (or money) and more than a little business sense... if you are interested in learning to make things, or possibly applying skills you already have, check out the forums a little farther down the list (animation, building, texture, & scripting tips, as well as products/services wanted).... good luck with that...

PS that's be 19.95$US, just transfer it in lindens =)

There's no easy way to make a real-life living from Second Life. Some people do, but they've probably more-or-less cornered the market.

Make some nice clothes? 100's of people do that already!
Make some nice skins or hair? 100's of people do that already!
Make some nice houses or cars? 100's of people do that already!

Deal in land? The established big players are ahead of the game on that one.

Not forgetting there are lots of good freebies around and to a lot of residents 0L$ is a bargain but 1L$ is a rip-off!!!!!!

The best philosophy for Second Life is to immerse yourself in it, enjoy it and grow into it. Learn to do things for yourself - build, texture etc, and if you like your stuff, offer it for sale too. That's the sort of small beginning that could lead somewhere.

I don't want to discourage you from Second Life, it's great, but enjoy it first and if you do have financial ambitions, a good aim is get your income to cover your SL costs. I just about did that at one stage though I don't manage it now!

Welcome to SL.
There are some that make money here but only maybe few hundred
ever make over 5,000 usd a month.
There are people I know who are extremely lucky plus talented who do make
over 100 usd a week but most of the very talented artist I know our lucky
if they make the equivalent of 3 to 10 dollars month if anything, some been here
for since beta.
Create, learn, make friends and try to have fun, take it slow, please don't invest too much or more then you earn because eventually if you have high expectations and are spending
way too much eventually what will happen is all the issues that go a long with SL
will just ruin the fun and might make you very stressed and cranky.

Good advice in this thread. And I will add to that, bu taking my own situation as an example. My situation involved creating and selling items, but be aware there is so much more.

Most important to know is the time you can dedicate to SL. In my case that is the biggest problem, a few evenings per week, a few hours per evening, is all. Too much to do in my RL But I am sure that if I could spend more time in SL, I could make my business much more successful, and the same would go for you.

What I did first, was trying out what I liked in SL. And very soon that appeared to be building. So I started with buildings, and soon made the switch to furniture. To be honest, up to today I do not know why, but it was the choice I made.
Soon I found out that I needed scripting for what I wanted to do, so I started creating my own scripts. Plus I do create some of the textures I use in Gimp, but most textures I purchase from people dedicated to texture making. Just as I buy sculpts from people dedicted to sculpting, and animations from the better animators. That way, I can dedicate the little time I have to the thing I like: building.

So how to start? By investing a handful of dollars, in my case. But you can also start trying out your talents in public sandboxes. After you made some products, you will need a parcel of land (get premium and buy mainland, or just rent at an estate), throw down a shop and get started selling. And then, you will find out you sell virtually nothing.

Next thing, is marketing yourself. It is nice you create stuff, but people have to know what you make and how to find you. Work on your search results, advertise, use all means you can think of to get your name out.
To give you some idea, I moved my shop 2 weeks ago, and 60% of my time after the move has been put in commercial activities instead of building. And still not done. In order to get my revenue back to what it was before the move, there is lots of work involved.

Be aware of the fact that creating a business that actually generates a small income. much time is involved. The first few months, I only spent money, instead of earning. Only for the last few months, I can say that after I pay the rent for my land, I make a profit.

Back to time you can put into it: I am sure that if I make SL a fulltime job, I can generate an income comarable to my current income, but that is something I would not even consider. As long as I do not spend more time then I do now, I will be limited in the revenue I can generate as well, but I can keep on growing, be it a slow growth.

Hope this helps you a bit.

I did the living of SL thing for a few years. I CHOSE to stop.

18-20 hour days creating content and dealing with customers both the good and the unreasonable. Fending of thieves who copy anything they possibly can or try to hack vendors. Somewhere along the line I stopped enjoying it. Worse I stopped wanting to create and eventually stopped even wanting to log in. But wait its a business I had to.

Finally one day I just said enough. These days my SL pays for itself barely. But I can create and enjoy again. I dont dread logging in. I actually sleep at night occasionally

I am not trying to put you off trying to make a go of it. Quite contrary really if you have the drive and the fortitude to do it then go for it. But please for your health and happiness keep a check on yourself and have the courage to change paths when or if it becomes necessary to your happiness.

The bottom line is that earning RL-level money is more or less a full-time job, and likely requires a fair bit of investment, at the very least in time.
There is no easy way to earn money automatically. -If there was, we'd all be rich just from being here.
If you already have skills in one field (something like 3D animation comes to mind), you may be able to transfer it directly into SL. In that case, you "only" need to build your brand and carve out your own place/niche in the market. -Which, mind you, is an important part of the business, in addition to having the skills in the creation field.
Also, there are two different routes to go. One is making a business inworld, relying on popularity and the microtransactions paid in SL; the other is working as a RL consultant/freelancer for organizations who want a presence in SL.
But as has been said, I *strongly* suggest that you spend some time in SL to learn about the world, the businesses, and what could possibly work here.

Hi Darrin, welcome to SL

I think everyone has given you good advice here. It takes a long time to establish a business in SL and you must expect to work just as hard at it as you would in a RL business.

If you go to:

http://secondlife.com/corporate/entguide.php

you can download a free chapter of the Entrepreneurs Guide. THis will give you an idea of the possibilities.

So, if you are prepared to work very hard, don't be put off trying. Just make sure you really enjoy what you are doing - the one esential thing is you must love working in SL, otherwise you will give up.

No easy way, I agree. But it still is possible to make money. It is about either finding a niche (which gets harder and harder of course) or be better. When I started out making furniture, 100's of people were doing that already as well. And yet I managed to create a profitable business. But you have to dedicate your SL time into that business, or it will not work.

Never let the fact that 100's of people are doing something, discourage you of doing it as well. Just see it as a challenge to do it better, or different.

I agree it wouldn't be impossible for a newcomer to end up making and RL living out of SL, but I was saying the same as you - that it would be very difficult and require a lot of work with no guarantee of success.

Hundreds of people make and sell clothes. I just make my own clothes and offer copies for sale, but I don't make much cash from sales.

Even the most discouraging of the posts here are not discouraging *enough*. Yes, if you're in the top 0.5% of some skill set in great demand in SL and always wanted to be in retail, or you're willing to gamble on the land market, there's a very slight chance you might make enough L$s to generate some RL money from it. But the odds are--and must be--astronomically against you.

Why? Because the people who put money into SL with no intention of making any return on it are not putting in all their income. They keep some back for things like RL food, shelter, taxes, etc. They're just not holding up their end of the bargain, only putting in a tiny percentage of their RL incomes.

And then, of the money they put in to the SL economy, the vast majority of it goes to paying Linden land fees, one way or another. I'd guess that over 90% of L$ purchases actually funnel their way into the bottom line of Linden Research Inc. There are other Linden taxes ("sinks", too, so there's an even smaller percentage of the overall SL "GDP" that anybody can cash-out of the LindeX for any purpose beyond paying-off Linden fees.

So, it literally takes tens of thousands of people paying *in* RL money to the SL economy to have enough for one person to make a full RL income *from* the SL economy.

Since Im often in a area of SL that helps new ressies I still am very blunt if the first words I hear are "Hod do I make money?" okay, you're 1 day old, either use a CC or learn a skill. I also will say, if the reason you're in SL is to make money you will be very disappointed.

Same as Darkness I used to earn as lot of L$ but realized, why? Do I need to? nope. Did I need a second job? Nope. Was it fun for me? Nope, other than increasing my skills. SL was supposed to be fun, not a second job. Sadly its becoming less each day.

Now, after the responses here, I'd like to ask a question back at the original poster: How did you *expect* to make money in SL, and does it match what you've been told here?

OP. First welcome

Second, listen to these people. They know what they're talking about.

I think it's best to look at SL as entertainment, not as a way to make a living. For the vast majority of people, the time just isn't worth it. You could work a fast-food window for better pay. I spend money in SL instead of other things I could do with my entertainment dollars.

If at some point I start up something in SL that pays for itself? Bonus!

Darrin,

The above posters are generally right, so please listen to them.

But there's one thing they didn't mention - that there's another option. Which is to use the "platform" aspect of SL. If you can become a skilled SL builder, for example, then perhaps a real-life company will pay you to build a sim for them, or even hire you to look after their virtual presence. This is a much more likely way to earn a real-money salary-level income from SL than earning it in-world, and it's probably more secure too (because even if SL fails, your company still exists and can move to another virtual world, or can use your skills in another way)

It can be tricky to get into, though, especially with the economy doing badly. Essentially, you need to first be really good at building and then develop a reputation for doing custom work with clients. Companies will value somebody who can build to deadline and to specification, so make sure to do projects where you have to do those things (just another resident asking you to do a custom build for them is enough for the first time)

This doesn't just apply to building of course. It can apply to texturing and scripting and everything else too - it's just that building is more commonly sought after because it's unique in SL, SL's building doesn't really work like any other 3D packaging. Texturing isn't a unique thing to SL so essentially you are becoming a regular artist, great if you can do it, but it's more unique. Scripting is also kinda unique to SL but many tech companies already have programmers or (if they're related to SL) are _set up by_ tech people who do their own scripting (I've very often seen ads for "wanting expert builders, expert av creators, basic scripters"

How about 2 easy payments and one complicated payment?

What Damien said. Your chances of meing the next Ansche Chung are slim. If you are looking at this to be your big oppostunity, understand that those who do make money in here do so *generally* based on talent, persistance, and hard work.

*snicker snort*

This sums it up perfectly. Repeat:
"So, it literally takes tens of thousands of people paying *in* RL money to the SL economy to have enough for one person to make a full RL income *from* the SL economy."



1 user agrees. When I first come to SL I started making clothes because I already kind of knew how to do it and I figured that everyone would keep buying clothes. My main store and two smaller ones all pay for themselves with a tiny bit of profit.
But I make actual PayPal money working for developers doing artwork and some building. Even so I'd have to work at that a lot harder than I do to make a good living from it.