So *This* is how to make money in SL

ha ha to me, 'love cheese' is 'fumunda cheese'.

*bleah*

I was thinking "Fromage Amour" would sound more appetizing.

I have this sign available, you can change each of the four panels and it rotates if you want it to.

I've seen a couple homemade SL e-books on ebay, made in PDF format, selling for something like 10 bucks each. By the description it looked like info about building, avatar makeovers, searching for land and of course making money tips. I looked at the feedback of the person selling these and they are selling quite a few of these each day. It was one of those "dang, wish I thought of that" moments.

I'm thinking of it now...

Those who say, don't know. Those who know, don't say.

And you just said that, so what do you know?

*Bleep* #4 TOS!

Dutch treat? That's no way to be a degenerate playboy, Trout.

I see a quick refresher course is in order.

First: You have to have a mansion. Or better yet, the use of somebody ELSE'S mansion. Now, I just happen to have a large, airy multi-room villa available on Lebettu. It has a commanding view of the village below, and a full size pool and spa on the lower level A perfect setting for all those young women lounging around hoping to catch your eye and get a favorable Slut Rating. Negotiable weekly rates.

Second: You have to have an impressive vehicle. Or better yet, the use of somebody ELSE'S impressive vehicle. The biplane is fine for fun in your off hours, but you need an executive jet, with a spacious cabin for, er, in-flight meetings. Yeah, that's it, meetings.

Third: You have to party a lot. We really need to work on your partying skills...I hardly ever see you at the, uh, Place Popular With Many Forum Regulars. And when you DO show up, you're bogged down in Rating work. Priorities and Time Management are key to a successful Degenerate Playboy career. Download the pictures to your hard drive and Rate them when you're at work, or doing some other mundane Real Life activity. When you're in world, devote your time to the LIVE women.

Fourth: You have to give away large sums of money. Or better yet, give away...ah, I see you're way ahead of me. Poker doesn't count, mind you. Better to dangle a modest gift and the prospect of a successful career as an SL model before some of those young and lovely avatars surrounding your swimming pool.

Fifth: You have to be a snazzy dresser.

/me looks you up and down and sighs.

We have a ways to go. I'll see if Max, Yoyo and Chris are available and we'll do a version of "Avatar Eye for the SL Guy".

I'm sure no one would mind if Trout moved in here:



Is my Pigs in Space spaceship impressive?

lol - I have my work cut out for me. Just to clarify, I used a per person rate to calculate the cost of a movie vs. the cost of spending time in SL because I wouldn't take a RL date home to watch me play on SL. What a terrible date! I'm not THAT bad! I adjusted the math to be fair, but if I took a woman out on a date in RL, I wouldn't expect her to pay.

As for the rest of the stuff you mentioned, you're right. I need a mansion, executive jet, more partying, and snazzier clothes. Does giving money away to charities count? How about tipping? I'm pretty liberal with the L, seeing as it's so cheap.

It was interesting to note in the right hand corner of the add."People who bought this would also like" .Top of the list is Second life for Dummies.I wonder

They're selling the Tao now?

Sure you did honey.
/me wonders if she will get popcorn and a pepsi at the movies..

lol - geez. What have I gotten myself into? If I took you to the movies, I'd buy you popcorn and one of those massive 50 gallon drums of pop that they sell there, along with a $5.00 box of Junior Mints. That's how I roll. We could even get appetizers at dinner. I vote for those spicy little chicken wings.

I was just calculating the cost per person because I was calculating the value of spending time in SL on a per person basis. How awful would it be to go out on a date with a guy and all he did was take you home so you could watch him over his shoulder while he played in SL? You have to do the math on a per person basis. You can't compare a RL date with spending an evening in, sitting in front of the computer goofing off in SL. If you do, you're not dating the right person.

(I'm not talking about couples with two computers who play together or couples in different parts of the world who use SL to spend time together)

That all sounds great...the book could be extremely useful for a beginner, and certainly valuable to a veteran.

My problem is, I'm ever so slightly lazy and also very busy--design choices I want to make, notecards and displays I want to add, and all other business model things are sometimes too much work...

I know I know...with this attitude, I'll never be the next Insky Jedburgh.

Even though I'm lucky to be 1) in a niche market, 2) having professional cg skills, and 3) real world schooling in design...I have a few things cut out for me, however, this does not mean that I have the time to drop my First Life and become a marketing genius on my SL ventures.

It takes crazy amounts of time to fashion a working business model and marketing strategy. I already have things I'm involved with in real life on top of my 9-5.

No matter how skilled you are, if you are not willing to put in the SL time your competitors are...you won't thrive or profit as much as them. Very few people can build a storefront inworld and on Slex and Onrez and collect the money. Lot's of work goes into running a 'successful' SL biz.

If this book were free...I might print it out in all its high rez color glory and read it in the bathroom...but I'm not willing to pay for it, because I already have a semi-successful business up and running. But for someone who is clueless, but excited about SL possibilities...it could be a great resource.

Hey, everybody! We're going to the movies! Trout's treat!!!

Here we are, Trout! What movie are we gonna see, huh, huh, huh? Can I have Milk Duds instead? Those mints give me gas. I want cheese sprinkles on MY popcorn. Wait! I gotta use the little avatar's room. Stop pushing, Kira! You pushed me first. Yadda yadda yadda...

[EDIT: We'd be a much bigger crowd, but I just found that you can only include so many smilies in a message...]

But I would like raw oysters please or maybe some escargot. I promise to share them with you.
As far as the pepsi and popcorn go, a small one will do and I promise to feed it to you and give you a sip every now and then to clear your pallete. *winks at him*

There is the crux of my issue with running a business in SL. It does indeed require a lot of time and effort, and unless you are one of the handful of elite, you'll make more money working in McDonalds hour for hour. If you really are a the entrepeneur, you can make so much more in RL than SL, and you can take a tenth of that and buy Lindens with your visa and still come out way ahead.

Plus you haven't turned SL into a job.

That's why this book fascinates me. The author figured that one out in a hurry.

Opens the door and lets Lindal use the pottie first. Please hurry up sweetie before I.....

How to make money in Second Life.
=======================

Get a product that some people will buy that can't be taken away from you due to IP rules.

Buy/rent/borrow land (preferable an island where the owner is cool with you monopolizing stuff)

Build a store

Set up trafficbot accounts, enough to get you a LOT of traffic, while still allowing people to visit your store. (set up their picks to go to your store) Put them in a box and log them in on Sleek or something like it.

Buy up enough Classifieds that you will show up prominently on most searches for your product

Convince your friends to list your store on Picks.

Convince your friends to "spread the word" how great you are.

Use a whole lot of keywords in your ad and listing copy.

profit.

High quality goods and good customer service are not necessarily a requirement.




------------------------------

There publish that one for 20L a pop.

I'm ok with the oysters. Escargot gives me the creeps.

OK, so Lindal and Kira are in, as soon as they finish with whatever you women do in the bathroom (don't tell me, please. I have a feeling it's better left a mystery). This has gone from a date to a field trip in a hurry, but what the heck, everyone pile into the bus, let's go to the movies.

Milk Duds, Junior Mints, and I get a big box of those Everlasting Gobstoppers. I love those things. My dentist HATES them, but what does he know? Oysters, an order of buffalo wings, probably a couple drinks, popcorn and soda...

My stomach is starting to ache just thinking about it.

On a serious note, that's the main problem I see with being really successful in SL. The skills required to make SL really legitimately profitable and not just a hobby business are the same ones that could be used in RL to make WAY more money. No matter how you slice it, with a few exceptions, you're better off making SL your hobby and using your business skills to profit in RL.

On the one hand, it's a good idea.. on the other hand, it's a bit of a telling sign.

You know that the goldrush is over when people start selling shovels instead of getting their own gold.