Making USD$ in SL?

OK... another thread (The 'legitimate business in SL' one) got me thinking and now I'm really curious..

What jobs in SL generally have enough income to actually do this, with any sort of livable pay in USD once cashed out? I can't think of anything that isn't available en masse in SL, so it's not like you could just have a 'one of a kind' venture very easily, and you have to be aazing with your products, and good with your prices if you're selling things to make good profit.. so what is something that really does pay well enough to be considered a 'legitimate business' in terms of pay?

Custom building for external clients can earn hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Land dealing is the other great money-spinner.

Clothes sales and weapons I've also been told can pay extremely well.

What do you mean by external clients? Like businesses coming into SL?

Exactly. Electric Sheep does a lot of these builds, ie:CSI, Star Trek, and a bunch of others.

cool thanks ^^

Land dealing is pretty much the only gig that doesn't involve content creation abilities. The bad news about land is that LL controls the supply and you don't; this leads to heartburn and instability. The good news about content creation is that anyone can learn it and become proficient over time. The words OVER TIME bear repeating. There is no "get rich quick" in SL - unless you decide to start a virtual bank and bilk your fellow residents out of large amounts of $$.....

There are also many, many other "solution providers" that can give these sort of services, but the great talent they have are often sadly overlooked because people think ESC are the only people providing building etc.

ESC may charge huge amounts of cash - which is why they get the prestigious builds. 99% of the people requiring work done in SL can't afford their prices, so as a result we probably lose a lot of businesses that could come into SL because they aren't made aware of the alternatives.

ESC may be the biggest, but I'm quite sure that a lot of the other developers can provide as good as - or perhaps even better in some cases - service in a lot of situations.

Also we have to remember that ESC are also responsible for many of the negatives things that pollute the grid these days - such as various bots that goes round gathering data on you, your land and its contents, without your permission.

Broccoli

lalalala... ignore this post...

Full list here: http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/solprogram

Broccoli

thats useful... thankies for that ^^

Well and don't forget that just making nice skins and clothes, etc. can make you a comfortable RL living if you're good at it. The "big money" does seem to be in professional content creation. But the latter is a real job with real contracts, responsibilities, etc., whereas a more casual content creator can release new products at will and not have to answer to anyone but their customers.

Real estate (rentals and sales) can be very lucrative, but it requires significant RL $$$ investment and also becomes a lot of real work once you reach a certain point- and the maintenance costs are non-trivial. Unless you've got a LOT of land earning you money (or a fair amount of reserves), a lot of unrented/unsold land on your hands can be disastrous.

Designing and building content for custom sims can bring in good money, IF you have good skills in building, texturing, landscaping and terraforming. It takes time, of course, to develop those skills. And some things, like learning to terraform whole sims with .raw files, you just can't get experience in unless you purchase a sim yourself, or have a few trusting first clients who will give you a chance to shine.

Making unique high-quality textures and selling them in SL also can generate a steady revenue stream... IF you have the right artistic talent, the time to create the textures in the first place, and have a good sense for what is in demand.

Those two areas are where I make a profit in SL. But I still don't make enough in SL to live off what I earn in-world. I'd have to turn in 90-hour work weeks, and get a steady stream of high-end clients, to actually live of what I do here. I don't charge the kind of rates that ESC does, mostly because I don't have a staff of dozens of talented people that I can throw at a single project, but also because I would prefer to keep my work within the range that most people can afford.

I think Desmond put it well, a while ago, when he voiced the opinion that someone trying something in SL just to make money will almost surely fail. What succeeds is someone doing something they really enjoy, doing it well, and gaining a loyal following of clients and customers who will pay them to do it.

Escorting!!!

My bet is the chances of making a good RL living with a "Will work for food sign" are higher than that of making such in SL.

Works for some people. Is nothing to count on.

money is easy to make, just 1prim and the right texture.

Plus, there's a talent component to these too, of course. (Unfortunately.)

@collette
Im know someone that made a decent living, paid rent, kept cable running, etc... by panhandling... all it takes if the right look, attitude, and very thick skin... laughing all the way to the bank helped I think.

the number of people willing to build/manage estates etc for a premium account and a few linden helps people that are business minded

hey anyone want to hire me as an estate manager? just IM =)