I'm not greedy, but...

Look, I'm not one of these people whose first thought when entering SL is "how can I make some RL money!?". I'm in it for the experience same as most people. However, in the three days in which I've been a resident it's become pretty apparent that to get the most out of the experience, you need land of some sort. To get land, you need L$. Any tips on how a newbie with the free package can make some L$. I'm not afraid of hardwork. So any tips from experienced SL residents on how a newbie like myself can earn a modest amount of Lindens would be welcome.

Well one of the best ways to make money is to sell stuff of course. Find what you are good at and what you have a passion for and build it. With time and practice, residents will begin to show an interest and offer to buy whatever you have made. That's how I was eventually able to afford land, by designing and selling aircraft.

You don't have to earn L$, you can always buy it.

https://secondlife.com/currency/buy.php

That being said, there's not a lot in the way of 'jobs' in SL. Most jobs are self-made. Learn to build, script, animate, texture, whatever floats your boat, make something you enjoy and chances are other people will enjoy it too and want to buy it.

You don't -need- land to enjoy SL. Though that depends on what you want to do. A lot rent as well.

Though to buy land you MUST be a Premium Account which currently "earns" a income of 400L$/week. 9.99USD/mo account fee.

If you don't need land, you are further to buy L$ off the Lindex. Current rate is about 305L$-1USD.

To earn L$ inworld, provide a service needed (check Classifieds) or learn to build/script and create something to sell that people might enjoy here. Ivory Tower of Primitives is great to learn building. I can't script so no idea where to for that, but a few Searches will prolly yield something.

There are also clothes designing and texture designing if your artistic and can work (and have) the exterior programs needed.

With only being here 3 days, I suggest moneytrees still and looking around for quite a bit longer before deciding.

~Jessy

Amsterdam ---> Wear a dress ---> Profit

I see. A question on ettiquette though - most people who sell their creations (and there are some incredibly talented people out there) have land onwhich they build a shop. If I intend to try to sell creations without land, by basically "hawking them in the street" so to speak (obviously observing the "no selling" rules in places like Sandboxes), how is that generally viewed? Acceptable or just rude?

1) Get involved in a subcommunity you enjoy, or can relate to. (sci-fi, goth, WWII, combat, fashion, architecture, whatever.)

2) Observe the deficiencies and wants in the community, and make note of them.

3) Decide to create something that fills these deficiencies, or improves upon existing products or methods, and put enough time into it until you _know_ it's one of the best in its category.

4) Sell it, or provide the service, but prepared to provide customer service as well.


I know that's ambiguous. But if you honestly are not afraid of hard work, then I believe that's all that it takes. The latter part of #3 is absolutely the strongest point: Whatever you decide to make, make it -definitive-.

If it's a service, look at the complaints that are out there about existing similar services, and decide to make yourself the exception.

This of course is just a matter of opinion. There are easier and less honest ways to make money of course.

Collect underpants ---> ??? ---> Profit!

I haven't ever heard of this being unacceptable. If you can't afford land or a mall space (to rent), so what. It won't get you business 'while you sleep', but if you make something decent, and provide good service, I don't think anyone's going to care whether or not you sell things face to face.

Dropping onto other people's land and advertising through shouts and spam though, yeah, that's not viewed too highly.

It may help to make friends with some folks who do have land, who could let you use a small bit of their space for a vendor or the like.

Then there's always sites like SLExchange. Some of these don't make money unless you do.

See Pol Tabla about this enterprise.

You can sell wherever you want, there is no etiquette about that. Lots of people have malls and rent out small vendor spots. So you dont need to own land or build your own shop.

No need to own anything, making money in SL is just a matter of being smart just like in rl

Acceptable as long as you don't spam groups repeatedly. At places, be sure to talk to owners first. Some even allow you to place items for free if they are within thier theme, or for a "trial" week before charging you any L$ for stall rentals. This lets you earn the money to rent more, obviously.

Talk to store owners and vendor renters. Some will work with you. Others are pure buisness and you can ignore the last catagory of rude a**hats. *smirks*

The best thing I can tell you is to create your wares, then save RL money to buy a bit of L$ to get started by renting a stall for a month or two. Look over prices in the meantime. Some people are damn greedy, others quite nice.

Best of luck.

~Jessy

And when you REALLY REALLY don't have any inspiration at all...you can still sell your virtual body for a few pennies.

LOL

No seriously...You have to be creative.

When you are first getting started, you are really better off just buying Lindens with a credit card or PayPal. Seriously. Work in SL pays less per hour of effort than any minimum-wage job in SL.

If you look around, there are some places that will allow new merchants to set up a small vendor at no cost. Often you do need to be a participating member of a community that has some sort of 'mall' or 'store' for community residents. That was how I got my start, with a free kiosk in a new merchant's area.

Most mall spaces cost L$50 per week, though some are more expensive. If you sell something that makes more than that per week, which isn't that hard to do, then your profits will cover your initial space rental costs.

You can rent or 'buy' land on private islands and not be a Premium member. I 'own' over 2,500 M2 of premium-quality land and a nice home in a beautiful private sim, yet am still a Basic member. It's only land on the mainland that requires being a Premium member. Just remember though, if you buy land from a private sim owner, you have a landlord to deal with - that sim owner. Whereas if you buy on the mainland, it's just between you and Linden Labs. If you are considering buying land on a private sim, make sure you talk to a number of current residents therre, to get a good idea of what to expect from that landlord. There is a LOT of difference between sim owners!

If I was starting out and desperate to make money, but didn't want to pay for tier for some reason, I would bung a few dollars into the Lindex, enough for texture uploads and some rental space, then pick a popular and nice-looking mall to rent a space in. I would then advertise everything on the forums, the SLX forums, everywhere I could find; I'd make sure I had SLX and SLB accounts and had tagged everything; I'd make my name known by commenting on forums and blogs and so on, and hand out landmarks to my vendor at every opportunity.

But really, having land means you can put it on the Find and post classifieds to it, and a lot of people use those. It's not *that* much.

Once you have a product you are ready to sell, don't forget to utilize SLExchange and SLBoutique. Tons of happy shopper there No land needed.

Ah, Ordinal, how could I have fogotten to mention SLX and SLB! Thank you!

SL Exchange Marketplace and SL Boutique both offer free website-based vending for SL Merchandise, delivered in-world. I use SL Boutique, and in exchange for a small cut of my sales (10%) they run the service and make my wares available for sale. It isn't a huge money maker for me, but I don't have all that much for sale through them, either. However, any sales I make via the web like that are 100% profit, as I pay nothing unless I actually make a sale. It's a very good deal for a new merchant.

The only in-world requirement for SLB is that you need to leave one SLB delivery prim in-world, to support the delivery mechanism. While it would be a safer idea for that to be on land that you own, it could also be on rented land, or on a friend's land... No one needs to be able to get to the prim to pick up orders, or stuff like that. Mine's on a wall in one of my homes, with a decorative wall hanging covering it. I knew another SLB merchant who textured his to look like part of his home's wall...

Haven't dealt with SLX as a merchant, but they look to have a very similar deal.

If the idea of building something to sell sounds daunting it really is not. An item does not need to be big and visually stunning to make money, something simple and functional but that is not in existence yet can sell itself very easily without being all whistles and bells, however you need to know how best to sell it and where. I've not been here that long myself and I'm doing reasonably well at the moment.

I think you really need to think about SL finance as being very similar to real life finance.

If you want to earn money, you need to have a marketable product/service. Take time to look around, see what sorts of things are on offer. Then consider your own skills and experience. What could you do?

In the mean time, unlike in real life, you have the option of importing money. You will ineviatbly need some to start with - again, just like inthe real world, setting up a business requires some investment. In this case, texture/sound uploads, rental or land ownership, items to help you sell such as good vendors etc. Don't assume you can automatically make money, it is not a given right, you have to EARN it.

Please don't be daunted by what I have just said. Just try to view it like you were in real life. Then you will probaby have a more realistic picture of what it involves.

Oh, and remember, for most people, earning money is probably easier in the real world, hehe, so do ENJOY Second Life, first and foremost. It is not a money making tool, it is a game, a virtual community, a creative environment and so much more.

Hawking in other stores is technically harassment.

There are a number of shopping centers that allow free vendors. ONE and Tech Heaven or Tech Haven? come to mind. There are yard sales places that offer free vendor space also, such as on in Gogebic.