Most profitable business types in SL?

I don't think anybody mentioned being a slut and selling yourself for sexual favors to fat ugly old men at $5 bucks a pop. Very little work involved and you get to do all the crack you want!

Seriously, if you are looking for an easy way to make a quick buck, you are better off just getting a RL part time job and buying lindens. You can make money in SL for sure, but most forms of work are not going to give you much return on the time you invest.

Scripting is probably the most profitable skill in SL. However, as so many have already said, using your criteria, nothing is "truly" profitable. Contrary to SL Mythology, this is not the place to "get rich quick".

Yes, there is money to be made in SL, no one will deny that. But you could problably make more money flipping burgers at Micky D's than you can here. However, most of us don't look at it that way -- we're motivated by something far greater than money. I don't think I'm alone when I say that I consider the money I earn to be icing on the cake. Truth be known, it's not the money/value that thrills me, it's the fact that someone else thinks enough of my products to spend Lindens on them.

I'm here because I love SL. I "create" because I enjoy it -- I spent over 3 decades telling myself I wasn't creative and then I stumbled into SL and slowly realized I'd been fooling myself all that time. If I were looking for a part-time job though, I would not choose content creation in SL -- the extra $$$ I get doesn't begin to justify the multitude of hours I spend on SL related stuff each week. I think the last time I calculated it out I found I was earning about $0.98/hour. Retirement here I come... NOT. LOL

So, my advice? If you're looking for a quick buck, don't bother with SL. But, if you'd like to explore and find your niche in SL and then try to make a few bucks at it, by all means, go for it!

I havn't read the posts above, but here's my take in relation to what I do in SL:

As a DJ or musical performer: Tips + gig rate is very profitable in relation to the cost of a stream rental. 4 gigs a month can make upwards of $10,000L, and the cost of a stream is approx $3500L a month

A marketing person/promo person/host: having several high-end clients where you do in-world promotion as well as graphic design, and host and run events can bring in good bucks... the cost is $10L per upload + time and energy.

A venue owner: I have yet to find a way to turn this into any profit.... cost of land/tier, plus efforts of owning and running an entertainment venue far exceeds the tips and donations, plus store rental space.