Clubs Making Money

How are the clubs out there making money? With extras gone..is there a way?

Generally speaking, clubs don't make any money in SL.

Clubs as a general rule don't make money.

Most of the clubs I've seen are a draw for the surrounding stores.

My favorite club sems to always be empty. Koilos!

Sex and rentals.

I thought I smelled sex and rentals here.

Also vendors and gambling. Why all the big, 'successful' clubs look like crap and are lag demons. Basically why I don't go to clubs.

There is other options than those big laggy clubs, try a small one with live DJs.
Some of us are still trying very hard to run "non sex & casino" dance clubs : )

No, I know...I went to one constantly my first two weeks here, and nearly bought the place when it went under. Until, UNTIL I did the numbers with my financial backer...it was clear that the place could never break even, let alone make a profit, especially with the end of dwell on the horizon as it was.

That's great if you can run a 'non sex and casino' club, but how do you make it work financially? Just eat the costs? Subsidize it from other activities?

(In my own defense, when I play at work I can't have sound, and when I play at home I'm usually on the linux client, so no sound, unless I reboot into windows, which is a hassle, or use WINE, which isn't great either, so there are technical issues for me as well)

Clubs don't make money at all. I've bitched for months that LL doesn't support entertainment venues with financial aid....


....basically, the only way to make a tiny bit of the expenses back is to rent out storespaces, and possibly get sponsors.

There is far more potential for "entertainment" than just clubs... I have long since advocated support and incentives for any non-commercial builds. It's all well and good for LL to have a dream of an economy - but they need to realise that many of us who want to play 'our world, our imagination' have little to no interest in the commercial side of things.

Many people have wonderful ideas for fantastic builds - but in order to make ends meet, end up selling out a few spots for rental and suchlike... basically turning it into a clone of virtually everything else in SL.

Lewis

Being around awhile during and after the bubble breaking. I say clubs don`t make money. The ones that do have otehr outlets for support. Bad Girls is a example. Jesse puts so much money into the places it would make your head spin. He does alot of vendors, but the money he throws into the game is unreal. Some owners are just too greedy and only care about their own pocket. But hten there are some that only care about content for the game. Now with dwelling gone and DI dead. what else can suppport sl?!

well, since the land was sold and the club packed away about a month ago, I would imagine so

Sorry, that's my fault. I should have told you, but any club I visit folds within a month or so of my having been there. Especially the ones that aren't pretending to be malls or casinos.

I was wondering what happened...the group went quiet! Sorry to hear that...you were doing a great job there!

I'm going to use my powers for good instead of evil...see you in the top 10 of 'Popular Places'!

Having run a club for the past month and a half, I know a little bit about them now and I can tell you that unless you have financial backing and awesome patience, a club just won't last.

Considering most "good" clubs have a live DJ, some event host, and possibly other paid employees, the overhead can run a tidy sum. If you have live musicians, and do other -type events-races, shows, recitals, etc., you will still incur expenses related to builds unless you do it all yourself.

Think of it this way-run a club, and figure your expenses at 1000L per day-that means to run it every day you need to generate revenue of 30K L per month. Then look at how to generate that revenue. Donations will get you part of the way, but can you depend on 1k L donations? Store rentals will help, but you will need to rent out enough units again. Rents on mainland sim stores run around 100L/wk so you are looking at about 30 rental units to cover your expenses.

Now add your tier to that and see where that puts you on the break even scale......so you then need about 30 more stores to pay your tier

To the do it yourselfers, sure you can host and DJ, but remember if you DJ you need a stream to broadcast from, additional expense...and while you are hosting and DJing you aren't able to sell rental untils, and if you are the whole enchilada that means you are wedded to your club whenever you log on...

Its a huge undertaking, and while start up costs are deceptive, most clubs fail because the business plan doesn't hold water. When you are out and about, go look at the clubs that have been in business a while, they commend some respect, and from my experience with them, calling any of them greedy is a disservice-profit margins on any of them are rather thin.

A way to create revenue for a SL club is to use that traffic and popularity to market for RL goods and services....

example: I am a RL DJ and music producer. Sure, I'm not going to make money with my SL club, but by promoting my music and what I'm doing, I am able to make connections which turn into RL endeavors. So, my club directly doesn't make money, but it is a location which encourages future possibilities.

Well "GOOD"is the qusten mark here.....problem is some Live Djs are good but some people think anyone can get on a mike and do it. As for host LOL some top owners of clubs exect Host to do hosting for free (kickbacks (tips from the owner and their alts)of money is just a BS way of saying "IF YOUR TRUSTABLE ETC GET YOUR MONEY UPFRONT and or make sure they are trustable.)..... Strange because this same person is one of the richest people on sl....Getting back to "GOOD " ways to run clubs, I say those that puts money in the game and creates "GOOD" content for the population are the real winners. Anyone can be a cheapskate owner and NOT pay good host and DJ and put "JUNK content on" But Those that enjoy and don`t mind spending money are heros on sl... I am not a owner, but been in roles that made many top clubs money. Good owner reguardsless of the type of content sex club, dance club are only as good as they repect and caring of their workers.

Clubs dont make money. Why people think that.. beyond my reason. Most clubs will give away raffles, do trivia, etc.. dont see the money making here...

Why should LL support avatars dancing? LOL thats not entertainment. Should LL support the DJS? SHould they support the "dancers" Should they support the club owner. Lets see.. you own a club in RL and the government pays you and supports you so your patrons can drink and dance... hmmm, dont think so. Maybe a bank would fund you, a loan. Last time i checked Linden Labs is not a bank. T

I've owned a club for nearly a year, and let me tell you clubs DO NOT make money. Even with rentals it doesnt cover tier, and there are many costs on top of it, contests, employees, games, ect. They take a long while and alot of great supportive people to build the group and traffic. Clubs that start up as a way to make money and expect to have people wandering in to play pay games, drop cash, ect are bound to fail. I'm only speaking from personal experience. What a club will do for... Give you a project to put your heart into, give you great memories, give you a sense of accomplishment when it does well and people respect it, and best of all, give you a place to meet alot of wonderful people and form strong friendships that last. I would suggest starting a club to anyone simply for the love of second life. I know me and the others responsible for getting and keeping The Angry Ant going have alot of pride and love for it.

Kinda funny - out of all the forms of entertainment and everything SL has to offer, there is only ONE that the Lindens feel is worth paying for.. instructors.

Anything else that gives residents of SL things to do is not worth the time and money of Linden Labs to suppliment. At one point Robin said that even the instructor payments would be going away too.. but later when questioned about it "she changed her mind".

Gotta love the Lindens and their committments and decisions about "what is good for SL". I am thinking of having my club teach underwater basket weaving just for the extra $L from the Lindens - obviously that's more important than anything else we could offer.

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- Aaron / Wagahai

The issue of LLabs paying for teachers, or supporting the game is alittle out of order with the topic issue. DD is still thinking LLabs should support us here. That is wrong, instructors are important to the game. But in a short time that too wil be a non support from LLabs. With the populas over 300,000+ a stablizing of the eco and the "I HOPE a anti griefting tools that DOES WORK" will cause SL to be a game unlike any of kinds. Right now we are having major growing pains! In all part of the game........

Having instructrors teach the fine art of hosting is slap inthe face to the intstructors. Buthten again if you had the chance wouldnt you try to gt away withtings until your foundout. just a thought.

Usagi

It may seem like it's off topic, but as a club owner who has lost staff due to inability to pay them as well as the teaching establishments can thanks to Linden Labs.. they brought the 2 topics together. As mentioned above, club owners don't make the cash in SL.

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- Aaron / Wagahai

I am sorry to hear you lost staff because of the eco downturn. many of us that got caught inthe LLabs restructing game a few times. Clubs don`t make money. If you like a example model of a top ranked go talk to jesse over at BAD GIRLS. I really don`t understand how clubs and dishout money like they have. But then agian.....

What's the business model, or do you do it just for fun? I'm trying to understand how it works, and I don't see how it does.

This seems more realistic than what I've been seeing.