Do you REALLY make money here?

What I miss in the replies to this good question is WHAT one can do to make money in SL, as contrasted with what efforts are just useless. I wish that some of the people who posted informative answers would add information about HOW to make money. I gather it's primarily from making things and selling them, but what kinds of things sell best? I'm guessing that skilled animators prosper, but beyond that? In most places with things for sale I see no avatars.

Sell stuff and find out what sells best for you. Quality clothes, skins and animations are always a winner.
Just asking us what sells is the lazy way out, go find out what you have a knack for and see what happens.

This is a bit of an odd question really....

How do you make money in SL...?

Well ultimately.. like gambling the only sure way to win is not to play. Each successfull business in SL is different from the next... allthe advice that has been give seems to be as follows

Offer a good product
Offer a well made product
Offer that product at a good price
Present that product well
Support that product with good customer service

These are well k nown and practised business rules and pretty much you can sell ANYTHING with these rules, advertising is difficult in SL so word of mouth is very important so hense customer service applies.

Most importantly like so many others have said ..... If you come to SL to make money be prepared to loose a LOT... its Hard in SL ... very hard. I can only suggest do what you love .....

This is true, but you also need to consider whether you could make more money not in the real world but elsewhere online.

I'd venture that it is much easier to make money out of a halfway decent adsense site than it is SL. Probably with affiliate programs in general also. These activities are pretty "fun" also, since most people in this area create sites about something they are passionate about, and unlike SL achieving very big profits is not as unreallistic.

I don't think it's wrong--this is Second Life, remember? Consumers want to mimic their RL in many cases...I think name brands are one of them. And as long as you're not trying to open up a Nikon store, and sell only Nikon products...no judgment should come of it.

There are many stores in real life that sell many different brands of product. Nikon doesn't need the few lindens I make on the cameras. I don't put Nikon on the cameras because I think I need the leverage...I do it because I think the public would prefer it that way. It's a selfless act, and if it becomes a problem, I have no problem changing it.

I earn enough out of SL to give up my day job if I wanted to (or was clinically insane) but it was a real slog and allot of time and work getting there, nowadays I just spend about 10 hrs a week creating content but the business generally grows on its own. If I was starting SL as a new resident today I wouldnt even bother trying to make money, it too difficult as there is too much competition. It's a different world compared to when I started and It was easy to turn a profit 3 years ago.

Excellent point, and one worth making note of. Using SL as a virtual portfolio can be highly advantageous. It's a wonderful tool, and certainly open-ended enough to fashion a wide variety of content.

...until your prospective client tries to log in to view your work and cant, or worst still they arrive with their entire wardrobe up their arse and a flying bouncing penis attack from the local griefer similar to what Anshe experienced when being interviewed by the rl media.

SL is too unstable/unpredictable for me to ever assiciate it wth my real life business.

No no...I don't mean every potential client or employer needs to download, install, and log into SL to see your portfolio...

You can take snapshots of all your work and transfer it to your first life.

If the company is for some reason either savvy enough, patient enough, or already a part of Second Life...then, and only then can you actually meet in-world for an interview and asset demo.

I appreciate your position Michael, however it's a very convenient one for you to take give your marketing strategies. I submit to you that my opinion on this matter, and your opinion on this matter, are not relevant at all. The law here is clearly established. I do however wish you all the best in building your business. Perhaps as your business grows you will come to realize that having your own brand on your products is far more strategic and fulfilling.

Absolutely Persephone. When the time comes, I already have plans to make a branding for all pre-fab products and props. It's already all set. It's just not the right time now...my studio is still gathering steam and I'm not it the limelight [yet].

Of course I want to have only GBD products available in time...it is more fulfilling, you're right. But right now...there is a method to my madness.

And honestly...if a citizen has a major problem with it, there's something more than just helpful advice or professional etiquette going on. There are no victims here. I don't consider Nikon a victim...do you? So why should another citizen have a problem with what I'm doing? If you are genuinely expressing your concerns of a lawsuit, or your views on self-expression without riding coattails...then I accept your input graciously.

"If the [law] says I'm wrong...then I don't want to be right."

Again Michael, it doesn't matter whether I consider Nikon a victim or not. The law is clear here. Nikon has an obligation to protect their brand name. If they fail to do so, they will, over time, lost the right to claim it as a brand. I am telling you, as a former brand manager, that if I found my brand in Second Life, I would issue a cease and desist instantly and without regard to whether or not you were making money or hurting my real life business. My brand is my brand, and it is my right to chose where and how it will be used. And I have a legal obligation to protect it, or lose it. When you have invested in creating your own brand, you will start to understand how important this is.

As for timing, I would suggest to you that now is exactly the right time for you to re-brand your products. Get your own name on your products now, build mindshare and equity in GBD. You want people to know your products by your own name. In Second Life, "Nikon" is a generic name that your competition can use just as easily as you can (though they would be guilty of the same legal mistake). You want people to associate your products with you, and your store. There is only one way to do that.

I had the same choice to make when I launched my pianos. I could have slapped Steinway or Yamaha on them, and hoped to leverage existing recognition of those brands. Instead I developed my own brand name and made sure that when people bought my products that they thought of them as mine, and not as duplications of some real world product. Now, after having sold thousands of pianos featuring my brand name, I consider my brand and my own name as my most valuable assets here.

I should also add that I know that it is harder to travel the road that I am suggesting - at first. You can make some quick sales initially when people search for "Nikon" and you may not make those if you take that brand off of your product. There is no doubt that leveraging somebody else's brand works, in the short term - that is why so many people do it. But ultimately, your long term success depends on your own name - and that is something you want to start building now.

Something to consider Michael. It is a myth that you need to use a real world brand to build your business. Lots of people think that, and ultimately, after a lot of hard work, they have done little to build their own name or reputation.

This is the only thing I have a problem with. I most certainly have invested in my own brand...and that brand is all over my studio, and visible to all in classified and forum posts. I've been designer for many years, I know the ropes, and I've chosen a particular route. And I do not think that I need to ride any coattails to succeed...I just need a unique, quality product at a reasonable price.

If by this above statement, however, you mean that NIKON invested a lot in their brand...and they wouldn't want me using it...that's a different story. Which you can't argue with.

Regardless, I completely understand. And if I really WAS trying to steal Nikon's thunder, and my products were hanging on their powerful name, I would leave it at that. But my products and service is not about my Nikon camera...or my JVC....Glowbox Designs is about high quality product with a unique flare for detail. And the majority of my work is of original ilk.

You will figure it out Michael. You seem very intelligent and when I visited your store I thought your original designs were very impressive.

There is no simple answer to this question Flieger. It's as hard to answer in SL as it is in real life. There is a natural dynamic in any free market that says that when a particular item sells well, and is in high demand, there will flood of people attempting to service that demand. So items that sell well, are items with a lot of competition. There is no easy way to make money in Second Life. Your best bet is to find something you really enjoy creating or doing, and see if you can build a business around that. Good luck in your endeavors!

Thank you very much. Yes, I'm still learning...that's for sure. That's the good thing about life (1st or 2nd)...as long as you are open to growth, the world is your oyster.

If for some reason my free time expands, then so will my business--this includes dropping all real-world branding, and making the switch. For now, I'm doing quite well for myself neatly tucked away on Silicon Island. It's very peaceful there, and I'm keeping busy.

Cheers!

As already posted, 2d pics will serve... and you can add movies 'fly thru's' to that armoury, indeed that is our sl business (or at least one of them).

With the future holding open sourcing of the code, it will not be long before 'opensim' becomes a reality, you can host your own sim, for the purposes of the portfolio on a laptop. This has already been done many times before, you only have to look at the forerunner to SL, Adobe Atmosphere as a perfect platform.
I have 8 'sims' hosted on my own personal website. When you click on a link, it loads a pluggin for the browser and you are in the 3D VR Environment. The build programme is a stand alone not disimilar to bryce with very accurate potential, textures can be applied on the fly, even Avatars can be placed on the same website, so the users can choose their own from a simple click menu.

'Teleporting' is done by walking into a semi-transparent prim, which acts like a http link, automatically loading the chosen 'world'. I came to SL to further that process.

Really Mr. Mars...didn't know that. Sounds like a great option.

Simone isnt a small clothing store lol ..

She's a small in numbers of visitors compared to some of the other ones ( i.e. not so well known ).

To clarify, by small, I'm not talking about size of the shop, but her traffic.

Simone has 4265 on the traffic count at the time of writing.
Last Call has 24019
Bare Rose HQ alone 41127

Even my home store ( and we are a REALLY low traffic store ) has 2686.

Do traffic numbers really count? People stack the numbers all the time so how can anything really be based on them?

"...you also need to consider whether you could make more money not in the real world but elsewhere online."

You nailed it! You definitely can make more money online outside of SL with much less effort. When I said "time/cost effective" I had in mind exactly that. And making money online can be fun and creative process too. Combining these 2 would be a perfect match and is my goal. It is also a thing from the future, some day web sites are going to be 3D environments, that's the reason I'm here - I enjoy being in the middle of something that will change the face of the Internet.

BTW the posts on this thread made me change my mind (again, lol), so I decided not to give up my premium account (yet). I bought a good 512 m2 parcel, my stipend covers 100% the Premium Account so I have nothing to lose but my time (which costs money too but I'll try to manage it better now). I will not spend more time than needed in Sl and I swear (a lot of witnesses here ) I will not buy more land until I have a positive cash flow for at least 3 months that will allow me to jump to the next tier. Dreaming big is good but getting real is better. Now I'm not homeless and in the same time I do not feel under pressure, I can sell the land any time without losing lots of money, it feels good .

It matters when there is no camping. And I don't think any of those cited above have campers.

"I have 8 'sims' hosted on my own personal website. When you click on a link, it loads a pluggin for the browser and you are in the 3D VR Environment. The build programme is a stand alone not disimilar to bryce with very accurate potential, textures can be applied on the fly, even Avatars can be placed on the same website, so the users can choose their own from a simple click menu.

'Teleporting' is done by walking into a semi-transparent prim, which acts like a http link, automatically loading the chosen 'world'. I came to SL to further that process."

I wish I could understand what you're talking about... Is there a web site I can go to?

I came into SL as a digital artist hoping to use it to make money and to advertise my products. I find myself dragged more and more into SL, I'm having a shaky start to bulding my own stuff but am getting great pleasure from custom painting other peoples stuff.
I'm still paying out of my own pocket to stay in SL, but it is unique and I'm enjoying myself it's amazing how many nice genuinely helpful people you meet.