It seems like many people are obsessed with living a virtual life online these days – and we’re not just talking about spending too much time on the social networking sites here either. We’re talking about living another life as a virtual character on websites such as ‘Second Life’.
While these sites are far from being like reality in many ways, they also come very close to it in other ways. One great example is advertising and business. There are many big name companies who have successfully ‘started’ a business to mimic their own one in these virtual worlds as well, and it is here that you too can build a business that will help you build a real one in the real world too.
You might be thinking that it’s all very well making money in a virtual world, but that money is artificial, right?
Actually no it isn’t. Second Life in particular uses Linden dollars in its world, and the whole idea of making money works exactly as it would in the real world. What’s more you can buy and sell them just like you would with different currencies in reality too, so if you end up making a lot of Linden dollars then you can cash out and use them in your real everyday life instead.
But just because the world is artificial and only exists online, that doesn’t mean the rules regarding building a business are any different in this case. You need to make sure you have a solid business plan just as you would in the real world.
Some big businesses have simply used Second Life as a way to develop the brand they already have. If that business is one that is likely to appeal to the demographic of people using Second Life, then it is a great way of highlighting an existing business and driving up the sales and contact with new customers as a result.
If you don’t already have a business it can be a good idea to join Second Life with a basic free membership and then spend some time getting to know how the whole thing works. Have a look round to see who is using the site, what other shops and businesses are around and if there is anything you like the look of, try and work out how the business is run.
Buying land to build a business on will cost you money, just as it would in real life – and that is one of the reasons why you need to have a plan to follow. Work out what kind of business will suit you, how you want to run it and how much your overheads would be. Then by researching other similar businesses in Second Life you can see how much other people charge for their services or products, and start to build your own business as a result.
Regardless of whether you use Second Life to enhance a business you already have or build a completely new one from scratch, there is a lot of potential here to make a decent income. Some people are already earning enough virtual income to transfer into their own bank accounts to be able to give up any kind of real work in our own real life world!
If that sounds like a good deal to you, why not think about joining and creating an avatar for yourself so you can have a look round?
Before you do that though, leave a comment for us below!