Want to work full-time in Second Life? Take a listen...
and don't jump into something if you're unsure about it!By Xavier Mohr, Publisher
SLReports.net An Editorial  Believe it or not, it seems like almost a weekly basis now that I receive inquiries from random Second Lifers contemplating quitting their day jobs to pursue SL business ideas. I figured it was about time I brought together all the snippets of what I have told people into one article.
I'm not quite sure why people ask me necessarily. I have no formal education in business, nor do I even come close to operating the most successful business in SL. As well, most people that know me know that I have always retained my 9 to 5 publishing job in Oklahoma despite several high-profile business moves in Second Life. In any event, feel free to take this information and form your own opinion about working full-time in SL. All I can say is that it is based on numerous friendships with full-time SL'ers in addition to my own in-depth contemplation of this move.
When to start thinking about it... I give the same advice here I give with taking regular home businesses full-time. When you start making consistent, 'good' money with your Second Life business, whip out the calculator and some scratch paper. Add together all of your regular real-life bills and financial obligations: rent, utilities, gasoline, telephone and Internet service, any regular/required travel expenses, groceries... whatever. If for instance your total is $2,900.00 USD per month, add 20% on top of that... which in this case would be $3,480.00 USD. This is how much you need to be 'cashing out' each month in order to justify working full-time in SL. Don't let that frighten you however. Linden Labs claims that there are only a very small handful of people in SL making over $1,000.00 USD each month (865 in July by my calculations), but there are several factors that make their numbers inaccurate. First of all, according to Linden Labs' Second Life Economic Statistics, these numbers do not include PayPal, Moneybookers, or other Credit Card payments. Of course, payments using these methods are very common in marketing, scripting, and land sales/tier payments. Secondly, this does not take into account payments received from third-party currency exchanges like Apez or Allenvest Financial Bank. The biggest killing factor to Linden Labs' numbers are that they totally exclude transactions associated with land sales - a very big business in Second Life. The numbers are per unique customer, though, so alts are indeed counted, but there are just too many problems to make them accurate. PayPal in particular is becoming an extremely popular method of payment for Second Life business, since it circumvents the arduous process of cashing out Lindens for US Dollars - a process that most businesspersons say takes far too long to suit immediate liquification needs. Remember, though, that since the Linden Labs numbers count Linden Dollar transactions and not simply USD cash-outs, there must be an inkling of truth to the overall fact that few users actually make themselves rich here! Also, bear in mind that my "bills plus 20%" formula is designed for a single head of household like myself. Those that are married splitting bills, living with family, 'stay-at-home' moms or dads, or otherwise not exclusively responsible for real-life obligations should review their needs accordingly. Don't close the door to real-life opportunities... If you are doing better in Second Life business than you are at your real-life job, reevaluate your current real-life employment situation. Second Life business is so immediately comparable to real-life business, that a factor for success here could also prove to be a factor for success in the real world. If you are a talented scripter in SL, for instance, check into real-life coding jobs that may pay more than SL. If you are a successful fashion designer in SL, perhaps a real-life career in real-life graphic arts is where you need to be. Remember, for most people, SL is not the end-all, be-all source for 'getting rich quick'. Diversify your income streams... Consider doing as some SL'ers have done: transition to a part-time real world job and work in SL part time. If I ever rearranged my real-life schedule for SL, this is no doubt what I would do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with retaining a steady stream of real-life income while you try to build a full-time SL business. Also consider other home business opportunities in addition to Second Life. Do you operate a website? Could you? Tie real-world projects into SL. For instance, sell ads on a real-life website with the promise of added promotion through Second Life. Set a schedule... Remember that Second Life is an audio-visual stimulant, and can be addictive. Set a schedule if you decide to work here part time, or even full time. Many good friends of mine who work in SL are often here 10 to 12 hours a day... or more. I cannot name one of them that is married, partnered, or otherwise in a relationship that has not had personal/relationship issues because of Second Life. Spending every waking hour in SL can cause serious problems if you allow it to get out of control. If you're going to make Second Life your 'job', treat it as one. Set hours, put them in your profile. Make it known, for example, that you log on at 11am each day and log off at 7pm. And stick to it! Finally, just use a bit of common sense... I hear so many people say they're going to start working in SL full-time because they have had one big windfall here. Use your brain, folks! I tell ad reps at my real-life job that there is a difference between selling six advertisements on a one-month contract and selling one advertisement on a six-month contract. Windfalls don't last forever. Work on setting up consistent, steady (though often small) streams of revenue instead of getting overly excited about random bursts of large sums of money. Ask any website operator. There may be times when ads and affiliate programs earn you $10,000 in a month, but two months later you may earn $100.00. The same is true in real-life, Second Life, and on the Internet period. Always work towards hooking smaller long-term customers en masse. It might not be as fun earning $1,000 a month for a year as it is cashing out $12,000 at once... but at least in my opinion... is far more logical. In closing, I would just like to say that I am no authority on SL business, RL business, or scheduling for that matter. I just believe that sometimes our thinking is skewed when we start earning money from a virtual-reality platform that most of us started for fun, out of curiosity, or thinking that it was a game. Don't let Second Life go to your head. I have no doubt that there is a ton of real-life money to be made here, but I simply ask that you use real-life thinking before jumping into something that is so uncertain. It might save you a lot of heartache in the end. See 'Ya Around,
~ Xavier
|
