Starting a Second Life Business

Laura Tiffany provides an excellent overview of how to start a second Life Business. "A million dollars of virtual loot. It's a concept that's difficult to wrap your head around, but in November, that's exactly what virtual real-estate developer Anshe Chung accomplished in the 3D virtual world Second Life, in which users live "second" lives as avatars. When her entrepreneurial success story hit the press, it spread like wildfire, leading many to ask: What exactly are the business opportunities available in Second Life? Are people really turning their love for Second Life into a full-time business?
Marketers have already been exploring the world, with big-name businesses like American Apparel, Starwood Hotels, Scion and Cisco setting up virtual areas for their products--a store for American Apparel, a hotel for Starwood--in Second Life. Even Reuters has assigned a bureau chief specifically to the site.
If you've never visited Second Life--or even heard of it—here's a quick look at it. Second Life is a 3D virtual world where people use avatars to explore and commune with other people. It's often lumped in with such online games as World of Warcraft or Star Wars Galaxies (which insiders refer to as "massively multiplayer online role playing games" or MMORPGs), but it's a different beast. There's no slaying of dragons to level up a character or collecting weapons to prepare for battle, but you can buy and develop online real estate, import images to craft your own in-world creations.

Quit Job and Selling Clothings
Lokke has never considered himself a gamer but he did enjoy tinkering with computer graphics. Creating online clothing came naturally, and after designing his own duds in There and Second Life, he found that others wanted them, too. "[My business] has grown from [generating[ a few bucks a month two years ago to selling more than enough to live on now," says Lokke, who goes by the name Crucial Armitage in Second Life. "And it's growing every month." Indeed, 2007 may prove to be a watershed year for Lokke: He's quitting his 17-year job as a supermarket manager to make the 50 hours he already spends in Second Life as the owner of Crucial Creations his true, full-time career.

Real Estate Business
The number of opportunities available is really only limited by your imagination. Real estate is a big moneymaker, as evidenced by Chung's success. Even Lokke has a side business as a landowner, subletting property on the 10 islands he owns. There are also numerous opportunities for coders who want to build more complex creations using Second Life's unique scripting language.

Other Second Life Business Idea
Second Life Business IdeasOn the Second Life website, the company lists the following businesses as some real examples of in-world enterprises run by residents:

• Party and wedding planner
• Pet manufacturer
• Tattooist
• Automotive manufacturer
• Fashion designer
• Custom avatar designer
• Jewelry maker
• Architect
• XML coder
• Freelance scripter
• Game developer
• Tour guide
• Real estate speculator"