Second Life is advertised to many people as a way of making money by creating Virtual Products. However is this really true because as most people should no money is not easy to aquire. So i decided to investigate to see how the Second Life Economy worked and if there was space for Small Business.
After talking with many mall owners and small business owners i found that many dont even breakeven and if they do its worth nothing in the real world. Most of them continue to keep there Businesses open because they enjoy it rather than for money. This proves that small businesses dont make any money but do the big businesses?.
So i went to talk to some of the bigger business owners who had high rankings in the Premium Search service. It took some time to get them to talk to me but once i did they told me a lot about how they are doing. I found that they are very successful as they can afford to do a lot of marketing which means they get a huge amount of customers. The small business owners are unable to compete with these Giants of the Second Life market. To be successful in second life you need a huge amount of starting capital and have to do a huge amount of Marketing. This means that small businesses have no chance at making the big money.
Small Business Owners Have No Chance - Fact
I think Second Life is no place for someone to make money from unless they already have large amounts of money already to invest. I am talking about Thousands of Dollars not just pennies. So dont be fooled by the Lindens or the Media thinking that you can make a fortune from nothing.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Monday, 8 September 2008
Second Life Economy - The Future?
You may think the Second Life economy is something that is not important to the regular business owner however if you invest in looking into the economy you can make better forecasts and calculate increases and decreases in sales before they happen. If you own a mall spot then this probaly wont help you but if you own a entire sim which makes many sales then this might be very important. I would like to point out i am not giving you the answers but teaching you what you need to do to look at the economy and its current state. I did this because if i write a report today, tomorrow it will be outdated and i have a life to live. I think
So the economy why is it important? and what effects it?. Ok one of the things that effects the economy is the exchange rate of linden. If people can get more linden for there dollar then they will buy more because they gain more purchasing power. Therefore the first thing you can keep a eye on is this exchange rate as it will effect your sales expecially when large changes are made.
Birth Rate/Death Rate? Huh there is no such thing in Second Life!. Your wrong as Birth rate in Second Life is the number of people who enter and Death Rate is the people who quit. Therefore try to find some useful statistics on what the population of the game is like. The linden lab published data is not valid as it includes alt players and other defects as they wish to make it sound better than it is. One way you could check the "Birth Rate" is by checking what good and bad publicity Second Life is getting.
Bad Publicity = Decreasing Population
Good Publicity - Increasing Population
Death rate is more difficult and near to impossible to measure but a high death rate should be expected as i estimate over 50% who are born quit within 1 week. This leaves you with the other 50% who stick around for a short while and then theres the rare few who decide to play for the long term.
Second Life Alternatives - You need to check if there are any alternatives that could pose a risk such as a new grid. If you expect a competitor to lauch and steal Second Life players then be prepared as this reduce sales. Never think Second Life will last forever because it wont and a alternative could come out at anytime or Linden Lab could make a distarious error... So expect anything and make sure you have a plan in place. For example if you hear a new game similar to Second Life is opening then i would sell off some of your capital because your sales are likely to go down because the Second Life "Birth Rate" will decrease. You could then invest this money in the alternative.
Please Leave Comments. Thanks
So the economy why is it important? and what effects it?. Ok one of the things that effects the economy is the exchange rate of linden. If people can get more linden for there dollar then they will buy more because they gain more purchasing power. Therefore the first thing you can keep a eye on is this exchange rate as it will effect your sales expecially when large changes are made.
Birth Rate/Death Rate? Huh there is no such thing in Second Life!. Your wrong as Birth rate in Second Life is the number of people who enter and Death Rate is the people who quit. Therefore try to find some useful statistics on what the population of the game is like. The linden lab published data is not valid as it includes alt players and other defects as they wish to make it sound better than it is. One way you could check the "Birth Rate" is by checking what good and bad publicity Second Life is getting.
Bad Publicity = Decreasing Population
Good Publicity - Increasing Population
Death rate is more difficult and near to impossible to measure but a high death rate should be expected as i estimate over 50% who are born quit within 1 week. This leaves you with the other 50% who stick around for a short while and then theres the rare few who decide to play for the long term.
Second Life Alternatives - You need to check if there are any alternatives that could pose a risk such as a new grid. If you expect a competitor to lauch and steal Second Life players then be prepared as this reduce sales. Never think Second Life will last forever because it wont and a alternative could come out at anytime or Linden Lab could make a distarious error... So expect anything and make sure you have a plan in place. For example if you hear a new game similar to Second Life is opening then i would sell off some of your capital because your sales are likely to go down because the Second Life "Birth Rate" will decrease. You could then invest this money in the alternative.
Please Leave Comments. Thanks
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Gambling Returned To Second Life!. Oh wait its gone again! Too Bad.
Hey Viewers, As you know gambling was banned but recently some game developers created a gambling system where people were able to bet linden on a non skill based game. They did this via a loophole in the second life policy. The Lindens were aware of this type of gambling system and allowed it as it broke none of the rules stated in the TOS. However they recently just changed there minds removed all of these new systems.
Before they removed these gambling places i visited them and talked with some of the owners. I arrived at the Nugget Gaming System Casino which had many customers which was not suprising. I saw all these people throwing there Linden into these cash eating monsters so i decided to inform them that these machines were set at a 90% payout and it was impossible to beat them. However i was instantly kicked out by one of the owners who was very rude when i was being very polite with them. After having a heated conversation with them i told them i would contact Linden Labs about the legality of these machines. She laughed in my face stating that the Lindens have approved it and that it was 100% Legal.
The lindens sudden change of mind was a good decision i feel they should not allow people to exploit the TOS like that. However i do feel they should have done this in the first place. My personal opinion also is that Gambling is wrong as it has a addictive quality that can cause people to lose all there money.
Those of you who were fooled into buying some of these gaming systems need to seek a refund as soon as possible. If they decline giving you a refund then contact the lindens to see if they can help you at all but it doesnt look good.
Before they removed these gambling places i visited them and talked with some of the owners. I arrived at the Nugget Gaming System Casino which had many customers which was not suprising. I saw all these people throwing there Linden into these cash eating monsters so i decided to inform them that these machines were set at a 90% payout and it was impossible to beat them. However i was instantly kicked out by one of the owners who was very rude when i was being very polite with them. After having a heated conversation with them i told them i would contact Linden Labs about the legality of these machines. She laughed in my face stating that the Lindens have approved it and that it was 100% Legal.
The lindens sudden change of mind was a good decision i feel they should not allow people to exploit the TOS like that. However i do feel they should have done this in the first place. My personal opinion also is that Gambling is wrong as it has a addictive quality that can cause people to lose all there money.
Those of you who were fooled into buying some of these gaming systems need to seek a refund as soon as possible. If they decline giving you a refund then contact the lindens to see if they can help you at all but it doesnt look good.
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Copybot Over-Exaggeration?
The new copybot has arrived into SL and everyone is stating that it will ruin the economy however is this true?. I decided to investigate this powerful tool for all the business owners out there to see if it really is a big threat.
- Finding Copybot the super secret tool
Copybot is easier to find now than it ever was because a griefer group have published it on there website and is allowing anyone to download it. This group also provides details on how not to get banned and how to create certain griefer weapons. So its not a secret tool anymore and anyone who thinks it is has never tried to find it.
- Do you need a degree in IT to use this amazing tool.
No the tool is easy to use now than copybot 1 as it has a great new interface which any noob could use. Its very easy to control with simple commands but comes with no instructions. This is what people feared as now every noob could come to your land and steal everything you own.
- Is it as powerful as people say it is?
No, It seems to be useless as nobody buys a object thats not scripted and the lindens ban anybody who they think is a copybotter instantly even if they are just a random noob who has been reported for copybotting. The lindens are ban crazy and are banning people even if they are suspected to be using copybot. The only people who would get away with using this tool is people who are age verified but you shouldnt be scared of these people because since they are age verified they wont try to use copybot as you could very easily sue them and take off them 3 times the amount of profit they made from selling your products. So some people may say its a super powerful tool but i say its a useless tool that holds no threat to the economy. As long as the scripts remain safe our products remain safe.
I dont see why people are worrying because if someone copies your products you can get them banned via the lindens very easily and if you cant get them banned then DMCA them or sue them because the products you create in Second Life are protected by real life laws.
- Finding Copybot the super secret tool
Copybot is easier to find now than it ever was because a griefer group have published it on there website and is allowing anyone to download it. This group also provides details on how not to get banned and how to create certain griefer weapons. So its not a secret tool anymore and anyone who thinks it is has never tried to find it.
- Do you need a degree in IT to use this amazing tool.
No the tool is easy to use now than copybot 1 as it has a great new interface which any noob could use. Its very easy to control with simple commands but comes with no instructions. This is what people feared as now every noob could come to your land and steal everything you own.
- Is it as powerful as people say it is?
No, It seems to be useless as nobody buys a object thats not scripted and the lindens ban anybody who they think is a copybotter instantly even if they are just a random noob who has been reported for copybotting. The lindens are ban crazy and are banning people even if they are suspected to be using copybot. The only people who would get away with using this tool is people who are age verified but you shouldnt be scared of these people because since they are age verified they wont try to use copybot as you could very easily sue them and take off them 3 times the amount of profit they made from selling your products. So some people may say its a super powerful tool but i say its a useless tool that holds no threat to the economy. As long as the scripts remain safe our products remain safe.
I dont see why people are worrying because if someone copies your products you can get them banned via the lindens very easily and if you cant get them banned then DMCA them or sue them because the products you create in Second Life are protected by real life laws.
Intro
Hey Viewers, Just want to point out what this blog will have and why you should add it to your bookmarks page. This is not a general SL blog but it is specificly for people who own a business within Second Life or who are interested in this subject. So add us to your bookmarks and keep checking back as we will have new content every week maybe even every day.
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