I was thinking about how to make a living in Second Life. Not that I want to become rich and famous, I just want to finance a bit of shopping and such with a Second Life income. I don’t need land or a home, as I will be travelling all over the grid to write for this blog. So being “homeless” suits me quite nicely.
So what options do I have?
I could work as a hostess in a club. The downside of that is, that I would be tight to a place which is the opposite of what I want. For those of you that like the idea of growing roots in Second life: A hostess usually greets and entertains people at dance clubs and events. She usually gets paid tips from the audience into what is called a tip jar. The same applies for dancers in a club. To me that is not an option as it interferes with my plans.
So what about Escort girl?
I really did think about that. In fact I even got a sexy outfit and stood before the sledjes place in the Amsterdam red light district. I felt ridiculous. Sudenlly there comes this Austrian guy Gerhard and kind of talked me out of it again. He was damn right: I don’t need to become a cheap virtual prostitute just to make some pocket money for my travels! Plus it would mean standing, sitting or dancing for hours until somebody gullible enough to spend money on virtual sex turns up – I have better things to do with my time.
So Gerhard got me out of the steamier side of Second Life and said if he sees my pretty ass again in the red light district to work, he would beat said ass off those streets again. I jokingly asked him if I have to call him “Daddy” now :-).
He is a DJ and owns his own club and seams to be a nice guy. He showed me his club today, but more about that in another article.
Hence I decided to set up a little shop on marketplace.
For those who don’t know what that is: Its the Amazon of Second Life. Sellers can set up shops there for free and the Lindens charges a little commission on each transaction.
First thing one needs for a shop is a product. Now there are several ways to actually get a product to sell.
- Create something unique yourself
- Buy a reseller package from someone who created something
- Become an affiliate vendor of somebody who creates something
- Buy a reseller package from a wholesaler
- Become an affiliate vendor of a wholesaler
- Have sex with someone who is either a creator or a wholesaler and get the stuff for free
I did one of those. No prizes for guessing which.
My product is hair!
I have now lots of different hairstyles in my inventory. It must be somewhere in the region of about 500 different styles and colors. Initially this is quite a bit of work as you need to:
- Name the products correctly
- Set up a store on market place
- Create a logo
- Upload the product to marketplace
- Make Screenshots of the product
- Edit listings on marketplace and activate them
It’s not rocket sciences really, but it might take a beginner a bit of time and patience to get it right. Read the tutorials on marketplace carefully, that saves you a lot of time and avoids you getting all frustrated. Simply Google “second life marketplace tutorials” or look them up in youtube.
The shop I did set up is on purpose a very simple and basic one. For example, I did not box the products to include landmarks, notecards or what have you. I mean what is to explain about hair? Also I made very simple screenshots from my avatar wearing the hair I’ve got.
I think any Noob with half a brain could repeat this exercise.
What the strategy?
Well this is a very competitive market. There are lots of manufacturers, dealers, shops and the lot out there selling hair. So what I will try is, selling the items as full permission items. That means everyone who buys my stuff can modify copy and transfer it as he pleases. That might give me a little edge in the market as most sellers do not allow their clients to transfer or resell their product.
Another point is price: I will sell all items at an incredibly cheap price. Hoping that this compensates for the lack of demo versions, professional pictures been taken and the lack of hair bundles. The later means: often the pro’s in this business sell a package which contains the same hairstyle in different colors. So mine is very basic, very cheap but full permission which might attract resellers and end consumers alike.
I am fully aware that I am not able to compete with all those big boys out there in Second Life. I am just a humble small “hairdresser” trying to make some pocket money. If I sell two or three of those per day I am happy.
And here is the Link to the Shop:
Second Life Hair
Caroline in Second Life 