
Virtual reality devices and games are becoming more and more popular, but did you know that there’s a virtual world where you can earn real cash?
In 2003 a virtual world was released called Second Life.
Second Life lives up to it’s name; it’s a whole world where you can be and do whatever you want.
You can even work in-game to earn real-life cash.
So this begs the question, can you make money with Second Life? – and if so, how?
We’ll do our best to answer that question in this review.
If you’re looking for a new and fun way to make some extra cash, this might be it.
Second Life Review
Product Name: Second Life
Product Type: Virtual World/Game.
Price: Free
Best For: Those looking for a social online world to play with and explore their creative nature. Not a ton of potential to make money online but a pretty cool idea. Go into Second Life knowing this and you won’t be disappointed.
Rating: 50/100
Summary: Second Life is an interesting virtual world/game that is created by players for themselves. You can do virtually anything from create your own online games, areas, virtual business, services, whatever.
You can make real money and there is some potential to make online income if you create a really cool application. In general though, Second Life is more of a social world and not recommended to make substantial income online.
Recommended: For fun, Yes.
To make real money online or build an online business? No
If you’re looking into Second Life for the money making opportunity, you should check out my top recommended training instead. It has all the tools, training and support you need to build a successful online business. Plus 10 free classes to get started!
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What is Second Life?
Second Life is a 3D virtual world with real people playing as avatars.
So is it a computer game?
The creators of Second Life classify it as a virtual world – not a computer game.
Second Life is not really a computer game because there’s no specific goal in mind.
It’s like a massive virtual sandbox.
You can do whatever you want… or you can choose to do nothing at all, and just talk to other players, there’s no real objective.
What makes Second Life special is that it’s a world created by the players and populated solely by players.
In-game items are created and designed by players, areas are built by players, in-game businesses can be created and owned, employees can be other players; the possibilities are endless.
Due to the customization options available, Second Life is home to a lot of creative and talented people.
Can You Make Money with Second Life?
You can earn money in Second Life much like you would in the real world, find a job or start a business.
You can be anyone you want;
- Model
- Dancer
- DJ
- Artist
- Programmer
- Business owner
- Landlord
- And so much more.
The entrepreneurs in Second Life are quite fascinating and you can discover many interesting business ideas that could even be successful in the real world.
You can even build an in-game business that brings in real cash.
How Does it Work?
The in-game currency can be converted to real life cash, and you can earn in-game currency in a number of different ways.
The currency of Second Life is called Linden dollar, and the exchange rate varies depending on the market.
Just like in the real world, learning how to market your business is important, and there are many marketing opportunities in Second Life.
Most of the people make money by creating 3D-models or skins for other players.
You can create these models and sell them for Linden dollars, and then convert that to real life money.
There are also marketing options.
For instance, citizens can take out billboards and other ads in other citizens zones.
Or you can hire someone to advertise your business in the chat.
Of course, if you don’t want to create a business, there are plenty of careers to choose from.
There are even internships!
So there are a lot of ways to make money in Second Life, but is it worth the trouble?
Sound a little too complicated? If you’re not interested in virtual worlds, it might be best to skip this one.
Instead you can join my free training series and learn how to build a real online business.
Here’s My Top Recommended Training >>
Is Second Life Worth It?
The main reason people join Second Life is to make friends within various sub-cultures.
In other words, at it’s core, Second Life is a social world.
Not many people will spend their money in Second Life.
With that in mind, it is possible to make some cash, but it definitely won’t replace your real-life income.
Most of the time you’ll have to put a lot of time into it.
Besides in-game employment and entrepreneur activities, there are other ways to make cash too.
For instance, invest in the in-game stock market.
A service called Capital Exchange allows you to invest in the companies within the world.
You can also complete surveys, play mini-games, and complete a wide range of other tasks for cash.
Interestingly, since the world is user-created, users tend to create money-making opportunities for citizens.
So new ways to earn cash in Second Life continue to pop up!
To look for opportunities, use the in-world search function, there are plenty of classified ads that advertise opportunities.
But is it worth all the time spent in the world?
You can spend a lot of time in Second Life, and if you’re only in the world for money, it might not be worth your time.
Honestly, the Linden dollar to US dollar exchange rate is quite low.
And you can only convert Linden dollars when you receive the equivalent of 150 US Dollars.
In other words, it takes awhile to earn enough to meet the minimum withdrawal amount.
Currently, the 260 Linden dollars are equal to one US dollar.
Most Second Life jobs will pay between 200-400 Linden dollars per hour, so that doesn’t come to much.
But if you manage to create a popular area and sell a lot of items, there is potential to make some extra cash per month.
It takes time, though.
Second Life is for FUN and Making Friends!
If you head into Second Life with the sole purpose of trying to make as much cash as possible, it probably won’t work.
Second Life is supposed to be a fun and interactive world where you can make friends and experience new things.
For people looking to make fast cash, I don’t recommend Second Life.
It takes a long time to learn the ropes, and how the world works, and then the monetary results are low too.
If you have a lot of time to kill and you can create a popular area, then there’s a chance you can make some decent side-income.
Otherwise, it’s rather difficult.
But to answer the question, can you make money in Second Life, the answer is:
Yes – you can.
On the other hand, it’s not something I recommend because you need a lot of time to invest.
Speaking of things I recommend…
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It would be much better to invest that time into building a real-life online business.
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Have you tried this virtual world? Have you tried to make money with Second Life? Leave a comment below!
Cheers
Second Life
Free.Pros
- Second Life is a Video Game with the Options to Convert Ingame Currency to Real World Money
- There are Many Ways to Earn Money in The Game
- You Can Chat and Interact with Other Players at The Same Time. Designed for Fun.
Cons
- Unreliable. Takes a Long Time to Earn a Few Dollars
- Not Recommended if You Really Need Money
Hello, very good post friend.
I would be interested in joining the game, but it is approximately 15 years old online. If I join in these moments, being the game so popular and played by many people, will it continue to be successful for new players?
Thank you!
I joined Second Life over 9 years ago. I learned how to do a lot of things. Second Life has become a success for me. I am able to pay bills, and buy groceries with the money I make from there. It is all about finding what you are good at, what you want to do, setting goals for yourself, and taking the time to make it happen. Patience and persistence is the main thing. Youtube videos about how to do things in Second Life are everywhere! Take time to learn it. There is no such thing as making money overnight….not in Real Life or in Second Life. I had bad luck trying to find a job in Real Life. I decided to make a job for myself in Second Life. It has paid off, I made a lot of new friends in the process. Good luck to those who are ready to try it out, and those that are willing to give it another try. Hugs!!
Thanks for sharing your experience Rachel on Second Life and your success with making money online.
That’s awesome. If you every get to the point where you feel you want to take your online skills to the next level, check out our FREE Internet Marketing eCourse to learn how to make it happen.
Best,
Todd
Really great review and interesting perspective on Second Life.
I don’t think there’s really any money in this system. I have been reading some of your other posts and love this online business concept.
What’s the best way to get started?
Thanks,
Destiny
You bet Destiny, check out our 100% Free Training Program to create your own self sustaining online business.
All the tools and resources you need are inside.
Best,
Todd
You’re right, Destiny. There is absolutely no money to be made in SL anymore.
The rich elite (as usual) have taken care of that by swallowing up all the land and renting it out.
The only other thing left is creating stuff with Blender and the only things of any importance worth buying are:
houses
mesh bodies
mesh heads
cosmetics
hair
and maybe jewellery.
Again, those areas are pretty well sewn up tight, but this time, by those who’ve worked very hard over the years to perfect their craft.
I wouldn’t even bother discussing Sansar – that was a lost cause as soon as it was announced.
But you can still have fun in SL meeting people. That’s about all that’s left.
Thank you, really interesting post. I had not ever heard of second life before.
It’s always good to find out other ways to potentially make money online. This seems very similar to the Sims but if there is a chance to make money and learn as well as having s social community.
Then it’s a win win situation!
Second Life sounds especially good for those who don’t always socialize well in person, so could use this as an alternative.
Hey Jess,
Yeah, there are tons of ways to make money online. My favorite is through affiliate marketing. If you’ve got the target to create, write, and provoke, online business through an a niche website is perfect.
Want to know how long the process takes to make money online and what it involves?
Check out this post to see if making money online is right for you.
Best,
Todd
Hello there,
Second Life seems like it will be a while before there are really any worthwhile money making opportunites to found there.
It has potential, but seems to not be worth one’s time. Best to keep Second Life social like you say.
I’ve found making niche based websites, like you like, to be a great way to start earning online. I put up a niche site based on Amazon as my affiliate and have already generated some income
Haven’t been doing it long, but it seems promising.
Hey Iniabasi,
You’ve got Second Life pretty well figured out.
Good for your on your niche site. Just keep building keyword based content that targets your niche and helps them.
If you can consistently do that, you’ll consistently build out that online business until it’s producing income 24/7.
That’s the cool thing about online businesses, they never sleep.
Regardless of your skill level, you should hook up with Wealthy Affiliate, take the courses, watch the weekly webinars and your online business will grow faster and larger.
I speak from experience,
Todd
Hi Todd,
I heard about Second Life some time ago and had a friend who tried to make some money from it.
He made some decent cash but what you said is very true. It was a slooow grind for him to make some money from it.
But we were able to buy a small USB microphone for 30 dollars so I guess it’s okay if you want to make something small for stuff like that.
Thanks for this honest post, though.
Cool Leslie, thanks for your feedback and experience working Second Life and making some money with them.
Yeah, it’s like task based stuff or surveys, lots of time for little money.
I prefer online businesses that you build from day one. It’s awesome once you know how to put up niche websites and rank content.
You can easily make a niche site and affiliate with Amazon for quick conversions.
To learn more, check out this post…
Best,
Todd
I remember I first heard about Second Life in 2007, It was on the news and they were talking about how many people are able to pay rent with the money they are earning through Second Life. I wanted to try it and already signed up but I had to pay or something like that (I don’t remember what happened exactly) and I decided to give it up.
I guess you can’t really get a decent income from it but there are probably people who do (with hard work).
Paulina
Hi Paulina,
Thanks for your feedback on your experience with Second Life. I think it’s a cool idea and eventually they’re will be opportunities to make money on Second Life.
But for now, might as well go with a cool niche site that’s based on targeting content to reach your niche with ease using Google.
You attack (so to speak) long tail keyword phrases with less competition and then rank that content to get traffic to your site.
The cool thing with this approach is that it’s warm traffic. Meaning you’ve got people already interested in the products you promote.
The sales conversions are much higher and consistent.
Need help with this? Check out our Free eBook on Targeting Traffic – You’ll love it.
Todd
Thanks Todd! I think that a niche website is a great idea 🙂
Paulina
Absolutely Paulina, share your niche, develop your authority in it and build, build, build.
It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. The great thing is that you get paid time and time again for the work you do one time.
My secret to success was Wealthy Affiliate. The training course is easy to follow and their support is excellent.
Go for it!
Todd