Is it really that easy to earn money in Second Life?

There is a general rumbling in the internet world about Second Life, the so called Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMPORG). Let me give you the skinny right here and now: it is possible to earn a very good living by earning Linden Dollars ($L) in Second Life and turning them into real money. However, it is far from easy because as of this writing, the average ration of $L to US dollars is about 270 to 1 (that means that for every L$270 you earn in Second Life, you only earn $1 USD). Assuming that this has not dissuaded you from attempting to earn a real life living in a virtual world, there are four good ways to earn $L and ultimately real dollars:

•     Buy them directly on the LindeX,
•     Get a job in Second Life,
•     Start your own business in Second Life or...
•     Become a Real Estate Baron.

We'll explore each of these methods one by one.

Buying Linden Dollars on the LindeX
The LindeX is a Linden Dollar exchange offering residents of Second Life the ability to either buy or sell $L. This is by far the best way to get your $L, though it's not technically "earning" them. However, buy obtaining them this way, you have more resources to buy the things you want on Second Life. Besides, as the old saying goes, "you gotta spend money to make money," and this applies in Second Life as well as in real life. This definitely applies if you decide that you want to earn $L by getting a job in Second Life.

Getting a job in Second Life
One thing to understand about earning money in Second Life is that you will not earn much money ($L or otherwise) by working for someone else. Jobs in Second Life are just as hard to come by as in real life, and when you do secure a position, rarely do you earn more than a few hundred $L an hour. Also, for some jobs, you must have your own equipment. DJ's need their own music and software to stream music online, Security guards often need their own protective gear and armament to protect their employers interests. On the other hand, it can be useful for experience to have a Job in SL should you decide that you want to start your own business.

Starting a business in Second Life
Online experience isn't the only necessity for starting a business in Second Life. Sometimes, in fact a lot of the time your own real world experience can help you earn $L. For example, if you write in the real world, why not take that experience and apply it to a publishing house in Second Life? It's also easy to turn your dreams into reality on Second Life: say you've always wanted to be a Private Detective or an Exotic Dancer. In Second Life these are much easier dreams to obtain than in real life but one of the best dreams is to become a Real Estate Mogul.

Real Estate in Second Life
At the time of this writing, the riches person in Second Life is a virtual Real Estate Mogul. Buying and selling real estate in Second Life is fairly simple and straightforward, but it is far from easy. For example, Second Life used to have a program where the first 512 square meters of virtual land you bought was only $L1 per meter. Second Life has since dropped this program, making it harder to buy land at a reasonable price. However, by continually searching for land that you can either sell at a higher price than what you bought it for or using that land to set up a store, you can definitely earn a good amount of $L.

Conclusion
Well now, you've learned about four of the most popular ways of getting $L on Second Life. But these are just general topics and there are a myriad of ways within these four that you can use with a little creativity. I hope I haven't disappointed you from trying to earn $L, however it's best to realize that like any money making endeavor, it takes skill, luck and patience to succeed in SL or anywhere else. The purpose of this article was not to turn you away from earning money in SL and therefore in the real world, but to let you know what it takes to be a success in it.

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Going From Linden To Real Dollars

Although many would argue that Second Life is not a game, but a social phenomenon, I believe it's a bit of both. You're still creating a virtual avatar, going around virtual environments and doing virtual stuff, although you're not alone, but rather part of a social phenomenon with thousand of other people. So how is it possible that something virtual, something from a "game", such as the Linden Dollars used in Second Life, be converted to real life dollars to spend? The game's economy allows this and the fact that you're playing up against other people that are willing to spend a few bucks in this virtual environment, answers your question. But in order to use the Second Life economy, we need to understand it.

Second Life - Virtual Economy
The entire Second Life economy is based on the game's currency, called the Linden Dollar, or simply L$. Around 270 Linden Dollars make one US dollar, and you can easily perform a transaction from Linden Dollars to US Dollars (or several other currencies) by using Second Life's currency exchanges.

With millions of Second Life residents buying and selling items, land and properties, it's not hard to understand how this economy comes to life. Actually, virtual economy analysts from the Metastat Statistics Bureau estimated that Second Life will have a GDP of over $550 million in 2007. $550 times 270 = Loads of Linden Dollars flowing freely in the Second Life economics.

Its easy to convert virtual money to real money in the world of Second Life and you have various options to do so. First, you could go from Linden to Real dollars by using the Linden Lab currency brokerage, which is closely monitored by the creators of Second Life. Or you could try out the LindeX Currency Exchange, which many residents prefer over the old currency exchange offered by Linden Labs. Last but not least, if you want better management of your transactions, you could use a third-party currency exchange program, but be advised that you're using them on your own risk.

As you can see, it's not very difficult to go from Linden to Real dollars and you have several options at hand. However, changing the money is not the hard part, but making them is! It's not easy to make money as a starter in Second Life, but if you work your way up and become "rich" in the virtual world, you can easily start cashing in on real dollars and actually make a living off it. Many skilled residents have built successful businesses inside Second Life that earn them real cash. As in real life, Second Life has its giants, with several real estate owners or venue owners generating thousands of real dollars each month, as they can basically live off their profit made in the virtual world of Second Life.

Fraser Wheaton

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