Is it possible to make Real Money from Second Life Social Networking Site?

[hitesh s]

Linden Dollars is the virtual currency used in Second life. To purchase Linden $, we need to pay in USD, based on which it is possible to do shopping, buy land etc. But, can we earn some real money through this site or is it completely virtual in nature?

[buggeredmom]

Yes. You can earn Lindens within SL and convert them into USD and transfer those funds into a Paypal account.

Very few residents in SL actually earn enough money to have an impact though. There are a few that earn enough within SL that their only income is generated from within SL but those people are rare. Land flippers, creative designers of goods unique to SL and certain types of service providers are what come to mind when I think of SL "success". There are other ways to earn some pocket change within SL-- amounts small enough so that it isn't worth converting into USD and transferring out of the game because of the conversion/transfer fees. Examples that come to mind with that are "jobs" working as a host or even being a personal escort.

SL really shouldn't be approached with the idea that a person is going to make money. The markets are glutted with items that are cheap and/or free, land sales are sort of stagnant...I can't tell you how many people I know that get a "novel!" idea in their heads and decide to open up a club in SL. pfft. It'll last a month or two before it closes (ok...one of my friends surprised me. His club has been open for about a year now. But, I think he runs it for the pleasure of it, not to make money.)

Now I'm not saying that it isn't possible. But, in SL, a person has to be willing to invest A LOT of time, effort and good ol' cash to get the money ball rolling. It's been done before and people will continue to work hard and reap the rewards.

But, usually when a person sits down and figures out how much they have earned in SL and considers how much time and effort it took...they soon realize that they were working for much less than $1usd/hour. Is it worth it?

Money aside...SL is a wonderful place to meet people from all around the world. Building and creating within SL can give a lot of personal satisfaction. Maybe with that in mind coupled with lots of hard work, you can establish yourself as an SL success story.

Good luck with any endeavors you might decide to undertake!