Auction Bytes Suggests eBay May Be Eyeing Second Life

Not sure about this one... I'll let you click through to the Auction Bytes article and decide for yourselves.

That said... let me know what you think in the comments! What would happen if eBay were to pursue this?

Who's Next To Build A Bulkhead In Second Life?

Automotoportal.com is reporting that Mercedes Benz has established a presence in Second Life. As with so many other commercial newcomers Mercedes will be hosting a concert to kick off their unveiling since... well... cool kids love concerts.

Actually this one sounds kind of interesting with MB suggesting that there will be a virtual test track introduced in time, a showroom, free downloads of Mercedes' 16th mix tape compilation and a virtual Formula 1 racing suit and helmet.

“Digital communication has been established as a permanent component of the Mercedes-Benz marketing activities. With Second Life we are consequently using a new communication platform to further address our existing and potential customers”

Automotoportal.com provides links to more detailed information, so go check them out and enjoy your MB Second Life :)

If You're Going To Start A Second Life Business... Be Sure To Do It Correctly.

I recently posted an article describing the potential of businesses in Second Life. Here's something for those of you who have decided to pursue one of those opportunities. This article on InfoPirate.org provides those unfamiliar, and even those familiar with the world a checklist to remember as you embark on your endeavor.

Example tasks include:

Purchase your name. Not all worlds offer them, but Second Life is offering custom last names which can serve to identify your team or employee avatars.

Embrace the “Game Babies.” Develop for them and win. Hire them – and listen. There are real generational differences that can both challenge and enlighten your teams. Remember that the true “gaming generation” is just beginning to enter the work force and their interactive and social expectations are high, and are a rich source of innovation for your organization.

The list isn't a long one, so you would do well to take a look.

Secondly this article provides insight into marketing practices in Second Life.

Recommendations are items like the following:

Advertising is a relative cheap way of getting attention. Many people use the classifieds section when looking for something particular, so you DEFINATELY want to be present there.

Advertising starts at L$50 a week, but the more you pay, the higher you will rank. Make sure you figure out what market you are in, and what keywords people would use when looking for what you have to sell. Then do that search yourself.

You Too Can Be A Second Life Millionaire

If Anshe can do it why can't you? Why can't you indeed...
Everywhere you go in Second Life someone's selling something... you're not sure if they're making money doing it, but that graph of 24 hour spend on secondlife.reuters.com wouldn't lie.... would it?

This Entrepreneur.com article promises to show you the business opportunities available to you in Second Life. Reality or snake oil?

From that article:

A million dollars of virtual loot. It's a concept that's difficult to wrap your head around, but in November, that's exactly what virtual real-estate developer Anshe Chung accomplished in the 3D virtual world Second Life, in which users live "second" lives as avatars. When her entrepreneurial success story hit the press, it spread like wildfire, leading many to ask: What exactly are the business opportunities available in Second Life?

As you would expect the article quotes a number of people quitting their day jobs for careers in Second Life. Whether or not they'll succeed is another matter entirely.

From the article:

But the bottom line for entrepreneurs is, will Second Life really pan out? Or is it just hype, since the majority of people have never ventured virtually or even heard of it?

Personally, I expect that we're a little early for this to be reality... but that in the relatively near future certain aspects of the world will provide legitimate business opportunities for more than the current handful of successful vendors. The question as always is when will the time be right to dive in head first?

Personalities: Anshe Chung

The stories of individuals making good in Second Life are popping up with surprising frequency these days, and one has to wonder how many are fact and how many fiction. The quintessential case in point appears to be Second Life real estate tycoon Anshe Chung (SL name) who along with her husband has successfully created a business that would be envied by most realtors in the 'real world.'

At the time of writing Wikipedia summarizes Chung's accomplishments as:

she has built an online business that engages in development, brokerage and arbitrage of virtual land, items and currencies

While impressive, it warrants reading further to understand the actual power this conveys in a world like Second Life. Business Week speaks to the restrictions she's able to place on those purchasing her land:

Players also wanted neighborhoods that amounted to more than drab slabs of virtual turf, and they wanted some order. So she began creating the equivalent of gated communities, complete with zoning rules. She doesn't allow malls or clubs in certain regions, for instance, and limits the heights of buildings. "She is the government," Rosedale says.

Enough talk, check out the opportunities for yourself at Anshe Chung Studios.

Kicking It Off With Something Familiar - Taxes!

With all the talk about virtual worlds, virtual culture, virtual economies and their effects on the 'real' world I suppose we all saw this coming. Particularly when so many of the goings-on began to be externalized by the likes of Second Life and their realtime tally of USD$ spent in the last 24 hours, not to mention Reuters' exposure of a Second Life Linden Dollar / USD exchange rate graph.

With all of this being touted in the media these days Congress has finally taken notice. Recently it was announced that they would begin looking into such virtual economies and evaluating how they and their users should be considered from a taxation perspective.

As stated in the Washington Post:

The increasing size and public profile of virtual economies, the largest of which have millions of users and gross domestic products that rival those of small countries, have made them increasingly difficult for lawmakers and regulators to ignore.

Why do I have a feeling that this will get messy?