Do you know anyone who earns only through SL?

[bebejee]

Just curious to know of any such people on here, I guess in property business if so.

[Freya Mokusei]

Yep. Several.

And no, not all in the property market.

[bebejee]

So business is still good in here, thats nice to know.

[Freya Mokusei]

Maybe!

[Buttacwup Float]

Look at the fashion industry in SL. It's huge. The top stores are selling 1000's of items a week and during events and product launches 1000s a day.

[Radium Soup]

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bebejee wrote:

Just curious to know of any such people on here, I guess in property business if so.

---

I know a bunch of people here who will claim loudly to be making a prosperous SL living via their meagre creations or inexpert land flipping, but unfortunately when you look a little closer those same people are almost always being supported by the State or some other benefactor. Oddly they rarely tell you about that part. Go figure.

[Magdalena Siemens]

Well, Officially there are 5.500 Residents Cash Flow positive. I know at least 5 who make a living of their SL income. I am cash flow positive, but still have a RL job.

[Innula Zenovka]

An animator friend of mine and her two children  lived on her SL earnings for about 18 months, though she was also receiving a modest amount in alimony from her ex husband.

I certainly don't make enough from scripting to live on, but my SL earnings have, for several years, covered a couple of quite sizeable monthly bills and I'd certainly miss them if they weren't there.

[ChinRey]

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bebejee wrote:

So business is still good in here, thats nice to know.

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That depends on what you mean by "good".

The mesh body market is still booming and will probably do so for many months to come. Some of the most successful names there not only makes a living, but a very good living even.

Some of the old established merchants are still able to make a living from Second Life. All the ones I have talked to have had significant drops in their sales though and many have given up.

I don't know of any newcomer the last year or three who has been able to reach that kind of sales level. I'm not saying it's impossible but one of your most important assets if you want to sell in SL, is your reputation. If you are a completely unknown name to everybody, you're really, really fighting an uphill battle here.

[Bobbie Faulds]

Depends on what you want to sell and what the market is you're targetting. Like has been said, mesh body parts are doing well. There are also things like meeroos and the Life2 RP hud is doing well too. You have to find a niche that has things people want. My housemate is doing well with what he's doing. Enough to pay quite a few bills actually. 

[Shannon Danick]

A few years ago, I was one of the ones doing extremely well. Enough to afford a few new laptops a month, if I so wanted. But in the past 2 years, sales dropped off. I blame Mesh. Why? Because I am just not skilled enough nor have enough time and patience to sit on Blender all day and all night. Many want Mesh clothing now...not old school system clothing.

So, I've been standing on my last leg of holding on for a year now. And I'm about to throw the towel in after 7 years.

[Tari Landar]

For a few years my sl income provided all the income I, and my children, needed (and that si *without* the help of the government, for those making that stupid assumption).

I still could, if I wanted to, but rl endeavors came along, so now they do. My sl earnings do still pay rl bills, just not all of them.

In order for sl earnings to provide the rl income one might need, it takes work, effort, and thought. You can't focus much attention on what others can't seem to do(ie, earn a living wage), or what others *think* merchants and creators in sl can potentially make. Odds are, those folks are only making assumptions based on what they think sells, or they have "friends" that aren't doing so well, so they all assume everyone else is in the same boat.

The phrase "business is good", is situational, especially in sl. For some business is good if they can cover their sl expenses only, for others business is good if they can cover sl expenses and still have $L left for fun stuff in sl, yet still for others business is good if they can cash anything at all out from sl. There's more reasons why someone would deem business as good, than people realize, or think about. 

Niche markets can be great, depending on the demand within them, but they aren't always the end all be all in business. You do have to know what people want, or at least be able to provide a product/service that people will, at some point, realize they want. Most importantly, you have to know how to expand, and help your own business not only survive, but progress. I think that is a skill a lot of people lack. 

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

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Shannon Danick wrote:

A few years ago, I was one of the ones doing extremely well. Enough to afford a few new laptops a month, if I so wanted. But in the past 2 years, sales dropped off. I blame Mesh. Why? Because I am just not skilled enough nor have enough time and patience to sit on Blender all day and all night. Many want Mesh clothing now...not old school system clothing.

So, I've been standing on my last leg of holding on for a year now. And I'm about to throw the towel in after 7 years.

---

Sorry, but watch me play the world's primiest violin. There are plenty of mesh builders who release kits that onlt need to be textured. If you are that good of an artist that you were making around $10 000 a month selling system clothes or prim items, you could easily get by texturing full perm mesh made by others. And before you sneeze at that, consider that almost the entire kid avi market is fueled by about 4 actual builders. And it's a pretty big market.

So sorry, mesh didn't kill your business; laziness did.

[Kelli May]

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Shannon Danick wrote:

A few years ago, I was one of the ones doing extremely well. Enough to afford a few new laptops a month, if I so wanted. But in the past 2 years, sales dropped off. I blame Mesh. Why? Because I am just not skilled enough nor have enough time and patience to sit on Blender all day and all night. Many want Mesh clothing now...not old school system clothing.

So, I've been standing on my last leg of holding on for a year now. And I'm about to throw the towel in after 7 years.

---

As the world turns, the world changes.

Mesh clothes are hugely popular, and who can blame us for liking them? They allow a lot of things that just couldn't be done with system clothes and they can hide a lot of the low-definition default body.

But things continue to change and now mesh bodies are making an impact. For some purposes (anything that fits skin-tight, like underwear, skinny jeans, leggings, latex, and hosiery), applier clothes on a mesh body look great. Anyone with the texturing skills to design classic avatar clothes should be able to get in on this market. I might be an edge case, but I've definitely spent more on applier clothes in the last few months than on mesh.

[Dresden]

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HarrisonMcKenzie wrote:

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Shannon Danick wrote:

A few years ago, I was one of the ones doing extremely well. Enough to afford a few new laptops a month, if I so wanted. But in the past 2 years, sales dropped off. I blame Mesh. Why? Because I am just not skilled enough nor have enough time and patience to sit on Blender all day and all night. Many want Mesh clothing now...not old school system clothing.

So, I've been standing on my last leg of holding on for a year now. And I'm about to throw the towel in after 7 years.

---

Sorry, but watch me play the world's primiest violin. There are plenty of mesh builders who release kits that onlt need to be textured. If you are that good of an artist that you were making around $10 000 a month selling system clothes or prim items, you could easily get by texturing full perm mesh made by others. And before you sneeze at that, consider that almost the entire kid avi market is fueled by about 4 actual builders. And it's a pretty big market.

So sorry, mesh didn't kill your business; laziness did.

---

You're making a huge assumption here.  While laziness can very well be a contributing factor to a person's decision not to get into the business of texturing full-perm, mesh clothing, it certainly is not the only one that can come into play.  For instance, when someone is used to creating things from scratch, I can readily see why they'd be adverse to using someone else's creations as a starting point.  Perhaps they just don't want to dive into an already, overly saturated market.  Really, there are any number of reasons.  Plus, I didn't see Shannon suggesting in any way that anyone should feel sorry for her.

...Dres

[Shannon Danick]

You're absolutely correct, Dresden. I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me. It wasn't and isn't laziness. I chose RL over SL when it came to how I spent countless hours. And the market is saturated in those regards. I made my successes from items that were truly unique in SL at the time. And if I can't afford the time to sit down to create something that is truly unique...it just isn't worth it to me. I always led, never followed. And if I did follow, I greatly improved.

I had my time, now just isn't my time. Maybe again someday, maybe not.

But I am considering releasing a large share of my once-best-selling items as full permissions. But I'm hesitant. I'm sure I'll come up with something to put myself back in the upper folds of the SL Merchant world.

[Dresden]

As Kelli mentioned, there's still a need for applied clothing for mesh bodies.  It might be a bit time consuming, but creating appliers with the textures you've already made may very well enable you to extend the life of the products you've worked so hard to create and earn you a bit more money without you having to bother creating anything new.  It might be worth the effort, even if you only create appliers for the Omega system... just a thought.

...Dres  (I know there are tons of old, well-made system clothes for which I'd love to have appliers and be able to use them once again with my mesh body.  I'd also have no problem paying again for, at least, my favorites.)

[MaurizioFurverti]

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bebejee wrote:

Just curious to know of any such people on here, I guess in property business if so.

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Yes. Me.

Pull about 200k Lindens a week, which is about $800 in RL. Used to make much more when Zyngo was legal on SL.

[Dresden]

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MaurizioFurverti wrote:

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bebejee wrote:

Just curious to know of any such people on here, I guess in property business if so.

---

Yes. Me.

Pull about 200k Lindens a week, which is about $800 in RL. Used to make much more when Zyngo was legal on SL.

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It still is.

...Dres

[steph Arnott]

I doubt anyone these days could solely earn a living in sl. No one i know does, i certainly would not risk it. Also at some point tax has to be declared if the revenue was at threashold. Depends on your financial situation or physical restrictions.

[Dresden]

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steph Arnott wrote:

I doubt anyone these days could solely earn a living in sl. No one i know does, i certainly would not risk it. Also at some point tax has to be declared if the revenue was at threashold. Depends on your financial situation or physical restrictions.

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Talk to Pamela, sweety.

...Dres *is sure you know her*

[Rhonda Huntress]

I have been cash flow positive before but it took too much work for too little return it was not worth it to me.  That was long ago. Pre-Marketplace. 

 

I admire those who can ean a living and those with the ability to create beautiful things.   I really hope it is easier for them to do business in sansar.

[Shannon Danick]

I won't go to Sansar. I'll be one of the kicking and screaming rats that'll go down with the SL Ship.And even when I drown, I'll just move to Inworldz or what ever other Grid that is closest to that of SL.

[steph Arnott]

Am not disputing some could be, but i do doubt the numbers are very high. Hear so many exagerated claims that it hard to get a realistic count. If some one has the time and abilty then they can do well any where. The biggest issue i have is that the MP is so full of garbage now that it is nie impossible to find anything. Just my opinion.

[Pamela Galli]

I believe Ebbe himself has stated that some, such as mesh body creators, are selling hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. 

Its not an easy place to make a living, the competition is quite brutal, but it is a heck of a lot easier than teaching school (though not so fun either).