Doing business in Second Life?

That would be something. Not having these traffic issue's every morning. Starting whenever you feel like. Having fun for work. Earn your living by playing. waw!!!!
And yet, this is not a dream, this could be a reality. Just find the right job in SL, and you are working at home, behind your screen, without having the costs of an extra car, wasting time in traffic, worrying for not being able to attend a meeting somewhere, due to traffic, etc......
It is possible, but only a few of us are doing it.

"When Greg Verdino of Melville gets up to go to work, he no longer makes a dash for the Long Island Rail Road to commute to Manhattan. No, as chief strategy officer of a new marketing company called crayon, on many days he sits down at his home computer and logs into a 3-D virtual world called Second Life."

And he made it.....and how.
"Roll your eyes if you will, but one Second Life resident who deals in that world's virtual real estate has become a millionaire - that would be in U.S. dollars, not the local currency known as Linden dollars."
Large companies, too, have created their own islands where employees collaborate on projects and meet with clients, as well as where companies are running simulations, testing concepts, connecting with communities and raising awareness of new products or services. Among them: IBM, CMP Technology, Sears, Mazda, Coca-Cola and Starwood Hotels.

Sometimes we read about it in the paper, hear it on the news, but it is true, you can earn your money by playing in Second Life. But of course, it is easier said than done. Just as starting your own business in RL is. But the virtual world does make it easier for the smart ones among us.

"Second Life reports that it has 9.6 million registered residents, though some bloggers are quick to point out that not all are likely to be active visitors. As of Sept. 20, 474,434 residents had logged in over the previous 14 days, according to statistics posted on the site. And in the month of August, 639 new islands were added, bringing the total to 9,834.
It's just one of a number of simulated 3-D Internet environments, including Active Worlds and There, that make up what's known as the "metaverse," defined on Wikipedia as "environments where humans interact (as avatars) with each other (socially and economically) and with software agents in a cyberspace that uses the metaphor of the real world, but without its physical limitations."

There is a market out there, and there is potential. Just finding the needs and exploiting them guarantees the success in SL.
But it is not only the avatar itself, or the human behind it, who need to find the market. Many big companies are employing in Second Life, as there are, IBM, Manpower, CMP Technology.
So you too, can find a job in SL.
But beware, don't look like a jerk, at an interview for a job in SL. Dress for the occasion, just as in RL. There are somehow hilarious moments with these interviews, as the next examples will tell.
There are plenty of drawbacks and glitches, some related to learning to maneuver an avatar. An interviewee at one of the job fairs put on by TMP, the recruitment advertising firm, ended up flying into the interview room, instead of walking. Another, not knowing how to sit, ended up standing the whole time. And yet another mistakenly handed the company representative a beer can instead of his resume.

I would be happy to hear if someone recently changed his RL job for a job in SL. And what are the real benefits, or what is the catch? As an addicted SL "player", it is maybe something to think about, always being among friends., never to worry about the traffic, getting in time at meetings....;))

Read the original article here.