How to Make Money in Second Life Virtual Online Game

Shopping for any kind of goods and services you can imagine is one of the most-frequently-reported best features of Second Life. Even a person with a free membership still may need money to buy desired virtual stuff in-world.

Inside Second Life, the virtual currency is the linden dollar is referred to as lindens or L$.

Linden dollars are exchangeable for US dollars (US$) in a marketplace consisting of residents, Linden Lab and Real Life companies. Linden dollars can be purchased in-world or in Real Life and transferred into L$. They can be sold for US dollars. The approximate exchange rate is around US$4 = L$1000.

There are lots of ways to earn money in Second Life and new ways are being created every day.

Unskilled Jobs

Unskilled jobs include dancer, model, shop attendant, greeter, bouncer and security agent. Search for and then travel to the shops, clubs and dance halls and ask for work. Generally, you have to have been an SL resident at least one month to be hired.

Skilled Jobs

Skilled jobs include builder, modeler, texturer, scripter, animator, fashion clothing designer, architect, home builder, furniture designer, weaponeer, vehicle designer, event host, DJ, stand-up comedian, trivia event host, salesman, and many others. These are real skills requiring knowledge, experience. and the ability to sell your services to others.

Freelancers

These are part-time news reporters and feature writers, broadcasters and disc jockeys, professionals in public relations and advertising, as well as lawyers, economists, counselors and therapists. These are real professional jobs requiring knowledge, experience. and the ability to sell your services to others.

Professionals

These are full-time news reporters and feature writers who work for SL newspapers and magazines, broadcasters and disc jockeys who work for SL TV and radio stations, professionals in public relations and advertising who work for agencies and survey research firms. They also are lawyers, economists, counselors and therapists who run their own full-time service firms in SL. These are real professionals and their work requires knowledge, experience. and the ability to convince others to use your services.

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs include developers who put up malls and business offices to rent space to other business persons, land barons who actually are real estate agents, linden dollar brokers, and organizers of groups, associations and companies.

Manufacturers

People with building skills make a lot of money in SL by creating content and selling it to other others for resale. Anything that can be made in SL or made outside and brought into SL can be sold: objects, clothes, scripts, animations, textures, vehicles, buildings, plants, skins, hair, and on and on.

Retailers

A good way to make more money is by selling goods to other residents. For instance, objects, clothes, scripts, animations, textures, etc. You don't have to be able to build if you can buy from those who can. Anything that can be made in SL or made outside and brought into SL can be resold inside SL: objects, clothes, scripts, animations, textures, vehicles, buildings, plants, skins, hair, and on and on.

Winners

Gambling is illegal in Second Life. It's a violation of the terms of service (TOS). However, there sometimes are small cash prizes goods given away at small events. For instance, bingo, trivia, SLingo, Tringo, etc.

Contractors

When you hire yourself out to do work for another resident you are a contractor. Consider what you can do that others might not like to do for themselves, or not know how to do for themselves.

Teachers

Teach someone something. Any of the basic skills, intermediate skills, or advanced skills. How to build or script or get the most out of living inside SL. Either one-on-one or else host an educational event which instructs several other residents about how to use Second Life.

Welfare Recipients

If you pay Linden Lab for a premium membership to Second Life, you will receive a weekly stipend of L$300.

Make Some Easy Money With Google Helpouts

HelpOuts is something that will forever change the landscape of Internet Marketing. It is a new way to connect people who need help with people who can give help over live video. Regular people like you can signup to become a helpouts instructor and charge for your time.

There are so many ways you can offer help on Helpouts and make money: You can teach someone how to fix his garage door, or how to remove a computer virus from his PC, how to install and configure WordPress, how to setup a WordPress plugin or Template, how to install an app on mobile phone, how to work in cPanel, how to backup database, how to use any software, etc. It basically starts from anything and ends at anything. There is no limit. People need help every moment and are ready to pay for it.

How Can You Use Google Helpouts?

Business owners and marketers can use Google Helpouts as an integral part of growing a business. Use Helpouts to set yourself up as an expert in your field by helping people who need your knowledge.

If you’re seeking to hire a new employee or consultant and you want to vet their expertise, search Helpouts and see all of the people who consider themselves an expert in the field. Then invite them to a Helpout and give them a problem to solve or ask them questions on topics to see how they answer them.

Students who need help on their assignments can jump onto a Helpout and get immediate assistance. If you’re a teacher or a tutor, you can become a Helpout instructor and create a small side business to complement your love of teaching.

Since Helpouts are built on Google’s Hangouts technology, all of the features you find in Hangouts are available to use in Helpouts. These include remote desktop, Google drive, the handy YouTube video app and other tools that are useful for giving advice, doing demonstrations and sharing files.

How Can You Monetize Google Helpouts?

Helpouts instructors are given full control of how much they charge for their live video help sessions.

You can either give your sessions for free or charge a fee for your expertise. You might choose to charge by the minute or find that charging by an increment of time (say $20 for 15 minutes) works better for your business model.

Just browsing through the Helpouts website, you can see that some people are charging $50-$150 per hour to offer their advice on all sorts of topics. Google handles all of the billing and retains 20% of the fee as their share, paying the instructor 80% of the fee collected each month.

It’s very exciting to discover ways that entrepreneurs can generate additional leads, plus publicly promote their brand and make money in a very simple manner. Google Helpouts do all three of these things effortlessly.

Why Become a Helpouts Instructor?

Google is looking for people to offer their services and advice to others. If you’re an expert in your field and already use social media to share your knowledge, wisdom or expertise, then you should consider becoming a Helpouts instructor.

It’s taken most of us years to grow status as an expert in our field. Now anyone with an approved Helpouts instructor account who delivers quality content can make additional income, and most importantly, be known as an expert in their field.

10 Best Ways to Make Money Online for Skilled Workers

1. Software Development

Despite the recent Great Recession there is still a massive under supply of programmers and software developers.

Programming itself is becoming outsourced to places like India. But a software developer sees the broader picture and is able to manage and apply different programming jobs into a larger cohesive project or application.

The big boom area at the moment is web development and mobile applications. There are thousands of businesses out there who are under-utilizing their web and mobile presence and have tons of money to throw at it. That’s where you would come in. As there aren't enough developers to meet the demand at the moment.

Pros: High demand and big pay days. There are a couple of software developers in my mastermind group and they’re regularly bantering about five-figure projects they’re working on. Also, software developers are integral to any start up, meaning that the skill-set will often net you an equity stake in many of the start ups you hop aboard.

Cons: Must be highly qualified to do it. It’s probably the only thing on this list that you HAVE to go to school for at some point, unless you’re just a prodigy or something. The other big problem with software development is that if you’re going to get out of the cubicle, you’re going to need some connections and big ticket clients to get you out the door. Almost everyone I’ve met who is making this work started out at a larger company, bailed and brought a few clients with them to get them going. Unlike some other skills, freelancing on Elance or oDesk will not be lucrative, as you’ll be battling all of the $12 and $15 an hour Indian developers.

2. Consulting and Coaching

The best thing about the internet is that any knowledgeable person can put themselves out there and teach others. The worst thing about the internet is that any knowledgeable person can put themselves out there and teach others. For every true expert out there, there seems to be at least a dozen wannabes or outright frauds trying to make a buck. As a consumer you have to be careful.

But I’m not just talking about the old, tired cheesy “life coach” types who claim they can change your life and make you a millionaire in only a few hours. There are a lot of legitimate consulting practices that can earn a lot of money. The business world seems to be the top of the pyramid (a friend of mine gets flown around the world for free AND banks mid-four-figures for a weekend of work consulting leaders at major corporations).

But below that there are booming industries in health/fitness, PR and marketing, tech and even therapy practices done online through Skype.

Pros: Flexible schedules, big-time corporate clients means big bucks, if not location independent then travel expenses are at least paid.

Cons: You need a legitimate expertise and a lot of credibility to get going two things that are not easily come by.

3. Web Design

I sometimes joke that if my primary business (this blog) went under, I’d become a web designer. Partly because I love doing web design. But also because that industry is such a racket right now. I can’t tell you how many people I've met while traveling who have asked me to take a look at their website and it’s been absolutely horrible. Ugly. Non-functional. Totally not user friendly.

Then they tell me how much they paid for it and my jaw drops. “I’m in the wrong business,” I usually say.

The fact is, most people hire people to build a website because they know them. There’s no centralized expert design firm or anything. There’s no industry standard. And the clients have no idea what makes a site good or bad, so they just make due with the lump of crap that’s handed to them.

I've done a number of site design gigs over the years. Most of them I did for fairly cheap because they were for friends or people I met. But others I made a pretty penny.

Pros: The bar is so low right now that anyone who teaches themselves CSS, HTML and how to install and customize WordPress is going to be halfway there. Web design can be fun too.

Cons: Screwed up market. People hire you because they know you, not because of your resume or track record, so you have to hunt down leads one by one. You can use the freelancing sites, but again, you have to compete with the Indians and Filipinos at a discount. But on the other hand, because of how many incompetent designers there are out there, you can get away with charging a lot more than you probably deserve. It’s the wild west out there.

4. Writing/Blogging

People start blogs with big dreams: easy money, internet celebrity, popping champagne bottles with P. Diddy. Unfortunately none of these things ever happen.

Let’s make this easy: Blogging is not a business plan. It’s a hobby. And if you’re lucky, it starts making you money one day.

People don’t realize that blogging has a ridiculous ramp-up time — it took me almost three years of writing every week to even reach 1,000 daily readers. That may sound a lot, but in the blog world, it’s not. If I didn't have my coaching work and my freelance web work in that period, I would have gone broke and given up. In fact, even WITH my coaching and web work, I still almost went broke and gave up.

Freelance writing gives a more immediate pay day, but it can be just as frustrating, just in other ways. Most major mainstream publications (Huffington Post, CNN.com, Salon, etc.) allow anyone to submit their story ideas and possibly get paid for them. The competition is thick though, and even if you do manage to break in, the pay is squat. Editors change your work and sometimes they don’t post it for months. It’s not a reliable or stable income.

Pros: If you love to write, it doesn't get any better.

Cons: No matter which way you go, there is VERY stiff competition. You have to be an excellent writer and you have to be able to do it at the drop of a hat. If you’re good and persistent, you’ll make it. If you’re not, then you’re just going to be frustrating yourself.

5. Poker

Many people don’t know this, but I spent much of my senior year of college playing poker seriously. I never turned pro, but I did turn $50 into about $5000 in less than a year.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), I've spent a fair amount of time around poker pros. My assistant is a former professional poker player. Many of my former dating coaching clients were professional poker players. Friends of mine have taken a stab at going pro and come close and failed.

Poker is easy to get good at but incredibly hard to be great at. Good will make you a little money, but being great is what makes you the big bucks. The earnings in poker scale exponentially. So the difference between being “pretty good” and “really good” can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a few years.

But getting to that “really good” level will require years of practice, analysis, studying, stress and discipline.

Pros: If you love it and are good at it, it can mean a lot of “easy” money after only a couple years of studying and playing. You have to take it seriously though, like you would a job. Also, if you start traveling, you get access to a lot of softer poker sites that aren’t available in the US due to restrictions, so it actually works in your favor to be abroad. Also, most foreign casino games are hilariously soft (I spent a couple weeks in Ukraine and paid for my entire time there with a few trips to the local casino).

Cons: As with any sort of gambling, there’s always the risk of going busto and losing everything. Poker can and likely will destroy your social life for stretches of time. Prepare for major emotional upswings and downswings depending on how well you did at the tables that day. It’s not an “easy” or “stress free” life like it would seem.

6. Stock/Options/FX Trading

People who trade for a living are rare. This is because anyone who’s not good at it quickly loses their money. But when you’re good, you can make a helluva lot.

The catch is that 1) you have to love it, 2) you have to spend an insane amount of time educating yourself about markets, and 3) you have to be willing to deal with the insane emotional stress of making $20,000 in an afternoon and then losing $30,000 that night after dinner. It’s like poker stress times five.

Periodically, I pick my friends’ brains about this stuff because I find it interesting and this is what I've gleaned: There is a lot of Shitty information out there. So much, that you’re better of just learning the fundamentals and then observing and developing your own principles and ideas based on your own experience and observations. You’re never going to learn more about a market than everybody else, and there are always going to be insiders who have more information than you. So the best you can do is learn to watch the trends among the other trades and react based on those.

7. ECommerce/Dropshipping

ECommerce sites are basically shopping sites. Think of Amazon as ultimate ECommerce site. It may be a store for sports supplements, wedding decorations, or cat furniture, but it’s a store set up online for shopping.

Drop shipping is when you outsource the actual manufacturing and inventory to a factory that you have no affiliation with.

For instance, let’s say I want to start a business that sells scarves. I can outsource the actual manufacturing of the scarves to a factory in China, and then connect them to my US-based online store. So when someone orders on my store, the factory automatically churns out the product and ships it over.

There’s a lot of logistical hassles involved in drop shipping businesses. There are also higher start up costs and more ways things can go wrong. One must be certain that there’s a strong market demand for whatever product they want to sell or you can lose money quickly.

But once drop shipping businesses are off the ground, they’re usually sustainable and consistently profitable. It’s how Tim Ferriss originally made his money. It’s also how Tropical MBA founder Dan Andrews makes his.

6 Legit Ways to Make Money From Home

1. Get paid using your iPhone (or Android)

There seem to be many apps popping up that pay you to do simple tasks like taking a picture of a menu, or taking a picture of yourself drinking a Starbucks, or verifying that a road is closed -- you get the picture. Here are a few that I found:

• Juno Wallet
• Gigwalk
• CheckPoints
• WeReward

2. Complete jobs on Zaarly.com

Zaarly is a website that connects those offering random services (like walking a dog, being a personal assistant for a day, giving guitar lessons, etc.) with buyers who are looking for those services. I would suggest checking out some of the ideas listed on the site and sign up and offer those services as they are in demand.

3. Teach English (or other language) classes online

Did you know that English speakers are in high demand in Asia? As a result many are turning to freelance English teachers using websites like Italki.com. The site is basically a virtual online classroom for freelance teachers and students. Anyone can offer lessons (and set their own price), and anyone can take lessons. From a quick scan, it looks like making $15 to 20/hour is a fair expectation.

4. Make money by viewing ads on your Android lock screen

I've been trying out this Android app called Locket that puts ads on your lock screen and pays you for each time you unlock your phone.

I've been using it for a few days now and have made about 3 bucks thus far, so it isn't huge, but at the same time, I didn't really have to do any work to earn the money.

If you are interested in seeing how it works, here is a quick video review that you can watch for more info.

5. Sell your service at Fiverr

Fiverr is a website that allows you to sell your service for $5. There are all kinds of crazy things people are offering and getting paid for on there -- like taking a picture holding a sign, recording two sentences in an Irish accent, recording a video singing a certain song, and even prank calling a friend all for $5. So if you have a little creativity, there are some fun ways to make some money on the side.

6. Rent out your car for $10+ an hour

I just recently heard about RelayRides.com, which allows you to either rent or lend your car to others -- and get paid in the process. If you live in a big city, this could be pretty profitable.

How to Use The Internet to Make Money

As long as you have the inclination, a little bit of expertise and some free time, you can earn some money on the Internet from the comfort of your own home. ET highlights some popular ways to make that quick extra buck:

Self publish books

If you love writing and want to get a book published, Amazon offers a free service called Kindle Direct Publishing. The service allows anyone to self publish books on the Kindle (electronic) bookstore and earn royalties from sales. There are two plans you can choose from — the 35% royalty works across any book sold in any country) while the 70% royalty plans works if you sell in a few select countries. Indian authors can choose to set prices specifically for the Indian bookstore and receive royalty payments in Indian currency as well.

Make & sell your apps

With so many smartphones and tablets, app development can be a very lucrative business. You can learn about developing apps online — there are various tutorials available for free. That's the easy part — the hard part is coming up with an idea that 'clicks'. Once you make an app, submit it to the respective app store, set a price and choose whether you want to earn from inapp advertising. Your earnings, after deducting the appropriate fees, will be paid monthly.

Sell your photos Online

Numerous stock websites like www.shutterstock. com, www.shutterpoint.com and www. istockphoto.com host photographs submitted by members. Depending on the site's policy, you can earn between a 15 to 85% royalty on each sale. The better the quality of photos and the larger your online portfolio, the more you will sell. Usually, each photograph you want to upload will have to be 'selected' by them first — and they usually have strict requirements of what can or cannot go on sale.

Sell old stuff online

An easy way to earn some money on the Internet is by selling old stuff that you have around the house. Websites like www.olx.in, www.quickr.com & http://craigslist.co.in provide a free classifieds platform. You need to create an account, enter the product details, location, the expected price along with some photographs — listing usually go live within a couple of hours. Interested buyers can directly contact you and finalise the sale.

Start an online shop

With some creativity, you can learn to make handicrafts or if you know a wholesale dealer, purchase unique things at low prices. Once you have some stock ready, you can set up an online shop to sell these goods on sites like www.ebay.in or www.indiebazaar.com.

Both sites have a simple signup process. After you get verified as a seller, they provide you with a step-by-step wizard to set your online store (how to add photos & details of items you want to sell).

Work online for money

The internet is full of bogus companies that promise to pay you for work but never will. For instance, all places that offer money to fill surveys or those that require payment up front are scammers. Two popular & reliable places to find work are www. odesk.com and www.elance.com.

Both have a similar system: set up a profile and take tests to prove your proficiency in certain areas. Once done, you'll be listed as a contractor/freelancer and people can hire you for an hourly rate. You can get paid more by working hard, getting better at what you do and getting good feedback (ratings) from your clients.

E-Tutoring

If you are fluent in any subject and have some tutoring experience, you can sign up on websites like www.2tion.net or www.tutorvista.com as an online tutor. The sites require you to create a tutor profile with details such as the subjects in which you are fluent, what classes/courses you want to teach, your experience level, preferred timings for tutions and the remuneration expected.

After verification, the site lists your profile on their portal where interested students can connect with you for tuitions. You can opt for virtual workspaces with built in teaching aids like live chat and collaborative whiteboards. Once you get better at tutoring, you can increase your monthly earnings by teaching multiple students simultaneously.

Earn from Advertising

A reliable way to earn money is from Google AdSense on your blog/website or ads on your YouTube channel. To get started, create a Google AdSense account at www. google.com/adsense. You can use the same account with your blog, website or YouTube channel. To maximise earnings from your blog or website, your objective needs to be to get the maximum number of visitors possible.

Write about what you know and what you're passionate about. On YouTube, make sure that your videos are original and interesting. Promote your channel to get more views. Apart from views, your objective should also be to get more people to like/favourite your video and to subscribe to your channel. The build up will be slow and Google only makes payments once your balance crosses $100, so don't get disheartened. Persistent efforts pay off in the long run.

High End Private Coaching

High end private coaching

I’ll end this article with something I only recently did – offer high end coaching to a select group of clients who had to apply to work with me. My program cost between $5,000 and $10,000 and I turned away more people than I accepted. This was deliberate as I knew working one-on-one with people is not something I can do with many people or I will use up all my time. However I was keen to help certain people who were in the right position so I could learn more about the challenges they face.

Private coaching, like consulting, is another situation where you trade time for dollars, but in terms of your hourly pay rate it is hard to find a higher paying “job”. Of course you don’t have to start off charging thousands of dollars. Depending on your expertise and what kind of outcome you help people achieve, will determine how much you can charge. Offering coaching for $100 per session is not out of reach for most people, and that’s not a bad starting rate if you are looking to build up your experience through helping others closely.

Again the Internet is by far the easiest and most affordable tool to attract coaching clients. In many cases you can add private coaching to many of the other methods I listed above, including selling info products you create, affiliate products, sponsorship banners and physical products.