Has anyone here used or considered Second Life for business networking? I went to my first virtual Business Networking meeting there on Friday and I was amazed by the possibilities.
For those who don't know, Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is a virtual world, nowe being increasingly used for B2B networking and general eMarketing. it's in its early stages as a business tool - but real money is being made and spent by businesses (e.g. IBM) wishing to get a virtual presence there.
Clarification added August 19, 2007:
There's an article on the BBC website about it today
"Fighting fakes in a virtual world "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6938954.stm
Answers (10)
Sheilah E.
Owner, ★SME Management:.......... Business Management and Accounting Consultant
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (892), Professional Networking (39), Staffing and Recruiting (31), Accounting (20), Government Policy (20), Job Search (17), Career Management (16), Ethics (15), Business Development (14), Customer Service (12), Mentoring (12), Education and Schools (11), Organizational Development (10), Computers and Software (10), Personnel Policies (9), Property Law (9), Advertising (9), Small Business (9), Criminal Law (8), Internet Marketing (8), Labor Relations (7), Nonprofit Management (7), Starting Up (6), Blogging (6), Purchasing (5), Government Services (5), Compensation and Benefits (5), Tax Law (5), Lead Generation (5), Change Management (5), Planning (5), Manufacturing (5), Quality Management and Standards (5), Web Development (5), Corporate Law (4), Direct Marketing (4), Public Relations (4), Writing and Editing (4), Corporate Governance (4), Communication and Public Speaking (4), Professional Organizations (4), Software Development (4), Facilities Management (3), Regulation and Compliance (3), Travel Tools (3), Freelancing and Contracting (3), Auditing (3), Venture Capital and Private Equity (3), Economics (3), International Law (3), Internationalization and Localization (3), Treaties, Agreements and Organizations (3), Market Research and Definition (3), Information Security (3), Business Dining and Entertainment (2), Resume Writing (2), Government Contracts (2), Employment and Labor Law (2), Customer Relationship Management (2), Sales Techniques (2), Business Analytics (2), Derivatives Markets (2), Inventory Management (2), Project Management (2), Supply Chain Management (2), Individual Insurance (2), Personal Taxes (2), Personal Real Estate (2), Product Design (2), Pricing (2), Business Plans (2), Energy and Development (2), E-Commerce (2), Enterprise Software (2), Computer Networking (2), Telecommunications (2), Wireless (2), Air Travel (1), Certification and Licenses (1), Occupational Training (1), Conference Planning (1), Budgeting (1), Corporate Debt (1), Corporate Taxes (1), Financial Regulation (1), Risk Management (1), Exporting/Importing (1), Offshoring and Outsourcing (1), Customs, Tariffs and Taxes (1), Contracts (1), Finance and Securities Law (1), Viral Marketing (1), Graphic Design (1), Hedge Funds (1), Nonprofit Fundraising (1), Philanthropy (1), Personal Debt Management (1), Wealth Management (1), Branding (1), Positioning (1), Incorporation (1), Biotech (1), Information Storage (1)
Hi Susan,
I must admit I have not look at the site, but know many who are members. It works for them so that's good. You may want to contact Ray van den Bel here on LI he is an avid fan of SL.
I have read a few articles about the site and also had several discussions. Most of the articles have said that the real money to be made is for attorney's. The others need someone to look over or write their business contracts for the site. But that others have not done as well.
I also take issue that the owner of an avatar wants to press rape charges against another avatar. Although it is true it is disgusting that someone wrote a script to manipulate one avatar raping another, I think our net police have better things to do. To add insult to injury they have actually considered making this a crime.
We do need to rid the net of this activity, however, real live victims are better served by the manpower of law enforcement.
Sheilah
Mario P.
Web Marketing at Rock Solid Computer Services
Best Answers in: Advertising (1), Internet Marketing (1), Business Plans (1)
I'm on Second Life also. Haven't yet developed any really useful business uses, but hey, I'm still a newbie.
Yes, but Second life is getting less and less news coverage, and more competition. I think it will definately be a niche, but just make sure your business fits the target market.
Links:
Steven G.
Online & Social Marketing Strategist / Executive Social Strategist / Keynote & Social Media Speaker
Yes - there are two aspects of Second Life that can make a business work 1) you can create and retain rights to intellecual property and 2) you can exchange in-world money (lindens) to dollars. As far as I can see, few if any other 3D internet platforms allow the same.
Now the trick is to come up with what ppl in SL want to buy and how to market there - an area I am well versed in. Look for me as Estaban Graves in-world.
Links:
Brian M.
Relocated to Silicon Valley
Best Answers in: Web Development (18), Using LinkedIn (16), Starting Up (14), Business Development (12), Internet Marketing (10), Software Development (8), Career Management (7), Professional Networking (6), Advertising (5), Business Plans (5), E-Commerce (5), Venture Capital and Private Equity (4), Direct Marketing (4), Wireless (4), Economics (3), Government Policy (3), Personnel Policies (3), Staffing and Recruiting (3), Internationalization and Localization (3), Public Relations (3), Writing and Editing (3), Small Business (3), Computers and Software (3), Computer Networking (3), Travel Tools (2), Education and Schools (2), Mentoring (2), Accounting (2), Foreign Investment (2), Exporting/Importing (2), Employment and Labor Law (2), Graphic Design (2), Customer Relationship Management (2), Organizational Development (2), Planning (2), Equity Markets (2), Engineering (2), Telecommunications (2), Customer Service (1), Regulation and Compliance (1), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Job Search (1), Corporate Debt (1), IPO (1), Financial Regulation (1), Risk Management (1), Government Services (1), Compensation and Benefits (1), Offshoring and Outsourcing (1), Treaties, Agreements and Organizations (1), Customs, Tariffs and Taxes (1), Criminal Law (1), Contracts (1), Intellectual Property (1), Events Marketing (1), Viral Marketing (1), Corporate Governance (1), Labor Relations (1), Derivatives Markets (1), Inventory Management (1), Manufacturing (1), Individual Insurance (1), Wealth Management (1), Distribution (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Product Design (1), Positioning (1), Professional Organizations (1), Ethics (1), Biotech (1), Blogging (1)
Hi Susan,
Most of the hype around business on Second Life seems to be virtual. The jury is out and likely to be out until someone brings in a verifiable success.
Check out the Wired article.
Good luck,
Brian
Emil S.
PhD, Software Expert
Best Answers in: Computers and Software (2), Web Development (2), Computer Networking (1), Information Security (1), Software Development (1)
Currently, business networking in Second Life IMHO works pretty well for those in the field of technology and concept prototyping similarly to the years back when Internet was young and only few saw its possibilities. Although not sure if SL will be THE (standard) virtual world, it makes sense to experiment and do some networking as later it may be really helpful when virtual worlds become more pervasive.
Personally, I met really great people there when it comes to technology and research (our group in-world is TechTalk@SL).
Regards,
Emil
I saw a similar system called Active Worlds back in around 1999, it may have even been going before then - and it is still around. What killed it was lack of marketing followed by no functioning economy. However it worked quite well, even via a modem. In common with SL (even a few months ago) it lacked a sufficient number of users at any one time to make it viable, this from what I can see may not be a problem in some aspects of SL over the coming years. Indeed I think they are growing at a substantial rate, hence key to getting off the ground is really getting a handle on who is using it and why. Its no longer just those with a background in VR like me or some techies in a lab.
As for making money, as someone pointed out it is perhaps the real industries where this will be made. I am a usability person, with a technical background so like a lawyer I would be selling a real service to a real customer, who is in turn trading in the virtual world. There are no doubt other areas where you can trade in real cash not Linden Dollars, such as marketing or design. As for purely virtual industries i.e. selling virtual clothes etc, I gather a very small number of people are making quite a good living. Last I heard around 6 people were earning more than $100,000 from Second Life, but that statistic is from the start of the year. However if you are trading in virtual items you should be aware that sales may take place in Linden Dollars, which some economists are warning may be subject to hyper inflation and hence devaluation when you come to convert it to real cash.
As with reality and virtual reality, it is a case of knowing your market. There are no doubt many aspects which are as yet untapped in SL, but due to my work in the real world (which is also about VR) I as yet have had no time to make millions of Linden Dollars.
SL is really (rather obviously) about understanding user experience, and how this varies in SL from reality and indeed where you can borrow elements of reality for use in SL. If you can come up with a way to build on the key aspects of interacting in VR, and combine that with sound marketing in SL I think you could be onto a winner, in what ever you choose. There has already been a lot of work carried out into user experience in VR.
From a marketing and branding perspective, I have not had time to explore in any detail how the major companies have "presented" their brand in the virtual world. But I hope they spend some time reviewing the basics of virtual and indeed real design, as simple aspects of design can make the user feel a lot worse about a space and hence brand. I know I saw one example where people were trapped for twenty minutes in a virtual room purely because the designer had gone too far in trying to copy reality. I would imagine such elementary mistakes are not being made now, but I am sure there will be a few over designed spaces...
Finally, be careful not to believe the hype, after all you are dealing with real people on the end of a phone line!
Clarification added August 21, 2007:
I just wanted to add, that there is a whole conference on the business side of virtual reality in San Jose. www.virtualworlds2007.com. It may be useful to all those with a passion for SL and similar systems.
Clarification added August 21, 2007:
It appears you can only answer a thread once, and I am new to this Q&A thing so sorry for the number of replies. Anyway as you are in England you may also like to know that there is a conference called Virtuality in Italy (www.virtualityconference.it) - so it is a little nearer. I am not sure if it is what you are looking for but it may be useful.
Also the Virtualworlds conference page I mentioned earlier also has a link to a newsletter you can subscribe to, this has lots of information on the business aspects of SL and similar platforms. It certainly going to be a major economic area but there are some pitfalls ahead.
Rhonda L.
Vice President, Emerging Social Web Technologies | Media Camp Team at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Best Answers in: Computer Networking (1), Software Development (1), Web Development (1)
Susan,
Second Life is a very useful tool for business networking. In fact, I would suggest that you have more direct access to individuals than you would via other networking platforms (such as LinkedIn) in the context of specific business objectives. The platform is still relatively unstable, and has been plagued by largely ill-informed media hype however it does provide a unique opportunity despite the current shortcomings.
Setting the hype and sensationalism aside, immersive experiences such as that afforded by the Second Life platform provide synchronous communication channels *in context*, which over time will prove to be a more meaningful exchange and networking mechanism. Furthermore, there is significant research emerging regarding the use of gaming and virtual world platforms as constructive improvements in the education, training, health and public policy sectors. Companies are also realizing the value of an individual who has developed social and leadership skills as a matter of participating in role playing MMOGs such as World of Warcraft.
I'd encourage you to attend the Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo in San Jose to get a broader perspective. Look me up in world if you ever need assistance.
Cheers - Rhonda (SL: Grace McDunnough)
Links:
Ingrid M.
Learning Experience Designer for the most technologically advanced classrooms in the world.
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (3), Education and Schools (1), Viral Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Graphic Design (1), Writing and Editing (1), Organizational Development (1), Career Management (1)
I use it to keep in touch with / meet with many of the people I meet at conferences etc. in real life. I inevitably get introduced to many other people as well, usually through the main contacts. I've also introduced it to revive some old online social networks (which used bbs/irc/icq) that were in a lull.
For new users it takes some getting used to, and you should definitely allow people to go through Orientation rather than teleport them directly to your meeting place. (Have new people arrive in advance, or, better yet, set up days in advance.) Otherwise it can be overwhelming and a negative experience.
For those with a decent comfort level, the social interaction mixed with the virtual world's quirks make for some excellent ice-breakers and conversation starters!
