An Average Guy on Second Life

I was playing around in a sandbox the other day (the SL kind..:) ), where I was throwing some home design ideas around. A friendly guy walked up to me, and asked me what I was doing. "Trying out some ideas" I responded. "What are those prims you are using?" he asked. So I told him.

For quite a long time now, I have been using Skidz Primz for all my building projects. I found them early on in my experience here, and just fell in love with them. What are Skidz Primz you ask? Let me tell YOU also!

Skidz Primz are enhanced prims, taking the ordinary SL prim to new heights. They are scripted, to make all your building projects fast and easy. You can read about them here.

When I first started building, I quickly realized how frustrating it can be, positioning prims to each other (cause EVERYTHING in SL is made of prims). Connecting prims to each other is the fundamental essence of building in SL. To make anything, you much connect prims together, and Skidz makes that SOO easy, its almost embarrassing.

Because Skidz makes things SOOO simple....I have found that I am able to try ideas out so quickly, and determine if it will be a feasible idea or not, without a lot of wasted time. I really hate getting bogged down in a bunch of math and manual positioning, just to try a quick idea out.

Skidz has much more than just the Skidz Primz, but that is the main tool I use. You can see all they have to offer over on their website

I did start to wonder though...given that I have been spending some time in sandboxes recently, why I had not seen anybody else using them. So I talked to a few builders I know...and the answers were interesting. Mostly it seemed that they had learned to build in a particular way, and were comfortable with that. Doing the math, manually moving prims, was just their WAY. One even said, without even trying Skidz out, that there was NO way that Skidz could do it better than his way. Not even sure how you respond to that...but...whatever floats your boat!

Building something, hopefully something that people want, is a great way to make money in SL. I guess I have just always been of the mindset that if a tool can makes something you do faster and easier, why not USE it! I guess people get set in their ways in SL as much as they do in RL.

Not only are Skidz Primz extremely easy to use, they have made some amazing tutorials that you can view on the web. I have watched them, and even though I use Skidz all the time, I still learn new things about what they are capable of doing.

Bottom line, if you are a builder, you owe it to yourself, to take a look at the Skidz line of tools. I promise you will not be sorry.

Skidz Primz are available on XStreetSL for $2650 lindens, or thier sim Snow Crash

On their website, you can find information about all the products, and even classed that are held, to demonstrate, and use this wonderful tool.

Now...Go out there and GET IT!

Till next time!

You know, when I first arrived in Second Life (SL), it was pretty overwhelming. Given that its different than most computer games, where there are defined levels, rules, and procedures, SL reminded me of the old west, were you came, and you staked your claim, and made a go of it.

I have mentioned before that I meet and talk to lots of people during my SL travels. A fairly large part of that group, are NEW people, avatars that have only been around a day or so, or even just a bit longer, but still learning the ropes.

I do like to talk to these new folks, cause I learn interesting things, such as how they found SL, what do they think so far, what have they liked, disliked, etc. I am always curious as to how different people view this amazing little world of ours.

Probably one of the more common questions I get, even from people just hours old, is "How do I get money in here?". I think its a valid question, I guess I am just surprised at how quickly that becomes an issue.

Not really sure why it is either. I know I spent quite a bit of time just looking around before I started to...um...WANT stuff. Maybe times have changed?

Anyway, from my experience, there are a couple of ways to "earn" lindens, so lets talk about each of them.

1. Camping - Basically someone pays you to stand/sit/dance in a spot. They do this, to build up their traffic numbers, so their little corner of SL, be it a club, a shop, or an entire mall will show up on a search higher (sort of like a google rating). I don't really know EXACTLY how that all works, but that is basic idea. I have seen lots of different amounts paid for each block of time, so you really just have to look around. Searching on "camping" should be a good place to start. I have even known long time residence, to create an alt, sometimes even several.

2. Begging - Not particularly in favor of this one, but I have had it happen to me. I have been hanging out with friends, and there would be someone in the group, usually a newbie, that would see that I have lots of toys, or a nice house, and ask me for some lindens, cause OBVIOUSLY, I have TONS. This would be like someone standing on a corner, begging for real money. I work hard for it in RL, so why would I give it to someone else, unless "I" decided to.

Now granted, I buy things for friends all the time, but it is MY choice. I like doing it, it makes me happy, but these friends never ASK for them. It is MY choice to do it, nobody else's.

(OK, breath....sorry :) )

3. Games - I would normally call this "gambling", but officially "gambling" is prohibited in SL, so its not referred to as "gaming". Lots of ways to "win" money in SL. Tringo, Zyngo, etc, seem to be all the rage right now. They are games of chance, but because of some technicality, they are not considered "gambling". Who knows.

4. Getting a job - Now, this is where things can get interesting. Having talked to a lot of people, it seems that men and women approach this task very differently. Almost all of the guys I talked to, did camping. A few, were trying to learn to build things, or write scripts, to sell, which is an admiral goal. Nothing wrong with camping mind you, I just like to see people exercising their creativity!

Now, as for the women I talked to: I dont know if its advise they are getting, but it seems a LOT of newbie women, end up trying to be dancers. And again, nothing wrong with that, I just find it interesting. Tips can be very good being a dancer, but its not a slam dunk, by any means. You have to be able to get hired at a busy club, you have to have a good looking avatar to even GET hired at a busy club, and you HAVE to know how to communicate with your clientele. Not every woman can do that, but it seems to be a popular starting point.

There are a number of women, that take it a step further, and become escorts. I have known a few escorts, that have done VERY well for themselves, but as I mentioned above, you have to have a knack for it. You have to know how to communicate with your clientele. You also have to BUILD that clientele, which is of course marketing. Not a quick cashflow job, but can turn into a nice recurring cash flow business, if you do it right.

What about Male escorts you ask? Well, I have only HEARD of a few, and I stress FEW, that have actually been able to make some good lindens at it. There are plenty of male dancers, and more and more women only clubs, with male dancers and such, popping up in SL, but from all the people I have talked to, its NOT an easy thing to do.

What does that say about the difference between men and woman in SL? Well, I think I will save that for ANOTHER entry...:)

So, that is a few ways to make some lindens. This VERY small list is by no means all the ways to earn Lindens, but some of the more common ways I have seen.

Want to hear how "I" do it? No? To bad, I am gonna tell you anyway.

I basically just buy lindens. While I do like to create things, I really am not in a place where I can build something, market it, and all that it takes to launch a product. I consider SL my hobby, so just as any other hobby, I spend RL money on it. That is my choice, and I do not look down on anybody that does NOT do that. Many people in SL, are not in a position to spend RL money inworld.

But, I do post this thought I occasionally have. On average, I think 250 lindens, cost bout 1 USD (it fluctuates, so that is a guess). So, for the price of a GOOD cup of coffee, you could build up your SL bank, pretty quickly. Is it just me that has this thought?

Now having said that, I will admit to something. When I first started SL, I did not spend money in here. I didn't think I would be inworld all that long. After being inworld longer and longer, I started to spend a little cash here and there. So, it was a progressive thing for me. I also had some very nice people, help me along the way, helping me get better skins, and clothes, spending THEIR lindens on me, cause they were very nice, and wanted me to fit in better. It was very sweet of them, and I thank them to this day for their help.

Which brings me to the "pay it forward" part of all this. I help newcomers all the time, it does make me smile to show someone what SL is capable of. I enjoy watching them grow in here, and have made some of my closest friends, from just helping a newbie. Not all of them stay, obviously, but the ones that do, I hope they will help someone else new, down the line.

Till next time!