"Wired" magazine article RE: SL and Business

On the way back from the show in NYC, I was reading "Wired" magazine. I picked it up because Martha Stewart was on the cover baking a cake that looked like a Wii, and who could resist that.

There was an article in the mag about companies leaving SL (seems to be the hot topic lately) and again I was struck by the negativity directed toward Linden Lab and Second Life. I came away from the article with the impression that the author basically said, "Pfft. Of course they're leaving. Virtual Worlds are stupid."

If there are any business people out there reading my little insignificant space of a blog, pay attention. If you're going into Second Life thinking that you'll sell huge amounts of your product there, or market to people inside Second Life that will then translate into real-world sales for you, you've already screwed up. That will NOT happen for you.

I firmly believe that companies should be in Second Life, but maybe not for the reasons they think they should. I think these companies have a real chance in Second Life to engage and research the community, to learn what people want by asking them. By seeing how they interact and develop relationships with each other, and with the products available to them inside the virtual environment. That being said, you're not going to see huge sales from your presence in Second Life.

If you come into Second Life and make fantastic shoes that look amazing on my avatar, I will never click your little link to your out-of-world website to buy those shoes in the 'real' world. I can tell you, though, that the next time I'm at the 'real' mall, I'll remember that you cared enough to take the time to make some fantastic shoes for my avatar, and I'm much more likely at that point... to buy your real-world product because I feel like you understood. I feel like you weren't trying to sell me things I didn't want to buy, and I'll feel like you could comprehend that when we're in a virtual world, we don't want real-life distractions reminding us that you are only there to market your product.

Here are some tips to remember as a company coming into Second Life:
1. You will spend a lot of money
2. You will make no money
3. We do not care if you're a huge real-world corporation
4. If you're not making things our avatar needs, we are likely not going to spend any time 'hanging out' at your store/area/sim/whatever
5. There *are* people in Second Life. Just because people aren't hanging out at your little store that you spend thousands of dollars creating, that doesn't mean we're not around. It means we're hanging out at the places that make us comfortable.
4. You will have the opportunity to learn about, interact with, and engage this virtual community. If you pay attention, you'll come out ahead in the end, but you must be patient.