Hippie Pay Spam - Go Find Money Trees Instead

Six months ago, I wrote Spam For Linden Dollars?, and over time comments have aggregated into a consensus of... [w:spam].

What is most interesting is that the email and phone number harvesting that is allegedly done is probably not valid. Intelligent people who don't want the bother of marketing muck in their email addresses are using secondary email addresses, and are probably not even bothering to put valid information in. So, on one end you get spam. On the other you get inaccurate marketing data which is being presented as valid.

That said, here's what I think: If people log in to Second Life and spend their time filling out surveys and camping... there isn't much value in such an existence. Truth be told, people are probably spending more on electricity and internet access than they could get back in these weird little marketing ploys. The sad part is that, apparently, they work because it only takes a few to think it is a good deal to sustain the whole thing. Sort of like... email spam.

There are good ways to start off making money in Second Life. When starting out, I think Money Tree hopping is a decent start because it is also a teaching tool on the user interface. You learn to maneuver your camera, use Search (when it is working) to find money trees, perhaps create a folder with money tree landmarks... and it is social; you meet people who are active at their keyboards and who are also new. Plus money trees vary in location, allowing people to teleport and visit different areas. It still isn't cost effective in a real way - the amount of money spent powering the PC and connecting it to the internet will never make it worthwhile to do this - but there are benefits.

Meanwhile, camping chairs have people sitting around, usually doing nothing while Lindens are shoved through their buttocks all so that some people can game the system for traffic. Is that a valuable use of a computer? I wouldn't think so. And Hippie Pay? Filling out surveys and getting spam in your email box? That's an annoyance.

Find money trees if you need money during your first 30 days. Seriously. Click the Search button, select the 'Places' tab and search for 'Money Tree'. Do the same with the classifieds tab.

And if you want to make money - do something else. Find a niche. Fill it.