Is Second Life Ready for Business

Question 1: How can Second Life provide value to businesses that use it?

Answer: Second life may also serve as a new marketing tool. Second Life can provide value to businesses that use it by providing a low-cost birthing ground for new industries and transform businesses, commerce, marketing and learning much the way the Web has done. It can help facilitate internal communications and help companies recruit tech-savvy employees. Second Life provides businesses with tools for online conferencing, online collaboration, knowledge management, and prototyping. Companies can test new products using Second Life’s 3-D rendering programs. They can experiment with new marketing and advertising campaigns to see how people react. They can receive feedback on real-world products or services.

Question 2: What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from a presence on Second Life? Why?

Answer: Retail businesses that are already used to doing business online may have an easier time of establishing a viable presence on Second Life. They are used to advertising and marketing to customers online and have the systems built for taking orders, accepting payments, and shipping products. Other companies, like IBM, that have established online collaboration systems and online knowledge management systems will probably have an easier time using Second Life as another outlet for these activities.

Question 3: Considering what you have learned about Second Life, how could you, as an individual, create a modest start-up business on the Grid? What goods would you sell? Why would this be a good choice of product? What, in simple terms, would your business plan be? Why would it work?

Answer: One potential new business would be to sell furnishings for online spaces. People inherently want to furnish and decorate their private spaces. The products could be bought and sold. The start-up costs could be low since there aren’t any inventory costs. I can create the furnishers as they’re...