AVIE POLL- Best ways to make Lindens in Second Life - GiaBlossom Reporting

Second Life is an opportunity for some, and a game for others. Few people will treat it like a 3D chat room to enjoy and few will make lindens providing a place to enjoy. Few will grow and explore, and few will help others grow and explore more. Like real life, the chances of making lindens in various avenues are endless. From club jobs to designers and scripters. Since Second Life is an escape from Real Life, one can actually dip their fingers in as many honey jars as possible. Either a person is very good at one of the avenues, or a person can try a combination of things and keep oneself afloat. 

I asked a few people to get their opinions as well. Morgan Whitfield Firehawk is Miss Virtual World 2020, a good and humble friend. She owns Care and Hope Center of SL and recently organized a fashion event benefitting RAINN (Nation’s largest anti sexual violence organization) last month in May. 

Morgan Whitfield Firehawk

Morgan Whitfield Firehawk- “My name is Morgan Whitfield-Firehawk. I own the Care and Hope Center of SL (a domestic violence information HUB since 2014), Heels (a small shoe store since 2016) and I am a working professional certified model. I make my lindens from doing modeling (runway shows or vendor pics) and I also make lindens thru my Heels store. However, with Heels, all proceeds go to my Care and Hope Center (pay the monthly tier).”

We met at a Indian Club and since then we have been friends. Prachi is the owner of The Moon Night Club in Second Life. She is one of the first Indians to open a club for all to enjoy. 

Prachi

Prachi- “I think sl is just a game. Here we can spend good time and make new friends. I have my own club. Sometimes I Dj and host for other clubs too. For me SL is just a game, I never take it seriously. RL matters more to me than SL. Sometimes I buy lindens and most of the time I earn lindens through the various gigs or sets.” 

I met Abby when she was planning to host the Miss Parallel Universe. Since then we have been friends. She also happens to be my client at Wishing Star Marketing and Promotions, for whom we suggest and do all the social media promotions. She is the owner of Parallel Universe Productions and has choreographed major competitions like Miss Parallel Universe, The Style Superstar and The Viral Voice. She is one of the true entrepreneurs who believe quality drives profits.

Abby’s Facebook Profile Picture

Abby Alexander-  “Abby is  very much like many of you girls with big dreams, and a zeal to accomplish them. My family and friends mean the world to me. I really don't think I would have been where I am right now without the help of so many people who have supported me throughout the journey. I am simply in love with the life I have been able to build for myself at Second Life, and the unique opportunities it provides me every single day to connect with the world and create something that could last the test of time. I feel second life is very similar to real life in terms of making money . You got to listen to the market , research about competition then develop the product, experience or services. I also think market division is important and exclusive marketing on the target customer. You can choose whatever you like to do sl - open a club, build mansions or a wedding industry, if you are able to promote yourself well in front of your segment, there is no stopping you. And if you don't want to start a business , get involved with the already successful ones, there are so many legit jobs on SL where you can earn thousands a week, I know a few who do. These jobs not only give you lindens but also a great experience of working in rl as well.”

Amethyst Starostin Cheveyo, a friend whom I have known since her Dj days. She was crowned MISS SL ♛ 2019 - Second Runner Up, she was also the judge at AviStar ♛ 2019 competition. 

Petr Denis

Amethyst Starostin Cheveyo: “I am a designer, model, DJ and photographer and have been in SL since 2007. I opened my first store in late 2007 selling clothing and furniture to the gorean market.  Since then I have earned lindens through photography, DJing and weddings.  I've found it's best to diversify and do several things than put all your effort into only one thing, unless you are very good at that one thing. I also am an Estate Manager for SkyBeam Estates which allows me to afford my sim.”

I have known Sherief since he joined Wishing Star as a social media personnel. A dear friend, whom I have seen grow in Second Life as time went. He has been a successful commentator and trainer as I have seen him flourish at Premier Wrestling. A wonderful video editor and a graphics designer, he is even good at photography. 

Wishing Star Website

Shereif- “I'm Shereif a marketeer and media producer in real life. In my second life I've worked in many jobs. Marketing, wrestling (entertainment), Stock research and i've made a not so bad market store place that I sell gestures at. There are 2 ways to make lindens in SL.Either to be a creator or a rich person who's willing to invest lots of money to hire creators full time and start your own business whatever it is and with that comes big risk and big profit/loss depending on your dedication and creativity. Or the more safe way is to use your time to be hired by someone who's risking his/her money and get a stable salary. I personally don't like tips based jobs so i won't be talking at all about clubs. Instead there are jobs like building, designing photoshop and even websites designs.. others can script too even. but these are the obvious ones. what not everyone knows about that you can get paid to speak using your voice to comment on SL sports events such as football, wrestling, boxing; you can use your time to get trained in a sport business and get paid for doing it. can work in marketing agencies, help businesses promote themselves or even can make simple creative objects and make lots of them then upload them on Marketplace for free.

Right now I have a constant of around 1000L income per week + random bonuses. The stable salary comes from 3 jobs I'm doing. 

• The most fun and entertaining one is my wrestling job. it's the same as if you get hired in WWE, contracts, rules. perform and entertain fans using wrestling huds and (optional) voice. It's just 1 appearance per week (match/promo/segment..etc). in each appearance you do which takes around 5-15 minutes you get paid the amount written in your contract. I've started with 80L, some start with 100L but every time your contract is renewed you get a raise usually, now I get 200L+ per appearance.
• Marketing agency Wishing Star where I get paid weekly for work done daily during that week. usually it's 1 hour a day, 5 days a week so makes around 500L a week. What I do at these hours is usually posting promotional posts on some of  Flickr/socialvr/instagram/facebook/InWorld groups. These posts are provided to me, i only copy-paste them to the right locations.
• Researching for stock shares. We have a schedule that is repeated every week, in that schedule there are 4 days of researching online on stocks website. 1 day meeting with other researchers to agree on best companies and the owner invests his own money. We get paid weekly regardless of the results. 
• Marketplace store “Gestures Paradise”. I didn't think I'd make money out of it originally, I just wanted to buy gestures and I saw they were expensive if I was to custom request one. So instead, i found the clip on youtube i wanted the sound from.  I downloaded it, trimmed it to start and end at the exact sentence I wanted. added a free animation and made them play together using a gesture. Later I started making more and more then put them on the MP for almost free at 14-16L$ per gesture. i thought to just cover the 10L price of upload i paid when i uploaded the voice but turned out that with just little promotion putting the MP link in my flickr posts i got around 6k lindens + from there

Another job that I did as free lance in the past but that company closed now a mixed wrestling fed owner hired me 4-5 times in total and he used to pay 5000 to 10000L per appearance where I did almost same stuff i did in wrestling but instead of fighting a guy, I'd be fighting girls. It depends on the script, but usually I was hired to win and humiliate the stars of this wrestling fed. I was hired because I was the champion at Premier Wrestling and he wanted my image. He even paid Premier Wrestling to agree to rent me there  because in my contract I'm not allowed to wrestle in other feds.”

Among the various scopes of making lindens, I have just covered a few. However, the paths are endless. Your passion is what will lead to greater scopes to making more Lindens. 

“Money is only a tool” - Ayn Rand 

Additional Information - 

RAINN - https://www.rainn.org/

Heels - https://www.facebook.com/HeelsSL

The Moon Night Club - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Erika%20Paradise/218/253/23 

Parallel Universe Productions - https://www.facebook.com/MissParallelUniverse2019

PUP Website - https://thepupltd.wixsite.com/home

Amethyst’s Blog - https://amestarostinsecondlife.blogspot.com/

Premier Wrestling - https://www.facebook.com/PremierWrestlingEST2019

Wishing Star - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elefsis/26/183/21 

Gestures Paradise - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/217884

SL Name - GiaBlossom

Email - blossomgia@gmail.com

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Runway Modelling in Second Life- GiaBlossom Reporting.

Often you must have heard about Fashion Pageants and Fashion Shows in Second Life. You might have noticed Pageants being held every year by different organizations to bring in new talent to the Fashion Industry. You might have also attended a fashion show that showcased high ended brands. Throughout the year we see women being crowned. Recently the results of Miss SL were out. AviStars and Mr SL applications will open soon. Miss Globe Universal is accepting applications for this year. Miss Virtual World will open its applications in June-July. Have you ever wondered what if this was me?

 

SoulCrack3r Resident, Model- GiaBlossom, Location- Backdrop City

Men and women alike there are two ways to enter the Runway world of Fashion Industry in SL. Either you participate in a few of the pageants or you can join a Modelling House. A modelling school teaches you the intricate details of how to be an Editorial Model and a Runway Model. And there after you are either recruited directly or you enter the Pageants to be recruited. This article can not be a substitute for a modelling school. However, to the very least, if you are trying to participate in the pageants in future; this will help you as a guide to follow.  

 

Petr Denis, Model- GiaBlossom, Location- AviStar ♛ 2019 Grand Finale

 

Last year I participated in AviStar ♛ 2019 as Miss Afghanistan and bagged the 2nd Runners Up position. It was my first time walking as a Runway model and also participating in a challenge as Editorial Model. Runway modelling as the name suggests are the models who walk the runway. Editorial modelling is taking still images. More like what fashion bloggers do with photography and image editing skills. These images could be used by designers on their vendors. This time I will only focus on the Do’s and Don'ts of Runway. Here are a few things I learned during the pageant.

 

Apart from your fashionable outfit, there are three things you will need for the walk - 

• Pose Hud -  The most used by runway models is the “Strut It Model Hud” by Mango. It’s fairly easy to configure. It can hold 3 sets of 10 poses and a walking pose in each set. 

• Animation Overrider for the modelling poses - Any modifiable AO can be used and configured. I used Zhao II MB Hud and configured with my own default standing pose and walking animation.

• Private Chat Channel Hud - You could use a relay chat Hud as well or Virtual Private Chat Hud. This helps to follow the queue as directed by the Runway Director. 

 

Theme Kattaca Challenge in FASHICON 2020

 

When the show begins, you are expected to have judges and an audience. This means that not only you are wearing scripts but the guests who have dressed up for the event are also wearing scripts which might affect the show. Things to remember before the show begins which will help reducing the lag- 

• Derender every object other than the stage. You can do this in Firestorm (FS) Viewer by going to Area Search. I usually blacklist decor and seats before the show. To know-how to watch this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53qIM0lyw4I

• Reduce Avatar Complexity. I keep the maximum complexity to 30. Anyone beyond that will appear as jelly beans in my FS. It’s important to keep the avatars in jelly beans state or you will not know who is in front of you in the queue. To know how to do this follow this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWrqd0o3dc

• Make a copy and remove all scripts from all the wearables, attachments and body. The more scripts you are able to remove from yourself, the less you will lag during the show. The only scripts you are wearing are the Huds.

• Freeze eye blinking and any facial animations, hand movements. This is because when the audience takes a picture, it will be without any imperfect movements.

• Remove all other Huds or chimera that are not useful on stage.

• Choose or make an AO that has a walk animation and a default pose stand only. These animations must not interfere with what you are wearing. 

• Check for spayed hands and your attachments, double check for possible mesh glitches. You do not want to be viewed naked due to such glitches.

 

Most pageant organizers will tell you that poses are not important. However, it is as important as your ensemble itself. You must be ready with 10 poses batch and change them every 10-15 seconds. Runway poses are more realistic and the transition from one pose to another is very smooth. It's best to choreograph a set from one creator. Runway poses can be used for editorial needs as well. However, editorial poses can not be used on a Runway. The pose set you choose should say a story to enhance your ensemble. For example Geisha styling poses can’t be used for hip hop styling. Try not to repeat the poses. Always face the audience, unless your storyline has a reason to look either up, down, right or left. Unless told otherwise, make sure you are doing a 360 degrees choreography. 

 

Petr Denis, Models - AviStar ♛ 2019 Finalists, Location - AviStar ♛ 2019, Image has been cut to meet image requirements.

 

Lastly, your ensemble must follow the rules of a challenge. It is good to ask if you do not understand a theme. Research about the theme. Never give a modern look to a traditional wear, you might affect the sentiments of the viewers from that country. Your accessories must have a reason to be worn. For example, you can't wear a digital cord with a primitive camera. All attachments must fit correctly. None of the layers of should be overlapping or embedded with each other. 

 

The next time you are participating in a pageant, follow the above guidelines for the runway. Be polite, be helpful, be beautiful and good luck in your future fashion endeavours. 

 

Additional Information - 

Strut It Model Hud by Mango- https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Strut-It-Model-Hud-by-Mango/152487

Virtual Private Chat Hud - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/VPC-V10-Virtual-Private-Chat/152402 

Zhao II MB Hud - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Free-ZHAO-II-MB-HUD-sD-Look/729885

YouTube video tutorials - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53qIM0lyw4I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWrqd0o3dc

Miss Globe Universal - https://missglobeuniversal.com/

Miss Virtual World - https://boslmvw.wordpress.com/

Miss SL Organization - https://missslorganization.com/

Backdrop City Landmark - https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Backdrop%20City/176/37/21 

 

 

 

 

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