Cost of Building a Second Life Presence and Campaign

According to this article on what agencies are charging to develop marketing programs for brands in Second Life:

“An initial build might cost a client between $75,000 and $100,000. Another $50,000 might pay for six or so events at the site. Monthly support fees could add another $10,000 a month to the cost.”

Why so high you might wonder? Consider the following…

1. Start with your Strategy and Creative brainstorming, which will determine what your destination may be. Then factor in labor for Design, Developers, Project Management and Quality Assurance.
2. How will you promote the destination and what will that cost? (Promotion both inside Second Life and in the real world.)
3. Do you need to hire virtual staffers to appear at your destination and interact with visitors?
4. How “permanent” is your destination in SL and how often will you stage events to drive traffic to your destination?



5. Finally, don’t forget these basic costs:

• You need to create a member account ($10/month, $22.50/quarterly, or $72/annual)
• The price for portion to entire region ranges from $5-$195/month based on the number of square meters you want. Here is the land pricing chart
• Want more land? You can own a private island, which costs $1,675 for 65,536 square meters (about 16 acres) to setup. Then monthly land fees for maintenance are $295/month.

It adds up quickly, doesn’t it?

In my travels through Second Life, I come across so many vacant places. You can’t have a Field of Dreams attitude about it. Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they will come. You need to constantly work at promotion and improvements to make it a premier destination.

What’s your experience with planning for Second Life? Please let me know.
Thanks.
-Roland