Second Life For Your Business Is your business ready for a Second Life?

"One of the most significant technology breakthroughs in history" - Fortune

Second Life is a rapidly growing online virtual environment and is pioneering new ways of communicating, interacting and remotely collaborating through the internet. Started in 2003 there are now almost 10 million registered users and growing at a rate of 10,000 new members per day. It is expected to reach a staggering 25 million by March 2008. Sometimes referred to as the Metaverse, investors behind Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, include the founders of Amazon.com and eBay. In 2006, real world 'bricks & mortar' businesses started moving into Second Life. Initially these were companies such as Adidas and Dell Computers, who generated brand awareness by marketing virtual representations of their products. Then companies started to drive real world commerce with diverse businesses ranging from fast food establishments to professional services such as lawyers and tax advisors. Some companies used Second Life for product launches like Calvin Klein and Warner Brothers. IBM is an example of an organisation that has embraced Second Life as a means of collaborating with staff and customers. Here is a comprehensive list of companies in Second Life today. In addition to business use, Second Life is being used as an educational channel (e.g. Ohio University, Harvard Law School), political platform (e.g. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards Jan-08 , Antonio di Pietro), entertainment (e.g. Oasis, Duran Duran, U2 in concert), banking (e.g. ING, Saxo and ABN AMRO) and even by countries (e.g. Sweden, Antigua and Canada). With so much business activity going on within and around Second Life, Reuters have even set up an 'in-world' news agency with a full time correspondent. Watch the following YouTube.com video and become better educated about virtual worlds. XOptimize, a Second Life 'Full Service Developer' with offices Calgary and Vancouver have created the XOptimize virtual business complex which offers companies the opportunity to enter Second Life in a timely and cost effective manner before committing any major resources to the project. This enables companies to experience the environment and explore the business benefits which can range from a unique sales, marketing and PR tool to a rich medium for communication, collaboration and participation Read more about XOptimize Virtual Business Services here