#SecondLifeChallenge – My Second Life Blogging/Vlogging Journey

This week’s challenge is inspired from a challenge I did in 2013 and the followup I did in 2014. I’ve decided to update the questions a bit for 2017 and for those that are also vlogging now. Hope you can participate!

Here are the instructions for the #SecondLifeChallenge this week: Copy and paste the following questions and answers to your post, delete my answers and input your own. You can also do this in vlog format. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments! 

1. How long have you been blogging or vlogging about Second Life? I’ve been blogging about SL since December 2007. I made my first Second Life tutorial style video in August of 2010 and over the years I made videos off and on but I think I started vlogging somewhat regularly in the last quarter of 2015.
2. Why did you start blogging or vlogging? A friend of mine in SL back in 2007 had to convince me over several months to finally start blogging about SL Fashion with her on her own blog. I got hooked and started blogging on my own after she left SL. Vlogging I started because people kept asking me questions about sl related things and asking me to do tutorials more often and I figured it would be easier for me and probably easier for others to learn from videos. So that’s how I started on my second life vlogging adventures.
3. How many times a week/month do you post? This completely varies on how much time I have in the real world but I try to do a blog post with video at least a couple of times a week. Because I have a real life job, a husband, a demanding cat and many family and friends I spend time with often, I can only devote an average of a focused hour or two daily to my Second Life hobby so because of that it can take me a few days to complete one blog post and video.
4. Do you keep track of how many hits or subscribers you have? I do, because I need to provide that information to my advertisers and also because I like to do giveaways when I hit a milestone in subscribers. My next giveaway will be when I hit 10K subscribers on YouTube.
5. Which electronic devices do you use to blog/vlog with? I only use my desktop computer to actually do a whole post but I have used the wordpress app on my phone or my laptop many times to update published blog posts where I noticed errors or spelling mistakes if I was out and not around my pc at the time. For vlogging I also use my blue yeti microphone to record myself and Camtasia software to capture the video. All of my computer hardware and software parts are listed on my system specs page.
6. Do you monetize your blog or vlogs? If so, do you mind sharing how much you make approximately? (You don’t have to answer the second question) I do monetize both my blog and vlogs and normally I don’t like to discuss how much I make in either life, but I get this question so often from you guys that I’ve finally decided to answer it in detail. Currently from my youtube vlogs I make about $200USD a month, just from Google adsense. From Amazon through my affiliate links I make about $100USD a month. From the various support I get from my blog readers in Second Life I make around $500USD to about $1000USD a month. This varies greatly because I earn in different ways in Second Life, either through my marketplace sales, the ads I sell on this blog, or just my readers being supportive in general. All of this adds up to around $10,000USD a year (and sometimes much more than that). I think I do pretty well for Second Life just being a hobby for me. The amount of money I make on this hobby a year, I take about less than half of that and invest it back into the hobby by paying for my domain, hosting, any computer hardware & software I use and also for shopping inworld. The rest of the money I put into another account which goes towards a real life project (which is also another hobby of mine).
7. What has Second life blogging or vlogging taught you? It’s helped me enhance my organizational skills and it is a very important creative outlet for me. My confidence level has also significantly increased and I’ve become more comfortable with promoting myself in the real world. I’ve also learned to be resilient and grow a thicker skin, because let’s face it, it’s so easy for people to be assholes to you on the internet. What I have learned is, you can’t please everyone so the best thing to do is please yourself. It’s definitely been an educational and enlightening journey.
8. Do you feel like Second Life blogging or vlogging takes away from your real life? If anything it has enhanced my real life. It’s taught me that it’s important for me to make time for the people I love and the things I feel passionate about, in any life and capacity. The promotional and social media skills I’ve picked up here also assisted me in getting a promotion within my real life career. Finally, because of Second Life, I’ve discovered my love for travel and try to take at least 1 to 2 vacations a year where I travel and explore a new place in the real world.
9. Do you have a mission statement for your blog or vlog, if so, what is it? The reason and mission for my blog is for me to share what I find inspiring and to share my knowledge with my readers. I also want to engage other bloggers as well as provide some entertainment and information. I come to SL to get away from RL pressures and use it as a creative outlet. This is my own place for fun and relaxation, and my blog reflects that.
10. Share your top 3 tips for new bloggers/vloggers. Be true to yourself, share the content you want to share regardless of what anyone else says, and don’t do it if you don’t love it and enjoy it!

I also did this challenge in vlog format so click over to my youtube video for more detailed answers:
https://youtu.be/9tyH4dS2mbA

You don’t have to have a blog to do this challenge, you can do it on any social media platform or vlog on youtube. Just don’t forget to tag your post with #SecondLifeChallenge and then leave the link to your post in the comments of this post.

Please remember there is no time limit to do this challenge, you can participate in any #SecondLifeChallenge at any time. You’ll find them all under my Blog Challenges category along with other memes and challenges I’ve done over the years. I’ve also started a #SecondLifeChallenge playlist on my YouTube channel.

A reminder: you only have until October 31st to enter the BVN Halloween Style Contest which was mentioned in last week’s Halloween in Second Life challenge.

Style Credits:
Shape: StrawberrySingh.com Sofia Shape by Strawberry Singh
*Mesh Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V4.1 by Onyx LeShelle
*Mesh Head: CATWA HEAD Sofia v3.0 by Catwa Clip
*Skin Applier: Glam Affair – Miriam by Aida Ewing (kinky event)
Hair: TRUTH / Makena by Truth Hawks (Group Gift)
*Top: neve top – shadows Lara by coldLogic (Uber)
*Skirt: neve skirt – lead Lara by coldLogic (Uber)
*Socks: {Luxuria} Fall/Winter 17 Thigh High Socks by Roslin Petion
Desk+Chair: Dutchie adult writing desk with chair by Froukje Hoorenbeek