Following up on Thursday’s post, here are four compelling reasons why your company should consider a virtual presence on Second Life.

1.) The virtual world is a growing world. CNN/Money reported a two-month growth rate of 77% for November/December 2006. As Dr. Paul Leinberger recently pointed out in his lecture series entitled “Digital Life: Living In A Connected World,” we are in the midst, not at the end, of a technological revolution, and it will continue to fundamentally change the way we live and interact. Virtual worlds like Second Life grow at a breakneck pace, and will continue to do so, forming a digital marketplace that increases even real-world markets fragment into smaller niches and long-tail specialization. As real-world business models are translated into effective virtual marketing efforts, opportunities will increasingly present themselves. There is a “ground floor” aspect in virtual world marketing that shouldn’t be ignored.

2.) The Second Life demographic is an attractive one. Young (33% are age 18 to 24, with populations in the high 20’s for the 25-34 and, notably, 35-44 age groups), technically skilled, cosmopolitan (only 31% of Second Life accounts are sourced in the United States) and with disposable income, the demographic that enters Second Life is a veritable highlight reel of desirable demographics for products and services that would work well inside a virtual world (e.g. software, digital music and video). At the same time, the ability for organizations to conduct virtual “gatherings” promotes activist and training activities in increasing numbers.

3.) Businesses entering Second Life now can avoid the problems of early adoption. Early adopters historically have the highest barriers to entry, the highest costs, the highest risks – and occasionally, the highest returns. But a company can kiss a lot of frogs (and spend a lot of marketing dollars) before getting a prince. The beta-testing of Second Life is over and, while the business models themselves may be under construction, the medium itself is trustworthy and the costs are low. In any new effort there is risk, but Second Life can justly claim to be a stable, growing technological environment.

4.) Prepare not for Second Life, but for the next “Second Life.” It seems likely that Second Life will do one of two things: die off, or evolve into something different (like Usenet, or the multi-user domains that were popular around the turn of the millennium). Either way, Second Life faces an innovation-induced end to its lifespan. While at first seemingly counterintuitive, companies can prepare themselves for the next virtual landscape by engaging in and seeking out opportunity in the current one. Like any new medium or market, experience today prepares a company for expertise tomorrow, and the organizations that are embracing Second Life will be better prepared to take advantage of the virtual opportunities that come next.

Les Hostetler is a Team Leader for The Vandiver Group, Inc. He is known as Secundus Jacobus in Second Life.

Contact us at tvg@vandivergroup.com or send comments to blog@vandivergroup.com.