Classes at The Forum Shops

Meep...I've accidently become a teacher! If you read one of the earlier blog posts I made about Xstreet SL, you may have noticed the bit about looking for the short class on how to signup for Xstreet.  It's true, I've now stumbled into teaching inSL.  

It all started one night when I was suffering from writer's block.  My goal is to write one blog posting a day, but as you can see I'm writing one about every two days.  My mind started to wander as I sat at my desk, banging my head against the keyboard, trying to jar something loose for the screen.  I began to think about how my learning style seems much better situated to being in a class and learning from an instructor.  If most people are like me, is it even worth it to write a how-to blog entry?  

That's when I decided I needed to start teaching too!  Along with writing about how to do things that help avatars going into business inSL, I'd also start offering quick classes.  We're all very busy, so a quick 15, 30 or even 60 minute class is a perfect way to spend a short amount of time learning a new skill or product that can be essential to the success of your Second Life whether you are a creator, shopper, or business owner. 

I've already started offering two classes, one on how to signup for the web shopping service Xstreet SL that lets you shop on the web and have items delivered to your Avatar inSL.  The second is a class on how to find freebies on Xstreet. If you have ideas for other classes, or specific times you'd like to see a class taught, please add it to the comments for this blog post.

Following are ideas for several other classes I'd like to offer. 

• How to signup for Xstreet SL (already being offered)
• How to find freebies in Xstreet SL (already being offered)
• How to sell items using Xstreet SL (in development)
• How to use the forums in Xstreet SL to market your items (in development)

Other course possibilities:

• Creating and using a group inviter for your store
• How to use the slide presentation Tool
• How to make a blogspot blog for your business/creations
• How to make a drop shadow in Photoshop for a sort of 3D effect
• How to make a seamless repeatable texture in Photoshop
• Demonstration on how to use the Fashion Show Venue 

And I'm sure you can think of many more!  Please post suggestions to the comments or drop me a notecard inSL to CultureCannibal Zilz.

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Xstreet SL: A better friend than diamonds inSL

It was a sad day for diamonds when I had to drop them from my friends list to make room for SL eXchange.  Oh what a wonderful world it is with SLX,  or as it's now called, Xstreet SL.  For those of you who don't know, Xstreet is a great resource for both content creators and customers.  Can diamonds help you comparison shop, find quality freebies, or sell your products without having a store?  No, but Xstreet can! 

Hello Xstreet, my new best friend.  And what do you do with new best friends?  You show them off to all your old friends so that they can see how trendy you are.  Gentle readers, I'm soooo trendy with Xstreet!  Come to think of it, I'm even trendy dumping my conflict diamonds.  I'm trendylicious! And if you continue reading with me, I'll share the scoop about Xstreet with you.  

Before you can use Xstreet to purchase or sell items, you'll need to sign up with them. This is much easier to do in-world, where you can visit an XStreet terminal and type in general chat, "signup your@address.com" [without the " marks]. But you can also go to the Xstreet new registration web page.  When you register, please consider adding me, CultureCannibal Zilz, as the person who referred you!  

When you tell the Xstreet terminal your signup email information it will respond that it is contacting the server and then if everything goes right the terminal will tell you that signup has succeeded and to go to your e-mail to complete registration. The email from Xstreet SL will have a link to click that will activate your account and your member information with your SL name and a new password used to login to your newly created Xstreet account.  You must follow the instructions in this e-mail within 24 hours or your new signup information will be deleted and you'll have to start all over again.  

Now you can login to Xstreet and start shopping!  Ooops...well you can shop for freebies since you haven't added any $Lindens to your Xstreet account.  The easiest way to add money to your account on Xstreet is to visit the Xstreet terminal in-world, right click on it, and pay it an amount. I suggest paying a small amount like $L25 at first to see how it works.  And not to worry, if you deposit more $Lindens than you need in Xstreet, you can always withdraw them back to your SL account.  

If you're someone who learns better with a teacher than from reading, look for my short fifteen minute class on how to signup for Xstreet SL on the Second Life Events page.  I teach it at The Forum Shops and we have an Xstreet terminal right there to use too.

Tomorrow all write more about how to use Xstreet SL to find freebies, to find other items that you're looking for, and also how to use Xstreet to sell your own creations.  

Living luxuriously inSL

~CultureCannibal Zilz

Meep! An Accidental Business

You'll hear me meeping a lot in this blog.  For those of you who don't know what meep means, join the litter.  The Urban Dictionary says meep is one of "the most versatile words in the English language, or in fact any language!"  It can mean whatever you want and tha's exactly how I use it.  If it's ever not clear which meep I'm using, ask in the comments and I'll let you know exactly what I meep.

Meep! A business Avatar!  That's the last thing I'd ever thought I'd end up doing in my Second Life,  and the reason why I'm calling this blog The Accidental Avatar.  I don't have a creative bone in my body, but it turns out that most of my friends inSL are chock full of them.  [Editor's note: If you don't know what chock means you'll want to use Webster.Com, not the Urban Dictionary.]  All around me my friends were creating things.

CapabilityTodd Elswit was making buildings, Orinoco Beresford was making furniture and sheds, Phinneas Vella and Zak Escher were making shapes, and CJ Escher was making babies.  Well...CJ is making weddings which leads to making babies.  And Aevalah Nicholaidis was making fountains and starting a modelling agency.  Even our friend Blue Revolution was creatively figuring out how to use things like vendors, rental systems and the like.  Though we suspect his true creative bent is starring in machinima porn.

Liberally mixed into this creative maelstrom were kind hearts and gentle souls that shone through their Second Life Avatars.  As I stumbled through this gifted whirlwind I accidentally found out that business in Second Life doesn't have to be about cut-throat competition like Real Life.  Together we shared ideas and resources to help jump start each of our businesses so that builders and designers can fulfill that urge to create.  

I was lucky to accidentally fall into a nurturing and supportive environment like this, but it doesn't have to be accidental.  In future posts I'll be sharing the things we've learned to make our SL businesses and lives better and I hope you'll feel free to comment and share your experiences too.

Living Luxuriously inSL

CultureCannibal Zilz