Our Voice / September 2014 19
And just as a busy CEO in a business off line might have assistants and secretaries, and other ways of keeping up with the details, Vikee has made sure to surround herself with good people who pick up the bits and pieces and helps her continue successfully. Besides assistants and secretaries, she's hired a select group of bloggers who help with marketing, and co-designers who create items that become specialty collections within the Loovus Dzevavor collection. There are marketing agencies she's used in the past but now she takes the helm when it comes to marketing.
The conversation became a bit more personal when financials were brought up but with the grace of a lady who remains transparent without being flashy, she shared the success of Loovus Dzevavor like this, " MY SL income is a nice boost to my RL income. It's nice to have extra cash for fun stuff. That is how I see it." Though it took her about a year to get things to a point where she made money above and beyond the basic expenses of tier and uploads and other details that accompany making an SL business work, once she passed that mark in time, she's felt like she stayed ahead of expenses and has been able to enjoy the results of her hard work.
Some people say that Second Life has already passed its prime and that it would be impossible to create something new, something successful and impossible to follow in the path that Vikee has made to well-earned success. She disagrees. If someone has the inner drive and patience it takes to learn the business of SL, whatever that may be from building to fashion or any other thing they want to do, it's possible to succeed. She suggests that keeping relationships positive as well as attitude goes a long way. Even though the grid grows daily, in the business world, it's still small. If you make a splash, people know soon enough. You want to hope it's a good splash that people will remember. Take pride in your product, behave professionally and have great ethics. That's her secret.
Second Life presents the option to do and be almost anything, from a giant furry creature to an Alien to a couture fashion model. When asked what she thought about this diversity and the ability to run a business like hers in Second Life, she suggested that the avatar should represent the business appropriately. In her opinion, she looks intentionally like she does because it best represents her and where she wants to take her business. If others do other things, then they should be honest and represent themselves like they want people to see them, honestly.