Chloe: When did you start on SL and how did you stumble upon it?
Cy: I joined briefly back when SL first came around and quickly lost interest. It was very buggy and clunky back then. I started anew on February 25, 2007. I don't recall exactly how I got lured in the second time, , but I am very happy I gave my second life a second chance.
Chloe: Tell us what you do here in SL...
Cy: My first venture into business in SL was in estate development. It remains one of my biggest passions here. I had the fortune of meeting some very talented people to help me along the way, and as a result we have some very pretty sims and very happy residents.
Chloe: How did you get started with that?
Cy: The first land I bought in SL was a quarter of a private tropical island sim. When I purchased it, I was under the impression that I would be able to subdivide most of it and rent the parcels out. That turned out not to be the case. I did manage to convince them to let me build two structures on the land; one big house with lots of rooms, and a more modest tiki house on the other side. I rented the rooms in the larger house to help cover the tier. Over time I became increasingly dissatisfied with the estate management. Almost weekly they would harass me about something and were very impolite. I decided then to grow my own estate and put a strong emphasis on customer service. Most people that buy from us have horror stories about previous ownerships, and it strikes me that the people they were dealing with have no concept of how important it is to keep your customers happy.
Chloe: What advice can you give to our readers who are also interested in becoming successful in your field? Were there mistakes you made that they can avoid? Something or things you did *right* that catapulted your success?
Cy: The first mistake I made was believing that "if you build it, they will come." When first starting out, nothing could be farther from the truth. My first sim sat mostly empty for months, costing me thousands of dollars in tier. Once we started a rather aggressive (and expensive) marketing campaign, the land sold rather quickly. Make no mistake, money spent on marketing is better than money spent on tier.
Once you have the land sold, make a point to go above and beyond your customers expectations. I cannot stress enough how much that has helped me. At least once a week I have people asking me if I have land for sale that were referred to me by existing customers. As your estate grows, your customers, if kept happy, will do your marketing for you.
Chloe: Approximately how much $L did it cost for you to start your business, and how long did it take for you to turn a profit?
Cy: In $L, the cost of the first sim was about 450,000. The lindens have recently lowered the cost of private islands, so you can get one today for about 265,000. WIth each island, you take on a monthly obligation of about 78,000. Now before that scares you off, once the land is sold you can actually realise a slight profit. The trick is to get it sold in the first month, before the lindens start charging you. As of this moment, we are seeing a loss because we took a large piece of Sheltering Sky as our home, but with the next two sims we expect to start turning a profit.
Chloe: Tell us your favorite...
- * clothing designer/shop:
- Cy: I am a pretty simple guy. As long as my wieiner isn't showing, i really don't care who made the clothes. My favorite shop, which sadly does not exist anymore, is a place called Dead Punk. It is the place I first decided on a punk look, and in my early SL days it was a place I would just go sit around for the music.
- * hangout spot:
- Cy: Tied for first place: A rock club called Zone Out, and the Galaxy Cruise ship
- * place for skins:
- Cy: I still have the first skin i ever bought, and I got it at a place called CryoGen .I remember it had skins of various movie-stars there. I thought that was pretty cool.
- * toy or gadget:
- Cy: Where to begin.. I have a real love for toys, and my hellish inventory speaks to that. I have to say my favorite is the club stuff I got from Maya. Go there if you are starting a club. I literally own everything they make.
- * coolest/prettiest sim:
- Cy: I have to say that Sheltering Sky is one of the prettiest sims I have ever seen. I could go with the generic answer and say Straylight, but in all honesty, bias aside, I absolutely LOVE how sheltering sky looks. Since it is a private estate I will not give out a landmark here, but if you want to see it just drop me a note and I'll give you a tour!
- * place for hair:
- Cy: My favorite hair comes from the now defunct Dead Punk.
- * AO:
- Cy: I am a big fan of Vista animations for AO. I have lots of animations from other sources that I have added to it, but the ones I use most often came with it.
- * any other favorites you want to tell us about:
- Cy: Yes, some of my favorite people: 5erena Vella, Angelle Marquette, Bambii Boucher, Bella LaSalle, Caliope Blackadder, Cephiros Dryke, Chloe Cantrell, DBDigital Epsilon, Doc Lukas, Lacey Ellison, Midnight Capalini, MissLouise Lilliehook, Phil Cagney, Polgara Weyland, Polly Riederer, Random Demina, SunDrop Sucettes, and Tanker Zamani.
Chloe: Awe, thanks for including me in that, Cy!
Chloe: Does your Avi look like the RL you? How is it the same? How is it different?
Cy: I truly believe that an individual's avatar is a reflection of how they would appear to others if they could get away with it in real life. It represents a lot of things. How a person wants to look is only one of them. Things like how they want to be perceived as a person, e.g. attitude, conformity or the lack thereof, degree of promiscuity, etc. They all subconsciously impact how your appearance develops. You can look at me and draw your own conclusions ;)
Chloe: How do you feel about romantic relationships in SL? Have you had any of significance? Crossed over to RL at all? Horror stories?
Cy: I think they are an inevitable byproduct of such an enormous social network. To me, SL is not an extension of RL, it is a parallel. These ARE real people you are interacting with. It's akin to a town social event, where people who may have otherwise never met get to know each other and maybe develop a relationship. I have been engaged to Caliope Blackadder since Christmas Eve of 2007. We fell in love in RL and SL at the same time. I bet that happens quite often with others as well. Horror stories? Sure i have them, but there is an old saying about the reopening of old wounds.... so I will keep those to myself.
Chloe: Biggest jerk, liar, or psycho you have encountered so far? Do tell!
Cy: While I have met a few, the vast majority of the people I have encountered here are simply wonderful. Honest, decent folk. Besides, if you don't have something nice to say about someone, you shouldn't say anything at all :)
Chloe: Do you have a residence here in SL? Do you rent or own?
Cy: I have had several ranging from a VIP suite aboard the Galaxy Cruise ship to a mansion that spanned over 1/4 of a sim and consumed 2,300 prims unfurnished. Currently Cali and I own a little over 12K of land.
Chloe: Mind telling us what sim it's on?
Cy: Sheltering Sky, of course!
Chloe: Where did you get your house? Is it a prefab or did you have it built? If so by who? Mind sharing a pic?
Cy: We are having a home custom built that will be fitted with custom furnishings. After a year of pre-fabs, I think we deserve it :) The house is being built by Cephiros Dryke, and the furnishings by Sundrop Sucettes. Both of these talented ladies work for us as part of the estate. Since the home is not done yet, the best I can do is give you a picture of its current state:
This is the right hand section that will be mirrored for the left side. The plan is that it will be U-shaped and wrap around the mountain. Once inside the front door, you will be able to see straight back to the waterfall behind the house, and semi transparent glossy floors will reveal the river flowing underneath.
Chloe: Tell us your 3 favorite movies:
Cy:
- A Clockwork Orange
- The Shining
- Full Metal Jacket
Chloe: Favorite 3 songs on your playlist right now?
Cy:
- 30 Seconds To Mars - Fallen
- Tool - Sober
- Deaf Pedestrians - Hail To The Geek
Chloe: We have all heard of drunk dialing... ever been drunk SL-ing?
Cy: Absolutely! What's a party without booze? Additionally, just like real life, I have had those mornings where I sign on to "last location" and I am in a place I don't remember, naked. Filled with a sense of dread with the first thing coming to mind: "Jesus, what did I *do* last night? Then sitting around drinking Gatorade to rehydrate waiting for the inevitable IM reminding me of just what that was.
Chloe: Funniest thing you've seen so far:
Cy: I see lots of things, almost on a daily basis, that are unintentionally funny. LOL funny. There was one moment that stands out, though. I was at a rather large wedding reception when a small airplane crashed right in the middle of the crowd. Smoke and fire everywhere. I laughed so hard I choked on my beverage.
Chloe: Lamest pick-up line that's been tossed your way:
Cy: A naked female newbie walked up to me and said "Follow me, I have xcite!"
Chloe: To "Mute" or not to "Mute"? What makes you cut someone off like that?
Cy: Generally I dont mute anyone. Perhaps it is that I don't want to be in a position of not reacting to them when they talk smack.
Chloe: Got anything coming up you want to plug? Any friends whose ventures you want to tell us about? If you have a blog, tel us the URL here!
Cy: We are expanding the estate very soon. The next sim will be a clone of Sheltering Sky, and the one after that we are considering making into a combination of commercial lots and rental properties. All this and more will make its way to http://www.whitfieldestates.com - a site that is a combination of estate business and my personal ramblings.
Chloe: Go ahead and get the last word! Tell us anything you think we should know that I haven't asked... say anything you want, at all here!
Cy: I have met some wonderful people in SL, many of whom I am proud to call my friends. When I was hospitalized in early January, the outpouring of care and concern really touched my heart. Cali sent me flowers!
Take care and thank you for asking me to participate.
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