About Me 0033: Making Money Online Easy

I've been working in the IT/Internet field since the pre-Google era, so it's been a number of years now. It's been a rough ride of ups and downs, but a great one. Being constantly on the internet, I've always wanted to do something extra, apart from my full time job.

I've tried a million different things and had truckloads of ideas on how to make money online. Forums this, blog that, advert here and advert there, but they all failed. I've read gazillions of documentations, watched hours and hours of presentations about how to make money online — how easy it is to work from home and make over $10,000 a month. Really? Well you want my opinion? Screw all that and do it your own way because YOU LIKE WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

Look at the history of most companies, giant corporations of today, especially the online ones such as Google, Twitter, Facebook and many others. They all started as a hobby, as a project, and never specifically to make money out of the idea. All the founders of the above mentioned companies, believed so much in their idea, that they dedicated their life to building it. It is not a matter of luck that they are who they are today, but it is sheer determination and good ideas. Money is a secondary thing; it's the result of what you've done. I never used to believe this but now I do believe it, been there, done that.

As I specified above, I've tried a million types of online ideas and website, but they all failed because I specifically wanted to make extra money. Thought there was only one thing that I really liked and loved, and never gave it a shot, music! It was always my dream to have the time to discover new bands, to have all their original CDs and albums, and if possible get in touch with them.

Sometimes crazy ideas for video games turn out to be hits. That must be the logic behind Real Life Plus, a startup game studio that’s making two interesting new Facebook apps, Style Studio and its companion game Fashion FaceOff.

As you can tell from the image above, this one involves hot girls and guns, sort of like Call of Duty meets Project Runway. Or, if you’re into games for women and girls, Stardoll meets Sorority Life. The company is coming out of stealth today and is one of those rare ventures that aims to create a game that both sexes will like.

You create your designs in Style Studio, an app that will be available on the web or on social networks such as Facebook.

Then you show your fashion designs off in the Facebook game, Fashion FaceOff, where you compete against other designers in a kind of gladiator’s arena. If you lose, you’re eliminated with deadly weapons, such as the rocket launcher shown above.

In Fashion FaceOff, users are the judge, jury and executioner for would-be fashion designers. If you’re talented, you can rise through the ranks and buy toys such as flamethrowers to destroy unworthy designs.

It may sound like a dude’s fantasy. But the founder and chief creative officer of the Emeryville, Calif.based company is a woman, Terry Redfield (pictured right), who has a mix of male and female video game veterans on her management team.

If Fashion FaceOff sounds a little crazy, Style Studio is more conventional. You can employ easy-to-use tools to create 3D fabrics, clothing and outfits. You can take Polaroid-like snapshots and put them in your portfolio. Then you can enter your designs in the Fashion FaceOff. If you hate a design, you can literally flame it with a flamethrower. If one of your own outfit designs gets flamed 50 times, you get an achievement badge of Asbestos Underwear.

“I wanted to create something easy enough for my mom to play, yet cool enough for my 15-year-old nephew to try,” says Redfield, who started the company with co-founder St.John Colón. “My goal is to make applications and virtual spaces that all tie together into one exciting experience.”

You can download the apps now on the company’s web site. But they will also be available on Facebook, MySpace and the iPad.

Redfield’s team has a lot of experience making games and social media. They’ve worked on games such as The Sims 2, Resident Evil, Toy Story, Tomb Raider, Psychonauts, SpongeBob Squarepants and Madden NFL Football. Redfield started working in online communities at age 15 and worked at game companies such as 3DO and Double Fine Productions. Throughout her career, she has straddled the traditional game and casual game businesses. Colón has worked on games that have sold more than 17.7 million units at companies such as Square, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon and Disney/Pixar.

Other key folks are Roselyn Romberg, president and chief operating officer; Dennis Harper, technical director; and animator Tara Packard. The company can create high-quality 3D animations because it uses the Unity Engine from Unity Technologies, which can create 3D graphics running inside a web browser.

The company was founded in 2009 and has 10 employees. Rivals include fashion-oriented games and virtual worlds such as Gaia Online and Second Life. Advisors include game veterans Ed Fries, former head of Microsoft Game Studios, and Robin Harper, head of marketing at Playdom and former executive at Linden Lab.

The company has raised $120,000 in angel funding and is raising a round of venture money. Here’s a concept video for the game below.

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Making Money Online Easy

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