You've probably heard about metaverses, especially with Mark Zuckerberg renaming Facebook to Meta. The metaverse seems to have a promising future, but how can you benefit from it?
If you're wondering how to profit from the metaverse right now, this guide covers the most popular ways to do so. We'll also explain what the metaverse is, as you'll often need to invest money to make money in this new digital frontier.
What is Metaverse?
A metaverse is built using a combination of augmented reality, virtual reality, and blockchain. It’s a virtual environment where people can meet for work, shop from a virtual store, or play games.
Many large companies like Facebook (now Meta) and Accenture are building a metaverse where you can do many of the same things you do in your regular life but virtually, including business. This is where you can make money in a metaverse.
8 Ways to Make Money in Metaverse
Metaverse offers various opportunities to earn money. From NFTs to virtual real estate, investors have various options to create an additional income stream in the metaverse.
Here are eight ways to make money in the metaverse.
1. Real Estate
Virtual real estate is the most popular way to earn money from the metaverse.
Plots in metaverses like Axie Infinity and Decentraland are selling for millions. Virtual real estate undeniably offers a lucrative investment option.
You can also rent your properties just like you would in real life. You can also offer advertising space on your property if it’s in a high-traffic locality.
In addition to investing, you can also earn money from virtual real estate by:
- Commissions: Brokers play a major role in virtual real estate transactions. Since the metaverse is still in its infancy, people could use a little help connecting with a buyer or seller. Being a virtual real estate broker can help bring in generous commissions.
- Management service: You can manage other people’s properties in the metaverse and charge for your services. For example, you can manage a sports ground, wedding hall, or co-working space.
- 3D design: Just like architects, 3D designers help build gorgeous properties in the metaverse. 3D designing is likely to become one of the most in-demand jobs once metaverses become mainstream, and designing real estate is a great starting point.
2. Gaming
Metaverse lets you make money while playing games. Games like Alien Worlds created their own economy that uses native tokens like Trillium (TLM). You can make money in the game by mining, trading NFTs, or staking.
Alien Worlds is an NFT-powered game with a seven-planet metaverse. The game also has built-in decentralized finance (DeFi) apps. These apps allow players to stake holdings to planets and become planetary councilors.
3. Sell NFTs
The emerging NFT market is already worth more than $11.3 billion and is growing fast. If you’re fascinated by the concept of creating NFTs (which may be an image, animation, or even a painting), you can then sell them in the metaverse and make good money.
In addition to direct sales, you can also make money by allowing people to mint your NFT. Minting is a concept where other people can reproduce your NFT. Each time the person sells the reproduced NFT, you earn a percentage of that sale.
4. Invest or Trade the Native Token
Metaverses have their own native token. For example, Decentraland’s native token is MANA. You can buy and sell MANA like any stock or cryptocurrency.
The metaverse’s success drives the token’s value. If many people start using the metaverse, the token’s value will likely rise over time, and you can book profit. Of course, there’s also downside risk, just like with investing in other asset classes like stocks.
5. Teach Students Virtually
The pandemic showed people that remote learning could be just as effective as in-person classes. Studying in a metaverse can provide students with a more immersive experience than viewing videos online.
As metaverses continue to evolve, education is a key space to keep an eye on. Metaverse provides teachers with all the tools needed for contextual and detailed teaching.
For example, think about learning eighth-grade physics when you were learning about a prism for the first time. Now, imagine being able to view and interact with a life-size prism in your virtual class.
If you’re great at teaching, use the metaverse to help students develop valuable skills. As the metaverse grows, the demand for your skill will grow too.
6. Become a Virtual Tour Guide
A metaverse can help recreate historic sites or remarkable events from the physical world. When someone’s at home and wants to explore Greek history, they can use the metaverse to visit the Acropolis.
However, they might need help from a tour guide to get to know the place better. You can meet the person in the metaverse and help them explore historical sites, just like a real-life tour guide.
7. Work in the Virtual Entertainment Space
Entertainment will be one of the most vibrant industries in the metaverse. For example, you’ll see concerts and sporting events in a completely virtual environment.
Metaverses like Sensorium are already successfully implementing these ideas. Sensorium’s concert venue PRISM will host shows by popular artists like Armin van Buuren, Carl Cox, and David Guetta.
You can promote these events to earn a commission. You can also become a host if you prefer being on stage rather than working from the outside promoting the event.
Metaverse, like any business, will need labor. Digital labor across industries will have massive demand over time.
Even right now, metaverses need people with various skill sets to keep them going. Freelancers, VR production companies, blockchain companies, and 3D artists are a few of the many examples of people and businesses in high demand in the metaverse.
8. Participate in Product Testing
As metaverses start seeing innovative virtual products, the creator will need someone to test the product and provide feedback.
Given how diverse a metaverse’s product portfolio can be, testing provides ample opportunity to experiment with new virtual products and get paid for it.
Metaverse Offers Many Opportunities to Make Money
You can make money in several ways in a metaverse. The opportunities are countless, but the metaverse you select drives your success.
A metaverse needs a large enough community to succeed. If you’re working in a metaverse no one has heard about, you’ll have access to fewer customers. A large community improves the chances of your investment in the metaverse appreciating over time.
FAQs
How do I start a metaverse business?
Starting a metaverse business involves four steps:
Step 1: Learn about the virtual world: Many businesses don’t fully understand virtual environments and digital currencies. Understanding the metaverse helps you choose the most suitable one for your business.
Step 2: Select the right metaverse: Build a business in the metaverse with a large enough community. This ensures you have access to enough people who will buy from your business. For example, an Ethereum-based metaverse will have high ‘gas’ fees.
Step 3: Learn about marketing in the metaverse: Ideally, you should have a decent online presence before you enter the metaverse. Before you start, run a few campaigns to get the word out to the right audiences.
Step 4: Start and improvise: Start your business and keep learning from other businesses. Metaverse is evolving fast, and you’ll need to keep up to speed with the rapid changes.
How do you make money on NFT?
NFTs are digital assets that you can purchase and sell. To make money on NFTs, buy an NFT, wait for its value to increase, and sell NFT. You can also create your own NFTs and sell them online.
Moreover, you can provide other people the right to mint your NFT. Every time a person sells the minted NFT, you get a percentage of that sale. Other ways to make money with NFTs include renting, staking, and turning physical collectibles like sports cards into digital assets.
Can you invest in a metaverse?
Yes, you can invest in a metaverse by buying properties or other digital assets. Alternatively, you can also purchase the stock of a company that invests in the metaverse.