If Second Life is alternately lame and bizarre, as Valleywag contends, why then does it have such strong support among marketers such as IBM? Here's one theory: it's difficult for the uninitiated to set up a corporate presence in the clunky virtual world, which provides an opening for marketing gurus, 3D development shops and scam artists. They're Linden Lab's real constituency: a group with a strong economic interest in talking up the business potential of the furry-ridden virtual world. Unconvinced? Just take a look at this random pitch, received by Plenty of Fish, the online dating site. For his weakness in grammar, the Second Life promoter presumably compensates with mad "metaverse presence marketing skills."

Greetings, I am interested in helping your company in the promotion of PlentyofFish to the next level in online dating. As a media developer, I see Secondlife as the new Medium of the future for Marketing and Branding. I can effectively promote Plentyoffish.com with my Metaverse Presence Marketing Skills. I am a premier developer in Secondlife, the worlds fastest growing 3d world and multimedia platform. I represent a group of seasoned and experienced agents with the capacity to work alongside your company to promote Plenty Of Fish internationally throughout the Metaverse. 3d webinars, 3d products, 3d events, virtual marketing and branding are some of the things that we specialise at within SecondLife. If this proposal has invoked a curiousity to envision PlentyofFish as the Premiere Service worldwide WITH Metaverse extensions and marketing capability, please feel free to contact me at your convenience at XXXXXXX@yahoo.com or by phone at XXXXXX during normal business hours EST. Conversely you may opt to sign into http://www.secondlife.com and see for yourself what the real potential of your products exposure through our skills can be. Thanks for taking the time, and hope to hear from you soon.