An interview with a virtual land developer who's made a non-virtual million bucks

In its Second Life bureau, CNET talked with Ailan Graef, the real person behind Second Life land developer Anshe Chung.

Since its public launch in 2003, the virtual world Second Life has become a haven for entrepreneurs. And while the number of people making a considerable profit is still relatively small, it is growing rapidly.

The poster child for profitable Second Life businesses is Ailin Graef--better known by her avatar's name, Anshe Chung--and Anshe Chung Studios, the business she runs with her husband, Guntram Graef.

Last month, Ailin Graef issued a press release announcing that the company's total holdings, comprised mainly of virtual land in Second Life, were worth more than a million real-life dollars.

I would suggest careful optimism and avoiding the blindness of the hype about Second Life. It has very strong and solid growth, but I still think that people who invest $200,000 of their real-life savings now are risking too much. The first step to succeeding in a virtual world is not to invest huge sums of money but instead to become a resident of the world, learn how to live here, play in it, use it and do what everybody else does and more. You don't go to Indonesia and say, "Here, I have a million dollars," and blindly invest.