Second Life Marketing Treasure?

I've tried out Second Life, and honestly, it seems really cool. Problem is, I want instant gratification. In this case, gratification would come in the form of "I know what I'm doing immediately", and Second Life doesn't provide that for me. I found, as a new user, that I was completely adrift, with no idea of SL’s possibilities, or how to find areas that might interest me. NOW.. that being said, there are tons of people who adore this site. They love having a chat feature with a neat virtual skin. I'm more interested in the markting and networking possibility of Second Life and would love to figure out how that works.

I've heard from some in the marketing community that it's potential as a gold mine social/fantasy environment is fading away due to the negligence of its developers. Personally, I believe part of the problem is the marketers themselves. Very few have actually made an intelligent effort to utilize the platform. Instead, most marketing attempts within SL wind up very reminiscent of the corporate world’s first ham-fisted attempts to make use of the world wide web.

For me, I found the animations and controls a new user begins with crazy difficult. That, unfortunately, may be enough to put most potential users right off the idea of continuing. Does that mean the marketing professionals are bailing before they really get into it and see the possibilities? Probably. And because of that anyone who would wish to create an engaging and interactive experience within the platform may turn to other mediums simply because the learning curve is too difficult.

I've heard (although I believe there are some people I'm hearing who are just Linden Lab haters) that because LL doesn't address visual concerns of creative professionals, SL won't reach it's potential as a marketing medium. Are they shooting themselves in the foot? I doubt it. I've worked for software/internet companies too long to believe they simply don't care or are too full of themselves to make the changes needed. Most likely they're working 80 hour work weeks attempting to get things done, but it's just slow in coming. Maybe they should be structuring courses/classes/online demo's for marketing professionals in order to get them into SL and making money. You know darn well if someone is making big money in SL, the other marketing professionals will be circling like sharks.

I think the potential for a virtual world such as SL is great, and there’s an undeniable market for such a world that allows unhindered, uncensored user generated content as SL does. I think the only major hinderance is that marketing professionals and alike are not getting the instant gratification they need in order to view SL as a viable money maker. Personally, I'd like to spend some time researching it a bit more, but since I'm busy, I simply don't have the time to do that.