How to Create a Virtual Goods Market Global revenue from the sales of virtual goods will reach $6 billion by 2013, according to Minneapolis-based investment firm Piper Jaffray, which isn't too shabby for a product that has been deemed by many to be "intangible" or "non-existent." To the contrary, consumers have shelled out millions for clothing, housing and miscellaneous gifts made purely from a few kilobytes of data. The growth of the virtual economy is causing many to puzzle over how companies have reached major profitability from this phenomenon. Virtual goods, which are basically electronic representations of objects in the physical world, have mostly been used to augment an already-engaging online experience, such as chatting, social networking or playing games. Zynga , for example, has profited from the wildly popular FarmVille application on Facebook, where users can grow and sell goods on an interactive farm, while socializing with other players in real time. So what if you've already got your website or social platform set up, and are hoping to cash in by incorporating your own virtual goods market? Here are some tips to help you get started. Your first step is to develop an understanding of virtual goods and why people buy them in the first place. Once you do that, it will be easier to figure out what types of goods you want to create and how to match those particular goods with the services your website or company offers. According to Brian Balfour, co-founder of Viximo ,