Why is this business harder these days?

LD · 2007-12-31, 10:08 AM

I'm a relative newcomer, but one thing I read here over and over is how this business used to be much more lucrative. Why is that? More people have computers now, memberships are less than the cost of a few trips to Starbucks, people still like to have sex...perhaps it's a matter of keeping up with what people want, which can be dynamic and ever changing.

I keep reading that porn is a gazillion billion dollar industry or something like that...yet it seems harder to make money now than say 8-10 years ago. Is it too much free stuff? Perhaps the supply has outgrown the demand (seeing all the adult websites out there, I do wonder...). Type in "fuck, sex" in Google, and you've got 100's of pages of porn to choose from. You can have the best porn in the universe, but people gotta find you...things seem very Google driven...how long can that last?

Like a lot of people, I always reflect this time of year, and I guess the bigger question I have on my mind is how can we better adapt to changes that are inevitable?

Going into 2008, I want to try to focus a little better on what it takes to succeed. Yes, I know you have to work hard and bust your ass...but it you work hard and bust your ass and lose your ass, then what have you accomplished?

Bobc01 · 2007-12-31, 11:14 AM

More than likely competing with the amount of spam and shit on the net would be half of it.
Too much free porn, scam sites or anything else that's typically associated with porn now that drives people away.

No one will give a fuck untill it all ends and then they'll blame everyone but themselves.

HowlingWulf · 2007-12-31, 12:41 PM

It's not so much the amount of the business, it's also the number of people you have to split it with.
The number of programs and affiliates has exploded, so competition has increased a ton.

NY Jester · 2007-12-31, 01:31 PM

I think the Internet surfer has become more savvy. 6-8 years ago, porn was put together but not like today. The average surfer can find free porn today where as years ago, you had to sift through, in my opinion more BS than today. I remember when I found the Hun as a new Internet user I was like ahhhh Heaven..I think there are more legitimate directories these days. Therefore, more bookmarkers of free smut.

Useless · 2007-12-31, 01:43 PM

Four golden words: Too Much Free Porn.

The money is there, but you need to be more savvy to make it. You need to be able to convince the surfer that the grass is greener on the other side of the join page.

cosmiccat · 2007-12-31, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Four golden words: Too Much Free Porn.

The money is there, but you need to be more savvy to make it. You need to be able to convince the surfer that the grass is greener on the other side of the join page.

That's it. Period.

petergg2 · 2008-01-26, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Four golden words: Too Much Free Porn.

agree,

now in google when You write some dvd titles on the first 1-3 places You get result's with rapidshare links pages/forums , not all but many,

and on those forums You can get all porn of the world for free with regular huge updates - so for what people shoul pay and buy

?

after p2p this links forum's kill Adult Busssines, each such forum have 1000's members in very short time and they groove and groove

the industry should fight to close such services like rapdshare or megaupload (not the forum's becuase that have no sense since there is created each day many of them), when rapdishare owners must paid for each downloaded copy of dvd movie they close service self very quick

Bassmaster · 2008-01-23, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NY Jester

I think the Internet surfer has become more savvy. 6-8 years ago, porn was put together but not like today. The average surfer can find free porn today where as years ago, you had to sift through, in my opinion more BS than today. I remember when I found the Hun as a new Internet user I was like ahhhh Heaven..I think there are more legitimate directories these days. Therefore, more bookmarkers of free smut.

You are right on the money!

Porn is going through almost the same thing the music business deal with! These damn kids are soooo smart on the computer! They know all the ins and out of getting shit for free!!! I talked to this kid on a plane once and he explained to me how he has three cheap laptops set up to constantly download free movies, music, etc!!!

NY Jester · 2007-12-31, 03:22 PM

thanks UW i coulndt write that in 5 words or less...

Bill · 2007-12-31, 03:56 PM

Most of those "Porn makes X Billions a Year" articles are bullshit, by the way.

Porn makes significantly less than those articles suggest. Those headlines are used to attracty readers and incite envy.

If you do the research yourself, you'll see that those headlines are all basically lies.

ronnie · 2007-12-31, 04:02 PM

When I started it was easier, some say no, but they are full of shit. I remember making avs sites and every one I created, made money, every one. Was just a matter of making enough. I remember getting search engine traffic without even trying.

As already mentioned, I think the biggest problem is the competition. Seems every body and their brother is trying to sling porn, not to mention the bathroom gangs. And now with free blog hosting and blog automation, rss, ect, people are cranking out massive scale crap, crap thats clogging up everything including the search engines. And with all these people, more free porn.

The sponsors don't help because they give so much to the webmasters, which is another problem, as the content is all marked with sponsors url's, easy for the surfer to bypass the webmaster. Zango and the likes stealing sales.

Too much crap.

Like bob said, they will just blame every one else.

To me, there is no other industry online that gives away so much content.

How to adapt? In my opinion, be different and interesting, even unusual. It's very possible without needing to give away the cow. Most every one is doing the same thing (myself included). Doesn't work like it use to.

CD Smith · 2007-12-31, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LusciousDelight

Going into 2008, I want to try to focus a little better on what it takes to succeed. Yes, I know you have to work hard and bust your ass...but it you work hard and bust your ass and lose your ass, then what have you accomplished?

Solution: work SMART. Working hard is okay but becomes overrated after a while, whereas working smart requires that one think ahead and consider the larger picture and long-term goals at all times.... and be adaptable.

I find that it is the short-term thinkers who are in it for the quick buck that are the ones who MOST come to the boards to complain that things are too tough nowadays. It's all how you look at it. Yes, 10 years ago you could put up even a crappy free picture site and make a living whereas now that just doesn't cut it unless you have mad traffic and a keen sense for converting it.

Nowadays one can for example sell ad spots on their sites to other webmasters and make up some of the difference. Or offer up your few skills you do have to others as a resource service, such as writing, design, coding, etc. Since there are more webmasters out there trying to make a go of it there are a lot more ways for the long-term thinker to legitimately and fairly make money even though the competition for signups is more cluttered than ever before.

One simply has to be in tune with how the industry is evolving in order to tap into new opportunities. And there are a lot of them. New ones coming every week it seems. I see nothing but good things down the road.

RageCash-Ben · 2008-01-01, 06:27 PM

While it is true you can still make a good living if you adapt and evolve 2008 is going to be an interesting year for the industry.

Ramster · 2008-01-02, 08:48 AM

Too Much Free Porn?

Bullshit.

Ok, not totally bullshit but exaggerated. Most of the people here on Greenguy and Jim make their money by providing FREE PORN in the form of building free sites or submitting galleries and running tgps and link lists. Well that is free porn, and you all do that right? You guys all provide free porn to make money.

So Too Much Free Porn?
Yes you are correct but I think more on the form of so many more webmasters now to compete with. And not only webmasters but 1 webmaster running 10 sites now instead of 1. Look at Greenguy, he does not only run Link-O-Rama. Look at Kit, he does not only run PenisBot. More competition in the free porn biz.

Is it harder to make money now than it was 5 years ago? FOR SURE. But more web sites, more webmasters, smarter surfers definitely all contribute to this, not just free porn.

And for the record. I made more money last month than I have ever made in 1 month ever in this biz.

Useless · 2008-01-02, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramster

Look at Greenguy, he does not only run Link-O-Rama. Look at Kit, he does not only run PenisBot. More competition in the free porn biz.

Yes, exactly. Too many people publishing too much free porn. I doubt you would argue that you wouldn't see a sales increase if even half of the free shit was dumped tomorrow.

Ramster · 2008-01-02, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Yes, exactly. Too many people publishing too much free porn. I doubt you would argue that you wouldn't see a sales increase if even half of the free shit was dumped tomorrow.

Yes I totally agree. Paysite sales would SURELY go up and everyone would be happy if there was less free porn.

My only point was we all provide free porn samples to the masses in the hopes of up-selling them to the paysite. We all complain there is too much free porn yet we ALL provide more of it each and every day. Ironic really.

Useless · 2008-01-02, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramster

We all complain there is too much free porn yet we ALL provide more of it each and every day. Ironic really.

Actually, I don't have anywhere near enough pages of free porn out there. It's the rest of you that are the problem.

LD · 2008-01-02, 12:29 PM

I wonder too if a more open society works against us. Porn used to have a more forbidden quality. While it's not exactly prime time now, it's a little more mainstream than it was say 15 years ago, and as someone mentioned, so accessible. When it's more out in the open, I think people will perceive it as being worth less. Back in the 60's, a good vhs tape could easliy cost $100US, and that's before inflation.

Of course UL is right about too much free stuff out there. If it were up to me, all freesites would contain only softcore, with hardcore being available through paid memberships only. If something like that could happen (doubtful...the genie's out of the bottle now), I think we'd all be better off. Shame there isn't some society or organization that would work to fight this in the pron industry.

NY Jester · 2008-01-02, 11:04 AM

Quote:

And for the record. I made more money last month than I have ever made in 1 month ever in this biz

Ramster, thats a good omen for the year to come I hope it can rub off and continue.

Bobc01 · 2008-01-02, 05:40 PM

I think free porn is a small part of the big picture, things like Consumer online fears and fear of ID theft play a massive part.

Many people won't use ATM machines here anymore let alone buy online through all the hype on fraud.

LeRoy · 2008-01-02, 10:56 PM

Ok rant time.

1)Torrent sites being the first to sign-up to your program and sell your content for a few bucks.
2)The cocksucking double dipping content providers. oops did that come out.
3) Big Link List's that send an auto reply to you. Making you think you are in their cue. Which in actuality you are creating a major one way linking hub to that LL until you realize they just wont list you.

4) Oh Yah Free Porn. I'm guilty too. Gotta keep up with the times I guess.

I just had a few drinks so I'll shut up now

xxxjay · 2008-01-03, 02:45 AM

I can name a few things making it much harder:

1. Illegal Tube Sites
2.Torrent Sites
3. Unsaturation of Big Sponsors
4. Weak US Dollar
5. Lack of innovation

matyko · 2008-01-23, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxxjay

I can name a few things making it much harder:

1. Illegal Tube Sites
2.Torrent Sites
3. Unsaturation of Big Sponsors
4. Weak US Dollar
5. Lack of innovation

6. too much scammers/cheaters in biz
7. not enough willing to work hard [most ppl in this biz]

unlimited additions are avaible

Good news is that anybody willing to work and learn hard can make a living from porn.. I hope

Maj. Stress · 2008-02-02, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxxjay

I can name a few things making it much harder:
5. Lack of innovation

I'll go along with that one. We are marketing to a group of people that either grew up with online porn or have gotten accustomed to it. We are marketing the same thing (people fucking) to the same group of people in the same way.

Look at the evolution of the movie industry (which has been struggling somewhat). They started out with motion pictures and people came. The quality of the movies improved and they held the audience. Then they actually had sound where you could hear people talk. Add color, special effects, etc. All of a sudden they hit a dead end. Pretty soon they were remaking movies or we got Rocky 1-100. Same shit different version.

To much free porn? How about to many free movies. I can turn on the tube and watch movies all day long. Is that the reason I don't go to the cinema? No. The reason is they don't offer anything I feel is worth my time and money. It's the same old shit rehashed. The adult industry now has the same problem.

MattatKaras · 2008-02-05, 03:23 AM

Something I have noticed since returning to the biz after a few years off is that the quality of free sites has improved too much. I think there are a few reasons for this, one being that hosting is so much cheaper these days so free sites serve up better graphics and thumbnail views of galleries instead of text links. Another is that surfers now have broadband connections so free sites can deliver more without the pages loading too slowly. One more reason is the sheer proliferation of free sites and "newbies" with great design skills who think they must compete to make their site more attractive than all others.

Unfortunately I see this attitude being encouraged in these forums.

The effect of these quality free sites is that the paysites no longer seem very attractive in comparison. I've said it before that you should design a free site to look interesting but not professional so as to keep the distinction between free and pay in terms of quality.

When a surfer visits a pay site tour after viewing a free gallery they should be hit with better graphics and promises of content that they know they won't get for free.

I mean fuck, I 've checked out some of my sponsors FHGs and they look better than their tours; What the fuck are they thinking? I really do blame the quality free sites (and maybe quality FHGs) for keeping many credit cards inside wallets.

2007-12-31, 10:08 AM	#1
LD wtfwjd? Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,103	Why is this business harder these days? I'm a relative newcomer, but one thing I read here over and over is how this business used to be much more lucrative. Why is that? More people have computers now, memberships are less than the cost of a few trips to Starbucks, people still like to have sex...perhaps it's a matter of keeping up with what people want, which can be dynamic and ever changing. I keep reading that porn is a gazillion billion dollar industry or something like that...yet it seems harder to make money now than say 8-10 years ago. Is it too much free stuff? Perhaps the supply has outgrown the demand (seeing all the adult websites out there, I do wonder...). Type in "fuck, sex" in Google, and you've got 100's of pages of porn to choose from. You can have the best porn in the universe, but people gotta find you...things seem very Google driven...how long can that last? Like a lot of people, I always reflect this time of year, and I guess the bigger question I have on my mind is how can we better adapt to changes that are inevitable? Going into 2008, I want to try to focus a little better on what it takes to succeed. Yes, I know you have to work hard and bust your ass...but it you work hard and bust your ass and lose your ass, then what have you accomplished? __________________ Artisteer Wordpress Theme Generator Create Custom Themes! My Little Network

2007-12-31, 12:41 PM	#3
HowlingWulf Me fail English? That's unpossible! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: FL Posts: 1,381	It's not so much the amount of the business, it's also the number of people you have to split it with. The number of programs and affiliates has exploded, so competition has increased a ton. __________________ WordPress Porn directory theme => Maddos Create a Porn Tube => Video Pornster

2007-12-31, 01:31 PM	#4
NY Jester ICQ:147079406 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: RockMEHardplace Posts: 2,996	I think the Internet surfer has become more savvy. 6-8 years ago, porn was put together but not like today. The average surfer can find free porn today where as years ago, you had to sift through, in my opinion more BS than today. I remember when I found the Hun as a new Internet user I was like ahhhh Heaven..I think there are more legitimate directories these days. Therefore, more bookmarkers of free smut. __________________ The Sexy Side of Porn

2007-12-31, 01:43 PM	#5
Useless Certified Nice Person Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Dirty Undies, NY Posts: 11,268	Four golden words: Too Much Free Porn. The money is there, but you need to be more savvy to make it. You need to be able to convince the surfer that the grass is greener on the other side of the join page. __________________ Click here to purchase a bridge I'm selling.

2007-12-31, 03:22 PM	#9
NY Jester ICQ:147079406 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: RockMEHardplace Posts: 2,996	thanks UW i coulndt write that in 5 words or less... __________________ The Sexy Side of Porn

2007-12-31, 11:14 AM	#2
Bobc01 Banned Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hell Posts: 817	More than likely competing with the amount of spam and shit on the net would be half of it. Too much free porn, scam sites or anything else that's typically associated with porn now that drives people away. No one will give a fuck untill it all ends and then they'll blame everyone but themselves.

2007-12-31, 03:56 PM	#10
Bill Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip! Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 3,914	Most of those "Porn makes X Billions a Year" articles are bullshit, by the way. Porn makes significantly less than those articles suggest. Those headlines are used to attracty readers and incite envy. If you do the research yourself, you'll see that those headlines are all basically lies.

2007-12-31, 04:02 PM	#11
ronnie Wheither you think you can or you think you can't, Your right. Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: midwest Posts: 2,274	When I started it was easier, some say no, but they are full of shit. I remember making avs sites and every one I created, made money, every one. Was just a matter of making enough. I remember getting search engine traffic without even trying. As already mentioned, I think the biggest problem is the competition. Seems every body and their brother is trying to sling porn, not to mention the bathroom gangs. And now with free blog hosting and blog automation, rss, ect, people are cranking out massive scale crap, crap thats clogging up everything including the search engines. And with all these people, more free porn. The sponsors don't help because they give so much to the webmasters, which is another problem, as the content is all marked with sponsors url's, easy for the surfer to bypass the webmaster. Zango and the likes stealing sales. Too much crap. Like bob said, they will just blame every one else. To me, there is no other industry online that gives away so much content. How to adapt? In my opinion, be different and interesting, even unusual. It's very possible without needing to give away the cow. Most every one is doing the same thing (myself included). Doesn't work like it use to.

2008-01-01, 06:27 PM	#13
RageCash-Ben No offence Apu, but when they were handing out religions you must have been out taking a whizz Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 286	While it is true you can still make a good living if you adapt and evolve 2008 is going to be an interesting year for the industry. __________________ Meat Cash 8 Week $100 PPS Promo

2008-01-02, 08:48 AM	#14
Ramster Life is good Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 11,701	Too Much Free Porn? Bullshit. Ok, not totally bullshit but exaggerated. Most of the people here on Greenguy and Jim make their money by providing FREE PORN in the form of building free sites or submitting galleries and running tgps and link lists. Well that is free porn, and you all do that right? You guys all provide free porn to make money. So Too Much Free Porn? Yes you are correct but I think more on the form of so many more webmasters now to compete with. And not only webmasters but 1 webmaster running 10 sites now instead of 1. Look at Greenguy, he does not only run Link-O-Rama. Look at Kit, he does not only run PenisBot. More competition in the free porn biz. Is it harder to make money now than it was 5 years ago? FOR SURE. But more web sites, more webmasters, smarter surfers definitely all contribute to this, not just free porn. And for the record. I made more money last month than I have ever made in 1 month ever in this biz. __________________ Pornstar Legends \| Live Cam Model Shows \| Hungarian Girls Skype: robmurray999

2008-01-02, 12:29 PM	#18
LD wtfwjd? Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,103	I wonder too if a more open society works against us. Porn used to have a more forbidden quality. While it's not exactly prime time now, it's a little more mainstream than it was say 15 years ago, and as someone mentioned, so accessible. When it's more out in the open, I think people will perceive it as being worth less. Back in the 60's, a good vhs tape could easliy cost $100US, and that's before inflation. Of course UL is right about too much free stuff out there. If it were up to me, all freesites would contain only softcore, with hardcore being available through paid memberships only. If something like that could happen (doubtful...the genie's out of the bottle now), I think we'd all be better off. Shame there isn't some society or organization that would work to fight this in the pron industry. __________________ Artisteer Wordpress Theme Generator Create Custom Themes! My Little Network

2008-01-02, 05:40 PM	#20
Bobc01 Banned Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hell Posts: 817	I think free porn is a small part of the big picture, things like Consumer online fears and fear of ID theft play a massive part. Many people won't use ATM machines here anymore let alone buy online through all the hype on fraud.

2008-01-02, 10:56 PM	#21
LeRoy "Young dumb and full of cum" Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Porn Valley Posts: 2,370	Ok rant time. 1)Torrent sites being the first to sign-up to your program and sell your content for a few bucks. 2)The cocksucking double dipping content providers. oops did that come out. 3) Big Link List's that send an auto reply to you. Making you think you are in their cue. Which in actuality you are creating a major one way linking hub to that LL until you realize they just wont list you. 4) Oh Yah Free Porn. I'm guilty too. Gotta keep up with the times I guess. I just had a few drinks so I'll shut up now __________________ JAPANESE ADULT AFFILIATE PROGRAM

2008-01-03, 02:45 AM	#22
xxxjay You can now put whatever you want in this space :) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: atlanta Posts: 1,787	I can name a few things making it much harder: 1. Illegal Tube Sites 2.Torrent Sites 3. Unsaturation of Big Sponsors 4. Weak US Dollar 5. Lack of innovation __________________ Circle Of Violence

2008-02-05, 03:23 AM	#25
MattatKaras WHO IS FONZY!?! Don't they teach you anything at school? Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Tasmania Posts: 40	Something I have noticed since returning to the biz after a few years off is that the quality of free sites has improved too much. I think there are a few reasons for this, one being that hosting is so much cheaper these days so free sites serve up better graphics and thumbnail views of galleries instead of text links. Another is that surfers now have broadband connections so free sites can deliver more without the pages loading too slowly. One more reason is the sheer proliferation of free sites and "newbies" with great design skills who think they must compete to make their site more attractive than all others. Unfortunately I see this attitude being encouraged in these forums. The effect of these quality free sites is that the paysites no longer seem very attractive in comparison. I've said it before that you should design a free site to look interesting but not professional so as to keep the distinction between free and pay in terms of quality. When a surfer visits a pay site tour after viewing a free gallery they should be hit with better graphics and promises of content that they know they won't get for free. I mean fuck, I 've checked out some of my sponsors FHGs and they look better than their tours; What the fuck are they thinking? I really do blame the quality free sites (and maybe quality FHGs) for keeping many credit cards inside wallets.