Why This Industry May Explode In Size Soon

[BOONESTOONS]

I know some of you, like me follow the real estate and financial news.

As you can see from the headlines shit is gettin' shakier than a belly dancers navel in an earthquake zone.

The estimates on foreclosures and job losses due to the distablized financial front isn't going to be the end of the world but it's going to be fucked up.

I, for one, am working as fast as I can to snag up some great but cheap real estate. According to the estimates it's going to be at least 4 years before things come back IF they do. We get hit with another terrorist attack of note or another Katrina and shit will get shakier.

I'm working with pals in real estate and the destruction to the economics of people is horrendous and it's only gonna get worse before
it gets better. People are scrambling to make ends meet. Often asking how to make that extra few $G's a month to keep them out of Dodge.

Sure enough the question about the adult industry comes up. Now I'll tell you, there are some women in my neighborhood who may not be fashion models but if they put up a website just with them with nude pics they'd make out just alright.

I've actually been getting asked how to set up adult sites etc. Not only from women but couples and such.

People are starting to see the porn industry as mainstream as regular television. It's not as controversial as it used to be. The shock value has worn off. There are many new programs that make starting a site a lot easier and tutorials and services that are too good to be passed over. Even if you don't use it for an adult site you can apply most to doing biz on the web.

So I suspect considering the massive need for capital that there's going to be a surge of talent and interest and investors for this biz by mid 2008. I say that because Christmas is gonna be weird with the toy market fucked up, people overspend, then taxes next year will kick their asses.

Those new mortgage rates kicking in, and wham, a recipe for disaster.

You guys know as well as me, that just one model with that pizzazz can make a fortune almost overnight. Or a new niche with lots of fresh content can turn the tide of battle.

Best be on the lookout.

[virgohippy]

I never liked being selfish with my girlfriends anyway.

[Receptor]

So this means the industry will expand with new affiliates and niches? What about customers? We could use some extra ones ... And I think it might happen aswell - when inflation comes and jobs are closed people start drinking and watching porn (I hope)

[Jim]

I don't think anyone has a choice but to follow financial news. Especially with the Canadian Dollar worth more than the US Dollar But, I never gave more people coming into this business very much thought. I suppose it could happen but I don't think it will be that large. And, the natural filter that comes with being in this business will get rid of most.

Receptor has the question right... What about customers? We did talk about this some time ago but I don't think anyone really knows.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Receptor

What about customers? We could use some extra ones ... And I think it might happen as well - when inflation comes and jobs are closed people start drinking and watching porn (I hope)

Originally Posted by Jim

Receptor has the question right... What about customers? We did talk about this some time ago but I don't think anyone really knows.

Yep, just put your money into buying pawn shops and liquor stores and you'll do just fine.

Actually I'm wondering when sponsors will start retooling their affiliate programs to take the USA and worldwide economies into more account. I'm not sure that $30/month (and more) for a monthly membership is going to continue to work as well as some other pricing options.

And I'm not talking about more free trials or short-term paid trials, which are meaningless if the monthly prices stay at the same levels. I'm referring to having much lower monthly memberships for full-blown paysites that aren't just filled with upsells to 'full memberships' and links to other paysites. I mean memberships that you're glad you paid for, especially at the price you paid, and that you're not rushing to cancel right after you join.

We all know there's way too much free porn out there. I think what's needed are ways to convince a lot more of the current free porn surfers to spend some (small amount of) money in order to get access to much better porn. If we don't get more surfers used to paying for porn, and used to being happy they did, we'll just keep losing them to the various free porn alternatives.

Unfortunatley, there are plenty of webmasters who think if they can't make $30-$50 on pay per signup, then the program isn't worth promoting. So I'm also wondering what sponsors will have to do in order to get a lot more surfers to sign up for low-priced long-term memberships without losing their affiliate webmasters.

Not that there's any real correlation, but the New York Times is dropping its subscription model at midnight today after a 2-year test. It was generating about $10 million a year in revenue with monthly and annual subscriptions, but they say they believe they can do much better by eliminating the $49.95/year or $7.95/month fees.

Okay, enough out of me for now. Anyone else think there's room for some major changes in how we market to porn surfers, including changes in how memberships are priced?





.

[spookyx]

Originally Posted by Simon

Actually I'm wondering when sponsors will start retooling their affiliate programs to take the USA and worldwide economies into more account. I'm not sure that $30/month (and more) for a monthly membership is going to continue to work as well as some other pricing options.

And I'm not talking about more free trials or short-term paid trials, which are meaningless if the monthly prices stay at the same levels. I'm referring to having much lower monthly memberships for full-blown paysites that aren't just filled with upsells to 'full memberships' and links to other paysites. I mean memberships that you're glad you paid for, especially at the price you paid, and that you're not rushing to cancel right after you join.

We all know there's way too much free porn out there. I think what's needed are ways to convince a lot more of the current free porn surfers to spend some (small amount of) money in order to get access to much better porn. If we don't get more surfers used to paying for porn, and used to being happy they did, we'll just keep losing them to the various free porn alternatives.

Unfortunatley, there are plenty of webmasters who think if they can't make $30-$50 on pay per signup, then the program isn't worth promoting. So I'm also wondering what sponsors will have to do in order to get a lot more surfers to sign up for low-priced long-term memberships without losing their affiliate webmasters.

Not that there's any real correlation, but the New York Times is dropping its subscription model at midnight today after a 2-year test. It was generating about $10 million a year in revenue with monthly and annual subscriptions, but they say they believe they can do much better by eliminating the $49.95/year or $7.95/month fees.

Okay, enough out of me for now. Anyone else think there's room for some major changes in how we market to porn surfers, including changes in how memberships are priced?





.

Simon you are so correct on this, for a long time i have thought that paysites charge too much, one of the things we did this week was offer the affiliate the choice of pricing with a 16.95, 24.95 or 29.95 tour. I'll keep everyone posted on how well the lower priced one retain.

[Jel]

Paysites are too pricey? I'll be the first to say then that imo they are too cheap. I'm a newbie, but how long now has the standard been around $30 a month for revshare sites?

[plateman]

those filters jim mentioned are, it's just plain to hard anymore and most will find out and quit, the days of the newbie coming in this biz with no money is gone....

what simon said about pricing and from seeing what sells on my LL are pay sites that have a 24.95 or 29.95 or 34.95 membership price...

the 39.95 pay sites I can say my traffic will NOT pay that for a membership, I won't even build for a program who asks that much for a membership and wont even add anymore links on my LL...

also I've noticed lately that sponsors who wont show the membership price on there join page and want you to put your info into to see it, are just not plain selling....and we know who those well known programs are, and to tell you the truth there on my to pull there links list...and I dont care how exclusive there reality sites are

well I see now that one program shows how much a membership is - 39.95

[Cleo]

Funny reading this thread as Foxy and I have been disagreeing about how much to charge for FoxyAngel for sometime now. She wants to keep it at 24.95 and I want to raise it to 29.95.

Considering what it costs to produce fresh content each month I think FoxyAngel's members are getting a hell of a deal at 24.95 a month.

[Toby]

My #1 sponsor charges $34.95 and $39.95 a month, the latter is non-recurring.

[Jel]

Originally Posted by Cleo

Funny reading this thread as Foxy and I have been disagreeing about how much to charge for FoxyAngel for sometime now. She wants to keep it at 24.95 and I want to raise it to 29.95.

Considering what it costs to produce fresh content each month I think FoxyAngel's members are getting a hell of a deal at 24.95 a month.

I believe you'll see no reduction in sales if you increase it. I have a sponsor who started at 24.95 and after a year I asked them if they'd raise to 29.95, they were reluctant but after some discussion took the plunge. No decrease whatsoever, and of course, more revenue for both/all parties.

[stuveltje]

now with the dollar much lower in value then the euro, its a good thing to raise the price, well only if you focus on european traffic, you know, european have visa also and for them its cheaper to pay in dollars then in euros well at this moment then

[cockhungryhoes]

If think if you allow the affiliate choose the pricing it's good. It allows for more choice. Making the prices cheaper is better, the surfer stops even thinking about how much there paying and it leads to longer retention.

[Beaver Bob]

Originally Posted by Jel

I believe you'll see no reduction in sales if you increase it. I have a sponsor who started at 24.95 and after a year I asked them if they'd raise to 29.95, they were reluctant but after some discussion took the plunge. No decrease whatsoever, and of course, more revenue for both/all parties.

agreed. we did the same thing for a few of our sites. IMO if the content is exclusive and high-quality, and its updated at least weekly, $30 a month is a good membership rate.

[BOONESTOONS]

Man, I'm glad you guys chimed in. Today the Fed cut the prime rate. That leaves more money in the consumer's pocket. It allows for more credit too. It was just what the doctor ordered.

A newbie entering this biz to build a site can't start without a worthy investment. In my case I draw my content. No one to pay. Just gimme some Starbucks and Robek's and I'm good to go.

The cost of memberships should be within reach but not too much. If it's too easy, it makes the surfer feel like it ain't worth it. If it's too high the surfer feels standoffish, if it's high but reasonable then you get the bite and attract affiliates. I'm rebuilding my affiliate program. I have to listen to the webmasters and customers. Come to a meeting of the minds so to speak.

[SheepGuy]

When the Ameicans cut prime, usually their dollar should drop relative to other currencies. I'm hoping that doesn't happen this tiime around because it was the only sensible thing to do on their part. I'm just looking forward to Bush getting the bums rush so all you folks south of the border can have a better economy and I can get better exchange rates

[Simon]

Just to clarify something, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having high(er) prices in general. In another business some years ago I doubled prices once to see if we could. Test results were so amazing we doubled them again, and then raised them again later in the year. We consistently wrote more orders at the highest prices.

However, we were aiming at a market segment which actually responded to that kind of pricing strategy. Sort of a "how could we charge so much more than anyone else unless we're really the best" approach.

So I do like using higher prices whenever it makes sense to do so. And for any and all sponsors who believe that's the way to go, then more power to you and all good wishes that things work out the way you want them to.

I would suggest doing some trackable testing of other pricing strategies though. Outside of our affiliate program we've had some very interesting results with tests offering lower prices and longer term memberships. We generated a lot more signups in general plus had a very nice percentage of the signups opt for 6-month, 1-year and lifetime memberships. And we have many of the 1-month signups who are still members a year later.

So try some tests if you can. As a sponsor or an affiliate in a revshare program, remember that a $30 membership which only renews a time or two is worth about the same as a $15 membership which renews four to six times. Now what if you can get 100 new signups at $15/month versus 50 signups at $30/month? And what if you can get some of the signups to be for 3-, 6-, or 12-month memberships?

And what if we can get more surfers used to paying for porn (again)?

Just something to think about.




.

[tickler]

Hoping for better ways of processing for non-NA countries. There is a whole lot of people out there that I want to get money from.

[JustRobert]

Originally Posted by Simon

So try some tests if you can. As a sponsor or an affiliate in a revshare program, remember that a $30 membership which only renews a time or two is worth about the same as a $15 membership which renews four to six times. Now what if you can get 100 new signups at $15/month versus 50 signups at $30/month? And what if you can get some of the signups to be for 3-, 6-, or 12-month memberships?

Have a program that tried the $15 awhile back as a promotional boost sales tactic. Numerous sign ups rebilled for over a year, about 6 over 2yrs, 1 cancelled just shy of 3yrs and the last one just rebilled last week at 41 months which is longest I have had anyone rebill.

Not sure if its the lower rate or just the program, which does have a solid 4 to 12 month rebill rate anyway.

Originally Posted by Simon

And what if we can get more surfers used to paying for porn (again)?

Sure would be nice, Simon

[Sacred Belle]

very interesting stuff in here. you guys know your shit, thats for sure!!

[Ramster]

Originally Posted by Cleo

Funny reading this thread as Foxy and I have been disagreeing about how much to charge for FoxyAngel for sometime now. She wants to keep it at 24.95 and I want to raise it to 29.95.

Considering what it costs to produce fresh content each month I think FoxyAngel's members are getting a hell of a deal at 24.95 a month.

Agreed. I too wanted Sean to raise the NS Cash sites to $29.95 from $24.95. A small increase would increase monthly revenue huge for us paysite owners (and the webmasters too) and IMO won't be a problem when it comes to joins.

$30 and under are good monthly member ship fees. Should be $25 minimum.

[alexey]

Today; 20-09-2007
The Dollar reached it's lowest point vs. the EURO!
Program owners: If the client is located in Europe; Let those clients pay in EURO!! ( a fixed price like 25€ instead of $30 for example )
Both program owners & affiliates would benefit from this

[Tommy]

really i think that the argument that the bad real estate market is gonna get a lot of people into the porn website buisness is sort of stupid (no offence)

you could use the same argument and say a lot of people are gonna get into the hotdog cart buisness or become cab drivers etc etc

[SirMoby]

Originally Posted by BOONESTOONS

Man, I'm glad you guys chimed in. Today the Fed cut the prime rate. That leaves more money in the consumer's pocket. It allows for more credit too. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Usually rate cuts take about 18 months to show any effect on consumers. Rate cuts can't do anything about the massive borrowing that we've been doing to boot our economy. 6 years of borrowing money without investing in infrastructure is taking its toll.

What's happening now is just the beginning. Get ready for a couple of tough years.

[Carl]

Originally Posted by BOONESTOONS

I, for one, am working as fast as I can to snag up some great but cheap real estate. According to the estimates it's going to be at least 4 years before things come back IF they do. We get hit with another terrorist attack of note or another Katrina and shit will get shakier.

If they do??? ahahahahaah

Sure things will level back out in time and even get better. Its not like some one is making new land in India, or in China and shipping it over at a lower price. People will always need a place to live, and its not like the population is getting any lower.