 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2008-03-12, 05:03 PM
|
#1 |
|
Internet! Is that thing still around?
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 5
|
I've got money, and that's just about it.
Hello, I'm new here and a total novice to not only the industry but the internet marketing and business world. I posted this on a lower traffic site, and thanks to Greenguy I'm now able to post on here as I was having trouble getting on.
On with the show.... So it seems that there a millions of porn sites out there with millions of people marketing them. There are affiliate programs, ebooks on how to enter the industry, turnkey websites, etc. Now, I'm looking to take my money and establish an income online. So I'm considering the adult industry, but I know nothing about it. I'm not an internet marketer, affiliate, or anything like that. I do know that I can't make money by buying some generic or even niche turnkey website. Even if I did, I wouldn't know how to market it and because it's turnkey no one else would market it for me. So does having money allow me to enter this industry successfully in some way? Can I outsource everything from content creation, to maintenance, to marketing, etc. and be successful? I do have ideas for niches and I'd like to work on the site as I learn to, but would like experts to start out. Otherwise, my money may be better spent buying an established business and then I can use that income to try things. Or is there another way to make money without having my own unique site, that having money in the first place will allow me to enter it quickly and successfully? I found a site called AdultSiteWorks that seems to do everything, though I'm not sure if they do exclusive content creation. Anyone ever use them? Any experienced insiders looking for partners/investors? Thanks |
|
|
|
2008-03-12, 07:00 PM
|
#2 |
|
Lonewolf Internet Sales
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Houston
Posts: 4,826
 |
Those that create turnkey websites would love to take your money. It's highly unlikely that you'll ever earn any of it back.
There is no quick and easy in this business, it takes time and alot of effort to be successful. Money alone is not enough. Sorry to burst your bubble. |
|
|
|
|
2008-03-12, 07:36 PM
|
#3 |
|
Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip!
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,914
|
It's definitely tough, and tricky.
In many ways it's better to start with no money or a limited amount of money - because, simply, it's harder than it looks to make money in the porn biz. And, having the right knowledge and skill set is more valuable than money. With the right knowledge, you can always make money, depending on how hard you want to work, and how much risk you wnat to take. But with only money, you are at the mercy of the people with knowledge and skills. Stay far away from "services" promising to help you make money - none of them are legitimate. None of them. You don't mention wether you want to work or just be a passive investor. If you just want to be a passive investor, I'd suggest researching sponsors and approaching them to buy in as something like a limited partner. Don't be in a hurry. Really, you would be best off setting aside some of your money to support yourself while you do nothing but study the business for a year or two, reading the boards, teach yourself the basic skillset. Then start buying up other people's work - traffic sources, percentages in sponsors, other assets - and see how well that translates into cash flow for you. Move slowly, spend slowly, concentrate on gaining knowledge and skills. That's the executive summary. |
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 01:04 AM
|
#4 |
|
I've always wondered if there was a god. And now I know there is -- and it's me
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Canada Eh!
Posts: 325
|
Being still a newb myself, I started with little money. Only thing's i spent my money on were a few domain names and hosting. Thats it.
Been at it for a little over a year now, and the money is still slowly coming in, but its coming in. You really should spend some time, hold on to your money, and get your feet wet. Once you know how this business works, how hard you realize your gonna have to work, the amount of hours it takes, THEN decide whether you want to start investing cash. The churn rate of new adult webmasters is simply mind boggling. Most of them quit once they realize it isn't easy money. Me, I would make boat loads more cash getting a second job, but I love this business so much, it doesn't feel like a job ..... well, most of the time 
__________________
EzAngels EzLinks - Submit here Last edited by Porn Junkie; 2008-03-13 at 01:07 AM.. |
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 08:22 AM
|
#5 |
|
That which does not kill us, will try, try again.
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Conch Republic
Posts: 5,150
  |
Welcome to the board
 Whether you want to be an active or passive investor is an important decision. Also, a lot would depend on the amount of money you have and/or are willing to put at risk in entering the adult business. If it's not a lot of money, then yes, the best thing to do is learn from the ground up so you'll be capable of running things based on your own intimate knowledge of how things really work. On the other hand, if you have plenty of funds to work with, then you could, as Bill mentioned, take a more passive, investor-oriented approach with some existing adult companies. Or you could buy some existing web properties, operations, traffic sources, etc., and hire a first-rate manager to oversee the webmaster(s) needed to maintain your network of sites. No, you don't ever want to use the services which offer to build your adult empire for you, or to get you up and running and making money quickly. That's just not going to happen. Bottom line is that it will take several years of hard work to build something worthwhile for yourself, or if you can afford it, you could take over an existing operation and run it well yourself or hire those who can do that for you. Finding the right web properties and other adult assets to buy--and those to avoid like the plague--and finding the right people to run things for you (and who to avoid like the aforementioned contagion), would have to be separate threads. In the meantime, keep asking questions and take lots of notes.  .
__________________
"If you're happy and you know it, think again." -- Guru Pitka |
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 09:12 AM
|
#6 |
|
Life is good
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 11,696
|
Welcome to the board.
Your best option in my opinion is to NOT buy into any program that offers you to build your site from the ground up, blah blah blah, we'll make you rich, blah blah blah. Buy a site that is online now that makes money. Buy a free site Link List or TGP that has traffic already and that makes money. Typically you'll pay 6-12 months income for a free site someone is selling. The beauty of any free site is it runs itself, you don't usually have to do anything so you can take some time to learns the ins and outs of the industry a bit more from it and from the webmaster boards like this one. |
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 09:27 AM
|
#7 | |
|
wtfwjd?
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 2,103
|
Quote:
Is there any type of legit business brokerage or listing of adult businesses for sale? A while back I did buy one of these turn-key deals, and it was a complete ripoff, but if one were interested, where are some good places to start looking for a real, legit investment in an adult business? |
|
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 12:26 PM
|
#8 | |
|
Life is good
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 11,696
|
Quote:
Check other webmaster boards, gfy usually has someone selling something there. Most sites are over-priced in their asking price but sometimes you can find a decent deal. |
|
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 07:36 PM
|
#9 | ||||||
|
Internet! Is that thing still around?
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 5
|
Alright, now there's some responses.
Quote:
I know turnkey websites aren't worth a thing, because they're too generic and not exclusive, besides other problems. That's why I was wondering about AdultSiteWorks. I guess in a way it is turnkey, but I saw more as outsourcing all jobs. I'd still be able to create a brand new niche and hire out the totally exclusive and unique niche content. Of course I had wonders if all that outsourcing would dip into profits so much that it wouldn't be worth it anyway. I checked out AdultSiteWorks in Archive.org and see they've just recently added the whole package of services. Before it was listed as coming soon, and for quite awhile. Not knocking them at all, because it looks like they do great work, I was just hoping that they had done it before for many people. Quote:
In that case, my money might have been better spent on a different avenue. But if I wasted it trying to work an industry I don't know, I would have less money to invest in other avenues later if I decided it wasn't for me. See my ignorance, I don't even know what a sponsor is. What is a sponsor that you say I could look into investing with them? Quote:
Doesn't seem likely I'll be jumping in anymore, but I may stick around and learn some stuff and get my feet wet. Who knows, might lead to a later career. However, if I'll be working a different avenue, not sure how much time I'll have to dip my toes. Quote:
I have a good amount to invest, about $150k. However, if I can't buy an existing network, or hire professionals to build a unique niche one for me, I can't jump in without first learning. Otherwise, with professionals handling I thought maybe I could learn on my way, from the boards and the professionals I've hired. Quote:
Like I said above, I've looked for sites for sale. Didn't know where though and hadn't seen any on boards I've checked. Quote:
What other boards are good and full like this one? I've joined AdultBizForums as well, but got only one response. I've seen a couple dozen others but don't know which ones are any good. Some are pretty dead. Last edited by Ptime; 2008-03-13 at 07:38 PM.. |
||||||
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 10:57 PM
|
#10 |
|
You can now put whatever you want in this space :)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 637
|
Welcome to the board....GFY is GoFuckYourself.com which is another adult webmaster board...I don't visit it that much.... I'm still a newb and all I can echo is what everyone else says which it takes a lot of time and persistance...if you want to keep more of your profits, learn from the ground up and get a good host like colo-cation...watch out for shared hosting because they'll shut you down if you take too many of their server's resources and one gallery can do that if it's listed at the right place...if you're trying to just break into the internet commerce in general, consider diversifying your holdings so to speak and push amazon.com, google adsense, commissionjunction and linkshare affiliate programs...while porn sells big on the internet, so do books and flowers...there's a shitload of ways to make money on the internet porn is not the only answer and takes daily effort over a long long long term....best of luck
|
|
|
|
|
2008-03-13, 10:57 PM
|
#11 | |
|
Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip!
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,914
|
Quote:
In any case, a sponsor is a paysite company. In general, paysite companies are the end of the line for all traffic. Paysite companies sell the surfer a membership, collect the money from the credit card, and give out portions of the money to "affiliates". We are mostly affiliates - our businesses involve getting traffic, surfers, and sending them to paysites, then receiving checks for their "signups" from the sponsor. If you look at the ads at the top of this page, most of thise ads are from sponsors, looking to find new affiliates. So, one way to use investment money, is to buy a percentage of a sponsor. Sponsors need cash to expand, and to buy or make new content. All the big money in online porn is in the hands of the sponsors. If you want to make big money, you want to become a sponsor, and operate paysites. Now, there's no quarantee that any sponsor would actually make a deal with you - I just suggest them because that's where the big money is. And, there are bigger risks and responsibilities being a sponsor, than being an affiliate. Many people make anywhere from excellent money to enough-to-survive-on money by being affiliates only. To make excellent money as an affiliate involves becoming the owner of large traffic sources. Traffic is a huge topic by itself. When people suggest to you buying a TGP or a linklist, they are talking about buying a traffic source. --- Type "gfy webmaster" into google, and you will find links to the gfy webmaster board. That board is kind of infantile, but, it has the biggest traffic of any adult webmaster board. Don't trust anybody there, until you have learned it's unwritten rules. But, it's one of the go-to places for news about the business. Many people check it out just to keep an eye on trends and people. --- By the way, I can think of several other ways to use money in this business - altho, most involve working as an affiliate. You could buy search engine traffic, for example, and specialize in that - something that requires having money to risk, but which can pay back fairly well. However, with stuff like that, we run into the "knowledge and skills" issue again. It takes knowledge and skill to do that. |
|
|
|
|
|
2008-03-16, 12:57 AM
|
#12 |
|
That'll teach you to leave your sister unattended.....
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 1,803
|
Welcome aboard - excellent thread and I'm not to sure I can add much to what's already been posted.
I did have to laugh that it is very possible to start with "big" money - and very quickly find yourself in the awkward position that many of the rest of us find ourselves in on a daily basis = BROKE  I would add a caveat to what Bill said about sponsor's having all the money..... This defiantly applies to the big, well established sponsors but there are thousands of smaller sponsors that are working very long days to just pay the bills. Some of these sponsors will make it, and some will not. I often laugh when I hear someone say that all it take is good content. There are plenty of sites out there with absolute shit for content that are doing very well and just as many with exceptional content that are struggling. The keys are marketing and niche. A good affiliate base is one of the critical cornerstones of effective internet porn marking but it won't override the need to offer something that the surfer is willing to shell out $24.00 for. . having worked in the production end of the business (as a photographer for another sponsor) for a few years before deciding to give it a try myself I had a general idea of the content side of the business. I was a total virgin to the marketing side of the adult business. The single biggest mistake I made was not doing a few years of marketing prior to launching my first pay-site. We did survive the storm and things are looking up but there were a few months where I wondered if it was all worth it. I had one advantage in that I have the basic skill sets to do pretty much everything involved in running and marketing a program: a: Solid html and css experience b: Decent communications skills c: Very good photography skills d: Competent PhotoShop skills e: Marginal but passable video editing skills f: Good general marketing skills g: Decent management skills h: And as a friend stated the other night after observing me recruit a new model "Snake charming skills" I do farm out my video editing and have this great guy called Crazy Sy build me some awesome Freesites. In addition, I've outsourced all of the heavy php and database programing to a very good local programmer. Sure I could do it, but when? Now if I could just remember if I was at the start or the end of my mandatory 20-hour workday....... |
|
|
|
|
2008-03-16, 11:18 PM
|
#13 |
|
Internet! Is that thing still around?
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 5
|
Hey thanks guys. Really great responses. This is a true forum.
I won't be building a site, but I think I'll stick around for awhile. Lurking the forums and seeing what I can learn. Maybe dip into some affiliate marketing. I've got some other dishes on my table, so we'll see how much time I'll have after I choose one. Thanks again, see ya around. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Linear Mode
