Ah the paysite. Paysite owners reside in the upper echelon of the adult webmaster hierarchy. When you own a paysite, you get all the money. No dealing with TGP reviewer rules. No working your ass off for measly commissions from affiliate sponsors. When you run a paysite you’re in control.
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"I don't give a shit what your previous experience is, if you're new to the adult Internet, you don't know jack." |
If you build it, they will come. What a naïve load of horse crap! This line of thinking is fine for the central theme of a Hollywood movie. It’s not so good when applied to the adult Internet. Ask any paysite owner and they will tell you, it takes a lot more effort than just building one to become successful at selling cyber porn.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t give a shit what your previous experience is, if you’re new to the adult Internet, you don’t know jack. Far too often I’ve seen the tragic results when a newbie takes on the mantle of paysite owner. I’ve watched MBA holders fail miserably. I’ve observed prominent print and video pornographers go bankrupt on paysite ventures. I’ve observed those with vast experience in the Internet mainstream lose huge amounts of cash due directly to their inexperience with the adult web.
I don’t own a paysite and frankly, I don’t want to. I don’t know everything there is to know in this business but I know enough to understand my place in it. I’m not paysite owner material. Actually, I figured that out when I worked in the physical world. I’ve been employed by all kinds of business owners and they work hard as hell to make their money. Outsiders see the end results of a successful business.
Outsiders have no idea of the efforts entailed and financial investments involved with running a profitable company. It’s no different for an adult paysite owner. If you want to make money you have to work your ass off.
Here’s a couple of questions you should ask yourself before you decide to open an adult paysite:
You’re going to have to have lots of it if you want to open a mainstream paysite. You’ll need to purchase gigs and gigs and gigs of content and you’ll have to keep buying content as long as your site is online. You’ll also have to pay top dollar for a top-quality site design as well as high-end scripts to run your paysite efficiently. You’ll want to shell out big money for hosting that’s both ample and reliable for your business. If you want to avoid the fees of a third-party billing service then be prepared to pay the fees and penalties required of a merchant account.
You might also want to remember that statistically, very few businesses turn a profit in their first year. In fact, the majority of businesses online or not- fail in the first year. Do you have enough money to keep you fed and sheltered while you struggle to make your paysite profitable? Will you have extra money for emergency situations like server crashes or when the bank withholds your funds because of chargeback issues? You can’t dip into the till and you can’t borrow from Peter to pay Paul, not if you want to succeed with a paysite.
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What is "the stuff"? Well, if you don’t know, then you don’t have it. "The stuff" is knowledge, talent and drive.
You have to have the knowledge of how this industry works before you open an adult paysite. Do you know about the laws concerning the dissemination of pornographic images over the web? If you build a paysite, will you know how to market it? What do you know of traffic purchasing and search engine optimization? Are you familiar enough with this field to know which types of porn sell the best? Can you recognize a saleable site design from a bandwidth-eating layout? As far as bandwidth is concerned, can you say you honestly understand the concept of storage and transfer fees? Can you administrate your own web server? If you desire to hire an outside administrator, how will you know you’re getting the best candidate? What about customer support? Are you going to handle it?
Even with knowledge, some folks just don’t have the talent it takes to sell porn on the Internet. Sure, sex is a reliable product. That’s why there’s thousands and thousands of webmasters out there selling it. Those thousands and thousands are already far ahead of you in the game. Do you have the talent to rise above the competition? Can you create a clickable banner or alluring text link? Do you know how to build a tour that converts? Do you have the gift of self-promotion when it comes to other adult webmasters? Can you discern the distinction between effective marketing and spam?
Say you have the talent and the knowledge. Do you have the drive? Are you willing to work round the clock to keep your members happy? Are you willing to give up your free time in order run a paysite? To do it right takes constant vigilance.
I’m not trying to be a dream crusher or a player hater. If I were that mean I’d keep this wisdom to myself. I’d sit back and laugh as you crash and burn. Then I’d come around and loot all your booty. If you want take on the responsibility of a paysite owner, it wouldn’t be Cozy for me to keep mum.