That was a favorite saying of my father but before any cat lover out there takes offence let me say that I have never skinned a cat in my life and as far as I know my father never did either. Nor was my father ever inciting me to commit violence towards cats, rather it was just his way of suggesting that there is always more than one way to achieve your goals.
"It takes time to gain the necessary experience to actually make sales and months may pass before the elusive first sale is achieved." |
Many people entering this industry have at least a vague idea of what they are going to do to make money. Usually their stated goal is to make enough money that they can give up their day job. The exact formula that they intend to use to achieve that goal is often a little lacking on detail but they quickly learn that the best way to get started is by selling memberships through sponsor sites.
Obviously, the way most of them try and make their sales is by advertising on free sites, AVS sites and TGP galleries. After a short time in the industry they begin to think that they can achieve their goal faster if they start a pay site and so they move in what they see as a logical progression towards wealth and early retirement.
Of course, not everyone achieves those goals. It takes time to gain the necessary experience to actually make sales and months may pass before the elusive first sale is achieved. Almost as many months can pass before the second sale is achieved and of course, a lot of people give up in that period of time because they realise that they just don't have what it takes to make it as an adult webmaster.
Even those who do have what it takes may not be happy with the income level that they generate and may consider leaving the industry. That is where the poor skinless cat comes into the equation.
Remember, the original goal was to establish an income level that would enable you to leave your boring day job. The original goal was not to make enough through membership sales to leave your day job. There is a subtle but important difference.
Lots of people do very well from selling memberships through sponsor sites. My wife is one of them and, while I might like to do better, I don't do too badly either. If there was an identifiable formula I just might be tempted to share it with you, but there isn't. Some people can do it a whole lot better than me and some can't do it at all. They can use all the tips and tricks that more experienced webmasters use and it still doesn't happen for them.
For those people there are other things to do in this industry. Just remember the original goal and you will understand that your income does not have to depend on your ability as a salesman.
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People come into this industry from all walks of life. I know programmers, graphic designers, a bus driver, a prostitute, an ex-merchant banker and a swag of other people who are all doing very well in the on-line adult industry without making one single sale to a surfer.
Each of them has established a steady income stream by working as contractors for other webmasters. None of them set out to do that, each of them came in to the industry with a view to making money in the 'traditional' manner and each of them had reasonable success with that. However, each of them saw an opportunity to diversify and they took it when the opportunity presented itself.
Most of us have used skills that we had before we came into this industry. Others grabbed a passing opportunity and made an effort to develop new skills and found that they could meet the challenges.
My situation was that at the beginning of the year I was building TGP2 galleries and doing ok. I'm still building sites and galleries and doing ok but now I'm beginning to diversify into writing. My partner is also making a very large slice of her income from writing. Writing was something that I had done years ago whereas my partner had never tried it before. Despite our almost opposite backgrounds writing is working for both of us.
If you have some skills that are in demand in the adult on-line industry or you feel you have some ability then watch out for the chance to use them or develop them. Programmers, graphic designers, writers, photographers are all in demand in this industry.
All you have to do is network and help people. Soon your skills will be noticed and people will start coming to you offering you paid work that can at least supplement your income. In some instances the people I've mentioned above have totally changed their income mix and now make far more from their contract work than they do from membership sales.
So don't think that the only way to achieve your goal is by selling memberships or by starting your own pay site. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat in this industry.