The Adult Internet industry is, give or take, about 15 years old. Do you remember your dreams and plans from when you younger? I do. Let me tell you, none of them involved working in porn. What I do remember is that more than anything, I wanted to make a difference in the world. Many people are convinced that there’s no redeeming social value in what we do. I vehemently disagree. Our profession has given tens of thousands of individuals the opportunities and freedoms that come with self-employment. The success of Internet porn proved to skeptics that money could indeed, be made on the web. Numerous technologies became standards as a result of our unofficial beta testing. As well, for the millions of lonely, sexually frustrated humans that are in this world, we have given them precious moments of attention and release. When I think back to the dreams of my younger self, my 49-year-old-self is neither ashamed nor disappointed.
| "The water is deep and the fish are busy. There’s nothing wrong with trying to keep up but if you’re swimming and swimming and going nowhere, what good is that?" |
Now, think back to a more recent time, the time you decided you were going to give adult webmastering a go. Think back to what drove you there. Was it a desire to become your own boss? Was it the need to make additional income? Whatever your original reasons, after you began the process, you came to realize that this business is far more complicated and difficult than you were led to believe. Either you learned this on your own or you were schooled by your fellow webmasters. However you came to that conclusion, once you arrived at it, you went to work like a horse - making sites and galleries, pushing sponsors, reading lessons, posting on boards - doing everything an anything in order to keep your head above water.
How’s that going? Are you doing well? Are you better off than you were when you started? Our entire profession is suffering. Are you one of the precious few that isn’t hurting or are you pimping harder than ever because sales are way down? If you’re like me, you’re feeling the pinch and it fucking hurts. If you’re like me, then you’re doing what I’m doing. You’re stepping back to better assess your situation.
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I’m not asking you to return to unrealistic visions of gangsta-mogul bullshit. I’m in no way advising you to go back to being the clueless, cock-sure newb you once were. Surely by now, you had that silliness beat out of you. You know very well that at best, if you work your ass off, you’ll make a decent living and you’ll do it by following tried and true methods that have already been established by your peers. You are fully aware that most of the good ideas have already been envisioned and exploited. You understand that when it comes to pushing Internet porn, elbow grease trumps genius, nine times out of ten. If you are a newbie, read this paragraph again and take it to heart.
What I’m asking you to do is stop, be still and look at what you’re doing right now.
How many sites do you own? When was the last time you upgraded any of them? How about your many domains? Are they sitting, unused in some queue, waiting for you to do nothing more than pay for another year’s registration? What about your sponsors? It’s great that you got over your obsessive stat-checking disease but have you taken the time to determine whether or not old sponsors are still productive or even in business, for that matter? Remember your very first niche? You know, the one you loved? Have you given that niche any love lately?
Here’s the deal:
This business is fast moving and each day is filled with hustle and build, hustle and build. We often get so caught up in the day-to-day, we lose sight of our goals. We forget that somewhere along the line, each of us had a dream. The water is deep and the fish are busy. There’s nothing wrong with trying to keep up but if you’re swimming and swimming and going nowhere, what good is that?
Find a life preserve or a piece of driftwood. Find anything you can grab onto and pull yourself out of the sea for a minute. Take a good look at the waters below you, behind you and ahead of you. Locate land, determine the best route and take it.