Understanding the demographics of your customer base is very important in determining both marketing and packaging.

A 22 year old webmaster may make the mistake of packaging his product the way he thinks it would sell to other guys in his age group. This would be a huge mistake, because the majority of your PAYING customer base is between the ages of 35 and 65.

Using slang common to a younger age bracket will hurt you, as the majority may not even understand what it is you are saying…WORD! Older folks, including yours truly, tend to have poor eyesight. We absolutely hate web sites with teeny tinny fine print. And you are very mistaken if you think I have the same taste in music as you do. Not that I’m suggesting you should have music on a porn site to begin with, but I digress.

Older people use Email, while IM and text messaging are the choice of the younger crowd. So why would you insist on providing support via IM when most of your paying customers don’t even have it installed?

I could go on and on about how some of you young pups screw up in trying to hit the consumer’s hot buttons. Bottom line is you need to know and understand your customer, no matter how old you are.

This is one of many articles I’ll post for those of you interested in producing your own content. My focus will be more on working with the models and equipment, than dealing with the legal (2257) stuff.

A lot of people like to produce because of the so-called fringe benefits. More bluntly put, they want a steady flow of cute boys to fool around with. I strongly discourage this conduct. It’s bad for business, both yours and other producers. The biggest fear these potential models have is that you are going to want more than pictures. Pushing yourself on a guy will at best get you one shoot, but you will never see him again. And if that guy turns out to be a real moneymaker, you just fucked yourself. On top of that, the model is going to tell others about his bad experience with you. Over time a bad reputation will make it difficult to recruit new models.

Keep it strictly business, and tell the model you expect the same from him. He will respect you for that and he will perform better. If you treat your models with respect, they will be happy to let you use them as a reference when recruiting new models. They may even bring you new models. Word of mouth goes both ways.

This is not to say you won’t end up having sex with some of the models, but it needs to be done with mutual consent. Don’t rationalize what that means. If the business side of it is in anyway connected to the sex, then you should not be doing it. Telling the model he will get more shoots if he keeps the photographer happy is not mutual consent. It’s pressuring the model into having sex if he wants the work. Don’t go there!

Here is a very basic rule you should follow in packaging your web site’s presentation.

People do not read. They follow the pictures.

I realize there are exceptions to everything, but generally a lot of text in a sales pitch is a waste of time and effort. More effective is to use fewer words that are in large font, so they are seen in the peripheral as the consumer looks at your sample pictures. Focus on throwing key words at them that will hit their horny button. Things like action, hardcore, anal, oral, cum shots, twink, amateur, rough, close-ups, and so on.

Sentences or paragraphs should be placed at the end of your presentation, or at the bottom of the pages. They should be designed to satisfy the discriminating consumer that wants more detail, or to close the sale at the end.

When consumers hit your home page you need to grab them and pull them in. The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is something you should take to heart in designing your presentations.

Market research shows that a full-page magazine ad gets viewed for about 2 seconds before the page is turned. What are you going to do to get the customer’s attention in two seconds?

Have you heard about the new law Utah and Michigan passed? They make it illegal to send an Email, to any address in their registry that contains advertising or links to advertising for products or services prohibited to a minor. This includes products, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, prescription drugs, or adult-oriented material. Anyone that does not comply is subject to fines of up to $30,000 or prison time of up to three years, or both.

I can see it now. Right wing religious conservatives signing up to adult mailing lists and then filing a complaint when adult Email is sent to their kids’ Email address. These new laws do not protect mailing lists from this sort of malicious activity.

Then I wonder what would happen to these states’ legal systems if thousands of individuals started filing complaints? Could it overload the states’ resources and create a legal logjam?

See article at AVN Online

I sure would like to see a good Gay webmaster forum come along. I’d like a forum that attracts a divers group with different interests. I want a gathering point that rewards constructive participation and encourages collaboration. I’m looking for a common gathering point that is governed by the community instead of a pissy queen on a power trip.

I’d also like to start life over again at age 20 with the knowledge from my first 50 years already installed, but I doubt either wish will come true.

A little known secret in the Gay market place is just how valuable the straight affiliate webmasters are. Straight webmasters garner a hell of a lot more traffic than their Gay counter parts. And a noteworthy percentage of that traffic is comprised of Gay, Bi curious, and women consumers. The savvy straight webmasters are always looking for Gay affiliate programs they can toss that traffic to.

So if you have a site that converts well, you might want to try and get your affiliate program in front of the straight webmasters. The results can be nothing short of amazing.

Market research reveals the number one factor in a consumer deciding to make an on-line transaction is weather or not he/she trusts the site. This is not limited to porn sites. It applies to all on-line commerce.

So, if you lie to the consumer about what is inside your AVS site, how do you think it will impact the performance of your sponsor programs? Does the old saying, “once bitten twice shy” ring any bells?

You should also think about this when selecting affiliate programs to promote. The consumer trusts CCbill, so you have a much better chance of making a sale with programs that use CCbill. Programs that use their own merchant account have a reputation, in the consumer’s eye, of screwing the customer.

The majority of consumers today are a lot smarter about buying on-line porn than they were a few years ago. Those webmasters still using old school tactics to grab sales are members of a dieing breed.

In this second half of the Bush Junior dictatorship, we find our industry under attack from multiple fronts - 2257, porn tax, .xxx, to name a few. All these attacks are conveniently justified by the need to protect our children. We even saw the “protect our children” banner being waved in the Extreme Associates obscenity case.

Any reasonably intelligent person can see there is no real prospect for protecting children in any of these attacks. And it does not look like any of these attacks will survive litigation. Are the lawmakers and attorney general really as stupid as it appears? I don’t think so. I give these people much more credit than they appear to deserve.

So what is the real agenda here? If the government already knows their attempts have no chance of survival, why do they bother? Are they looking at a long-term approach that banks on two new appointments to the supreme court? Is this political posturing for the 2006 election? Are they just trying to ware us down and drain our legal defense funds, so we can’t grow and flourish? Or is it a little bit of each?

One thing is certain. They cannot get rid of porn on the Internet, because the Internet is global. The government is very much aware of this. They know, even if all porn in the US is totally eradicated, that parents will have the same concerns. The problem will still exist, and all the monies generated will go off shore. Frankly, I think it’s fair to say that most of what offends parents is already being generated by webmasters outside the US. I can’t speak for the straight marketplace, but I know from observation its true in the Gay marketplace.

If we can agree that government and its lawmakers are not stupid, and that they know Internet porn is not going away, then what on earth is their agenda? I have worked a good number of years in both state and federal government. One thing I’ve learned from those years is when the actions are totally illogical, it’s political. When it’s political, the only goal is to get or keep your job. Politics and accomplishment rarely meet in the same room.

This is the first of many articles I’ll post for those of you interested in producing your own content. My focus will be more on working with the models and equipment, than dealing with the legal (2257) stuff.

With content supply drying up, and I expect this trend will continue, you my find producing your own is a necessity to survival. And its no secret exclusive content sells much better than what’s available from the suppliers.

My experience is working with 18-25 year old twinks. This is the most lucrative and most difficult age group to work with. The older they are (21-25), the more responsible, dependable, and together they get. Even so, most guys in this age group come with a lot of baggage.

It’s real easy to get caught up in their drama. From experience I can tell you its best to keep things at a business level and avoid getting sucked into their personal lives. Otherwise you are at great risk of getting drained mentally, physically, and financially.

Let these guys know right up front that you do not loan money, front money for future shoots, bail them out of jail, or take calls from jail. Also let them know what hours of the day or night they are allowed to call you.

Most people think producing is sexy, exciting and fun. Anyone that has done it will tell you its hard work that requires good discipline and comes with a lot of frustration. I’m not saying its without rewards, but don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s a ticket to candy land.

So, if you are still interested in producing, watch for more articles.

On August 1, the judge listened to arguments from both sides of the 2257 dispute. The federal government is challenged with demonstrating 2257’s protection of children outweighs the importance of rights to privacy and freedom of speech. In my opinion the most damning evidence in opposition to the feds is that coming from The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP).

The ASACP reports “99.9 percent of CP has nothing to do with the professional adult industry,” and that “The new 2257 rules will not stop the production or distribution of child pornography.” Joan Irvine, executive director of ASACP said, “I wish the government would focus their time and financial resources on apprehending the real criminals and truly saving children.”

I have no idea if this information was presented on August first, but it sure speaks volumes on how absurd and useless the 2257 law is.