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.

One of the first things you will need to master is the art of finding new models. I’m just talking today about making contact. And I’ll assume you are living and working in a metropolitan area, as it’s next to impossible, and maybe a little dangerous, to produce in a rural community. Ideal are port cities, or cities with a large collage, university, or military base.

I’ve always preferred making contact in the local clubs. I’m not the only producer with this partiality so don’t be surprised if there’s competition. Don’t waste your time with the dick dancers. They will just work you for tips, but never follow through. If you are anything like me, the more cocktailed you get, the better the boys look. Either do your work early or don’t drink. Otherwise you’ll end up recruiting some real losers. Establish a good relationship with one or more bar tenders and the doorman. They can be a good resource in hooking you up with potentials.

Running a classified ad in the newspaper, collage paper, or bar rag will get results, but it requires a lot of screening to get the guys you really want. You will attract a lot of freaks! Also realize that advertising makes it impossible to maintain a low profile within your community.

Regionally specific chat rooms are another popular means of contacting potential models. Some chat services do not like it, so don’t be surprised if you get booted out.

Getting to know other photographers in your area, including those that just do artistic nudes, is a great way to find good models. No producer can keep a model as busy as he would like, so most models welcome referrals to other TRUSTED producers.

Word of mouth referrals work well, if you have established a good reputation with previous models.

If you have an adult web site you can post a models wanted ad. But make sure you let them know what area you are recruiting in. Even so, expect guys from all over the world to contact you.

On Aug. 2 Judge Walker D. Miller heard arguments for a preliminary injunction in the case of Free Speech Coalition vs. Gonzales. The lawsuit asks the judge to restrain government enforcement of the “2257 regulations” set forth at 18 U.S.C. § 2257 and 28 CFR 75. The complaint also argues that the entire regulatory scheme should be declared unconstitutional. After hearing arguments, Judge Miller hinted at a decision within three weeks. Two and a half months later, and we still have no decision.

In September, a bill (H.R. 3726) by Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind), was added as a rider to the Children’s Safety Act of 2005, H.R. 3132, which shot through committee and was quickly passed by the House. It’s now in the Senate for consideration … and likely passage. The bill, among other things, renders any favorable decision on secondary producers, from Miller, moot.

This begs the question – is Judge Miller holding off on his ruling until he sees what direction H.R. 3726 goes? It seems like an obvious question, one I’ve not heard anyone ask.

Did you know that between 30% and 35% of the Gay porn consumer base is made up of women? That’s right! Straight and Gay women prefer looking at Gay porn. Straight porn focuses too much on the woman, so it’s a turn off, and even a little insulting to some women viewers.

While there are exceptions, most women I spoke with prefer solo to action. Their interests are different than us guys. It’s less about erotic and more about curiosity. It seems most women don’t see that much variety in life, so they are interested in what different guys look like naked, hard, and shooting their load. Although the cum shot is not as high of a priority, I gather. The Lesbian women told me they have nothing against a good dick. They just don’t want it in the same room with them.

Last night Lee announced the winner of round one. He awarded the $50 Amazon.com gift certificate to Ethanmasters, 14th in Google search results for key word JeeDubDub. Those ranking higher were disqualified, according to Lee, because they did not have the required GWW recip banner on their competing web page.

The webmaster that has dominated the #1 spot for most of the first month immediately chimed in complaining that Lee had jumped the gun in announcing a winner. A valid complaint, as Lee’s announcement was posted at 11:42pm on the 17th. This indicates judging took place at some time prior to the announcement at 11:42pm. In any case, the entire process clearly took place on the 17th.

The contest rules state, “4) If you do not have a GWW button on your page that is ranked #1 or, you are not a registered GWW Community member when your page hits #1 on the 18th October, November or December, you forfeit the prize and it will be awarded to the person who has the next listing that meets all of the contest rule requirement.” The rules go on to say, “If you wish to remain anonymous during the contest, you may ommit linking the GWW Button to the community however, it must be linked on the 18th of each month in time for the judging process.”

We will never know if the offended webmaster would have had a link up by midnight on the 18th. What we do know is the webmaster posted to GWW at 12:25am that the link had been added.

The offended webmaster contends that as long as he has the link up sometime on the 18th, he gets the prize. But the rules clearly state, “it must be linked on the 18th of each month in time for the judging process.” Problem is the rules do not state what time the judging will take place, nor do they state what time zone will be used. I guess we can assume EST, as Lee plants his butt in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Its unclear who would have been the winner had Lee followed his contest rules to the letter. But hey…its only 50 bucks. I suspect the offended webmaster got a lot more than $50 in free traffic out of this. And I doubt it’s lost on anyone how little of that traffic Lee got. After all, that’s the real reason he’s running this contest…isn’t it?

I’ve talked before about the danger in getting too wordy in your sales presentation. Here is another perspective on that.

Soup companies are competing with each other to get your business. They know the competition is setting right along side them on the grocery store shelf. So how do they get your attention? Branding is important, so they make sure their branded company name and product name stands out. They also know that you are not going to stop and read a few paragraphs about their product. They first need to catch your eye. A bunch of text is not eye catching. Visuals are what grab the consumer’s attention.

Go into your kitchen and pull out a few boxes and cans. Study how the company packages its product to get your attention. Notice that all the details about the product (fine print) are on the back or sides of the package. It’s no different in selling porn. Packaging is everything; so don’t get too wordy on the front end.

Any serious buyer of Gay content has to have noticed that supply has been dwindling in the past year or so. I’m not talking about the impact new 2257 regulations have had. This trend was developing long before the 2257 scare. The content is still out there. It’s just not available through the traditional brokerage sources. You have to hunt it down, and be prepared to buy in large volume.

The problem is being driven by the following:

• Producers hate the selling process
• Producers do not like working with the content brokers
• Pure economics – cost of goods and supply and demand

Like most artists, producers fancy the creative process. Sales, distribution, and customer service just isn’t their thing. For them, dealing with the sales process is more painful than getting a root canal. Hence they don’t want to mess with selling one or two sets at a time to hundreds of different buyers.

Producers do not like working with the brokers, because they take half the profits, can’t move as much product any more, and in some cases are slow to make payment. A producer may have to wait as much as six months before he gets a return from a broker. Yet he still has to pay his models, and put food on the table.

There is no avoiding the selling process, so producers try to lessen the burden by locking in on a few select buyers. In fact, some work on contract, getting paid a flat monthly fee for delivering a steady flow of new content.

US produced content is more expensive than that coming out of Eastern Europe and South America. Thus, in an effort to save on operating costs, big buyers have shifted to the cheaper off shore suppliers. This, along with recent 2257 issues, caused many US producers to through in the towel.

I see this trend continuing. The big boys, with lots of cash, are locking up all the suppliers, and putting a squeeze on the brokers’ supply lines. With the supply from brokers drying up, smaller buyers will be left with slim pickings. As a result, smaller publishers may find producing content essential to their continued existence.

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.

Straight boys will do solo shoots, including the cum shot. On average, they are a lot easier to work with compared to Gay models. Key to working successfully with straight guys is avoiding sexuality implications. They know the shoot is for a Gay audience. At the same time, straight models don’t want anything in the shoot that makes a statement they are Gay.

So it’s important to let them know you will respect their wishes if something makes them uncomfortable. I was doing a medical themed shoot, with a straight guy, and had a sign on the wall that read “Proctology Exams.” I was asked to change the sign before starting the shoot. I’ve also found it fairly consistent that straight guys have a hang up about having their asshole shot. They will allow butt shots, but won’t bend over for the camera.

I can’t stress enough just how pleasurable it is to work with most straight boys. They just seem to have a more natural intuition about what it is you need and want out of them during the shoot. And they rarely have difficulty getting hard or shooting their load…go figure.

I know a lot of you don’t want to publish an Email address on your AVS and free sites, as it only serves to generate a ton of spam. But there’s a little known benefit to publishing an address.

A lot of links sites harvest links with the expectation they can get those webmasters to start submitting their links. They target sites with an Email address, so they can notify the webmaster his site has been added to their links list. They set these harvested links to expire, giving them another opportunity to get in front of you by announcing the expiration.

It’s a great way to get picked up by link sites you might not have bothered with, or you may discover a new site worth submitting to. Either way it costs you nothing, and you don’t have to mess with the recip link.

Spam isn’t that big of a problem anymore if you use a Hotmail or Yahoo Mail account. Both do a good job filtering. Just pop in once a week and delete any messages that have accumulated.