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I am eager to get started in the adult web market but I find all the choices overwhelming. What would be a good choice for me just getting into the biz? I am interested in partnership programs where my site would be hosted for free, I could get fresh free content and the people or person that I would be working with was cool. Am I wishing for the moon?, or is there a company out there willing to work with a creative novice. Thanks for the time.
the great thing is that just about every company is willing to work with a complete beginner...but you've gotta be aware of the pitfalls that suck in a lot of new people. Getting the moon for free happens, but it's rare, and you can do a lot more a lot quicker with a rather small investment.
The people here can help you out a bit, but before you do or ask anything...
http://articles.ynotmasters.com/publ...icles.cgi?ID=1
read all the articles there, and go into the older messages both here and there and see what info you can find... you'll be amazed with how many of the questions you've got now have been asked a million times and have been answered so well you won't really need to ask much at all.
Hey bribri!
Welcome to GWW and the industry.
There are plenty of companies will to work with a new webmasters. And plenty of places like this one that exist to help out.
Here are some of our articles for you to look at:
http://www.gaywidewebmasters.com/gay...rces/Articles/
Here is another site that helps with terminology
http://www.webmasterglossary.com
It can get very overwhelming when you first start out. So please do not be afraid to ask questions.
Good luck!
Gary-Alan
Besides the resources listed in the posts above, I have also found the lessons at http://www.cozyacademy.com/ helpful for learning the business. My experience is that it takes a lot of trial and error to find out what works and what does not work, so be prepared for that. Also, beware that the industry and the market does change over time (too fast as far as I am concerned!) So older articles have information that may not work well these days without modification.
I agree with Jasun that I can get most of my questions answered by searching the adult webmaster sites. I usually just run a Google search for what I need help with, and Google will find it for me, usually on one of the adult webmaster sites.
This thread also has some good info for someone just starting http://forums.gaywidewebmasters.com/...&highlight=ppi
You're on the right track wanting to start with a free host and sponsor-provided free content! See what works first before investing a lot of money. After all, we are here to make a profit.
Welcome to the board!
I might be a dissenting voice on the use of a free host ... but I think you'll go a lot further marketing wise if you at least invest in a starter webhost package and spring the 9$ for a domain name. Many link lists and tgps are not accepting sites on free hosts, plus you'll want a verifiable email address to use for signing up with different sponsor programs... they're not going to approve freehost email or addresses like hotmail.
I'll join LdyLnWlf is the dissenting voice.
The problem with using freehosts is that they're generally slower and they often look like the Las Vegas strip. So, you're going to have minimum control over what your site looks like.
Another downside to freehosts is that you may end up with straight banners on your site. A lot of gay traffic hates seeing naked women when they're surfing. So, you may unknowingly be turning visitors off.
Read the thread of this board called "Site Building Question." I'll try and insert the URL, but if it doesn't work, just do a search by the title. Site Building Thread
The other problem with free content is that it's often been used to death. That's not to say you can't still make money off of it because there are new people coming online all of the time who haven't seen this stuff. But with webmasters all over the world looking for free content, you better believe it's been around the block.
Even the photos that you get from places like Ounique, although the quality is good, any webmaster can buy them. So, you're not getting new or exclusive content. For the record, I've build two huge sites using Ounique content almost exclusively, and I'm making good money.
You'd be far better off investing in a cheap webhost and buying some pictures of your own. If you're looking for a good and inexpensive adult webhost Velcom is good. If you're willing to pay for a year upfront, you can get a decent package for $7.95 a month, if you can only pay for three months at a time it's $9.95. (BTW, if you use the above link, I get a referral fee. Just so you know.) I've been with them for almost a year and haven't had many problems.
Finally, what I would also suggest is picking something you like. There's no point in putting up a site of black guys if you don't like them. Remember, you're going to be looking at this thing day in and day out for a long time to come, so if the guys don't turn you on, it might become difficult for you to feel inspired.
And try and narrow things down as much as possible. The Net does not need another twink site, but if you narrow the focus down into a smaller group, like uncut Latino guys, or jocks in football uniforms, or hairy legged guys, or pierced guys, etc, I've always found they did better.
Do yourself a favour: invest $500 in some hosting, a domain name, and some pictures from Ounique, and start building a quality site that targets a specific niche or market.
Good luck
Dzinerbear
Welcome to the community BriBri :groovy:
Looks like our other community members have you pretty well covered on the help front.. thats why i love this place so much everyone is willing to help and there is no such thing as a stupid question.
Welcome again to the community and as you can see, if you ever need anything feel free to post away.
Regards,
Lee
I love you guys! Thanks for the insightful information, every bit of it. I have spoken with the host of several business sites that I have built and they will host my adult site for $99 a year (FatCow.com). I have secured a domain name already. I intend on reading the articles you guys where kind enough to turn me onto. I do have one more question though...Who is good out there for constructing a SSL Certificate page so I can collect payment? I do not need assistance in designing my site, my hosting is set with name, but I need someone who will act as a doorman for my site collecting and gathering credit card info for processing before my visitors are allowed to browse my content.
Once again, thanks so much for your advice, I really appreciate it. Bye
Bribri, were you thinking about going with an AVS or becoming your own paysite?
If you're thinking about AVS's, I highly recommend MANcheck.
They're gay owned and operated.
They're the oldest (first actually) gay AVS.
They're the third largest.
They have excellent support.
They have a premium package that gives you the opportunity to upsell regular memberships.
They have a movie product, too, MANcheckCinema, which allows you to cross-sell downloadable pay-per-view movies.
Because they're not the biggest at the moment, they're not overused and overexposed.
If you would like to talk more, or if you'd like to see some of my MANcheck sites, send me a private message. If you use the MANcheck link at the bottom of this message, I'll earn a referral fee, which is always a nice bonus.
If I can be of any further help, let me know.
Cheers
Dzinerbear
You may want to slow down a bit and build some free sites to get your feet wet and learn about marketing porn before dropping big bucks into a paysite right out of the starting gate. Check out the Community Project threads Lee has up, and follow along!