Newbie with *gasp* questions >_<

hey all what's up - brad here. i came across this forum after countless hours of frusteration browsing through banners and cam-site directories. anyways, i'm looking to get more involved with performing on camsite(s) and actually earning a fair share for my work output.

i've been working at (www.streammate.com) for a little over 7 months. at the time i joined it seemed great for a few reasons which were: 1)I wasn't ready/willing to do action on film or video 2)traffic seemed promising, and 3)i created my own schedule around school and work.

now that i've talked to some other people that work for the site, i realized that i wasn't earning up to what i think i could be. they get 50% of all my earnings, regardless of referalls and returned customers, or people i got to sign up. i've generated a few thousand dollars for this company and don't see myself making more money with them in the future, while i have been doing LOTS of work on their behalf.

i talked to a co-worker whose advice was to start my own site (easier said than done.) this does sound like a great idea to me, however. Obviously I have the equipment to stream video and audio. Archiving snapshots and keeping a blog are definately possibilities, and i would eventually like to invite friends to perform with me (have lots of cute friends lol.)

at this point i'm curious as to what steps I should take. i guess what i'd hope to find here is either a website or contact that would be able to help me either join an existing site or create a new one... or even direction towards resources that can help me do so. i can supply the content, i just have no idea how to distribute it on my own!

thanks for any help and advice you have, and thanks for being patient enough to read through all this i'm sure you guys get tons of annoying questions on this board.

personal pics are located @

http://www.myspace.com/djbrad
http://photos.yahoo.com/camboy4you18/

cam operators make between 45 and 55% of their earnings - that's pretty common. having your own site can be a LOT harder to generate traffic for, and good quality cam solutions aren't cheap.

the advantage to working for a cam site is that you get all the other operators' regulars when they want a change. also big cam programs like ifriends have hundreds or maybe thousands of active webmasters sending traffic. another advantage is that a big cam site that has live models 24/7 will develop a lot of bookmarkers because there is ALWAYS someone on when they want someone.

since you won't always be online to amuse potential new guys, you'll need to create a full website so that new members will always have something to do. that means lots of different pic sets plus movies which costs time and money. also don't forget design - a bad design means it will be a LOT harder to make sales or get affiliates.

you're talking a fair chunk of money here to get started, plus a knowledge base that you don't have. if you were seriously going to do this, and if you had the money to pay for it all, i'd suggest hiring a program manager to help get it done - someone who is well acquainted with designers (lots so you can choose one), styles of sites that sell, processors (if you're in the u.s., getting a processor costs money, too). and if you're planning to pay by the minute, you'll need software beyond what the processor generally offers.

i've known several cam operators who decided they'd do better with their own site and went from making $4000 - $6000 a month to making under $1000. i can't stress enough that your own site will take money, content and knowledge - and if you try shortcuts, you could end up losing a lot of money.

all that being said, if you have the money and motivation, there are some awesome designers in our industry and some great programmers and processors. i've worked with some excellent and talented people in the last 9 years, and whatever you decide to do, i hope we see more of you here on the board :)

Camboy

My advice to you is diversify. Do not look at one check from one thing - like cam shows - as your sole source of income. The potantial out there is endless.

I do not rely on one company program for my entire revenue model for my adult website. I have a whole bunch of them, from different companies.

I would do some simple things. I believe you can put up a simple website of your x pics or maybe jackoff vids behind a ManCheck password. Then the people who see you on-cam have the opportunity to see more of you, and you'll make a share of whatever revenue you send to ManCheck. (I'm pretty sure how that works... ask dzinerbear / Michael on here) That is just something off the top of my head that I've always thought budding cute models should do.

Just try and get different revenue streams coming to you. $30 and $50 there, plus more will all add up. Before you know it, you'll be looking at real money.

Keep it easy. I have friends who see that I make my living now off websites, and they want to quit their day jobs, but then don't start anything because they have these really complicated ideas.

My friend JR has a Yahoo group that has grown to 32,000 people, and all he does is post a few photos and a occasional clips of him jacking off here and there. That is an instant marketing list for future offerings, which he just used to sell his first home grown DVD. Now that took a few years to build, but you look young. Remember - diversify.

Good luck
Steve

Just bumping this dupe thread up so Bradley can see the replies in this one also :)

Regards,

Lee