The Most Inspiration & Least Profitable...

As we draw near to the GWW contest I thought it would be an interesting question to ask...it may even bring some of the lurkers out of hiding lol

Its actually two questions:

What was the one thing in this business that gave you the most inspiration to keep going and to grow other than money?

Secondly what was the one thing you tried in this business that turned out to be the least profitable?


Mine was:

a) Hearing about a mother of three who was involved in a bitter custody battle and took up reselling adult sites to ensure that the judge awarded her custody as she became the main bread winner.

b) Advertising on MSN back in the day when it was with Blue .... something or rather...totally wasted my time and money.

Mine are:

a) I could not find any spanking content that I personally liked. So In the start, I had to make it for myself. It was only later that I found that you could make money off of them...and I was rather suprised. I never started out to be in the Adult Industry...it just sort of happened. Once I was selling my personal tapes (back in the VHS days) and making some extra cash...things went forward. One day I realized I was making more at my hobby than I was at my real job. Goodbye real job. I still have a lot to learn, and I am always inspired by things along the way.

b) Trusting someone in this business that I should not have almost cost me everything. I am still recovering in some ways...not the least emotionally. I have met a lot of great guys (and gals) in this industry...but there are also some sleazebags. So I guess I would have to be a cynic and say trust. Although, now I find that resources like this board, the forums, internext, etc. give me an opportunity to meet people, interact, etc. and I feel like I have a network of trusted friends now that I can lean on for advice. So maybe in the long run, that one mistake ended up being the most profitable.
Oh yeah, and Google Adwords never really panned out for me either.

1.) When I started in this business, I wanted to do straight bdsm fetish material that honored the models and depicted them as real people rather than objects. I was really proud of my site. Because of this, I met a lot of REALLY great people, sex-intellectuals, writers, fetish folk - it was like my site was making the world a better place!

2.) The worst thing for me also trusting someone I shouldnt have, and losing my site... and, because I had been so closed - I didnt spend enough time developing relationships. I didnt know enough folks to lean on for good advice .... and it cost me. Now, I work a lot harder on developing good relations with folks I like and I can trust!

3.) You didnt ask for 3 - but the best thing about losing my site was this: I moved over and started working with gay sites.... and I like this side of the industry, and the people in it, much much better. The gay community is much more sex positive, I never hear models referred to in any derogatory manner - ever, and it feels like a better, lovlier, cleanier and happier working enviroment, all the way around!

What keeps me going is the small glimps that very soon i might have myself a working company which is something i am and will be very proud of.

My worst time/worst idea/bullshit time in this industry, is teaming up with Pulz Productions. The aftermath of that is something that i will never forget and something that will continue to hurt me both financially and with reputation for many many years.

Mine was getting restructured out of my first industry job, and thinking, I'll show you. I'll make sure you know you let a good thing go.

The worst thing was trying TGPs. What a waste of time. Yeah sure, maybe some people make money in TGPs, but I sure can't. Lots of traffic, lots of lookers, few buyers.

Michael

The one thing that inspired me the most to keep going and grow in this business? Knowing our sites are "different" because we humanize pornography. And the only reason I keep this in mind is because of the awesome feedback we get from members and from other indie pornographers who are also inspired by our sites. Seeing that we can be real people who don't adhere to every tired old hacked porn paradigm and still make a decent living inspires *other* people, and it's hard not to be inspired when you're inspiring others, if that makes any sense. I feel like I owe it to the people who want to have sites like ours to show them that we can succeed by being honest and genuine about our sexuality.

The least profitable? Sadly, our least profitable site is http://TrixiesHouseboy.com. People aren't sure how to market a site that isn't overtly gay or straight. It's sad to me and not something I will ever give up on, though, because my boyfriend is hot and I think the content is beautiful - it literally breaks my heart that so few people see it. In the future I hope to have more resources to really do it justice and get it some exposure. Here is what I'm talking about:

http://www.trixie.com/tgp/Tucker/GarageBW/index.php
http://trixie.com/tgp/Tucker/ski-mask-camo/index.php?
http://www.trixie.com/tgp/Tucker/Pudding/index.php
http://www.trixie.com/tgp/Tucker/RubberBurns/index.php
http://www.trixie.com/tgp/Tucker/coveralls/index.php

I have every confidence that with the right affiliates and tweaking it could do as well as our other sites. It's hard when you have a lot of projects and not enough time and resources to make *all* of them profitable right away. Fortunately I don't feel like something is a total waste of time just because it doesn't make money hand over fist. At least I know one person is masturbating to his stuff: ME! ;)