oh yea - loads in much faster now, and they don't look as distorted.Quote:
Originally Posted by maxx68
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oh yea - loads in much faster now, and they don't look as distorted.Quote:
Originally Posted by maxx68
Thanks for the useful info. Do you have any detail about how much the users are charged (including x-sells, pre-checked stuffs, automatic rebills and stuffs like that)? I remember I stopped using AVS and AES when I realized how much they charged (thanks to almost hidden pre-checked x-sells) customers. Maybe now they are charging a little less or switched just to a no x-sells business model.Quote:
Originally Posted by dzinerbear
Mancheck changed from the yearly model to a monthly one. They used to charge $19.95 for a year and give the member 7-days free access to MancheckPlus Video, on the eighth day, it would convert to a full membership and they'd be rebilled for $39.95. UGAS's membership structure is pretty much the same.
A few months ago, Mancheck scrapped the yearly membership and now offer $19.95 monthly recurring and $29.95 one month, non recurring. They don't do the 7-day free access and upgrade to $39.95 any more.
GMP does $4.95 initial monthly and gives the surfer one week free of their VIP membership, then $39.95 on the eighth day.
I just noticed that GMP is still running the same videos on their home and join page. Who wants to sell them anyway? Webmasters used to make $23.95 on a sale, now they make $4.95.
UGAS's traffic is way down. I put six galleries up as a test over a month ago and made nothing.
Mancheck still sells consistently for me.
When I used to submit to AVS sites, I mainly used them for getting traffic and sales to my sponsors. I made only minimal on the actual commissions from sales to the AVS itself, that wasn't my goal. But sales were consistent and at a good ratio - after all, you are targeting surfers that have already demonstrated their willingness to pay for porn (pay for the avs membership) plus they obviously have a credit card or some method to pay. Those two points alone make AVS traffic convert brilliantly.
Michael (and all others), what is your recent experience with that? I stopped submitting a couple years ago due to lack of time, but I am considering it again if the traffic and up-sale ability are still there.
Having actually worked for an AVS, I can tell you that they developed ways of dealing with people like you, Luke. :)
For instance, they could approve you site, but not list in the search engine. So if you make a sale, you'll get a commission, but no one going to the AVS will actually find you.
AVS's were constantly having to adjust their rules and operating practices because wm's were always coming up with tricks. For instance, one game to make more money was to take your UGAS hub and suddenly flip the whole thing to Mancheck, all that UGAS traffic would suddenly buy a Mancheck membership.
Likewise, when paysites started to emerge, paysite owner were submitting galleries not to sell AVS memberships, but just to get traffic. So AVS had to adjust: no watermarked pics, no banners on the tour, only so many banners on the inside ... blah blah blah.
The best way to work AVS and get the most from it is to be interested in selling an AVS membership. If you work with the AVS and not against it, you'll get more from them. They'll list you in their search engine, they may even rank your sites higher if they are good and look like they'll actually sell members, they may even bump up your commission. They may approve your sites last so they sit at the top of the "new" list; they may even keep them in the "new" list for a couple of days. You may not have to pay wire fees and you may qualify for bonuses for reaching certain thresholds.
Likewise, link lists got tired of wm's creating an AVS site and mirroring it with 3 or 4 services and trying to submit them all, so LLs came up with rules about that.
Luke, you know I'm partial to Mancheck, but I'm really not bullshitting here. I stopped promoting GMP because they dropped their membership (and wm payout) to $4.95. That just not worth it.
I submitted six UGAS galleries about a month ago and got about 400 clicks from UGAS, I used to get thousands. I didn't sell any UGAS memberships, and I think I only sold 2 Butch Dixon memberships (on six galleries, that's pretty bad).
Mancheck still does okay for me, not as well as it used to, but I'm also not submitting galleries like I used to. I do sell upsells as well. It's kind of hard to tell where they're coming from though because I have stuff all over the place, and more and more lately, CCBills reports give you n/a instead of the referring URL. But I do notice when I submit galleries to Mancheck that sales for certain sponsors take a jump.
If you're just going to use the AVS as a traffic syphon, they'll approve your site (maybe) and make you disappear.
Aha, this all makes sense now. And that's prolly why i ended up stopping with AVS sites all together as their traffic dropped off.
Its kind of sad that they did this, its strangling off their own free content suppliers and less webmasters using the system means less publicity, less memberships, etc. Its a negative spiral. When I was doing AVS I maintained my own site directories and those got pretty good search engine traffic. Combine that with the listings in the AVS system's directories, and I had a nice stream of sales to both the avs system itself and to my sponsors.
But yeah I remember seeing a huge drop in sales, probably when they changed their systems and made me "disappear". And now they lost some sales and loads of content for their members.
These tactics I talked about evolved over years, they just didn't happen over night.
And I hear what you're saying, but what is an AVS to do when it's being inundating with site owners (or their workers) who are only interested in selling their own products and not the AVS. They can't just let site owners bleed them dry, that pisses off AVS members who are getting less and less content and more and more click here for more type of stuff.
It's like if I constantly did posts with Anal Discipline content, but suggested the surfers buy an HDK Fisting membership. What would you do?
If you want AVS traffic, you've got to play a game.
Michael, I understand what you are saying, but in hindsight, I think that they MAY have evolved the wrong way. Maybe the preferred route would have been like what tube sites are doing now, provide an upsell to a mega DVD download area and work WITH affiliate programs to provide limited exclusive content with upsells to the appropriate program, perhaps even working with programs and using their own upsell linking codes.
Of course, like I said, this is in hindsight, so I really don't know what could have happened if they went that route.
I get what you're saying ... I think one of the problem with AVS was they were some of the first in the biz and made millions. But didn't really keep up with where the biz was going and didn't evolve appropriately.
I have a headache...
I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but sometimes I have to wonder if all of this is set up so just a few folks can make any money. (Present company excluded, of course!)
I learn visually and would be more than happy to pay if somebody came up with a comprehensive manual with PICTURES (lol) showing someone like me exactly what to do.
I have been visiting industry forums for awhile and you get bits of info here, bits of info there, then something changes just as you are learning it....AHHHH!
I think sponsors would want to come up with a "guidebook" or "manual" for their affiliates detailing ways to promote efficiently and profitably. I think this would be a win/win for everyone.
Just my 2cents, and now I need my medicine...