Is 500 members a month for a gay paysite a realistic goal?

I've been around the forums for awhile so I've seen that its rare for content producers to divulge how much money they make from their paysites, which is perfectly understandable. But I'm thinking about starting a paysite and it would sure help to have some idea of what my income potential might be, so hypothetically speaking, do you think having 500 paid members per month is a realistic expectation?

For the sake of this hypothetical, let's say the site in question offers content similar in style and quality to sites like Sean Cody and Randy Blue (hi-def, solos & duos, college straight guys, etc.), but their library of content is not as deep, maybe more like a Southern Strokes.

And for extra credit, how long do you think it would take a site to reach that 500 member a month goal?

(Again, I know its impossible to answer this definitively. I'm just looking for general opinions from people who run pay sites and have some insight into this topic.)

A lot depends on...

- How well you market the site
- Whether you're going for the general college guy / early twenty-something theme (highly popular, but tons of competition) vs. a the same guys with a more selective theme that provides a very loyal audience (ex: collegiate watersports vids).
- Whether you've got a usable web design or whether it's some horrible overpriced promo-ish design that screams "generic!".

If I recall, when I ran Aaron Lawrence.com as a membership site back in 2001-2003, I had 600 or 800 members. Maybe even a thousand. But I had an advantage -- there was a LOT less competition back in those days, and what competition I had often riddled their sites with pop-up windows (which were difficult to block back then). I began with a very popular escort website that had a loyal following, and when I released a membership site I had 200 members within a month, surpassing all my expectations. Obviously it's a lot more difficult to get into the business when you're starting from a standstill.

I also charged a lot less. When I began I was $10/month, $25 for three months. (Sites in general were a bit cheaper back then -- $30 was as expensive as they ever got). I eventually decided that was too cheap and bumped it up to $15 / $35. Still, the initial pricing was honored for everyone that joined when there wasn't a lot of content, and some of them stuck around for years. So even though I made less on them I was happy to have the initial influx of traffic that a lower-priced site brought along.

As for what's realistic nowdays, I couldn't tell you. I just review sites, and even though I talk to half the webmasters on the 'net, they don't disclose their membership statistics to me either.

Yeah its totally realistic if you have a great niche (str8 college boy is a great niche), a good converting design and are able to muster up traffic. 500 members total is about 16 billing events a day, given a good quality members area you should be running 2:1 on rebills:signups, so lets say 10 rebills and 5 signups a day.

You could accomplish this as quickly as 3 months, or it could take years too....depending on your traffic, of course.

thats a good strategy luke. i like that. :innocent:

If you provide a good product its not unreasonable at all! Market the hell out of it use the tools to get the word out available today and take care of your members and you can see those kind of numbers no problem.

Thanks for the feedback... this makes me feel better about starting up a site. :)

I just read that Playgirl had 800 paying members at the peak of the Levi Johnston appearance. I would have thought it would be more... do you think they're under-reporting the numbers?

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020902813.html

I'd believe it with Playgirl. They were dying before Levi and then when everybody saw the pics for free all over the net and had no reason to buy a membership, they lost tens of thousands of more dollars. The problem is that they didn't stipulate that Levi had to go full-frontal.

They should have put that in their contract and then when/if he refused, they could revoke his deal, make him reimburse them for expenses and then get off on the free media attention.

I never saw that deal as being able to restore the Playgirl brand. They will probably lose a lot more money on the print mag. Who hasn't already seen the photos?

So you think a site that knows what they're doing can do better than 800 members a month?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sc32803

So you think a site that knows what they're doing can do better than 800 members a month?

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Have a rolling member base of 800+ members? Certainly!

I'd shoot for the 500 mark as an initial realistic goal though. That's a gross of about $7k a month and leaves you with $14.72 a month after everyone else is paid. :tongue:

Hi all,

Just joined the site and found this thread very interesting,As I have just launched a new site smgods.com we use DHD media as our affiliate program the content is bareback european uncut guys lots of pissing and ruff sex

any help/suggestions in getting to 500 members per month would be greatly appreciated, we are film producers and its our first venture on the internet

Let me know what you think of the site and the content thanks
Harry

Can we clarify this thread?

500 sales events per month (including rebills, etc)?
Also, in what time frame?

With the growing trend that webmasters are seeing towards non-recurring purchases, I think that this thread could use some fleshing out.

I know owners who are happy with 1 new customer sale a day.
365 new customers a year, with potential for rebills.
I know other owners who are expecting 20 new customers per day with potential for rebills.

But, with the switch to non-recurring memberships, that a lot of program owners are seeing, the concept of "new customer" goes out the window and potential for rebills may decrease dramatically.

Not to say that 500 isn't achievable, but 500 what, precisely? In what time period? And what type of "sales" are we hoping for?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harry-SMGods

Hi all,

Just joined the site and found this thread very interesting,As I have just launched a new site smgods.com we use DHD media as our affiliate program the content is bareback european uncut guys lots of pissing and ruff sex

any help/suggestions in getting to 500 members per month would be greatly appreciated, we are film producers and its our first venture on the internet

Let me know what you think of the site and the content thanks
Harry

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Welcome to the board Harry :luke:

I was referring to an average of 500 paying members per month, realizing that people join and drop everyday. I didn't have a time frame in mind but I guess we could say over any given year.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sc32803

I was referring to an average of 500 paying members per month, realizing that people join and drop everyday. I didn't have a time frame in mind but I guess we could say over any given year.

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Thats more than realistic, you might even want to double that figure ;)

Regards,

Lee

I think it depends on how much competition there is in the niche you're aiming for. Plus let's not forget the rise of tube sites. I do believe people will pay if the content great and accessible. Choosing the right price and consistant marketing strategies aimed at keeping your members happy/rebilled is also key.

Yes. 500 members a month is realistic. Now you probably think wow that's 15000$ in the pocket! Wrong! Provided that you have all the gear and content already available, you'd have to pay:
Affiliates, Host. CCBILL fees, Models. Misc(overages, chargebacks, voids)


Then there is probably 30%-40% left of that money. Now that's if you manage everything yourself. i.e, design, programming, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HunkMoneyLuke

Yeah its totally realistic if you have a great niche (str8 college boy is a great niche), a good converting design and are able to muster up traffic. 500 members total is about 16 billing events a day, given a good quality members area you should be running 2:1 on rebills:signups, so lets say 10 rebills and 5 signups a day.

You could accomplish this as quickly as 3 months, or it could take years too....depending on your traffic, of course.

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I agree with everything you said except... I've almost always had a 2:1 retention ratio and during my first year I was doing around the numbers you mentioned above - 15 billing events a day - having between 4 to 6 cancellations a day. It took me a year to get to 500 members. I'm on my third year now and the first year was the hardest. figure out what your break even mark is... that's your goal. For me it was 400 members.

I don't know how you can get to 500 members in a few months on your first site. If I were to do another site now I could maybe do it but I think its doubtful.