Letting Your Surfers Build Your Site

[BDBionic]

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this.
When I started up JuicyGoo I'd resisted for quite awhile putting any twink sponsors on it because I wanted to have something different. Figured there were just so many darn twink sites out there that I could find some less exposed stuff to promote and get sales that way.
It definitely worked at first, my only twink site for awhile being a twink watersports site (figured that was definitely an exception to the "too many twinks out there" rule because... well... it's twink waterpsorts!).
Eventually, though, I did put up a site that sold itself in part as a twink site. Because I'd wanted to promote it somewhere for awhile and I knew and liked the guys than ran it. As soon as that first banner to it went up on my site, the sales started flooding in.
I continued to put up some non-twink stuff that I felt was underexposed and they did well. But none as well as the twink stuff.
So threw up another twink site and sure enough, sold like mad!
As a result, the entire site's taken on more of a twink feel - twink sponsor ads becoming ever more prominent. Free content offered on the site that's heavy on the twinkishness. Some new sponsors, features, etc going up that are all about the twinks.
I'll continue to get the more obscure and underexposed stuff up there as well, but now the site has way, WAY more twink material than I'd ever intended because... well... it's selling! Surfers have latched on to and embraced the twinks. They love it.

So in that sense, the site's gone a direction I'd not only never intended it to go, but had initially set out avoiding.
Any similar stories out there?

[Phoenix(TM)]

hmm..that is pretty good that you have been able to roll with the punches and change your offerings to match your surfers


i wish more people would be open to that....i give people sugestions all the time, and they can't see past me working for a sponsor and refuse to change or try something new.

[Gary-Alan]

Actually I had the complete opposite happen to me.

When I first opened Gaylinxxx, I had all areas covered. But I placed a twink heavy rotation of sponsors on the sites first and foremost. At the time, it was converting for me. However, after a month or two sales started to drop.

I started watching where my traffic was coming from and where it was exiting to (thank goodness for detailed server stats). And what I was finding was most of my traffic was leaving on links to the OTHER genres.

So I threw a poll on the front page and asked the surfer what it was they wanted. They responded inline with my stats. So I went the opposite route and changed the site. I still have twink links and sites flying but it’s definitely not my main stay anymore - Especially on that site.

My best,
GA