stop making twink sites!

[basschick]

okay, i've been checking stats and comparing with some friends' stats. twinks sell one half to one third as well as other niches. sure, it gets more traffic but all that means is that it burns 2 to 3 times the bandwidth for the same amount of sales.

the twink sites that still sell are unique or at least well themed. single guy sites are still a winner. twink bondage and spanking can be a winner. skater boys are still very good. twink piss is a good one.

but please - before you think of starting yet another general twink site with the same old content and no theme, please don't. the competition is fierce and there are plenty of niches that convert really REALLY well. you'll have better retention with a niche that isn't so played out, too, which means more affiliates sending more traffic.

i beg of you - for the love of GOD - please stop making general twink sites

[Chilihost]

the problem is that most affiliates want twink sites because its the niche with the largest traffic.

[basschick]

lowest profit, highest traffic.

at least one could theme or niche the twink sites. 18 year old skaters, surferboys, big dick twinks...

[DEVELISH]

lowest profit, highest traffic.

at least one could theme or niche the twink sites. 18 year old skaters, surferboys, big dick twinks...

I actually have 3 domains fitting in that niches (except surfers)...


*building on new gayfreesite directory*

DEVELISH

[SPACE GLIDER]

okay, i've been checking stats and comparing with some friends' stats. twinks sell one half to one third as well as other niches. sure, it gets more traffic but all that means is that it burns 2 to 3 times the bandwidth for the same amount of sales.

the twink sites that still sell are unique or at least well themed. single guy sites are still a winner. twink bondage and spanking can be a winner. skater boys are still very good. twink piss is a good one.

but please - before you think of starting yet another general twink site with the same old content and no theme, please don't. the competition is fierce and there are plenty of niches that convert really REALLY well. you'll have better retention with a niche that isn't so played out, too, which means more affiliates sending more traffic.

i beg of you - for the love of GOD - please stop making general twink sites

"twink piss" ... sounds like something that you'd drink to give you magical powers. How many skater boy sites actually show someone skating? That's something I'd find unique

[XXXWriterDude]

HEARTILY agreed. While we're at it, can we put a moratorium on straight-guy niche sites as well? Profit schmofit. It's just time for a NEW trend already.

[marcjacob]

I hear you but as a twink offender, i do it because i know the niche. Twinks pissing i dont.

Having said that i love Frat Men which is a step up from what i do, more gym stud type men, which ive done ok with. Im doing Twinks now because im building a relationship with Gay Bucks in time for Jeffs site, thats the plan at least, and Boy Funk fits what i like to do.

I think i need to branch out abit but like many people, i dont take to change to well. Im scared of trying something different i guess.

[basschick]

you can research and find a new niche and learn all about it. making only half to a third of your potential income while paying higher bandwidth charges seems scarier to me than trying a new niche.

ken, while i see what you're saying, if it makes money, i say keep 'em coming!

I hear you but as a twink offender, i do it because i know the niche. Twinks pissing i dont.

Having said that i love Frat Men which is a step up from what i do, more gym stud type men, which ive done ok with. Im doing Twinks now because im building a relationship with Gay Bucks in time for Jeffs site, thats the plan at least, and Boy Funk fits what i like to do.

I think i need to branch out abit but like many people, i dont take to change to well. Im scared of trying something different i guess.

[XXXWriterDude]

ken, while i see what you're saying, if it makes money, i say keep 'em coming!

I know, I know. Money money money. Sometimes I think that's all anyone in this business cares about? <wink>

How 'bout a little originality, a little daring, a little creativity?

At least if you're going to do ANOTHER straight-guy site, do something DIFFERENT with it, so it's not just another site where some dirty old man trains a camera on an ALLEGEDLY straight dude and starts asking him stupid questions like "What kind of things do you like girls to do to you in bed?" and then has the guy jack off watching a straight porn movie. UGH!

I just hate to see so many otherwise talented people falling into the trap of rolling out formulaic sites that don't add anything new to what's already out there.

There's nothing more offensive to me as a surfer than lack of creativity and originality.

[basschick]

ken, amazingly enough i am in business to make money. am i supposed to be ashamed of that? surfers love straight guy sites - mine especially love straight guy jackoff sites. totally aside from money, why not give our surfers what they want to see? that way, everyone is happy.

sure, originality and creativity can be a pleasure to see - although a lot of creative sites don't really come through. either way, that doesn't mean that the classics aren't still working. in my world, there is room for fresh and unusual themes and niches AND the ones i've seen around that are well done and still work. i loved thai food the first time i had it but that didn't mean i have to give up baked potatoes.

[XXXWriterDude]

ken, amazingly enough i am in business to make money. am i supposed to be ashamed of that? surfers love straight guy sites - mine especially love straight guy jackoff sites. totally aside from money, why not give our surfers what they want to see? that way, everyone is happy.

sure, originality and creativity can be a pleasure to see - although a lot of creative sites don't really come through. either way, that doesn't mean that the classics aren't still working. in my world, there is room for fresh and unusual themes and niches AND the ones i've seen around that are well done and still work. i loved thai food the first time i had it but that didn't mean i have to give up baked potatoes.

You miss the point, Patti. "Creativity" doesn't have to mean "sites that nobody wants to see." Why is it that webmasters automatically jump to the conclusion that "originality" and "creativity" mean building sites that nobody wants to see?

There IS place called "the happy medium," where people can take exisiting ideas and do something innovative and daring with them -- where they can put a fresh spin on a tired, worn-out concept. And that's what needs to happen here.

When people create sites that simply mimic other successful sites, it's essentially stealing, even though nobody calls it that. It's also pure and simple laziness. In much the same fashion that people bitch and moan about how terrible Hollywood movies are because they simply rehash the same old themes over and over again, the adult industry is OFTEN guilty of that very same crime. It's an easy trap to fall in. Take what works and basically do the same thing, just with different models.

I firmly believe that there IS a way to put your own spin on something without changing it so drastically that nobody recognizes it anymore.

I get it. Straight guys sell. As much as I find this disappointing on the part of gay surfers (as far as I'm concerned, it's high time we leave straight men to the people they really want to be with: straight women), I understand that business-minded webmasters are going to exploit this fascination for all it's worth as long as a buck or two can be made from it. OK. But if it must be done, for God's sake, at least have the audacity and daring to do something unique with it so that it's not the same thing that EVERYBODY ELSE is doing.

You can argue that the three Star Wars prequels were financially successful, but a lot of people would call them abysmal creative failures that were purely driven by a need to make money. The way I see it, if being financially successful comes at the expense of individuality, there's nothing "successful" about making that money. You're just piggy-backing off someone else's success, someone who did it before you. What's so successful about that?

[basschick]

ken, when i was a 15 year old runaway in hollywood living entirely within the gay male community, even most guys who didn't consider themselves interested in straight guys couldn't resist seducing one if he was in easy reach. i was also the bait girl for a few buddies - the web did not invent the straight guy thing - it's out there, it's been out there since the 70's that i can confirm and it can be well done or poorly done, just like any other niche.

unfortuntely most sites, whether creative or copies, are not well done. and while fresh new ideas don't have to be bad - ken, i review sites as a part of my living. i've seen the member areas of over 1400 sites. most people who are the type to create something really original don't do it well.

now, if we're simply talking new themes and niches, that sometimes works out better. but i've seen some really really unique sites recently that were either completely confusing or utterly unrealistic about important things. one site basically had two episodes. two. their high rez videos, while very nice, took me about 45 minutes each to download on a 1.5mb line. their low rez videos took around 25 minutes to download.

it appears that often creativity and a working understanding of how websites and navigation work are exclusive of each other :-/

[XXXWriterDude]

ken, when i was a 15 year old runaway in hollywood living entirely within the gay male community, even most guys who didn't consider themselves interested in straight guys couldn't resist seducing one if he was in easy reach. i was also the bait girl for a few buddies - the web did not invent the straight guy thing - it's out there, it's been out there since the 70's that i can confirm and it can be well done or poorly done, just like any other niche.

unfortuntely most sites, whether creative or copies, are not well done. and while fresh new ideas don't have to be bad - ken, i review sites as a part of my living. i've seen the member areas of over 1400 sites. most people who are the type to create something really original don't do it well.

now, if we're simply talking new themes and niches, that sometimes works out better. but i've seen some really really unique sites recently that were either completely confusing or utterly unrealistic about important things. one site basically had two episodes. two. their high rez videos, while very nice, took me about 45 minutes each to download on a 1.5mb line. their low rez videos took around 25 minutes to download.

it appears that often creativity and a working understanding of how websites and navigation work are exclusive of each other :-/

Well, yeah, if you're a bad programmer or site builder.

I'm talking about people who know what they're doing -- and who should know better than to do what everyone else is doing.

[CorbinFisher_BD]

I used to run a very high traffic site where the twink sponsors converted considerably better than any other type of sponsor site. The conversion ratios with twink sites blew any other niche or category out of the water.

So don't tell my old surfers on that site that twink sites don't sell anymore.

It's all about where the traffic is coming from. For a great many affiliates out there, twink sites convert better than anything else - with regards to both ratios and total sales volume.

[Squirt]

i beg of you - for the love of GOD - please stop making general twink sites

OH MY GOD! You just thought of the next themed twink site!!!!

generaltwink.com :high:

Some cute twink dressed up in a generals uniform telling other twinks what to do... like popping balloons, or sucking lypops or tickeling their feet He himself could encompass ALL of the twink niches in just one site!

Other then that there are some real passioinate opinions here and I can see where the dilema lies. I think Basschick sees things from where a lot of reviewers see things, as well as movie reviewers. The same formula, different people, no real effort to to stand out, just enough to get by, if even that.

All things considered, quite honestly, it's hard to make easy money, let alone make easy money being different. The more I help other people the more I realize how detailed things are when you have to spell them out and how some of the littlest things make the biggest difference in site design.