AVS model dead?

[Richard Craver]

I didn't want to hijack the justusboys thread but there was interesting point there regarding the AVS market ie it's dead!

Is it really dead?

It certainly not as lucrative as it used to be.

I know that when I've looked that the UGAS link list(among others) it seems predominately made up of 'amateur/webcam pic' type of stuff with a few free content sites plugging one of the big affiliate programs(topbucks etc)
.... in other words really crappy stuff.

Putting on my surfer's hat(which I do from time to time) I know that I wouldn't be visiting the AVS lists much anymore...

[maxpower]

I know where this thread is going, but will say the ghost of AVS will be around us for awhile to haunt some dark corners on the net.

[Xstr8guy]

AVS is not dead as long as you know how to do it properly. I still earn much of my income from a variety of AVS's.

Is the AVS model healthy? No. But there are still plenty of AVS's that are still quite aggressive. Mancheck, for example, is always trying to improve their product and the retain very well. UGAS is definitely getting stale. But they still have a viable product with lot's of excellent traffic. I would love to get my hands on UGAS and revamp the HELL out of it.

[basschick]

no, the original avs model is still alive and kicking. since there's more competition, it requires a little more refining - a really crappy site full of licensed pics may not sell but a better design and a theme work wonders.

[Dzinerbear]

AVS is not dead. But like I said in the other post, you have to figure out what works where. Mirroring the same gallery on five AVS's isn't going to get you five times the results.

Some AVS's sell well for me, others do not. Some sell more secondary sponsors than others. They're all different and quirky in their own way. And of course they all have their individual rules and idiosyncracies. UGAS will slap you hard with a wooden oar if you don't put "Continue to [name of site]" at the bottom of your FPA. Like saying "Continue to Site" is some kind of horrific sin. Rainbow Passport will hunt down some obscure link your forgot about on your gallery and sentence you to "Tier 2." One of the submitters at Mancheck could always find when my thumbs didn't match my big pictures, it's like she went through those galleries with a fine-toothed comb.

So you have to manage all of this stuff, and at times, some of it seems just plain dumb. Next, you have to figure out what kind of content and galleries do well with each AVS. And they're not all equal. I can sell 50 Mancheck memberships to every one UGAS. But I can sell five Bear Films memberships on one UGAS gallery.

The thing that I found about AVS webmasters when I worked for an AVS was that they're not very flexible. If I always did it this way, I should always be able to do it this way and make the same amount of money. I remember I tried to help one webmaster who was still using newsgroup content to create galleries. "You need to buy some fresh content," I said. "Oh I'm not doing that. I have never bought content." Okay, fine, starve.

I'd tell other webmasters what I did to make my sites successful and they'd say, "Oh fuck, that's too much work." Okay sorry I can't help you, that's what seems to be working for me.

One attitude that seems pretty pervasive is that a lot of people look at AVS as a way to simply syphon off traffic to their paysite or their secondary sponsors. And if that's how you're going to work it and not bothering to try and sell the AVS, then ultimately they'll close up the pipeline. And of course if you're not really trying to sell AVS memberships, then you won't, surfers won't see the value in buying so-and-so membership.

And if you just keep mirroring the exact same gallery with every AVS, then surfers doing the AVS thing just start seeing the same thing over and over again, which drives them away, and then, everyone starts screaming "AVS is dead." If you go into Walmart and see four sweaters lying on a counter, and then, you go to Kmart and see the same four sweaters, and there they are at Bloomingdales, too, eventually you just stop going to big department stores.

Anyway, gotta run. More later maybe.

Michael

[basschick]

Dzinerbear - i so much agree! people would ask me what i do to make sales and then say it was too much work. well, golly gee, people - this is a job. having a job means you do work. and there's a lot of room for creativity in your avs site layouts and it can be a fun and artistic experience. plus you will make more money these days with unique layouts.