April poor sales

[Northstar]

I'm seeing a huge drop in affiliate sales for April. It just seems like as soon as the month started people put there wallets away. Anyone else seeing this?

[DrChango]

I'm seeing a huge drop in affiliate sales for April. It just seems like as soon as the month started people put there wallets away. Anyone else seeing this?

We actually got pizza from our the project manager for our affiliate program because sales this month were way better than last month.

Do you think the drop you saw might have had something to do with tax season?

[nickbaer]

April =

* Passover
* Lent, Easter
* US Income Tax
* Snow melt, flooding, new warm weather, some severe weather
* College spring break
* American Idol finals
* 30 days

[derekt]

We have seen a drop in affiliate sales, however new memberships are at an almost all time high.
I do see a drop in some of our VOD Sales, but also a rise in other VOD sales. So it's kind of evened out.

Usually, the following months are slow:
April - everyone is rushing to get their taxes done.
December - Christmas Time
January - Those are recuperating funds from Christmas shopping.
July - It's the peak of summer, lots of vacation time.

Other months are good though.

[ContentDave]

Our content customers are reporting some of the best few months in years. I will go on record and say 2009 will look a lot like 1999 = $$$

People don't have the disposable income, and instead of going out to meet guys and spend $100, they'll stay home with some wine watching live guys on sites like MontrealBoysLive.com

[Ben]

April has been very disappointing. I hope sales will pick up soon.

[HunkyLuke]

it seems every month someone brings up one of these threads...and once again my personal experience is exactly opposite. We have been having killer months this year, with every month being better than the last. Why? Because we have adapted and changed, we have released great new sites and have started on different marketing techniques. We have embraced our relationships with other affiliate programs and are working with them to strengthen both of our positions. We are trying new ideas, and rehashing old techniques to see how they perform now. And we are getting some surprising results and finding that there are quite a few surfers that are buying!

Honestly, in these financial tough times you can't just do the same thing and expect to make the same money, you need to try out new things. Try new programs, new marketing techniques, new niches, etc. Sure some will fail, but some will work. Then maybe next month and the months to follow you can be posting these "my best month ever" threads!

[derekt]

Honestly, in these financial tough times you can't just do the same thing and expect to make the same money, you need to try out new things.

Exactly.

I'm using SeanCody.com ONLY as an example.
SeanCody.com only produces for SeanCody.com. If sales are falling on SeanCody.com maybe branch out your content like perhaps another membersite or even a studio.

About every 3-6 months, we come out with something new.
3 years ago, this was a studio with only 6 DVD titles, no membership sites, only 6 DVDs. We then shipped out the DVDs to VOD. Sooner after, that built up the money to produce more. Every consecutive month from January 2006 until January, 2008 we filmed once a month.

Up until Jan. '08 we had about 50 or so membership sites. Shortly after, the revenue built up to where we were and still are stable and we bought out another studio that had about 235 scenes.

We started a VOD site, we started working on clips sites.
We are honestly in a safe zone to where we don't have to worry too much about revenue.
The key is, we are not focusing on others to make us money rather than making it ourselves by putting our hands in different pots so to speak.

Whenever I see someone on here posting a thread about "This months sales are down."

You know, the internet is so big, it's HUGE. Come out with a sister site or program. If you own exclusive content, maybe your members don't like it anymore and they want something different. People change. Do something with that content to earn more revenue and reinvest your earnings into something new. Don't be afraid to take risks. That's what we do. Whenever a new idea pops to mind, it's brainstormed, and a cost of operation is keyed in. If the risk won't put you out of business, try it. About every risk we have taken has worked out to our benefit.

[Maryflixxx]

I also find that there are two kinds of companies, those that embrace hard times and look for ways to push and expand through them and those that hunker down and hopefully wait out the storm.

The reasons for hunkering down differ from company to company, but are always underlined by a fear of spending. You need to invest to grow. Test out new ideas, refresh old ideas, stir the pot, actively seek new partnerships, knock on virtual doors and see what people will do with you.

I'm always interested by the reaction I get when I say "sure, no problem". An advertiser asked me if QueerClick would also join the affiliate program... I said "yes, we certainly will". You support us, we will support you - relationships are two-way streets and business on the internet does not function well in isolation.

So get out there. Use free options, use paid options, dust off your SEO manuals and adjust, go hunting for sites who might be interested in your product. Ask the questions, you'll be surprised how often people are willing to open their doors for you.

[GPallan]

great post! totally agree with what derekt and maryflixxx said. to me, a down economy screams an opportunity to make huge profits...be it in porn, real estate or stocks. luke is right, you can't keep doing the same thing you've been doing in this economy, but that's what's fun about it!

[TwinkTime]

Even paying out 50% on signups and all subsequent re-bills, April turned out pretty slow for us.......
I hope it's just tax time and not the shape of the future.......

[DrChango]

maybe porn should be made illegal for six months, and then have the decision over-turned...when suddenly there is new porn available, it will be like a renaissance of smut.

probably couldn't pull it off, but think about the possibilities

[nickbaer]

April 2009 ended a few percent higher than April 2008.

[Rich]

i also agree that new things have to be done i have been trying some different niches to sell the past couple of weeks and so far it looks like it is working by me changing the normal websites i promote instead of twinks and latin men i am trying some mature and asian stuff right now and have already made 6 sales so far this month