Even if you don't provide affiliates with member-area access to snag the content they want, they can still post buttloads of content in one place just by providing an exhaustive linklist of every single hosted gallery you provide all from one easy-access page. Or set up a fansite style blog in which they only feature one model's galleries. It's frustrating, but I don't know if it does any good to argue that holding back content is going to solve the problem.

With small sites like ours trying to compete for exposure with big huge corporate sites with tons of affiliates and scads of free content, we have to do SOMETHING just to be seen by surfers. I have noticed that even some of our affiliates who (sometimes unintentionally because it's so common among tgp and blog promoters) abuse the free content by posting links to hundreds of our pics from one page wind up making sales that we wouldn't otherwise have. Maybe we assume too often that surfers seeing loads of a model's free content everywhere is a bad thing when in fact it is giving surfers' the perception that s/he is "famous" and he's missing out on something to have never joined his site (I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who runs solo girl/guy/tranny sites).

Yes, I think we would make a lot more money if there wasn't more than a handful of free porn out there and it were the good old days but it's not and those days aren't coming back so for now it makes sense to focus on the positive and recognize that if our content is unique and our personalities shine through AND we have more to offer members (live shows, video, spycams, frequent updates, etc.) than they'll ever get from free galleries then we can get those freeloaders and supposed two-pump chumps to convert.

BTW, I would rather have members (and yes, they do become members, these relics of the past who still get off on pictures) who are aroused by striptease style photographs and even non-nude content than these desensitized guys who need to see people fucked through their ears and every accessible hole possible by foot-long monster-dicks in high definition in order to shoot a load. There are still a lot of people in the world who not only LIKE softcore and still images, but actually prefer it, particularly when it comes to certain niches and fetishes. Anyway, if a guy is looking to jerk off to a solo guy masturbating, if he has 40 photos from dressed to cumshot that he can download and watch in a slideshow, it's not all that much different from seeing a video. More than 20 pics really is way too much, I think, but again, what can you do except focus on the positive and make sure as a site owner you have a hook for getting them to want more.

I suppose it's possible that the more free content you give away, the more likely a freebie-surfer will download more of your content with your domain name stamped on them, will jerk off to it more often than other people's and develop a really positive association with it, and eventually be such a fan and so curious that he finally joins. In the mainstream world a surfer usually visits 9-11 times before purchasing something; I have always tried to apply that to our sites and not assume all porn purchases must be compulsive first-timers; if you work on branding and getting return visitors who become loyal and see that your sites are always fresh (and more dynamic than other sites) then eventually they will buy.

Also, for personality sites like ours it doesn't make ANY sense for people to use bought content to promote us. I've never seen it be effective for any of our affiliates.

FYI: I wouldn't even have bothered posting except for needing to keep my account active. It's always fun to come to this board, though, and see these issues discussed in a rational and coherent way where on the straight webmaster boards the first person who even suggests too much free content is being given away is flamed to hell for being a heretic.