On The Subject Of Newer Adult Webmasters...

[Bec]

Hi, I'm a webmaster, I'm new, I have brown eyes and a milky white tan. I run a review site, can I have free porn?

::: spewing coffee :::: too cute

[gaybucks_chip]

I will say that there's a lot of arrogance among at least some new webmasters.

I can think of one who was trying to set up his own site and sought out advice from AJ and I... pretty much everything we told him about what not to do, he did... and he got incompetent people around him who were either friends / boyfriends / etc. to give him advice and "help" him set up the site (people with no adult industry experience), then wondered why the site was a piece of shit as far as conversion and retention.

Then, when we talked about it again, he said that "money wasn't the most important thing, he was out to change the industry..." and then proceeded to bitch about not getting any money out of his site. But still wasn't interested in actually following the advice that we (or several others who had offered help) had told him.

Needless to say, his site is going nowhere fast.

On the positive side, it's great working with someone like Skyler, who is smart, energetic, and very willing to listen and learn... I just wish there were more Skylers and less of the other types.

[chadknowslaw]

I think this industry is a lot like the restaurant business.

In the restaurant business, there are a lot of cooks, waiters, and waitresses that think if they owned the restaurant they could do it better and make a ton of money. First, they would pay the staff more money [because they are staff and restaurant staff are underpaid]. Then they set out grandiose plans and try start their own restaurant.
Once they get started, they realize how much it really costs to run a business, they miss important things because all they really know how to do is be a waiter and not a business owner, they pay too much for everything, don't know how to market and ultimately the restaurant fails.

In the porn world. models, programmers, marketing staff all have done the same thing. They have grandiose plans, they are sure they know everything and they are going to make it big and show everyone else how it should be done.

Running a business takes experience, it takes capital [lots of money up front] and it takes hiring good people to help you. Underfunding and overpaying are the two biggest problems I see in new businesses. A model will try make his own site and then pay _his_ models double the going rate and then cannot make ends meet. A programmer will try it by himself then wonder why his site that has shitty photography does not get any recurring members. The marketing genius cannot make things work because he didn't have enough to survive the first six months without any income from the site.

I try to be kind to newbies, give them some free advice and tell them where and where not to cut corners in their legal costs. A few will make it, but like the restaurant business the majority will drop out in a year's time.

Damn. I was lucky. My product was in high demand and I got in at the right time! Thank you Craig and Patrick :-)

[TheWhack]

I have never really thought about it actually. Now that I think about it though, it really has changed in the last couple of years. I think many new guys just think there is a quick buck to be made in the adult industry, or maybe a lot of arrogance.

When I started 6 years ago I was on GFY constantly looking and asking for advice, the crowd on that site has gone downhill, its only a place to talk down at the little guys I feel. So maybe that contributed to new webmasters not wanting to ask for help.

[attis]

Well, I'm a new webmaster and one of the first advices I got was going to this board. I joined even before I started my business and this board and the members provided a lot of help already, although I think I never asked for specific help yet. It's a big help to have a board like this and I'm very thankful for everything I've learned from here so far.

[Bec]

I have never really thought about it actually. Now that I think about it though, it really has changed in the last couple of years. I think many new guys just think there is a quick buck to be made in the adult industry, or maybe a lot of arrogance.

When I started 6 years ago I was on GFY constantly looking and asking for advice, the crowd on that site has gone downhill, its only a place to talk down at the little guys I feel. So maybe that contributed to new webmasters not wanting to ask for help.

Actually, that quick buck mentality has been ongoing for years. What many don't realize is the "build it and they will come" doesn't work anymore. ANY type of porn related site is a lot of work! When they finally realize that, they just quit.

[Dzinerbear]

I don't know though, why would you come to one of these boards for advice? The way people so often jump all over people and the stupid sarcasm. I was on a straight board the other day posting to some guy's legitimate question about what constituted a freesite. I gave a detailed answer and the guy appreciated it, and then, five posts later some yahoo says, "A freesite is a site that is free," or some such stupidity like that.

And around here is someone uses the N word ... gay niche ... people will jump all over him.

I can completely understand why people are hesitate to post on boards.

Michael