Quote Originally Posted by msm View Post
I think you're off to a good start but I would not officially launch it to the public until you have at least a dozen videos up. You should do well... has anyone ever really lost money doing a "straight guy" site?

Having said that, there is another established site called "straight fraternity" that may cause some confusion in your prospective customers. People who forget to type in "guys" in the URL will end up at the SF site and may forget all about yours. I'd actually consider a name change before you officially launch. I think there are still plenty of other catchy names that you can still get that won't confuse you with the original SF. I wonder if the SF site could even lay a claim against yours because of the name similarity?

By the way, the guest pass didn't work for me so I based my comments on your preview.

I had some questions I was wondering if you could answer:

1. Are you based in the USA and if so, why did you decide to host in Prague?

2. What make/model video camera are you using?

3. How are you finding your models and what are you paying?

4. Are you going to offer an affiliate program?

Thanks!
Thanks for the encouragement! We actually have more than 10 videos in the can scheduled for release over the next few months. We don't really anticipate getting sign ups until we have more content but decided a smaller launch with natural growth would be better.

My business partner and I talked about the other fraternity site and decided we wouldn't worry about them. We don't really anticipate any direct type in traffic (I'd be curious in hearing what percentage of other sites get direct type in traffic.) We were also given the go-ahead by our lawyer who researched our name. We did have one hit come up but nothing to worry about. I'm not a lawyer but the words are common words and I doubt they would ever be able to copyright them.

The password expired but If you would like, shoot me an email (you can do that from the site) and I'll make one specifically for you.

To you questions...

1. We're based out of Canada. If you read our 2257 it clearly states that and therefore, we do not fall under the US rules. We make absolutely every effort to comply with the 2257 regulations and probably would pass, but hey, why have to answer to one more person/regulatory body when you don't have to. So...anything we do/touch must have no connection with the US which is why our server is in Prague. We will eventually move our server to Canada but that's in the mid-term plan. Exmasters was highly regarded and I've been very please with their support.

2 I'm shooting with the Canon A1 and a small Canon HV30. I want to get another A1 but again, that's a mid-term plan. I also have a 35mm adapter I want to eventually get into the mix. If you're unfamiliar with them, they allow me to put a Nikon 35mm lens on the end of my Camera for a very shallow depth of field (DOF) which looks really nice. I'm working on a documentary using it. There are a few manufacturers (maybe 3 or 4) but I decided on http://www.cinevate.com/website/index.php It's a lot of work and absolutely no 'auto' anything. I even have to add 4x4 ND filters to my matte box in order to bring the light levels into range.

3 My business partner is in charge of model recruitment. He has many connections and is persistent. We even find models at house parties we go to. One of the models on the site now we recruited at a friends Christmas party. It's actually very funny. We have a lot of hockey and rugby connections and plan on recruiting with in that circle. Our prices are negotiated from model to model and 'act' to 'act.' I'll just leave it at that.

4 We're just catching our breath from opening the site. We think we want to eventually have affiliates but not at the moment. There is so much I've had to learn from scratch and I don't have a clue what would be required to run an affiliate program. I'm open to guidance if you're interested. I've setup an affiliate application (mini computer program) on my streaming server specifically to host flv for affiliates but that's as much as I've done.

I hope I've answered your questions (I'm known for being long winded and I apologize for that.) Don't hesitate to ask anything else.

Best Regards,
Jake