VH, I don't think anyone here is automatically labeling you a cheater. I wouldn't worry about that.
I've been in this business for almost 8 years now. When I started out, I had no car, no money, and 2 kids to support. I couldn't get a job because I lived in the middle of nowhere and couldn't get to work with no car. Taxis and daycare would have cost me more than I could make.
My dad had loaned me a PC and I ran across a Cybererotica banner. I clicked it, saw a "make money" link at the bottom of the site, and signed up.
I had no money to buy hosting or content. I used Cybererotica's free content and built a few sites and used Geocities to host and I ran several IRC chatrooms to get traffic. I had no choice. I had kids to feed.
Soon, Porncity opened their free host. That was great. I used Cybererotica's free content and Porncity's free hosting and I built more sites. There weren't many places to get traffic back then. Persian Kitty was the main source. But she wouldn't list me because I was on a free host. That really hurt because I needed the money soooo badly. But it was her site, and her rules.
Soon I found someone willing to give me free bannerless hosting because of the situation I was in and PK listed me. (YAY!) I started making some money, but not very much because I was still using free content and PK wouldn't only list two of my sites at any one time. I got a little traffic from SE's, too, but not alot.
I've trudged along all these years, struggling and having problems, but working hard because I had to. Last year I was making very good money with a certain sponsor and for the first time, my life was not so bad. My hard work was paying off. Then the sponsor I was working with discontinued the program I was using and my income dropped sharply. Luckily I had a few other small sources of income, but it hurt and it hurt BADLY. I've had my utilities disconnected multiple times (one today, in fact) lately and I've almost been evicted a couple of times. It's REALLY bad for me right now. I literally don't even have any money for groceries and I have small children and an infant with seizures that requires medication. I'm glad I had some beans and rice and such bought up for emergencies. LOL
I tried submitting galleries, but I got declined for partner accounts at alot of places because it's been a couple of years since I've submitted and they don't know me anymore. I would try link lists, but I don't have time now because I'm doing design work for other people for more certain income and I don't have any spare time at all. In fact, I'm so far behind that I only got about 3-4 hours of sleep last night.
I've been doing graphics work for other people lately, and I was starting to get caught up on my bills, but because of a couple of very difficult clients that demanded a huge number of revisions I've gotten so far behind on my work that I can't take any new work until I get caught up and I need the money from new clients desperately. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I do know that typing this message has been the longest single break from work I've had aside from sleep in about 2 weeks. Sad, huh?
Anyway, I don't begrudge hobbyists their income, but honestly, hobbyists are taking money away from those of us who really need it because it's all we have. I mean, hobbyists have just as much right to do what they want to as anyone else, and of course it would be unfair to try to tell anyone they shouldn't be here just because they "don't need" the money because who am I to say what someone else needs? But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt me or make me annoyed that there is less money for those of us who are trying to make a living.
And of course, the cheaters are the biggest problem. I don't think hobbyists would even be a real issue if the cheaters didn't make it so difficult for honest professionals and hobbyists to get listed. Cheaters are the biggest reason why I'm working 12-16 hours a day 7 days a week and I'm not even able to keep up with my bills.
Welcome to the industry. It's not an easy one to be in anymore.
