Can money realy be made in this business?

[Mr Exotic]

People give away free porn because thats what they use to get visitors that do believe it or not pay for porn. I make alot of sites myself that have 4 30 or even 8 20 second movie clips, and I do make sales off of them, in fact it is my livliehood. This aint the pre internet days where porn was such a rare thing that 50 pics were worth 10 bucks. Supply and demand dude, people give away more free porn because thats what makes them the most money. Would it be easier to make sales if there were no free porn? Of course it would but then again there wouldnt even be close to the amount of traffic that there is now. Whats done is done, and this is the business model that the internet goes by, if ya dont like it, dont do it. The way I market my free movie sites is pretty much like if you think these samples are hot then just wait until you see such and such with all these full length movies. Yes the vast majority of people are just looky loos who wouldnt pay for porn in their whole lives, but there are those people that want quality and those are the people that you hope to lure in and make a sale to.

[TightTeela]

is there money to be made? of course, by you or me? that depends. i've wondered for almost 3 years (can't believe its been that long already) if it wasnt all just a carrot on a string. i've had some short stretches of decent money, and longer ones of little. of course people make money, but you should make sure you prepare to not make any or little to start off with. but i could be wrong and maybe everyone else started off a bit different and were rich in days.

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by TightTeela

...but i could be wrong and maybe everyone else started off a bit different and were rich in days.

For me, it's been nothing but an uphill struggle to gain space in the market, and to figure out how to capitalize on that tiny space in the market I have carved out.

I can say that I have noticed a strong connection between steady growth in sales and time/energy spent working towards long-term goals.

[TightTeela]

Originally Posted by virgohippy

I can say that I have noticed a strong connection between steady growth in sales and time/energy spent working towards long-term goals.

agreed and i should have added that in my post as well and to add to that, for me at least, it is the hardest to stay motivated and focused when you are struggling to start out, so be prepared for that as well.

[SheepGuy]

Originally Posted by TightTeela

maybe everyone else started off a bit different and were rich in days.

It was possible back in the day, but I don't think so now. When I started I was completly broke with a shitty job as an office cleaner, part time. I'd just spent a year in a 'puter school that tried to teach me how to behave and dress for a business environment. I was very lucky, I emailed a guy who had a string of porn sites I was frequenting, and asked him if there was any money in it. Not only did he say yes, but he told me in about 4 paragraphs the basics of how to get me some
I followed his advice and within six months I had so much dough I never thought I'd be able to spend it all, so I kept buying content (well over 100K worth per year) and putting up more and bigger sites, hired a bunch of people to do most of the grunt work for me while I worked on ideas and deals mostly.
Sales started dropping around early 2002, just when I started taking a ton of time off and getting involved in politics. The Biz coasted until early 2005 when my accountant advised me to go bankrupt, so I did. That was very good for me, because my income was no longer going to credit cards and tax people, and I coasted a bit more, as sales kept dropping.
I hit bottom a year ago and got my ass in gear again, then I got sick for 3 freakin' months. My Doc told me afterwards that he thought I was a dead man walking, but I surprised him and beat it.
So I really didn't start going full steam and working the maniac hours that made me successful the first time until May of this year.
My income started rising again, but very slowly, and very slowly it started to snowball, slowly. No where near as fast as the first time around, but it is happening again, and I'm confident that this time around will be better than last time, because I've had the big bucks before, and know how I spent them. Also, I've got over 1,000 CD's of content, so I only buy what I really like now, I'm not buying for filler like I used to. Content was my biggest expense, now I really don't have any expense other than bandwidth so I'm running a much tighter ship.

Man, did I ever buy some useless shit when I thought I was rich I'm sitting here looking at a shortwave radio I paid 3K for and listen to every 2 or 3 months, got a top notch TV I very rarely watch, a stereo in the living room I never listen to, just crap. I did buy a house though, smartest thing I did.

Starting out fresh, though, would be very difficult indeed, still doable but difficult. I've had the good fortune to have dealt with and known a lot of solid honest players in this biz, a lot of them on this board, some on other boards, and have kept my reputation as a solid guy who doesn't dick people around. I've also been burned before, but the good outnumber the bad in this biz by a higher ratio than most businesses I'm sure.

It is a very rewarding, fun, biz to be in, but like all good things, work is the key, and diversifying saves your ass.

[LowryBigwood]

Good post Sheep,

I will be better prepared to spend my riches. Of course, that is after I get them!

But your post inspired me, thank you.

[Xallow]

It is really hard to stay focused and motivated at times, especially when You don't see a sale for days... God knows I get my down periods where i don't do anything for a couple of days, and I struggle to get past those times. When I get those down periods now, I start working on a small new project, like a new mini hub or something, or a big new project, like totally redoing my LL( I am doing this to 1 of them right now) this project has no deadline, so I don't NEED it to be done right now, so I can drop it for a week or a month when I feel like doing other things again, and get going on that "not so important" project again when I feel like it.

The key is definately to stay motivated during the upstart and during slow periods.

[SirMoby]

Let me just clear this entire thing up. YOU CAN MAKE MONEY.

Send me some money and I'll show you how to make money

[Dr Bizzaro]

Originally Posted by SirMoby

Let me just clear this entire thing up. YOU CAN MAKE MONEY.

Send me some money and I'll show you how to make money

That sounds like a deal that I can't pass up.... Where do I send it and how much?

[zack2004]

This story might give you a little insight into how much money can be made http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...violetblue.DTL .

[Senator_x]

Here is the real answer.

Yes, there is money in porn. There is also money in Ebay.

It all comes down to hard work.

You can work 40 hrs at a cubicle job or work 40+ around the clock from home.

I just came off a project that would have taken a company two weeks to complete. I stayed up for over 48hrs to complete the project for my client, all wrapped up nicely and paid upon delivery.

Beside hardwork you also need a tolerance to stay up in front of a computer for hours upon hours.

Anyway, I am looking for local MySQL and PHP programmers <<--- You know where to find me.

[RamCharger]

Originally Posted by Senator_x

Anyway, I am looking for local MySQL and PHP programmers <<--- You know where to find me.

I'm in PA. ICQ me if interested.

[SaucyPanties]

SheepGuy I love that post. I think many have been in a similar position but maybe on a lesser scale. It seems to be that we all need it to come around twice before we appreciate what we have.

[Jeka]

Smart people can make a lot of money in the adult business but probably in every other business too. People like you, with bad english, no knowdledge, no money to invest and without doing a lot of research first cannot make money here, simple as that.

[RamCharger]

I've been reading this thread and I have some experience as a former .com'er that I can throw in. If you want to make money in this business then treat it as just that: a business. Do your homework and understand what you are investing in so that you can make your investments count. Don't go off throwing money down a rat hole because someone said there's a mountain of gold to be made in those hills.

As much as everyone wants immediate profits (and it's disappointing when money doesn't just "walk in the door" as fast as we want it to) it's far better in the long run to look around and try not repeat mistakes others have made. That doesn't mean you can't experiment (because there's no uniform "recipe for success"), but unless you have a pile of cash under your matress try not to make those experiments costly ones. I went with a pair of pros to put together my current site, but that's because I can afford it and because I want to start off this venture on the right foot. However, I'm moving along slowly and carefully to understand all the options before me and choose among them carefully so I don't waste money and time. The most important advice above all is play fair.

Deal with others honestly when you're trying to build your business and you'll find many partners waiting, screw people over and you've just screwed yourself out of your own business. It's going to take work to establish relationships, but it's not hard to break them. Unfortunately, there are those who don't care, but they'll come and go.

This may sound like a bunch of common sense, but as a former .com'er, former military, and a person with a B.S. in Management (and who's now in the process of going for his M.S. in Management) it never ceases to amaze me to see the amount of people who wander through life like they never got past a king of the sand box mentality.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by RamCharger

This may sound like a bunch of common sense, but as a former .com'er, former military, and a person with a B.S. in Management (and who's now in the process of going for his M.S. in Management) it never ceases to amaze me...

I clipped my toe nails this morning.

[spazlabz]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

I clipped my toe nails this morning.

I resisted laughing at this a whole lot, but I couldnt help myself

that shit was FUH-NEE!


spaz

[carol.prime]

yes! and it surely does...
porn is everywhere!

[sgmoney]

I'm a newbie but how does one purchase content? Perhaps I should start my own studio =p

[SaucyPanties]

Originally Posted by sgmoney

I'm a newbie but how does one purchase content? Perhaps I should start my own studio =p

It is something I have recently just started, before checking any of the following, cheapest is NOT always best, cheap means probably oversold..

rockbottomcontent (dot) com
web-legal (dot) com
nevest (dot) net

[T Pat]

Originally Posted by sgmoney

I'm a newbie but how does one purchase content? Perhaps I should start my own studio =p

http://www.greenguysboard.com/resources/content.html

[Useless]

You could probably make a fair amount of dough if you offered some sort of keyboard drycleaning service for webmasters.

[DJilla]

Grasshopper,
The keywords to all these secrets are found in the glyphs

traffic clicks sales money

Try different variations of these in a sentence. Great mysteries are revealed. Or, so I was told.

[sabin]

Simply put: If it didn't work people wouldn't do it.
-Why is my inbox constantly full of spam? Because morons open and click the links in it.
-Why is chef tony raving about his miracle vegetable chopper at 3am when I can sleep? Because people buy it.
-Why do telemarketers call during dinner? Because people answer and buy things from them.

If it doesnt make more money than it costs, people won't do it for long, none the less create massive message boards dedicated to it. People here make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, maybe more, from the comfort of their own homes. But like any business undertaking it requires smarts, dedication, and balls. If you can't tolerate the risk of buying hosting... then maybe you need a lower risk profession, like a toll both operator.

In 10 years we will have niches no ones even thought of. And the exponentially growing population of computer owning deviants that will glady shell out their hard earned cash aren't going anywhere. The market, despite its abundance of free samples, is no where near saturation. If your smart enough and tough enough, the skys the limit. |goodidea