I've got money, and that's just about it.

[Ramster]

Originally Posted by LusciousDelight

Good thread...

Is there any type of legit business brokerage or listing of adult businesses for sale? A while back I did buy one of these turn-key deals, and it was a complete ripoff, but if one were interested, where are some good places to start looking for a real, legit investment in an adult business?

The webmaster boards mostly. Swedguy is selling his sites and business, listed on this site today. If you're interested email him for more info on the sites, income, asking price etc.

Check other webmaster boards, gfy usually has someone selling something there. Most sites are over-priced in their asking price but sometimes you can find a decent deal.

[Ptime]

Alright, now there's some responses.

Originally Posted by Toby

Those that create turnkey websites would love to take your money. It's highly unlikely that you'll ever earn any of it back.

There is no quick and easy in this business, it takes time and alot of effort to be successful. Money alone is not enough.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

No worries, you didn't burst my bubble because it wasn't filled yet.

I know turnkey websites aren't worth a thing, because they're too generic and not exclusive, besides other problems.

That's why I was wondering about AdultSiteWorks. I guess in a way it is turnkey, but I saw more as outsourcing all jobs. I'd still be able to create a brand new niche and hire out the totally exclusive and unique niche content. Of course I had wonders if all that outsourcing would dip into profits so much that it wouldn't be worth it anyway.

I checked out AdultSiteWorks in Archive.org and see they've just recently added the whole package of services. Before it was listed as coming soon, and for quite awhile. Not knocking them at all, because it looks like they do great work, I was just hoping that they had done it before for many people.

Originally Posted by Bill

It's definitely tough, and tricky.

In many ways it's better to start with no money or a limited amount of money - because, simply, it's harder than it looks to make money in the porn biz.

And, having the right knowledge and skill set is more valuable than money. With the right knowledge, you can always make money, depending on how hard you want to work, and how much risk you wnat to take.

But with only money, you are at the mercy of the people with knowledge and skills.

Stay far away from "services" promising to help you make money - none of them are legitimate. None of them.

You don't mention wether you want to work or just be a passive investor.

If you just want to be a passive investor, I'd suggest researching sponsors and approaching them to buy in as something like a limited partner.

Don't be in a hurry. Really, you would be best off setting aside some of your money to support yourself while you do nothing but study the business for a year or two, reading the boards, teach yourself the basic skillset.

Then start buying up other people's work - traffic sources, percentages in sponsors, other assets - and see how well that translates into cash flow for you.

Move slowly, spend slowly, concentrate on gaining knowledge and skills. That's the executive summary.

I was looking to work the business as well, not be a 100% passive investor. It's just that I have money and I want to turn that into an income. So I'm looking at many avenues, and this industry was one option. The reason I wanted others to do the work, is because they're professionals in their own areas (content creation, webmaster, marketing, etc.) and it would allow me to enter quickly and establish an income while I learn the business. What I didn't want to do was spend money creating that, but doing it all by my ignorant self.

In that case, my money might have been better spent on a different avenue. But if I wasted it trying to work an industry I don't know, I would have less money to invest in other avenues later if I decided it wasn't for me.

See my ignorance, I don't even know what a sponsor is. What is a sponsor that you say I could look into investing with them?

Originally Posted by Porn Junkie

Being still a newb myself, I started with little money. Only thing's i spent my money on were a few domain names and hosting. Thats it.

Been at it for a little over a year now, and the money is still slowly coming in, but its coming in.

You really should spend some time, hold on to your money, and get your feet wet. Once you know how this business works, how hard you realize your gonna have to work, the amount of hours it takes, THEN decide whether you want to start investing cash.

The churn rate of new adult webmasters is simply mind boggling. Most of them quit once they realize it isn't easy money. Me, I would make boat loads more cash getting a second job, but I love this business so much, it doesn't feel like a job ..... well, most of the time

How much time do you spend on it?

Doesn't seem likely I'll be jumping in anymore, but I may stick around and learn some stuff and get my feet wet. Who knows, might lead to a later career. However, if I'll be working a different avenue, not sure how much time I'll have to dip my toes.

Originally Posted by Simon

Welcome to the board

Whether you want to be an active or passive investor is an important decision. Also, a lot would depend on the amount of money you have and/or are willing to put at risk in entering the adult business.

If it's not a lot of money, then yes, the best thing to do is learn from the ground up so you'll be capable of running things based on your own intimate knowledge of how things really work.

On the other hand, if you have plenty of funds to work with, then you could, as Bill mentioned, take a more passive, investor-oriented approach with some existing adult companies. Or you could buy some existing web properties, operations, traffic sources, etc., and hire a first-rate manager to oversee the webmaster(s) needed to maintain your network of sites.

No, you don't ever want to use the services which offer to build your adult empire for you, or to get you up and running and making money quickly. That's just not going to happen.

Bottom line is that it will take several years of hard work to build something worthwhile for yourself, or if you can afford it, you could take over an existing operation and run it well yourself or hire those who can do that for you.

Finding the right web properties and other adult assets to buy--and those to avoid like the plague--and finding the right people to run things for you (and who to avoid like the aforementioned contagion), would have to be separate threads.

In the meantime, keep asking questions and take lots of notes.



.

I looked for established websites for sale, but couldn't find any. I haven't seen a single one in months of looking on Businesses for sale sites (other than an adult toy store). And google kept leading me to Turnkey sellers and turnkey sellers on ebay.

I have a good amount to invest, about $150k. However, if I can't buy an existing network, or hire professionals to build a unique niche one for me, I can't jump in without first learning. Otherwise, with professionals handling I thought maybe I could learn on my way, from the boards and the professionals I've hired.

Originally Posted by Ramster

Welcome to the board.

Your best option in my opinion is to NOT buy into any program that offers you to build your site from the ground up, blah blah blah, we'll make you rich, blah blah blah.

Buy a site that is online now that makes money. Buy a free site Link List or TGP that has traffic already and that makes money. Typically you'll pay 6-12 months income for a free site someone is selling. The beauty of any free site is it runs itself, you don't usually have to do anything so you can take some time to learns the ins and outs of the industry a bit more from it and from the webmaster boards like this one.

Come on! Please?!!?? I know to stay away from the promises of riches. That's why I was hoping AdultSiteWorks had been used by many people before. Because they're not promising turnkey riches, but rather all the services in one package that many people pay for already. Surely people hire marketers, webmasters, content managers, creators, etc. But eitherway, doesn't look like the answer anyway.

Like I said above, I've looked for sites for sale. Didn't know where though and hadn't seen any on boards I've checked.

Originally Posted by Ramster

The webmaster boards mostly. Swedguy is selling his sites and business, listed on this site today. If you're interested email him for more info on the sites, income, asking price etc.

Check other webmaster boards, gfy usually has someone selling something there. Most sites are over-priced in their asking price but sometimes you can find a decent deal.

What's gfy?

What other boards are good and full like this one?

I've joined AdultBizForums as well, but got only one response. I've seen a couple dozen others but don't know which ones are any good. Some are pretty dead.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Ptime

See my ignorance, I don't even know what a sponsor is. What is a sponsor that you say I could look into investing with them?

---

What's gfy?

A "sponsor" is the name we use for a porn paysite company - we call them that from the old days, when ads were first put on free porn sites - they were "sponored by so-and-so". A reference to the way the word sponsor is used in media.

In any case, a sponsor is a paysite company. In general, paysite companies are the end of the line for all traffic. Paysite companies sell the surfer a membership, collect the money from the credit card, and give out portions of the money to "affiliates".

We are mostly affiliates - our businesses involve getting traffic, surfers, and sending them to paysites, then receiving checks for their "signups" from the sponsor.

If you look at the ads at the top of this page, most of thise ads are from sponsors, looking to find new affiliates.

So, one way to use investment money, is to buy a percentage of a sponsor. Sponsors need cash to expand, and to buy or make new content. All the big money in online porn is in the hands of the sponsors. If you want to make big money, you want to become a sponsor, and operate paysites.

Now, there's no quarantee that any sponsor would actually make a deal with you - I just suggest them because that's where the big money is.

And, there are bigger risks and responsibilities being a sponsor, than being an affiliate.

Many people make anywhere from excellent money to enough-to-survive-on money by being affiliates only. To make excellent money as an affiliate involves becoming the owner of large traffic sources.

Traffic is a huge topic by itself. When people suggest to you buying a TGP or a linklist, they are talking about buying a traffic source.

---

Type "gfy webmaster" into google, and you will find links to the gfy webmaster board. That board is kind of infantile, but, it has the biggest traffic of any adult webmaster board. Don't trust anybody there, until you have learned it's unwritten rules. But, it's one of the go-to places for news about the business. Many people check it out just to keep an eye on trends and people.

---

By the way, I can think of several other ways to use money in this business - altho, most involve working as an affiliate. You could buy search engine traffic, for example, and specialize in that - something that requires having money to risk, but which can pay back fairly well.

However, with stuff like that, we run into the "knowledge and skills" issue again. It takes knowledge and skill to do that.