Trends in the business...

[Evil Chris]

I've seen a lot of things come and go. Things that came out that promised to be the best thing since sliced bread and wasn't... and some things that caught on quite nicely.

What are some of the current trends in this business of ours?

[Phoenix]

do i have to mention reality?

i think the whole porn that doesn't look like porn is good right now...it extends the fantasy..like CFF...those could be real girls

[Rochard]

What are the current trends in the business? I'm gonna get blasted for this one.

I just spent the week down in Mexico for YP2003, and I noticed something I thought was interesting. It's the marketing people.

A lot of marketing people seem to be moving around a lot recently.

One guy that we do business with has moved around so much in the past year that I'm not sure who he's working for. On top of this, he was so fucked up most of the weekend that he wasn't able to tell us who he's currently workintg for.

Another marketing guy..... a friend.... recenly moved to a new company. He had the damn balls to talk shit about his former employee, saying "they do this" and "they do that". This guy hooked me up with the old company and basically fucked me, but now he wants to me to use this new company. He screwed me once and I won't do anything with him.

I think in the next year we are going to see a huge change in marketing, and the people working in marketing.

I've got more when you guys are ready.

[Cathedra]

Originally posted by Phoenix
do i have to mention reality?

i think the whole porn that doesn't look like porn is good right now...it extends the fantasy..like CFF...those could be real girls

I agree with him.. they seem to be spreading like wildfire those sites, and they keep trying to top each other it more and more believable situations. They are getting to the point where I wonder if they really are real. ::-|

[druid]

I think the main trend goes into traffic splitting and making revenue out of the last surfer :)

[firehorse]

Whatever happened to TGP2?
We were just talking about it yesterday.
It was suppose to be the new big thing that would change the industry.
I never hear about it anymore.
Does anyone still do it?

[Traffichoney]

ooh... interesting thread.. i've been out of the loop for quite sometime... this thread could come in handy.::-|
Sorry Chris don't have opinion but i will be taking notes ;) hah!.. carry on folks ha! :bonk: :bonk:

Thanks! hah!

[iroc409]

the reality stuff is obviously pretty popular right now. but i can't help thinking, is it going to end up like fox, where people run out of ideas and it dies? i doubt it will die... i'm just not sure where you go after that. but i do think it's taking over the more "mainstream" porn sites.

[daPimp]

...a lot of new AVS's appeared last couple of months...

...also more dating sites will probably start popping up due to the unstability of adult industry lately...

... and layer ads i guess will be the next big thing, already offered by a couple of sites (MassPass, ARS) - should help with the freeloader problem.

[LadyMischief]

I think there are a lot of new trends in the industry. The rise and fall and rise again of fetish (it's like a rollercoaster) is a big one. Finding the next big thing is everyone's goal..


I also find that people are starting to understand that bigger is not always better, and are more interested in getting quality.. They know that surfers are more and more jaded every day, and something really needs to stick out in their mind for them to even think about it later. Appealing to the surfer instead of just doing what the webmaster thinks is nice, or good is a bit of progress that's needed to come for a while.

Look for example at the BBW niche. A few years ago NOBODY wanted to touch it! "I don't wanna look at those fat bitches'. Guess what pal, just because you don't like it doesn't mean your surfer won't! NOw I see people all the time asking for advice on how to promote the BBW (and other) niches because they realize that ANYTHING sells, there is a market for anyhthing if you find it.


Those are a few of my ideas, but I'm too busy to post more, or I'd be here all day long.

[BT]

I would have to say that the Adult dating sites along with the interaction of mainstream dating sites. I see the Adult dating sites even breaking down into niches so you can have several of them....."lardassdating.com", etc.... www.adultloveline.com is making my webmasters rich world wide! webmaster can sign up at http://www.lovedollars.com and the traffic keeps going and going and going...!! Make no mistake about it, baby

[Horg]

Well I'm not really up to date with everything that goes on in the industry as I am a designer and I mostly design (ie I don't run TGPs and stuff like that). From what I have seen though, it seems like people go for smaller sites these days. AVS, TGP galleries, things like that. I receive less demand for banners and paysites and related graphics. Are people less interested in starting paysites? Well that's what I noticed from my little corner on the web!

[baddog]

Originally posted by firehorse
Whatever happened to TGP2?
We were just talking about it yesterday.
It was suppose to be the new big thing that would change the industry.
I never hear about it anymore.
Does anyone still do it?

Well, the one false thing about TGP2 was that it was new. There is nothing new about it. TGP2 is what TGP began as.

To answer your question, yeah, there are people doing it, and all you have to do to find them is start a thread saying it is dead.


They should be here soon.

[Gateway]

Trends Trends Trends..

Well over the past prob 4-5 months now I have seen a trend in very crappy conversion ratios and less sales :/ IM pretty much gonna just start keeping my own traffic.

Geo Filtering/Targeting/Redirecting is a good thing to be using now esp with conversions getting harder, you want to make sure you can maixmize all of your traffic, and from what we can see from people using some of our soft 40% of their traffic is foreign so unless you have a plan to convert that well your throwing out alot of traffic.

reality sites are getting old, lots of things cropping up, altho my fav still has to be CFF, but i only get to see the preview clips :)

I think we are going to start loosing alot of the smaller webmasters out there, the ones that really provide the big guys with tgp traffic, gallery traffic, and exit traffic. Well this doesnt boat well for anyone running a sponsor/affiliate program.

Money is tight and im not sure if anyone else is feeling it but Ill be the first to admit that things have SLOWN down (war, economy, summer, etc)

Another note while im on my rant, i would love to see pop-ups gone or at least only ONE clean pop up, nothing like being caught in some pop-up hell and speaking of that IF IE ever comes out with a pop-up blocker you can kiss that traffic goodbye since prob 80% of people use some form of IE.

I think alot of peole have been re-evaluating their positions in the adult industry its not a bad industry but there is still alot of crap going on.

[Cyndalie]

Closer ties between sponsor programs and billing/payment solutions are needed badly. Either built in traffic filtering or in depth processor selections for affiliates either based on affiliate preference or payment type according to sufer location. Geotargeting traffic and providing globalized targeted payment solutions to increase customer base.

Everyone is playing pass the buck. MC/Visa are passing to ISPS, ISPS are passing on to webmasters, any whom run a sponsor program are passing of to affiliates.. Believe me you DO NOT want to piss our affiliates off or everyone loses.

2003-2004 is going to be fierce. People are shifting to more opportunistic positions in the biz, let's hope they are the right persons for the job. I dont see these shifts as instability, internet jobs last an average of 2-3 years. These rollovers will be better for our biz I feel because it brings experience & talent to well needed areas, and specialists higher up on the "food chain".

No one has made a million dollars helping webmasters, I think the most expeirenced are burning out on helping newbies which could force newbies to regress to horrible tactits we are happy that are now in the past.

If this business is going to survive, all of us need to focus on what we do best, help guide those in need of help/direction, and not fight regulation so much; it's enivatable.

[Phoenix]

Originally posted by Rochard
What are the current trends in the business? I'm gonna get blasted for this one.

I just spent the week down in Mexico for YP2003, and I noticed something I thought was interesting. It's the marketing people.

A lot of marketing people seem to be moving around a lot recently.

One guy that we do business with has moved around so much in the past year that I'm not sure who he's working for. On top of this, he was so fucked up most of the weekend that he wasn't able to tell us who he's currently workintg for.

Another marketing guy..... a friend.... recenly moved to a new company. He had the damn balls to talk shit about his former employee, saying "they do this" and "they do that". This guy hooked me up with the old company and basically fucked me, but now he wants to me to use this new company. He screwed me once and I won't do anything with him.

I think in the next year we are going to see a huge change in marketing, and the people working in marketing.

I've got more when you guys are ready.

tell more...we are ready
talking smack about anybody is just bad for biz no matter what
getting right blotto at industry parties isn't always a good idea either

[Magnus3x]

Whatever happened to TGP2?

..I think thats been deadsville for a long time.

1. Diversity. Making huge revenue gains from a single source is getting harder, I see webmasters dipping their feet into many different revenue streams to stay ahead. Ever evolving and constant learning, thats why I love this industry so much.

2. MGP's

3. Reality site tours - "Invasion of the clones"

4. Exclusive Content!

[corvett]

At this point, the online adult industry is beginning to grow mature and the successful companies will be those that are nimble enough to read the trends and apply historically sound business principles…the smoke and mirror outfits are beginning to see that the risk might be higher than the reward

As well, many more webmasters are reading message boards than they were a few years ago…the smallest voice can be heard, and a jury of your peers make the decision based on the evidence…this makes this industry very public

With the frequent industry turnover, webmasters, as a whole, are beginning to realize that quality matters and the trust of your clients and partners make a large impact on your business

[corvett]

Originally posted by Rochard
One guy that we do business with has moved around so much in the past year that I'm not sure who he's working for. On top of this, he was so fucked up most of the weekend that he wasn't able to tell us who he's currently workintg for.

thats funny

[BobbyR]

I've seen the merging of porn and mainstream over the last year or so. There is a fine line between Maxim and Playboy. A nipple here and a thong there.

Reality porn is hitting new levels right now but as cable and Internet merge I would like to see more softcore "real" reality, not staged. Survivor with a sexual twist.

[RMS]

Asian Midget Ninja Witches...


trust me on this one.

[Mister X]

I think the biggest trend has been the the slow death of the old "super sites". The big ones like Web's youngest Women and Karups, etc. seem to still be able to make money but to not have any forward momentum left. Maybe it's cuz there are fewer brand new surfers coming in and the ones that have been around a while are just sick of seeing the same girls doing the same poses on 20 or 30 different sites.

Also the live feeds/plugins haven't been creating a hell of a lot of buzz lately. With the possible exception of the ones that are trying to capture the reality market of course, hehe. It seems like more and more site builders are either ignoring the feeds or are just throwing them in as an after thought. It wasn't that long ago that people were saying you could never have a successful site unless you had tons of plugins.

[PaulSweet]

The trends I see are:

Making the most of your traffic: Whether thats geo-targetting, dialers (which seemed to be a dirty word at one point), free email programs, etc.

Resurgence of hardcore fetish content and an increasing split between the softcore/hardcore divisions in the industry. This is especially evident as more and more legal cases and laws come into play.

Big changes will also be here soon in the way mailing is done, including spam mailing.

Real reality content - real amateurs having real sex. It might not be pretty but its really real. You will see major programs jumping on this as soon as the "large cock" niche dies down.

[GrimShawn]

Wow a lot of it has been covered. Deff the Reality sites, everyone seems to have one now, they deff caught on like a good case of crabs!

Rochard also hit the nail on the head as well, people seem to jump ships from company to company a lot now! It's getting to be like professional sports. Everytime you make a good contact with a company you'll give them a call and they no longer work there, then you'll see posted on a board somewhere "hey i'm now with so and so company!"

I think ego's are getting to be more and more a factor as well. Everyone seems to want to take shots and each other and make a lot of drama! Sure drama sells, but to me in the industry we are in we all need to have each others back more then pointing out who is doing what wrong!

Every show you go to now it's turning more and more into high school type groups, everyone breaks off into there group and talk about what the other groups are doing. I mean I could be wrong, but it seems a lot of people are more concerned with given other people in the industry a hard time more then making new contacts and what new ideas will help everyone make more money!

This has nothing to do with who I work for, it's like that across the board!

I myself think that the reality thing will get played out sooner or later and then the more amateur looking self made site will do really well, kinda something that the end user can relate to and feel they can do themself.

[Mister X]

Originally posted by BobbyR
I've seen the merging of porn and mainstream over the last year or so. There is a fine line between Maxim and Playboy. A nipple here and a thong there.

Reality porn is hitting new levels right now but as cable and Internet merge I would like to see more softcore "real" reality, not staged. Survivor with a sexual twist. That certainly seemed to work well for the guys that did Big Brother. If they were smarter they wouldn't have hooked up with Real One though.

[Ounique]

I'm afraid I don't have much experience with traffic trades and all that, but as far as content goes, I think the two biggest things are the amature/reality sites, like you all have been saying, as well as the niche sites. People are more in touch with their fetishes and fantasies now, and with the internet they can explore them at a safe distance. That's why all these very underground scenes such as balloon fetish and clown sex are starting to become public. People are finding kindred spirits online and finding the confidence to come out of their fetish closets. At least through their online identities. So I think it's a great time to explore those avenues. IMHO. :D

[LAJ]

Heh... how ironic... I was just working on a follow up piece for my YNOTNEWS editorial this week regarding my predictions for 2003 that I wrote up several months ago... http://ynotnews.ynotmasters.com/issues/121902/page2.html

Now I can link to this thread here at xnations as well in my article!

I think that I was pretty right on with my 10 predictions (with some excerpts here)...

1. More resource site and chat board site inundation

2. Email becomes more and more useless
SPAM and virus-ridden emails can account for up to 90% of our inboxes, email has unfortunately become more of a joke than a useful tool in my opinion.

3. The exodus of some prominent people
Most Webmasters are forgotten within weeks or even days of their departure in our fast paced industry which is kind of sad, but such is life.

4. More spam busts
AOL just cleaned up to the tune of $7 million. We’ll be seeing a lot more of that. The floodgates have already been opened.

5. More hacking attempts and viruses
2002 made 2001 look like a joke in both of these arenas. As more people go online worldwide in the next year, more security will be compromised and more systems will crash.

6. Government lawsuits
Let the obscenity prosecutions fly!

7.Company lawsuits
As companies become more and more desperate and the marketplace becomes more and more competitive (both adult and non-adult… look at Acacia for example), I think we’ll be seeing more instances of one company suing another.

8. New technologies
I predict that we will see some groundbreaking stuff in 2003.

9. New niches
The content market is still not tapped out for ideas in my opinion, and I feel that some funky new concept is just around the corner. Most likely a twist on something that sells well now is my guess.

10. YNOTMasters will continue to kick ass

[Ramster]

Current trends? I think you touched on most of them already.

Niche and uniqueness is what sponsors are going for on a daily basis as all the programs try to find the next hot converting site. Reality seems to be the hottest at the moment trying to get surfers to believe the girls/women are real people off the streets.

The other big trend right now was mentioned also. Geotracking. Webmasters, myself included, should really be doing more of this if possible as more countries with no means of cc payment surf through our sites.

Alternate tours seem to be the order of the day lately too.

[CumSensei]

Originally posted by firehorse
Whatever happened to TGP2?
We were just talking about it yesterday.
It was suppose to be the new big thing that would change the industry.
I never hear about it anymore.
Does anyone still do it?

Im not doing it yet but im working on something similar...

I say the pron industry is fucked at the moment..tgps killing the bizz what we do need to make people understand it´s about quality and not quantity. People got 100K tgps but dont make a fucking signups.

I have turned the table around and gone the other way...im going all SE now and forget about the tgp thing...except tgp 2...thats what im working on now.

But you wont see tgp2 sites have 50K a day....but hell I could live with 3K a day with the attitude a tgp2 site have comparing to a tgp1.....fuck the best days where the picpost days..remember them? One picture...the surfer liked it and he signed up. Now the surfers get one site in each gallery...thats fucked up..and people bitch about not making signups.

Another thing me and a few friends have talked about is the abusing word FREE....wtf is FREE...do we wanna give away FREE stuff? No beause then we would not need to even add sponsor links to our damn adds.

FUCK FREE! I never use the wrod free from a few weeks back...I use the word samples....THATS RIGHT SAMPLES!! thats what every gallery are...they are samples...

they are an add...not a way to puke out FREE shit!

Anyway of someone are intressted in my tgp kind of prodject they are welcome to contact me for further info and all I can say that it will take a month or 2 to setup the idea I got but then it will be verry eay to manage....you also need to follow a few small rules we have made me and my friends. Like NOT use the word FREE!

Sorry about this breakout but chris got me surfing here and started this damn thing :)

Happy chris? =)

Peace to all of ya.

CumSensei

[Toolz]

I'm with Bobby on this one, more "real" reality based porn is definetly in the future, some survivor type stuff, Playboy TV is doing this with Seven Lives Exposed but it's definetly too commercial to be believable. Put 20 people on an island ala Fox, but have it be hardcore, definetly a good idea.

As far as processing aspects go, surfers are 10x more savvy today than they were a year ago. Do I see trial's going away, sure, you first. No one wants to be the first sponsor to jump off the trial and go to straight monthly memberships but I don't see any better option happening.

The best sites recurring wise in the future will probably be the ones offering content above and beyond adult, merging print media with porn.

[Vid Vicious]

Here's a new trend to think about ...

The Bush goverment declaring WAR ON INTERNET PORN ....


Discuss ....

[roger]

I stick to the basics, build sites that grab the surfers attention then I give them the best deal I can (Porn4aBuck) a full trial for a month.

we release new niches like Cokewhores,stonerbabes etc. for shock value

we keep adding to Pornkings Like Sunny Leone and soon Brittany andrews for exclusive content.

The reality sites seem to be the new trend but they are not uniq anymore. some do well others don't.


Its all about proccessing and Impulse buying. thats what we focus on.

the new trend that seems to be working for us is the Long page format sites. since we don't have tour pages.
I don't want them waiting for pages to load and lose interest so we sell them on one page. its working great for us.

[StuartD]

It's a long post, sorry... but there is a point to it, I promise....

The trends that hit the adult market are the same ones that hit everywhere else.

Let's take... the Matrix 2. If this movie had been released as little as 4 years ago... it would have been heralded as the most brilliant movie ever made that broke the mold and yadda yadda....

People today are cynical. They're detailed. They refuse to let themselves lose their grip on reality... to suspend their disbelief long enough to just be entertained... to enjoy themselves.

Instead, they have to question the relevance of something, the existance of something... the sheer logic of this and that. Why was that car in that scene?? It's so stupid... it didn't need to be there. The film makers really screwed up and blew the whole movie for me because that car was there.

WTF?

The best movies to see are kids movies... and you can tell me all you want that you still like the grown up movies and you're not like everyone else... but admit it.. you like kids movies... and really do enjoy them. And you are critical of the grown up movies.... why??

Because you're more readily able to suspend your disbelief with a kids movie. It makes no pretence of ever trying to be molded around reality. It does really stupid far out stuff that no real person ever could do. So you never even think to question it.

People need reality now more than ever. They need to be proven this and that... they need to have everything explained and just won't take a "because it is" for an answer.

So... how does this relate back to porn? Well, people have forgotten who the major porn stars are. People have turned away from going to download Jena Jameson in exchange for teenage girls... amateur girls... college girls (right Chris?)

A perfect 10? Boob implants? Stunning curves and a painted on face to look like a woman that only an artist could draw?

It's not as much of a turn on as it used to be... because 99% of guys know that they'll never really sleep with that girl. He'll probably never even see a girl like that in his entire life. To him... they don't exist except in film... and that's just not good enough.

The Girl Next Door has taken over. The more real you can get the person to look... and the more real the situation you can put them in... the more people will accept it.

And if you so much has have a tiny glitch... if someone's ring is on their right hand in one scene and then on their left hand in another scene... you've blown it. People will catch that, and make fun of it and laugh... but not jerk off. You've lost them completely.

I've gone to countless movies with friends who walk out analyzing it. How many of you have had that happen? They (or you) talk about how a scene would have been better if it did this... or that... or they should have just done this...

when did we all become movie producers? Directors?

People are evolving... people are changing. We think we're getting smarter.... we're just getting more picky. Inner child? It's going away folks....

We're losing our sense of "fun"... we're losing our ablility to just let go.

Porn? how long do you think it'll take before all women on paper or a screen become like that perfect 10 with the painted face and fake boobs?
They're not real.... so why bother?

Right now, people want reality... Brad is right. Milk it for all it's worth... go that one step further like MaskTV did if you can. Give them reality... REAL reality. They'll love it...

for a while.

[daPimp]

Another trend lately has been all the SPAM laws, which is a good thing of cours, but could also turn out fatal for all the programs paying per e-mail, incase they set some new weird requirements for mass e-mail marketing "to protect kids from adult content" that makes the current lists useless - like the adult domains laws last month.

[roger]

Originally posted by daPimp
Another trend lately has been all the SPAM laws, which is a good thing of cours, but could also turn out fatal for all the programs paying per e-mail, incase they set some new weird requirements for mass e-mail marketing "to protect kids from adult content" that makes the current lists useless - like the adult domains laws last month.


I forgot another trend taking over spam and thats Ad-ware

we launched a one way messanger so we don't have to mail anymore thats doing real well its called Download Plus in Pornkings that pays 15 cents a download.

Toolbar programs are also a trend for controling traffic

[StuartD]

How about popup blockers?

Most browsers come with them now, not to mention the popup blocking programs...

IE is about all that's left that allows them... so what happens when there's no more popups?

[Bruno Dickman]

1) Reality Sites

2) Multilingual Tours w/ Geotargetting

3) Companies becoming more and more professional

4) Front ends with less lies. IMHO Companies that want to claim more than they really offer should be punished in some way.

5) The average gallery maker will make less and less money


There are zillions of trends... some become the next big thing, some stay in ideal worlds... but those 5 are very likely to become reality in the near future. :)

Take care,

Bruno

[AcidMaX]

Well trends in the industry....

For one I can say that there are a lot of shady sites out there, and I see a lot of nice, clean respectible people (not that there are not any now) getting more into porn.

I see a lot of the big mega sites going away too, just because of saturation. I see a big trend in site automation right now.

Being that I am from the programming side I am being asked to write more custom applications that will help the sites stay updated, managed and easier to use for not only the support personnel but also the end users. Before many of the sites seemed to be "who cares about the surfer, I just want them to signup!" Now I am seeing a lot more in the way of easier navigation, members areas on the tour sections of websites that are not linkable to actual content, but that are showing real items in the members area to help bring in more members.

To be honest what scares me about all the adult sites is the billing processors. We just recently saw 1 go down the tubes and possibly more coming? I mean not only did sites like CFF lose their rebills but so did the people who were promoting them. I am not sure as to the results of that (nor am I blaming anyone...etc etc) Just simply stating a point that months and years of hard work seem to dissapear so fast in this business. One minute you are on top, the next on the bottom.

I just think the sites are going to turn more mainstream as far as marketing and promotion and hopefully the employee turnover at all of these companies stops.

I know for me when I look at a company if everyday I have a new rep I become skeptical about the companies longevity. Hopefully companies will realize the importance of a good staff just like in any other business and will build upon not only surfer relations but employee relations as well.

Just my 2 cents for whatever its worth.


Andy

[Quentin]

I suspect that many of the future trends in this industry will be foisted upon us by external forces, unfortunately, and will be less marketing trends than trends introduced by legal necessity. Within the next year or so, I expect that we will see new federal legislation concerning bulk email (I think its likely that it will become illegal to send explicit images via email, for example), and regulations handed down by VISA/Mastercard will continue to get more stringent, as well.

Of course, in terms of legal restrictions, Congress needs to figure out how to write legislation regarding the net which is actually enforceable and Constitutional, something they have had a great deal of trouble with in the past...

[AcidMaX]

Originally posted by Quentin
I suspect that many of the future trends in this industry will be foisted upon us by external forces, unfortunately, and will be less marketing trends than trends introduced by legal necessity. Within the next year or so, I expect that we will see new federal legislation concerning bulk email (I think its likely that it will become illegal to send explicit images via email, for example), and regulations handed down by VISA/Mastercard will continue to get more stringent, as well.

Of course, in terms of legal restrictions, Congress needs to figure out how to write legislation regarding the net which is actually enforceable and Constitutional, something they have had a great deal of trouble with in the past...

Which brings up another point...what you stated was US regulations. I wonder if we will see more people going overseas to beat the US based regulations and laws. And I also wonder if we will encounter more fraud from other countries because of the crack down in the US.

[McSpike]

Well there are a few things that are new. There are some I should mention. Like using multilingual sites and foreign/local payment solutions. I have never ever seen a solution of SMS payment on US based paysites or prepaid payment solutions and stuff like that on "big dog" US sponsors. Well this is changing but it's happening outside US.

If you only knew how many non-US signups I get at places where non-US customers can be billed and that's only using credit card solutions. Now talk about other payment solutions. That's a whole new era of new payment solutions and a whole new market out there. So much money just waiting to be collected. While there my be new types of paysites invented, what good can they do if the majority of world-wide market can't pay for it and it's not because they don't have money!

There are many BS stories circulating around european payment options it makes me sick and everyone is pointing on the dialers. Fucken dialers. Europeans like them as much as US customers. Europeans having no credit cards? DUH! Ya right. And what about Asia?

There is a company called Sex Money that saw this gap and saw what ibill, ccbill and all other most common used processors didn't.

I see this as a new thing that will shake and connect the net even more in the coming years than all the paysites with a twist that are coming out each year.

There are so many things yet to be discovered. Internet is at its roots and I feel very good about it, because there are so many opportunities just waiting to be exploited and so much more money to be earned.

[Hashishan]

Originally posted by baddog
Well, the one false thing about TGP2 was that it was new. There is nothing new about it. TGP2 is what TGP began as.

To answer your question, yeah, there are people doing it, and all you have to do to find them is start a thread saying it is dead.


They should be here soon.

yes, and they seem to be in love with the idea of imposing extremely strict rules on any site to be called "tgp2" or at least the handful i have met

they also seem to spend so much time parroting each other, if you meet 4 in one place just talk to 1 of them and you can hear what they all have to say

imagine night of the living dead, only instead of moaning "brains, BRAINS" they are saying "tgp2, TGP2"

all the anal retentive bullcrap that the diehard tgp2 people spout is what throttled tgp2, imo

[Platinum Albert]

Hello All:

Great thread Chris....

All points above have merit, however, I think billing and legislation will always be determining factors as to the fate of this industry.

With billing being a prominent factor for all of us, I see new revenue streams (eg Cross Sells/Up Sells) as additional ways to make money and offset other costs to give the surfer a better product.

In respect to legislation, we are seeing laws changing and with one swift move in legislation, affilate models may have to make numerous changes to adapt to the market. From the affiliate model, I believe success is coming in the form of adapting quickly to change and diversfying your billing and products.

Living in the "Here and The Now" sometimes reaps the immediate rewards of profits, but if you don't plan for tomorrow, those profits twindle quickly. There is a big difference between leadership and management.

Platinum Albert
Platinum Bucks

[Hashishan]

Originally posted by StuartD
How about popup blockers?

Most browsers come with them now, not to mention the popup blocking programs...

IE is about all that's left that allows them... so what happens when there's no more popups?

full page ads in every link. much less annoying than popups. people say popups sell, personally i never saw it, and most people i know HATE the motherfuckers. these people arent rocket scientists either, they are real life typical moronic americans who think that wrestling is real and porn is glamorous

[webgurl]

Originally posted by Evil Chris
I've seen a lot of things come and go. Things that came out that promised to be the best thing since sliced bread and wasn't... and some things that caught on quite nicely.

What are some of the current trends in this business of ours?

Good Topic Chris !
I haven't read everyone's replies so i may repeat some stuff, but i think Free Trials from Sponsors is a good comeback . Higher incentive Bonuses given from sponsors. Since there is sooooo much competition now, for webmasters including Higher Webmaster Referals , Higher Payout , Almost All Affiliates now have Free Content, Hosted Galleries .
Webmasters are spreading into the microniche fetishes vs. the mainstream sites. Due to Better Conversions . Higher Traffic Ratios for free sites are increasing .
Hmmm... Adult Industry is getting more publicity and becoming more acceptable in society. :D

[Crak_JMan]

Nice thread EC,

Many peeps are looking into same areas of trends and I agree about REALITY stuff. There's also many new ways to maximise traffic and many new tools and good programs... LONG LIVE PHP.

Also agree with Bobby R in regards to mainstream vs adult.

I could go on with many new ideas and trends but why let the cat out of the bag ;-)

The trend that is the most important is that if you keep all your time reading boards and posting the get new tricks and make new friends and contact, you will not get things done.

Boards are the best tool for adult webmasters but the bad thing about them to is that they stear webmasters away from the focus of doing new things to make more money ;-) Loads of newbies posting shit as well that are time wasters ;-)

I love boards and spend most of my night time/free time there because it's sooo usefull in information and keeping good bonds with people/friends.

[virtumike]

Wow I see so much stuff here. I think RocHard, Cyndalie, and LAJ are right. But here are my calls:

First, Billing is and will continue to be the single most important aspect of the industry. Someone in the know told me they heard rumors of visa plans to prohibit adult recurring. Not to make anyone panic or anything, but this is GOING to suck if it happens.

Second, the surfers are getting more sophisticated. You can't just fling them like poop at a wall and see what sticks. You have to have compelling paysites or they won't recur. Take my word on this one, they're getting smarter daily and more are finding that elusive cancel button. If you want to retain them you have to pay attention to each one of their specific perversions and give them exactly what they want. If you do they found a home. If not, they're going somewhere else to look for a home.

The days of three page tours are gone. Surfers want to see exactly what they're going to get when they join.

I hope trials go away completely. I have not had trials on any of my main sites since like 1998. I still convert, and I get at least one month up front. This means I can pay out my webmasters more than a trial site, because more money is coming in.

Content is becoming more important. The members areas of many major sites are still crap, but they're getting better. If you don't have good complelling content in your members area, the more sophisticated surfers who have been around the block will see that and they will hit that cancel button before you can even get that confirmation email out.

Broadband feeds will contine to propogate. The high speed surfers will not tolerate crap. They have more money, they pay more money for their connection, and they expect to see better content.

The TGP will continue to dominate the adult traffic game.

More people will buy my content because it really is the best. If you don't buy it, your surfers will not stay yours. You will email me at mike AT virtucon.net for a password.

I see more consolidation in the future. People buying each other out.

Europe will become significantly more relevant to American webmasters. They have strange ways of doing things but their currency is worth more than US dollars.

Geotargeting is the way to go with custom multilingual tours and dynamic billing predictions.

My favorite food will continue to be Thai and I will still be single for a while.

I will be launching a new reseller program in the next couple months that will take into account all factors in the future as I see them. I am known for predicting the future, just wait until you see my visions. You'll be surprised what we can pull off if we know what to do and what to avoid.

[sweetums]

Interesting threads, EC...and some very thought-provoking points raised.

I think many of the new "trends" have been mentioned by others here.

The rise of more 'reality-based' sites as we see the merge between mainstream media and adult continue. The rise of 'niche' specific sites. The need for diversification in terms of billing options. The need to monetize on as much of our traffic as possible.

One of the major ones that I think we'll see emerge, most especially with the ever-increasing problems of converting traffic from lower quality sources, is that people will become more open to the option of actually buying their traffic as opposed to simply relying on traffic trades.

Beyond which is the issue Vid raised -- we're going to see ever-increasing state intervention into how the adult online biz operates.

[Biggy]

hmm, very interesting threads.. here are some trends I have noticed:

an increase in:

Adult Webmaster Boards
Hosting Companies
Content Providers
etc.

Much much more webmaster-related services - I remember back in the day everyone posted on Netpond :) with a few here and there, now there are so many boards I cannot keep up with them!

Also, I've noticed an increase in cheaters - granted there were always cheaters, I find nowadays much more people doing deceiving things, I guess its a sign of times where things get harder to make money and people want to take a short cut..

Either way, when it comes down to it - if you are creative, smart, and have good marketing skills, you should be fine making $$$ :)

[Biggy]

Let me expand on the increase in webmaster-related services:

The increase in boards I couldnt really care about, for the most part, posting on boards doesnt make me money :)

But an Increase in Webhosting Companies and Content Providers I feel is making the industry more efficient -

-unused content is cheaper since there is so much more
-webhosting is MUCH cheaper than even what it was a year ago, prices 3-4 years ago were around anywhere from 500-900/megabit and $3-4/gig.

the adult net is becoming more efficient.

[webgurl]

Originally posted by JMan


The trend that is the most important is that if you keep all your time reading boards and posting the get new tricks and make new friends and contact, you will not get things done.

Boards are the best tool for adult webmasters but the bad thing about them to is that they stear webmasters away from the focus of doing new things to make more money ;-) Loads of newbies posting shit as well that are time wasters ;-)

I love boards and spend most of my night time/free time there because it's sooo usefull in information and keeping good bonds with people/friends.

hey J-man,
Yeah All these New Webmaster Boards have Popped up Recently .
(there's a trend i noticed)

[BobbyR]

Originally posted by virtumike
Wow I see so much stuff here. I think RocHard, Cyndalie, and LAJ are right. But here are my calls:

First, Billing is and will continue to be the single most important aspect of the industry. Someone in the know told me they heard rumors of visa plans to prohibit adult recurring. Not to make anyone panic or anything, but this is GOING to suck if it happens.

Second, the surfers are getting more sophisticated. You can't just fling them like poop at a wall and see what sticks. You have to have compelling paysites or they won't recur. Take my word on this one, they're getting smarter daily and more are finding that elusive cancel button. If you want to retain them you have to pay attention to each one of their specific perversions and give them exactly what they want. If you do they found a home. If not, they're going somewhere else to look for a home.

The days of three page tours are gone. Surfers want to see exactly what they're going to get when they join.

I hope trials go away completely. I have not had trials on any of my main sites since like 1998. I still convert, and I get at least one month up front. This means I can pay out my webmasters more than a trial site, because more money is coming in.

Content is becoming more important. The members areas of many major sites are still crap, but they're getting better. If you don't have good complelling content in your members area, the more sophisticated surfers who have been around the block will see that and they will hit that cancel button before you can even get that confirmation email out.

Broadband feeds will contine to propogate. The high speed surfers will not tolerate crap. They have more money, they pay more money for their connection, and they expect to see better content.

The TGP will continue to dominate the adult traffic game.

More people will buy my content because it really is the best. If you don't buy it, your surfers will not stay yours. You will email me at mike AT virtucon.net for a password.

I see more consolidation in the future. People buying each other out.

Europe will become significantly more relevant to American webmasters. They have strange ways of doing things but their currency is worth more than US dollars.

Geotargeting is the way to go with custom multilingual tours and dynamic billing predictions.

My favorite food will continue to be Thai and I will still be single for a while.

I will be launching a new reseller program in the next couple months that will take into account all factors in the future as I see them. I am known for predicting the future, just wait until you see my visions. You'll be surprised what we can pull off if we know what to do and what to avoid.


I agree with VirtuMike that Thai Food is an excellent choice for lunch or dinner and that trend will most likely continue.

[Feynman]

Originally posted by StuartD
It's not as much of a turn on as it used to be... because 99% of guys know that they'll never really sleep with that girl. He'll probably never even see a girl like that in his entire life. To him... they don't exist except in film... and that's just not good enough.

The Girl Next Door has taken over. The more real you can get the person to look... and the more real the situation you can put them in... the more people will accept it.


That was EXACTLY, almost word for word, the argument of Hugh M. Hefner back in the late fifties...

I'd wouldn't call it "a takeover", but more simply, "a consequence of human nature".

[barryf]

Hi all,

Please allow me to be a pessimist for a minute.

I personally think we are less than 1 year away from the shit REALLY hitting the fan, re: 3rd party billing. The recent crash-and-burn of WebsiteBilling (and IBill?) are only the beginning. I'm talking about the wholesale termination of websites that Visa deems are not in compliance with regulations.

Visa did not start collecting webmaster names, addresses and URLs so they could just sit on them. They are compiling data and examining websites right now.

Paranoid? I hope so.

B

[Rochard]

I disagree about the Credit Card processors. Get to know who you process with, and become good friends with them. I knew about the Visa crap long before it became public, so I didn't freak when it came out.

I already know of one CC processing company that is taking steps to move away from Mastercard and Visa in case they need to.

[Evil Chris]

This has become the most interesting thread I have ever read on any board. Many different viewpoints, with nothing held back. That is the very best way we can communicate on these webmaster boards.

Many trends were mentioned multiple times.... ie. geotargetting of foreign (non credit card) traffic, reality sites is a big one and will most likely continue to flourish. Webmaster boards and resource areas I think will taper off and the serious will survive. ;)

I'm not sure either about Barry's take on 3rd party billing. But then again, this stuff comes without warning and surprises the most veteran webmaster.

[Mister X]

I don't think iBill itself is in any real trouble but it does seem that iBill Europe is in big trouble. Much the same thing that happened to Websitebilling with their bank cutting them off. However that only affects the European companies that use iBill and their core US business is unaffected at the moment.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some consolidation happen in the IPSP market soon.

[Phoenix]

wow, what a great thread.

i have reservations when it comes worrying about big brother. while i do think there will be some shuffling around to dodge any new obstacles that may get thrown our way. The power guard is changing, we are now starting to see people who are a bit younger and perhaps more liberal coming into positions of influence and power.

It looks like the people in power right now in the states are trying to pull the typical wag the dog, and go after anything that doesn't fit into the 2.3 kid family that they envisioned for the nuclear era, as they have seriously fucked up the economy again. Most things seem cyclical to me so once the power is switched back to people who actually paid attention in Economics, they will focus attention to where it is critically needed and away from our industry. Although i expect as most people pointed out...there will be a bunch of new rules and laws open to interpretation.

plus there are many new ways to get at peoples money...i think the attitude over at VIsa/MC will likely change in a couple years once they see their share of the pie going elsewhere.

[BobbyR]

I'm sure we are going to see some sort of crackdown on Internet Porn in the coming years but in no way will it pull our Industry under.

I can still go to the Asian market down the street and choose from 100 different magazines with hardcore porn, 18 only, etc...

How much Money does Yahoo, AOL/Turner and MSN alone make from Porn each year? Every search term and click is bought and sold.

I read a poll a couple months ago that stated 1 out of 2 registered guests in hotels that offered adult movies rented at least 1.

Think of all the bandwidth bought and sold from backbone providers just to support porn.

The governement is eventually going to brownbag Internet porn but it ain't going away. We just need to anticipate and adjust with whatever the new laws may be. That might mean the end of Free Porn. That might be a good thing.

[StuartD]

Originally posted by Feynman
That was EXACTLY, almost word for word, the argument of Hugh M. Hefner back in the late fifties...

Seriously? Jeeze... maybe I do have some potential after all :D

[Crak_JMan]

Originally posted by BobbyR
I agree with VirtuMike that Thai Food is an excellent choice for lunch or dinner and that trend will most likely continue.

But what about Sushi :confused:

[Evil Chris]

Originally posted by JMan
But what about Sushi :confused: JMan, you're turning into a Vancouverite already I see. :p

[12clicks]

The trend? how about this?

People we all know going underground, making boatloads of cash and not let anyone know what they're doing.
It's happening all around you right now gentlemen.

[Kath]

Originally posted by McSpike
There are many BS stories circulating around european payment options it makes me sick and everyone is pointing on the dialers. Fucken dialers. Europeans like them as much as US customers. Europeans having no credit cards? DUH! Ya right. And what about Asia?

There is a company called Sex Money that saw this gap and saw what ibill, ccbill and all other most common used processors didn't.

I see this as a new thing that will shake and connect the net even more in the coming years than all the paysites with a twist that are coming out each year.

WOW...what an awesome thread..

As I was reading I was very impressed to see so many webmasters touch on geo-targeting and global traffic. We have ignored the world for far too long. I think it's great that webmasters are becoming educated on the tastes and preferences of their International surfers.

They DO have credit cards - they just don't USE them the way we do here. Sincerely - many Europeans think it laughable that we use our credit cards the way they use debit cards for little purchases, daily expenses and Internet use.... They use cards more for travel purposes like hotels, car rentals, airfare, etc... and of course they think we're awful silly for paying off one credit card with another. :bonk:

Anyway...aside from the whole geo-targeting thing - one trend I really see is an actual INTEREST in learning more about our traffic, what to do with it, how to properly target it, sell to it and cater to our surfers' needs. I think gone are the days of "F*CK the SURFER* - now we're finally down to the professional tactic of properly servicing and accomodating the customer.

I think this says a lot for our industry - on many levels. Sincerely...we've come a LONG WAY baby!!!!

:cool:

[gunner]

I will be calling George Dub-ya today to discuss what he needs to do
about Internet porn. Hell, we may even conference call Ashcroft and let him throw in his $ .02. Then i'm driving over to VISA headquarters, taped from head to toe with plastique explosives, and marching directly into VISA CEO Carl Pascarella's office...

I'll get it all worked out. Don't worry.

[Crak_JMan]

Originally posted by 12clicks
The trend? how about this?

People we all know going underground, making boatloads of cash and not let anyone know what they're doing.
It's happening all around you right now gentlemen.

Damn right on that one :cool:

[Platinum Dave]

Reality, Free, email, spam (cleaning up)

Alot of good things are happening in the industry I see a trend moving towards cleaning up the industry.

Which is good to see,

[Vid Vicious]

Since everybody else got they're rants in, I'll add mine ..


Reality Content .. lately it sucks .. and the reason is simple .. too many newbies that wanna fuck on tape are buying a digital camera and callin themselves a Pornagrapher .. the footage is pure crap, no lighting skills, no color balance and best of all Audio is from the on camera mics (the cheapest mics you'll ever find) ...


I've shot lots of reality tv for broadcast (on tv) and yes we use lights and do set things up .. it's only normal if you want a decent image and some what of a good story line, u need to prepare this .. So in atticipation of this trend ... My next site is going to zero in on production values and show people that Pro shooters and pro Content producers make a difference! ... Look out for this site launch right before Cybernet .. next week some time :D

Ok my rave and plug are over .

[poppy]

Wow, some great insight here! So that I don't repeat what has been said, one thing that has truly taken off and I don't think it was mentioned, is MPA2. I am not just plugging for Oystein, even though he is a sexy tall Norweigan...hahahaha j/k.

Seriously though, their program has performed well and really taken off. For those who don't know about MPA2, in a nutshell it is cascading billing.

[StuartD]

Originally posted by 12clicks
The trend? how about this?

People we all know going underground, making boatloads of cash and not let anyone know what they're doing.
It's happening all around you right now gentlemen.

t'is true... it's why you don't see owners at their booths or at conventions at all much anymore. It's why you don't even see some booths...

it's also why you don't see the "players" posting much.. they lurk, but don't post much.

Time is $$ and these parties that people call conventions and the drama on the boards just isn't worth the time.

The people we'd all like to meet and model ourselves after (or at least, our successes).. they're getting harder to find.

[AcidMaX]

Originally posted by poppy
Wow, some great insight here! So that I don't repeat what has been said, one thing that has truly taken off and I don't think it was mentioned, is MPA2. I am not just plugging for Oystein, even though he is a sexy tall Norweigan...hahahaha j/k.

Seriously though, their program has performed well and really taken off. For those who don't know about MPA2, in a nutshell it is cascading billing.

Sorry but that was the biggest spam post I have ever seen. Not saying it is not a great program, but there are many other great programs out there as well. This thread was about trends in the industry, but way to throw out a nice pure spam message.

Hopefully that is something that will change in the future when these stronger message boards survive.

AJ

[Ounique]

Originally posted by Toolz
I'm with Bobby on this one, more "real" reality based porn is definetly in the future, some survivor type stuff, Playboy TV is doing this with Seven Lives Exposed but it's definetly too commercial to be believable. Put 20 people on an island ala Fox, but have it be hardcore, definetly a good idea.
Have you seen a video called "Erotic Survivor"? It's a softcore take-off of Survivor and it's very cheezy (two girls are searching in the forest for food and find a Tappioca Bush and proceed to rub the pudding all over each other and then lick it off). But it's a lot of fun. Sorry, this is off topic, but you reminded me of this. :topic:

[oystein]

Originally posted by AcidMaX
Sorry but that was the biggest spam post I have ever seen. Not saying it is not a great program, but there are many other great programs out there as well. This thread was about trends in the industry, but way to throw out a nice pure spam message.

Hopefully that is something that will change in the future when these stronger message boards survive.

AJ

Oh I have seen much worse spam many many times before buddy ;)

Poppy just told me about this link and he is not affiliated with my company at all, so all I can do is thank him for the nice post and thank you for making noise about this. :D

[BobbyR]

Originally posted by oystein
Oh I have seen much worse spam many many times before buddy ;)

Poppy just told me about this link and he is not affiliated with my company at all, so all I can do is thank him for the nice post and thank you for making noise about this. :D

Cascading Billing is a definately a trend in this Industry and the Mansion Productions software is leading the way. So...I'll help continue making noise.

Poppy just likes to give credit where credit is due...

[Evil Chris]

Triplexcash (http://signups.triplexcash.com/wmreg/hit.php?w=100031) is using MPA2 now.
In fact we just started, and I am still playing with the admin area.
It's pretty impressive.

I wouldn't call the use of such software a trend though. This kind of thing has always been done. The major difference now is that when we go to a 2nd or 3rd processor because of decline, we are no longer permitted to carry over the credit card information. Everything else (name, etc..) is fair game, but they have to fill out the CC info again.

Still, it's well worth it to use such a system and can immediately increase your sales by 20%.

[oystein]

A trend is only a trend when more than one is doing it.

From Dictionary.com:

"trend ( P ) Pronunciation Key (trnd) n.

1. The general direction in which something tends to move.
2. A general tendency or inclination. See Synonyms at tendency.
3. Current style; vogue: the latest trend in fashion. "

:bonk:

Before Mansion Productions made cascading billing ready and available for the "masses" this was considered an anamoly and very expensive to implement. Now that more than just a few use it, I will go as far as to say that cascading now is one of the the latest trends in the adult entertainment internet industry for sure...

[Amber]

Great thread!...and excellent discussions.

Oystein is top notch in my book! - and if Poppy comes out on the boards to say some good things about someone, I for one will listen.

Regarding the 'marketing people' in our industry...I feel that some get a little lost along the way and are just trying to make a buck (thus jumping from one co. to another) instead of focusing on customer service and helping fellow webmasters increase their income...thereby, increasing the marketing persons income too (that is, if they are in any way on commissions).

IMHO, the best marketers are webmasters who attend shows with 'business first' always in mind and understand that at the strip clubs, at the after-hour clubs, at the black-jack tables and even at the private fuck show...they are representing a company and how they act will always be a direct reflection of that company, period.

You don't see most of the big boys fucking around on pissing match boards (XNations NOT included...this board ROCKS) because they are busy working and making money. 12clicks, I think you nailed it (pun intended ;>).

And before I finish my little bitch session...I want to share that I think the BEST marketers are first and foremost *successful webmasters in their own right that choose to stand behind a program, product and/or company because they themselves know the people involved and promote/use the program through their own sites. Who would know better which programs are the best than seasoned webmasters who have promoted the sponsor program prior to them working/marketing for them.

Of course, there are some exceptions to my rule; but in the seven years I've been an adult webmaster...this philosophy has worked well for me anyway.

And that my friends...is all she wrote. :D

[spaceboy]

Originally posted by Hashishan
yes, and they seem to be in love with the idea of imposing extremely strict rules on any site to be called "tgp2" or at least the handful i have met

they also seem to spend so much time parroting each other, if you meet 4 in one place just talk to 1 of them and you can hear what they all have to say

imagine night of the living dead, only instead of moaning "brains, BRAINS" they are saying "tgp2, TGP2"

all the anal retentive bullcrap that the diehard tgp2 people spout is what throttled tgp2, imo
TGP2 is trying to do a number of different things, not just sell more memberships. Every TGP reform thread I've seen has 95% to 99% of WM's bitching about various aspects of the model, including the insane number of rule combinations.

TGP2....the reformed TGP2.... ;) , has one rule set for all. Of course, it's up to site admins to use those rules, but most have seen the advantage of having a central rule set.

WM's can read the rules ONE TIME, build ONE GALLERY, and submit to ALL SITES within the network, and the pool! Try that with TGP and you'll be out of the submission business inside of a day. TGP admins complain about WM's not reading the rules, but their rule pages look like the city dump, take forever to read and are essentially addressed to cheaters and newbies who probably aren't reading the damn things anyways!

As it was, one of the major gripes that TGP2 burnouts had was the rule variations that cropped up. If we go that route again, it will die again.

We would probably all tweak the rules a little differently if we were king, and there's nothing stopping us from running with our own individual projects, but 'TGP2' *needs* to provide the structure that TGP lacks. Fortunately, this structure allows plenty of room for the WM to make sales. The freedom it provides is like a breath of fresh air compared to TGP, so most {edited here} seem willing to compromise and play ball when they otherwise might not.

Perhaps in the next few years, there will be a number of variations that will spring up and be successfull. If it sells better than TGP, it can't be all bad, so I say go for it! But just as many TGP'ers work CJ and AVS, it's a good idea to put a little time into TGP2 as well. Supporting TGP2 now will help to spawn similar projects in the future.

Here's some TGP2 info links.

http://sexhornysex.com/sexy/tgp2-info.htm

[AcidMaX]

Originally posted by Evil Chris
Triplexcash (http://signups.triplexcash.com/wmreg/hit.php?w=100031) is using MPA2 now.
In fact we just started, and I am still playing with the admin area.
It's pretty impressive.

I wouldn't call the use of such software a trend though. This kind of thing has always been done. The major difference now is that when we go to a 2nd or 3rd processor because of decline, we are no longer permitted to carry over the credit card information. Everything else (name, etc..) is fair game, but they have to fill out the CC info again.

Still, it's well worth it to use such a system and can immediately increase your sales by 20%.

Which was simply my point, MPA2 in itself is not the trend, cascading billing is. I dont have a problem with MPA2 myself and I have looked at it, they did a good job on it thats for sure. Just simply looked like a spam in the middle of a good Industry Trends thread.

Moving on...

[Feynman]

Originally posted by StuartD
Seriously? Jeeze... maybe I do have some potential after all :D

Here's the test: can you picture yourself wearing pajamas and with 50 bunnies around you? :D

[oystein]

I agree that MPA2 is not a trend but that cascading billing definately is. No doubt. Good point. I must say, however, that Mansion Productions' creation of MPA2 was a good trigger for this trend with marketing of the product in an outstanding way and educating webmasters about the huge advantages using cascading billing solutions. So I am agreeing to agree on this point ;)

On another note, I have personally seen a positive trend where webmasters now are getting better at protecting themselves and their business. The trend was that lots of webmasters stole ideas and content, now this has shiftet over to the other side where webmasters and content producers are starting to crack down on all the theft by taking action and actually go after companies that are blatantly stealing ideas and properties. Great trend if you ask me. Webmaster community finally starting to police themselves and nipping serious issues in the butt...

[Evil Chris]

AcidMax, you have made me realize another trend in our business, that of spam sensitivity.

I'm not being facetious either. There's no problem with this however some people go a little overboard with spam calls to people who might just otherwise be trying to drum up a little honest business.

[oystein]

Originally posted by Evil Chris
AcidMax, you have made me realize another trend in our business, that of spam sensitivity.

I'm not being facetious either. There's no problem with this however some people go a little overboard with spam calls to people who might just otherwise be trying to drum up a little honest business.

To be quite honest, I never knew of this boards existence before Poppy sent me an ICQ with the link to the post. Now I am actually enjoying it. Seems to be a quite nice board. :)

And Amber - Miss ya! Lets do lunch! I am buying!

[BobbyR]

Originally posted by Evil Chris
AcidMax, you have made me realize another trend in our business, that of spam sensitivity.

I'm not being facetious either. There's no problem with this however some people go a little overboard with spam calls to people who might just otherwise be trying to drum up a little honest business.

I agree with you Chris. This isn't directed at AcidMax at all but in the comment in general...

I advertise at X-Nations because everyone is friendly and I can post information about my program without getting yelled at for it. This is the one of the few places where I know my message will get recieved.

I was considering advertising at another popular board last week for a new product. My salesman introduced himself on that board a few days ago. He posted he was new, his name and where he worked including a URL and got slammed left and right for spamming. There were some positive posts but about 50% of his welcome was a big "fuck off". The board of course, lost my business.

[Amber]

Originally posted by oystein
...
And Amber - Miss ya! Lets do lunch! I am buying!

I miss you too, Oystein!...it would be my pleasure to have lunch with you; Anytime. :)

Will I see you in Miami?...I hope so - we'll have to do some late-night hanging too (ya know, we'll bust out some old-school maxin' and relaxin' - LOL).

BobbyR, I totally agree; XNations is The Bomb board and one of the few that I read regularly (and actually care about what's said here). Besides, there aren't many people as awesome as EvilChris, in or outside the biz as far as I'm concerned.

Hope ya'll have an excellent day...and by all means, enjoy the weekend to the fullest! :cool:

[StuartD]

Originally posted by Feynman
Here's the test: can you picture yourself wearing pajamas and with 50 bunnies around you? :D

Can I? I think you mean.. "do I?" :D

either way, the answer is the same ;)

[12clicks]

Originally posted by StuartD
Can I? I think you mean.. "do I?" :D

either way, the answer is the same ;)

Don't listen to Amber, she is evil.:cool:

[Crak_JMan]

Originally posted by 12clicks
Don't listen to Amber, she is evil.:cool:

Is she evil or Quasi-evil... That is the question :confused:

[StuartD]

Originally posted by JMan
Is she evil or Quasi-evil... That is the question :confused:

The diet coke of evil... just one calorie.. not enough. ;)

[LaurieX]

Originally posted by Evil Chris
AcidMax, you have made me realize another trend in our business, that of spam sensitivity.

I'm not being facetious either. There's no problem with this however some people go a little overboard with spam calls to people who might just otherwise be trying to drum up a little honest business.

You hit it right on the nose Chris. It is one thing to BLATANTLY spam your company or product but it is another to talk good about a company that you think has a great product. I think the whole purpose of message boards is to share ideas and make new business deals benefiting everyone. All too many times I see someone talking about a product they like and get told to fuck off. But if someone says "I'd like to screw her mother" well then thats cool and the person that started the thread gets a thumbs up. There are so many nice and awesome webmasters in this industry but at the same time there are so many angry ones that are just waiting to blame someone one for spam cause they have nothing better to do. We all need remember that we are all in this industry together and we need to work together and make better relationships so that we ALL are sucessful.

This post is not directed towards anyone at all just in general. I have just seen this too many times and I have kept my mouth shut soooo many times. But I fianally feel the need to say something because this is just not the vibe at Xnations. The vibe at X nations is nice and positive and respectful and that is why I feel at home here. There are other boards that I will not ever visit any more due to all the bullshit and people talking down to one another.

Anyhow just my 2 cents. Have a great weekend everyone =) :sunshine:

[poppy]

Originally posted by AcidMaX
Sorry but that was the biggest spam post I have ever seen. Not saying it is not a great program, but there are many other great programs out there as well. This thread was about trends in the industry, but way to throw out a nice pure spam message.

Hopefully that is something that will change in the future when these stronger message boards survive.

AJ

AJ,

My post wasn't meant to be the biggest spam post you have ever seen. The thing I like about this message board is that the vibe is mellow, unlike other places. If I have an announcent that is related to a thread, then I will share it w/ other webmasters on this board. Yes, cascading billing has been around, but correct if I am wrong in saying that MPA2 has really brought it to the forefront.

Perhaps other webmasters on Xnations are not as saavy as you are when it comes to being in the "know" on cascading billing? I took a look at JetBucks (http://jetbucks.com ) (yes that was a plug) and noticed you are only using CCBill. Perhaps you should consider using cascading billing. ;)

Poppy

[Amber]

Originally posted by 12clicks
Don't listen to Amber, she is evil.:cool:

hehehe :cackle:

Originally posted by StuartD
The diet coke of evil... just one calorie.. not enough. ;)

awww man, no matter how hard I try... :shucks:

:D

[virtumike]

You wanna see blatant spam?

BUY MY CONTENT. VIRTUCONTENT.COM (http://www.virtucontent.com)

But you people wouldn't have me any other way. And that's a trend I plan to stick with. I won't stop until the OTHER HALF of you have my feeds. Muahhaaaaaaaaa!

[Crak_JMan]

Amen Laurie :cool:

[AcidMaX]

Originally posted by poppy
AJ,

My post wasn't meant to be the biggest spam post you have ever seen. The thing I like about this message board is that the vibe is mellow, unlike other places. If I have an announcent that is related to a thread, then I will share it w/ other webmasters on this board. Yes, cascading billing has been around, but correct if I am wrong in saying that MPA2 has really brought it to the forefront.

Perhaps other webmasters on Xnations are not as saavy as you are when it comes to being in the "know" on cascading billing? I took a look at JetBucks (http://jetbucks.com ) (yes that was a plug) and noticed you are only using CCBill. Perhaps you should consider using cascading billing. ;)

Poppy

Yep, I agree the vibe is mellow and that X-Nations is a cool board. As far as the MPA2 thing, I will just say that it is a good software program. Has it brought cascading billing to the forefront? Possibly for normal users but from what I know most of the bigger companies have been using it for quite some time, so it very well could have brought it to everyone else at a more affordable price. My point was simply that ... well nevermind I think we have beat that to death.

As far as JetBucks going cascading billing, I am in the process of looking for a buyer for JetBucks and its sites because my business is concentrated elsewhere at the moment. Maybe if someone buys JetBucks they will take the responsibility of doing their own payouts and using cascading billing. The problem for me is I have a small crew, mostly of developers, and managing our own payouts was not an option. In order for webmasters to promote they need to be paid, and CCBill offered the best services at the time the sites were created.

Anyhow, lets move on with this thread :)

AJ

[12clicks]

Originally posted by LaurieX
You hit it right on the nose Chris. It is one thing to BLATANTLY spam your company or product but it is another to talk good about a company that you think has a great product. I think the whole purpose of message boards is to share ideas and make new business deals benefiting everyone. All too many times I see someone talking about a product they like and get told to fuck off. But if someone says "I'd like to screw her mother" well then thats cool and the person that started the thread gets a thumbs up. There are so many nice and awesome webmasters in this industry but at the same time there are so many angry ones that are just waiting to blame someone one for spam cause they have nothing better to do. We all need remember that we are all in this industry together and we need to work together and make better relationships so that we ALL are sucessful.

This post is not directed towards anyone at all just in general. I have just seen this too many times and I have kept my mouth shut soooo many times. But I fianally feel the need to say something because this is just not the vibe at Xnations. The vibe at X nations is nice and positive and respectful and that is why I feel at home here. There are other boards that I will not ever visit any more due to all the bullshit and people talking down to one another.

Anyhow just my 2 cents. Have a great weekend everyone =) :sunshine:

My business seems to do better when I denie my affiliation to it.
I can't figure out why though.:huh:

[spaceboy]

Originally posted by 12clicks
My business seems to do better when I denie my affiliation to it.
I can't figure out why though.:huh:
It's that freakazoid avatar you've got; it scares people off. ::-|

[Carrie]

Awesome thread!
No predictions, but trends I see going on *right now*...

- Content providers are happily and eagering following in the footsteps of TGP; giving out HUGE packs of free content "to drum up business" and then wondering why business has dropped so much. It's because no one needs to buy content anymore guys, there's at least 3 huge packs being given away each week. Even message boards are doing it.

- More webmasters are leaving virtual hosting and going with their own dedicated servers for more control and cheaper prices.

- "Veterans" in the industry are finally trying things they've never tried before - like TGP, because what they've been doing all of this time is no longer bringing in the $$ it used to.

- Everyone and their brother is opening up a message board in the hopes of selling advertising and supplementing their plummeting income.

- 12Clicks nailed one of them - industry gurus are putting their heads down and working on new projects, and not telling a soul about what they're doing in order to really protect their new traffic/$$ source.

- Newbies are having a *harder* time doing things because they're being handed everything - from pre-made galleries to pre-made free sites (?!?), banner-free unlimited bandwidth free hosting, free *quality* and hardcore content - EVERYTHING is free and they have no reason, no incentive to LEARN how to do it themselves. If they don't learn it, they won't understand it - and they'll expect to keep being handed things for free rather than doing the work themselves.

- Bigger folks who were making 200+ signups a day are now down to 20+ signups a day and they're panicking.

- Softcore sites are quickly catching up with reality sites (bikini, drunk girls, cheerleaders etc) and as the legislation keeps coming, more folks are turning to these types of sites.

- People are finally realizing that "teens" and "tits" aren't cutting it anymore and that it's not the amount of traffic that you have, but what you DO with the traffic you've got. More folks are turning to more specific niches that have way less traffic but its ROI is higher.

That's what I've seen going on recently, the "recent trends"... as for what's coming? Wait until September and see if you can believe the differences between then and today. With the left-hooks that many webmasters have taken over the past 8 months, this summer is going to be the death of them business-wise.

[TheHarvMan]

Originally posted by Rochard
What are the current trends in the business? I'm gonna get blasted for this one.

I just spent the week down in Mexico for YP2003, and I noticed something I thought was interesting. It's the marketing people.

A lot of marketing people seem to be moving around a lot recently.

One guy that we do business with has moved around so much in the past year that I'm not sure who he's working for. On top of this, he was so fucked up most of the weekend that he wasn't able to tell us who he's currently workintg for.

Another marketing guy..... a friend.... recenly moved to a new company. He had the damn balls to talk shit about his former employee, saying "they do this" and "they do that". This guy hooked me up with the old company and basically fucked me, but now he wants to me to use this new company. He screwed me once and I won't do anything with him.

I think in the next year we are going to see a huge change in marketing, and the people working in marketing.

I've got more when you guys are ready.

So what makes a good marketing person?

[Candice]

Originally posted by Cathedra
I agree with him.. they seem to be spreading like wildfire those sites, and they keep trying to top each other it more and more believable situations. They are getting to the point where I wonder if they really are real. ::-|



that's right! business like this is like the bush fire in Australia......that no one can stop them.....

[Evil Chris]

Originally posted by Carrie
Awesome thread!
No predictions, but trends I see going on *right now*...

*snip* *snip*

That's what I've seen going on recently, the "recent trends"... as for what's coming? Wait until September and see if you can believe the differences between then and today. With the left-hooks that many webmasters have taken over the past 8 months, this summer is going to be the death of them business-wise. Carrie! Are you trying to scare us all? LOL
Of course a lot of what you're saying is on the mark. Maybe not to the extent you're taking it though...

And I agree with you on the many different boards that are popping up. I'm just glad that xnations has prospered amongst them all. I personally feel that the usual webmaster hangouts will experience an eventual exodus as webmasters grow and/or grow up. Hopefully right here is one of the places that they will make their daily visits.

[=^..^=]

Originally posted by Gateway

Another note while im on my rant, i would love to see pop-ups gone or at least only ONE clean pop up, nothing like being caught in some pop-up hell and speaking of that IF IE ever comes out with a pop-up blocker you can kiss that traffic goodbye since prob 80% of people use some form of IE.



it won't happen
there are FLASH-OVERS now (at least thats what they call em here in Australia)

just like a popup but done with flash and you cant close them - agh! so much more annoying!!! :mad:
but oh so effective :D