The Adult Internet – More Than Just Porn

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: General | Response: 0

So you have several adult websites up and running and, if you are one of the lucky few in this day and age you have already started to make money from your adult sponsor programs however, there are so many other ways that webmasters can make money in the adult industry in addition to their regular ‘porn site’ sponsors yet, many webmasters do not realize there are vast opportunities awaiting them.

Lets spend a few moments to look at the alternative sources of income that we can use in the adult industry and also take a look at the basics of each type of affiliate system.

Email Collection.

Opt in email is big business, there is no denying this fact so why not jump on the opt in email collecting bandwagon? Most email collection sponsors will offer you anywhere from $0.50 per email collected to $2.00 per email collected and, better still, to start making money from your existing traffic base all you need to do is include a small email collection box.

Software Programs.

Many of the larger adult affiliate programs now offer their webmasters a range of software products to generate additional income, many of these products are good for use not only in adult but, also in mainstream. For instance, Anonymous browsing software, history deletion software, IE Toolbars and even submission programs are all good ways to generate additional income either on a per download or, per sale basis. Best of all, you only need to add a new banner to the sites you currently have in order to get a share of this lucrative market.

Herbal Products.

Penis Pills, Breast Enlargement, Vitamin Supplements, you name it you can sell it on adult traffic. Whether you run a TGP, Link List or your own collection of free sites, these herbal products can often sell much better than ‘porn sites’ and, for the most part, the payout levels are the same, if not higher than what your regular ‘porn site’ trial will make you. Again to get started with this type of sales all you need to do is add a text link or banner to your existing sites.

Casino Sites.

Gambling makes BIG money, just look at Vegas for the example, millions of people a year visit Nevada to gamble and millions more simply can’t get there for a range of reasons however, almost every home in the United States has a computer and internet connection so why not start using this to your advantage? Many of the larger casino affiliate programs will pay based on the amount of funds credited to a new users account and, to get started making money from casino sites it is quite literally as easy as adding a banner or text link to your existing sites again.

Pre Paid Services.

Such as Credit Cards and the likes, selling these types of products to your adult surfers not only offers then ‘anonymity’ on the web when they do make online purchases but at the same time when your surfers sign up or one of these pre-paid credit cards you will be making some money in the process. Often however you will find that these types of affiliate program do not payout as much ‘long term’ as they are pretty much a first time deal as far as, once the surfer spends money to initially ‘charge’ their pre paid card with funds, that is when you will make money and not again. Still, even if you can make $50 by selling one of these cards, its still an additional $50 you wouldn’t have made otherwise.

Adding To Your Profits.

As you can see from the above, there are a wide range of products and services you can offer your surfers and, as we all know, the more things we can offer our ‘customers’ the more chance we have at one of them buying something. Of course, as with anything, the more effort we put into marketing these products and services the more chance e have at making a sale however, unless we try to sell the surfer something other than porn, how will we know whether they will buy or not?

Article written by Lee

Cascading Billing – Using Multiple Payment Processors For More Profit

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: Billing Solutions | Response: 0

‘Cascading Billing’ has been somewhat of a buzz word of late in the online industry however, there seems to be some confusion as to what this billing process actually involves or even does other than ‘process payments’ this is what we will take a look at in this brief article.

Cascading Billing – The Basics.

Simply put, Cascading Billing is a method to enable your surfers to buy membership to your site or, products utilizing multiple third party credit card processors and, other payment options. The process used, as its name suggests, is that of a ‘cascading’ feature meaning that, if you have multiple processors set up on your site and a surfers credit card is declined on your primary processor, the details will then be passed onto a secondary credit card processor where, they will either be accepted or declined and, if declined, the details can then be passed onto yet another credit card processor or, some alternate payment solution.

Cascading Billing – The Benefits.

From the initial reaction this new payment process has received in the online community it would appear that this new solution actually does work and, work well. Many companies who are adopting the ‘Cascading Billing’ process are reporting an increase in sales, some reporting upto a 20% increase over the normal procedures they used. This increase in sales also enables affiliate programs to pass the new found benefits onto the webmasters themselves through raised payouts and better sign-up ratios.

Cascading Billing – The Options.

As with any type of online payment processor or, payment system, you need to evaluate what your individual needs are and, using a cascading billing program is no different. With many solutions currently available and in development stages the choices for webmasters and program owners are growing and growing.

However, that said, first and foremost you need to choose which processors or, billing solutions you will use to begin your cascading billing. In an ideal world, you should choose two of the more reputable third party payment processors as your primary and secondary processor in addition to a tertiary payment option or, perhaps even a custom dialer solution. Generally speaking, this will give you the best way to monetize your own and, your webmasters traffic.

Cascading Payment Solutions – Overview.

When all is said and done, cascading billing offers webmasters and online e-business owners ample opportunity to increase their profits through minimal outlay either by renting the scripting that will allow you to utilize the cascading billing option (costs from $300 a month) or, having such a solution custom coded which, you can have done from as little as US$5000. Either way i am certain we will start to see many more of the top online companies offering this type of payment solution in the near future and, with some of the larger online companies already adopting this method, it is sure to start happening soon.

Article written by Lee

Networking – Not Just For Computers

Date: 2011.02.23 | Category: General, Promotion | Response: 0

Networking – Not Just For Computers.

“Networking” is a buzz word today. Everybody talks about it. Everybody hears about it. Everybody wants to do it more effectively. But why? Why do people network, and what do they hope to accomplish?

Primarily, networking is the process of meeting new people, either through a contact that you initiate, or through an introduction by a third party.

Networking allows you to meet, and establish a relationship with, people who may not have heard of you and your business through any other method.

For most professionals, networking is done to increase revenues. Sometimes new clients are found, sometimes suppliers and, sometimes new ways of doing things that increase your bottom line are found through networking.

When networking you should work towards these common goals:

To exchange business ideas.
To get better service.
To develop your business skills.
To potentially increase your revenues.
To establish long term friendships.

This means that networking is an essential part of building up strong business relationships. We need each other to buy from us, sell to us and, brainstorm with us in order to progress in our fields. In order for us to do these things we must give something back in return, its all about give and take.

we must be willing to hone our relationship building skills. We must be great listeners. We must be willing to give before we receive. We must get into networking mode in our own minds before we ask the same of others. This must be constant.

Through consistent contact with others, you will, instinctively start to put 2 and 2 together. When you begin speaking with someone your mind will automatically start searching the inner most recesses of your brain to remember people, places, even products, that will assist the person you are networking for and, at the same time, you will also be thinking of what they can do for you in return.

This Is Networking.

This is the state of mind you should be in whenever you are talking to someone in your industry, to get your mind in this state takes a while but, once you have focus and determination, you will immediately see how you can help others and, how they can benefit you in return whilst listening to them. this is the first step in getting them to help you.

Networking, as its name would suggest is WORK, hard work, the process is also a learned skill, its not something that we are all born with or, can all do. It can often be frustrating when you have a goal in mind but, your networking functions are not achieving that goal. All in all, networking is the building block of many a business venture, it can make and it can break you. Take some time to consider this fact the next time you are posting on a board or go to one of the tradeshows, you might just come away with more than you hoped for.

Article Written By Lee

International Billing Alternatives – Premium Phone Billing

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Billing Solutions | Response: 0

In the last article i wrote in respect of international billing options we took a closer look at the SMS Billing method and its pitfalls and benefits when charging our surfers for access to our sites. In this article we will take a look at another option we can offer our international surfer base – Phone Billing.

Phone Billing – What Is It?

Phone billing, as the name would suggest is a method of applying a ‘charge’ to a surfers normal land-line telephone. This charge is often around the cost of $35 (US).

Once the surfer has called the premium rate number displayed on your websites join page, they are given a code to enter into a form, again, this form could be on your join page or on a separate site.

Phone Billing – What Are The Costs.

To be perfectly honest with you this is all dependant on to many variable factors to give you a good solid answer. However, as mentioned above the standard cost would seem to be in the region of $35 (US) but, this can often vary depending on factors such as the country in which the surfer is calling the premium rate line from, How much the surfers telephone company charges for a call, How much the paysite charges for access, How much the premium rate phone line provider charges, etc etc.

Generally speaking however, the cost to the surfer is almost always made into profit in your pocket, if a call costs $35(US) you will almost certainly make $35(US) from that surfer minus a small percentage (depending on the provider) again however, this figure may vary slightly.

Phone Billing – Overview.

As with SMS Billing, Premium Rate Phone Billing offers a good alternative for your international surfers to access a paysite however, this doesn’t come without its drawbacks. Unless your members area is updated regularly and is of high quality you are going to make $35(US) approximately of each surfer unless, that is, they decide to call the premium rate number again for access to your site for another month.

That said, if you do not want to offer your foreign surfers the option of having credit card or debit card access to your sites Premium Phone Billing would almost certainly be my second choice to make money from them at the present time.

Article written by Lee

Search Engine Optimization, Is It Worth It?

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Search Engine Optimization | Response: 0

One of the trendiest takes on Internet marketing these days seems to be the notion that securing top search engine rankings “no longer works.” Where it started, I have no idea.

But rarely does a week go by when I don’t see one or more Internet marketing “experts” claiming that search engine positioning is largely a waste of time and should not be a primary focus of Website owners.

Well, as the saying goes, “there are two sides to every story.”

But let’s not make this article about my side, or your side, or anyone else’s side. Let’s forget about my opinion and other “expert’s” opinions and stick to the indisputable facts, as reported by highly credible third party sources:

According to a Forrester Research Media Field Study, getting a loyal audience in the first place is best done by Search Engine Placement.

According to a GVU Users Survey, 84.8% of Internet users use Search Engines to find Websites.

In a study released by ActivMedia Research in September 1999, Search Engine Positioning was ranked as the #1 Website promotional method used by eCommerce sites.

And look what I just found in the April 2000 issue of Target Marketing Magazine.
“Top Ways Websites are Discovered”

Banner ads: 1%

Targeted email: 1.2%

TV spots: 1.4%

“By accident”: 2.1%

Magazine ads: 4.4%

Word-of-mouth: 20%

Random Surfing: 20%

Search Engines: 46%

You’ve now seen the numbers and know that search engine promotion is very much alive and kicking. But let’s take this a step further. Let’s talk about the *quality* of prospects coming to your Website through search engines as opposed to other advertising mediums.

Every time your potential customers use the search engines, they qualify themselves as *hot prospects* by conducting searches on keywords that are directly related to your product or service. Their choice of keywords is proof that they have a genuine interest in what you offer. These people spend their valuable time exploring the search engines for your type of product or service.

Think About That.

They didn’t stumble upon one of your ads, or wander past a hyperlink to your site. And they didn’t get a banner ad thrown in their face. They made the *decision* to actively search the keywords that brought them to YOUR Website. And when they get there, they are ready and willing to do business with you. At the very least, they’re seriously considering it and, that’s the most powerful sales tool you can have!

But merely getting your Website “indexed” or listed in the search engines is not enough. In order to get any significant traffic from the search engines, your Website must be listed within the top 30 search results (preferably the top 20).

Very rarely will anyone look beyond the first 30 results returned from a search. This makes perfect sense because the most relevant sites are always listed at the top. So if your prospect doesn’t find what they want within the first 20 to 30 listings, they’ll simply do a new search.

If your site falls anywhere below the 30th listing, you don’t stand a chance against anyone in the TOP-20. Hence, it should be your goal to achieve Top 20 positions.

How Do You Get Your Website Listed In The Top 20?

1) You can attempt to gain these Top 20 rankings yourself. However, this can easily become a full time job. (I think this is why so many marketers advise against focusing on search engine positioning.)

2) You can hire a reputable company who can achieve AND maintain your Top 20 rankings for you (be sure they guarantee their service and have several verifiable clients that currently have multiple Top 20 rankings).

3) You can do nothing at all. But as you’ve seen from the third party statistics referenced above, search engine positioning is something you can’t afford to ignore.

Whatever choice you make, I hope that your eyes have been opened to the tremendous profit potential that exists with top search engine placement.

Article written by Lee

Promo Material – Make The Most Of Your Marketing

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Promotion | Response: 0

Converting French Traffic – The Niche Paysites That Work

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: Traffic | Response: 0

In our last article we took a look at a three (3) month period of international traffic stats and, what niches worked on German adult traffic. In this article we will do the same again except we will be analyzing what niche paysites worked best on French porn surfers.

French Traffic – Quick Analysis.

It would seem that for many of the surfers we managed to grab and filter from France that their primary interest was in Teen and the Amateur niches although, that said, we did get a few conversion on some fetish paysites, specifically fetish sites that had ‘watersports’ and ‘BDSM’ featured on the paysites tour pages.

French Adult Traffic – The Niches.

As with the German traffic we targeted in the previous article we also filtered our French adult traffic to some niche specific hub sites as well as some general hub sites to better judge which niches converted the best on French surfers the results we experienced are as follows.

Teen.

Our conversions on French teen sites were not as good as what they were for German surfers however, that said, they were good non the less. With a ratio of around 1:192 over the three month period we analyzed the French adult surfers we managed to get to our sponsors sites worked well for us.

Amateur.

With our amateur conversions the one thing we noticed was that tours that featured teens as the main focus were the ones which converted consistently, with this in mind, we did change a couple of the Amateur tours we used to see how that would affect sales towards the end of the 3 month period and, sales did drop slightly, this would backup the statements in the Teen niche made above in that, French surfers are looking primarily for Teen orientated paysites.

Asian.

The two Asian niche paysites we used didn’t have many sales overall however, we did notice that the little traffic that we sent to them converted well, as above, Asian niche sites that featured teens were again the better converters on the French traffic we received.

Ebony.

I think it is worth mentioning the ebony niche, especially when you take into account we sent less than 100 hits to French ebony paysites and, managed to get 2 sales from those hits. Unfortunately, we did not anticipate the amount of traffic that wouldn’t choose the ebony niche so we have no solid figures that are worth mentioning here or, any explanation behind how we made the sales.

Fetish.

Our French fetish traffic seemed to like the more niche specific type of tours, making us sales on Watersports, BDSM and even general fetish paysites that said, the figures we achieved with the fetish pay sites we used were disappointing as we had thought this would be the ideal niche for the French markets.

Gay.

The sales we achieved with our gay French traffic were reasonable overall, the surfers chose to signup to gay sites that featured ‘twink’ like models on the tours again, this would lend favor to the fact that overall French surfers seem to be interested in the younger generation to get their kicks.

French Traffic – The Results.

Overall we were happy with the majority of the results we received on our French adult traffic with the exception of a few bad choices on our part trying to concentrate on the Fetish side of the industry. We certainly learnt that it would appear French adult surfers are looking for Teen orientated sites over the other niches.

Article written by Lee

Gay Online Dating – Offering Your Surfers An Alternative

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: General | Response: 0

Whilst adult websites remain the most highly concentrated method of making money for affiliate programs we have slowly started to see a trend over the past few months of affiliate programs adding a new kind of site to their regular lineup, online dating sites however, as webmasters working in the adult industry how can we successfully market these sites on our existing traffic base? This is what we are going to look at in this article.

Gay Online Dating – Some Facts And Figures.

As mentioned above many affiliate programs now offer some form of online dating site whether it is for gay men and women or for their straight counterparts there is very little mentioned about the target audience these types of site attract so, with that said lets look at some figures from a recent Nielsen report in respect of online dating sites.

The online dating market is expected to grow to become an estimated $642 Million dollar industry by 2008.

On average, a user on a dating site will spend 1hour 45 minutes on the dating network itself.

The highest ranked age group (27.64%) for online dating sites is between the ages of 35 and 44 years old.

Men are more likely to a) Browse online dating profiles, b) Post a profile on a dating site, c) Respond to a dating profile and, d) Pay for access to a dating site than women.

So what does this mean for us marketing our sites to gay men and women well, straight off the bat you can see that there is going to be a considerable boom in the online dating world and, with that boom will come a rather satisfying chunk of change also, the age group that spends most time on a dating site as mentioned above is also within the demographical group for the ages of gay online surfers. In addition, males as mentioned, are also more likely to respond to, post, browse or, more importantly here, pay for access to an online dating site making this an ideal opportunity for those of us who actively promote a gay site lineup to start supplementing our income by offering our surfers access to dating sites too.

Gay Adult Dating – Affiliate Programs.

So now we have the figures where do we go to find a gay adult dating affiliate program? Well, there are a couple of options for us, there is the highly recognized outpersonals.com as well as the gay.com dating area however, surprisingly enough, the more ‘mainstream’ dating sites such as date.com, match.com and even adultfriendfinder.com all have sections within their sites for gay men and women as well as gay specific tour pages and promotional materials.

Gay Online Dating – Where To Market Our Sponsor.

As with any type of new affiliate program the best way to start marketing them is to place a link on a less prominent page of your site so as to not send your high converting traffic off to a sponsor that may not work for you however, if you have a good network of sites then you might like to try adding your newly found dating affiliate program on your sites ‘exit’ links or even create a TGP gallery specifically for your dating sponsor utilizing softcore content. Also, one thing that I have personally found is that using text links always garners more clicks thru to the dating site than a regular button or banner so again, this may be something you would like to try. In essence though, first test your gay dating sponsor on a minimal traffic source to see what effect it has on your overall site then, once you have ran a test period you can adjust your marketing efforts appropriately.

Gay Adult Dating – Recap.

As we have seen above the marketplace for online dating is going to grow to a multimillion dollar industry and, whilst we already know that gay surfers are more affluent and willing to spend money if we can match our sponsors to the type of site they are looking for, why not also offer them an alternative to porn? Many webmasters often overlook the basic principles of marketing that is to say, don’t just give a potential buyer one option but rather, give them several options, by utilizing dating affiliate programs on our sites we are not only giving the surfer an option but, are also giving us a potential opportunity to make more money.

Article written by Le

Domain Name Registration Services What To Look For

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Domain Names | Response: 0

Once upon a time, if you wanted to register a domain name, you could only do it by visiting Network Solutions at http://www.networksolutions.com/ and paying them whatever they asked for, about $35.00 per year.

Then ICANN, http://www.icann.org/, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that is the non-profit corporation that was formed to assume responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions previously performed under U.S. Government contract by IANA and other entities, decided to change the rules.

The initial testing phase of the new competitive Shared Registry System for the .com, .net, and .org domains quietly began to take place in April of 1999.

It started with five participants who were the first to implement the new system for competition in the market for .com, .net, and .org domain name registration services.

Previously, registration services in the .com, .net, and .org domains were provided by Network Solutions, Inc. under an exclusive contract with the United States government.

In the two years since this program began, things have really changed.

Just this last week, ICANN reported that two of their registrars, Tucows and New York-based Register.com, had recorded more new registrations for Top Level Domains (dot-com, dot-net and dot-org) than VeriSign’s Network Solutions.

This marks the first time ever that VeriSign’s Network Solutions was out-sold by any of the registrars and signals that their past dominance of domain name registration is certainly fading.

Why?

Because besides others being allowed to make domain name registrations, these new registrars are also cutting prices.

The Rules have most certainly changed.

The Shared Registration System (“SRS”), ICANN’s accredited registrars program, allows people to submit application to become a registrar along with a non-refundable $1000 filing fee.

After someone is accepted into the program then they must pay a yearly fee of $5000 to maintain their status as an accredited registrar.

This situation has created a very competitive environment which can only be beneficial to all of us as the price to register a domain name has fallen like a rock from a very tall building.

However, if you plan to register a new domain name using a virtual unknown registrar, make certain they do indeed have the legal accreditation from ICANN by visiting the ICANN web site and viewing their posted list of ALL accredited vendors:
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html

It will only take you a few moments to make sure you are dealing with a reputable vendor of domain names. Those few moments will make the entire process legal and worry-free.

Article written by Lee

Newbie Webmasters – What Is A Newbie?

Date: 2011.02.23 | Category: General | Response: 0

Newbie Adult Webmasters are something that is good for the adult industry as a whole. As more Newbie Webmasters join the adult industry the way in which things are done change and, more importantly, the way in which the newbies themselves get taught changes however, just what is a ‘Newbie’ when it comes to the adult industry? This is what we will take a look at in this brief article.

Adult Webmaster Newbie – The Differences.

Irrespective of what anyone tells you, everyone in the adult industry is a newbie its just a matter of figuring out what they are a newbie at. For example, personally i have just taken to learning PHP as a programming tool, i have never coded anything before so, i am officially a php newbie. Likewise there are webmasters who have never built a TGP gallery, they are TGP newbies, in fact, every facet of the adult industry has its own newbies some of them have been around for days whilst others have been around for many years. Going by the ‘true’ meaning of the word however, a newbie is someone who knows very little about very little.

Message Board Newbies.

At some point or other every webmaster will want to start posting on some of the industry’s message forums, whether this is to make friends or ask advice you will instantly be branded a newbie from your first post, if this isn’t the case, make sure that you give a brief history about what you do in the adult industry and, more importantly, how long you have been doing it, don’t go overboard however, just give enough information to let others know what it is you are doing on the message forum.

Newbie Adult Webmasters – Overview.

The perception of newbie webmasters is that many of them do not know what they are doing however, just because someone hasn’t heard the name before on a specific message forum this doesn’t mean the webmaster is in fact a true ‘newbie’ we all need to ensure that when using the term newbie we don’t make ourselves look like newbies in the process.

Article written by Lee