Domain Name Extensions + SEO

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Search Engine Optimization, WebDesign | Response: 0

With a slew of new TLD (Top Level Domain) extensions being launched in the first quarter of 2004 in addition to the hundreds already available how many of us actually take time to consider that when we register a .com, .net or, .org domain how will these sites help or hinder us with our search engine work? This is what we will take a closer look at in this article.

Domain Name Extensions – What Are They?

First of all, before we look at how the extensions of our domain names can assist us in running our search engine optimization methods we need to understand what the TLD’s themselves are actually for. Domain name extensions are essentially a way to recognize specific locales via the usage of domain names so for example, the domain name extension .com were primarily set up as commercial domain names however, with the commercial use of this extension it has also become, without a doubt the most popular extension for individuals or companies registering new domain names. In addition to the TLD extensions there are also a selection of domains extensions ranging from industry specific extensions such as .aero to country specific extensions such as .co.uk.

Domain Name Extensions And Search Engines.

Now we understand what the domain name extensions were put in place for we can now start to look at how they may benefit us in terms of SEO (search engine optimization) for example, head across to http://www.google.com and do a search on something such as ‘penis pills’ you can see from the results shown (01/01/04) that the first 10 results are evenly spread across a range of domain name extensions ranging from .com to .net and also some smaller .go.ro domain extensions. This would lead us to assume that at the current time, Google specifically is not paying to much attention to the extensions of the domain names we are using however, given the recent updates of the last month or two across Google this has also cleaned up a lot of the results that were present 2 months prior to this search in which the .biz extension was highly populated in the rankings.

Domain Name Extension Abuse + Spam.

With this slew of new domain name extensions being launched what seems like yearly this also opens up a whole lot of new problems for the webmaster primarily that of the domain name spam. Because domain names can be registered for as little as $5 per year many webmasters have taken to purchasing them, using them to spam the search engines and then, once the search engines discover the spam and remove the offending domains, the webmaster then moves on to new domains in effect, making domain names a disposable commodity to them. Whilst this method will certainly garner traffic for the search engine spammer it will also in turn mean that the traffic that honest webmasters receive from the search engines will be lower.

Domain Name Extensions And Optimization.

Hopefully this brief article has given you a little insight into how domain name extensions can both benefit and also detriment your business, by choosing your domain name extensions carefully and, making sure you do your best not to spam the search engines you can make some serious income from pure search engine traffic however, once you start to buy domain names with lesser known extensions to purely spam the search engines you are not only wasting your own money but, are also potentially wasting other hard working webmasters money too.

Article written by Lee

Online Adult Laws – Privacy Policies

Date: 2011.02.23 | Category: General | Response: 0

To many webmasters and companies working online the fundamental basics of their business is to turn a profit through effective online marketing campaigns and promotions however, within all of this profit making there is a side of business that is so often overlooked or, forgotten entirely, what is this business practice? The law.

In this brief article we will take a look at one such law that comes into effect in California on the 1st July 2004 namely, that all ‘web sites that collect any personal information from consumers to post a privacy policy’. Whilst this in itself is the first law of its kind in the United States it is worth mentioning that this is only a State law that affects California however, that said, where one state starts, others are sure to follow especially considering the huge potential left for the growth of the internet.

Privacy Policies – How Does This Effect You?

The main factor that you must take into consideration with this new law from California is that, because the Internet is truly global, you have no way of telling where one of your surfers are coming from thus, a surfer entering your site from California, may be making you break the law by not displaying a privacy policy should you collect their information. Incidentally, this new privacy policy law does not state what ‘collected’ information requires you to post a policy however, it would seem that personal information such as addresses, phone numbers and email addresses would be the primary target of this new Californian online law.

Privacy Policies – The Basics.

So what is a privacy policy, in essence, it is a document informing your site visitors / customers that any information you collect from them, including user submitted information will be used in a specific way, this might be a case of solely being used by yourself or, specifically if you rent out this information you need to tell your surfers / customers exactly who you are renting this information to.

Privacy Policies – Overview.

Whether you collect personal information from you site visitors or not the one thing that makes sense is to have a page created ready for the 1st July 2004 so that you can have it online for when you need it, perhaps storing this page on a central domain and linking to that page from all of your other web sites would be the best method to go as far as ensuring you are covered from prosecution or, perhaps creating a keyword rich privacy policy which you can get listed in the search engines is the way to go after all, just because this will become a legal requirement for you it does not mean that you cant profit from the potential traffic going to that page.

Article written by Lee

Choosing The Right Sponsor For Your Site

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: Sponsors | Response: 0

Affiliate programs (also frequently called referral or associate programs) have grown today to become one of the most popular ways for you to earn an income from your web site’s traffic. Most affiliate programs are designed to allow you to simply set up and begin earning commissions on visitors and sales you refer. However, the quality of the programs, and the results you will see, very greatly from program to program, making it important to choose wisely which are best for you and your site. It is the purpose of this article to help sort through many of the programs, and offer assistance in determining what to look for.

My personal experience with affiliate programs goes back over a year and a half, pretty long in Internet terms. Over this period, I researched many of the affiliate programs available on the Internet and, tried to best determine what works best. From my experiences, here are several of the top factors you should take into consideration:

1- Stability of the company and program

What I found to be the one of highest priorities for most webmasters is the stability of the affiliate program, and the company. This should be one of your top considerations when evaluating programs. Is the company stable and financially sound? Do they offer assistance with promoting the opportunity? And, do they pay in a timely fashion? Often, webmasters have been lured in by offers of high commissions, only to find out they will never see a paycheck, despite referring hundreds, or even hundreds of thousands, of visitors.

2- Synergies with your site

I am a big proponent of this. All too often, I see sites sign up for every affiliate program they can, figuring if they make a few bucks on each, that they will be profitable. For a select few, this may very well work. However, for most sites it will not, and many cases you will turn off your audience because of the ‘over-commercialization’ of your site. As you are considering the various affiliate programs available, be sure to consider what exactly your audience, your visitors, might be interested in clicking on, and eventually buying.

For example, if your site caters to a general audience, then perhaps general affiliate programs such as Adult Revenue Service, will be effective. Or perhaps Evidence Eliminator, which allows you to sell privacy / security software. If your site only caters to a specific niche, programs such as Adult Revenue Service should be excellent money-makers as they have a wide and varied selection of adult sites which you may promote. The key is to not just think of the affiliate program as a way for you to make some easy money, but rather an extension of your web site, a service you offer your visitors to help them find the products or services they are interested in, at good prices, and with a company they can trust.

3- Commission Tracking

An important aspect to consider is whether or not the affiliate program offers some way for you to track your sales, and even the number of visitors you refer. There are several ways this can be accomplished, such as real-time, online reports showing you sales and your commissions. Or perhaps sales can be tracked through a simple email each time you receive a new customer. This can be very important for allowing you to test and evaluate the effectiveness of the program, make comparisons with other programs or advertising opportunities, and give you piece of mind that you are receiving what is fairly do.

4- Opportunity for Repeat Sales

As any business person knows, a business can not generally survive on one-time purchases. Instead you have to find ways to not only attract new customers, but also keep the ones you have. This is also very true with affiliate programs. One of the largest complaints many webmasters have had with sponsors is that they refer a customer once, see their $35 commission, but in the process the customer bookmarked the Sponsors tour page. The next time the surfer is interested in buying a membership, they return to the sponsors site through the bookmark, and the webmaster never sees another penny.

Several programs have tried to alleviate this. Programs such as Adult Revenue Service avoid this problem by offering services (Daily Updated Pictures, Email Newsletter) which customers, once signed up for, use month after month. This allows them to pay residual commissions for as long as the surfer maintains their free membership to the site or, alternately, keeps returning to the page. This helps turn average programs into exceptional opportunities, because you can earn for months, perhaps even years, on referrals you made in your first, and subsequent months.

Other Factors

In summary, it is important to look at all of these main factors and several others, including the commission rates they pay (I didn’t discuss this because they are generally easily comparable), the frequency of payment checks (they generally range from weekly to quarterly), and/or the minimum dollar value you must accumulate before receiving a check (they range from nothing to $50). A couple of other important factors: be VERY wary of any program the requires a payment or ‘membership fee’ for you to join or act as an affiliate. And, be sure to check what method they use to track sales themselves. Programs that require the visitor to remember your name, or your site’s name, and enter it in when ordering, will result in many lost commissions.

Article written by Lee.

Direct Debit Payment Explained

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Billing Solutions | Response: 0

Something that is very rarely spoken about as a means of payment is Direct Debit, this is a popular payment method across Europe and, especially in the United Kingdom. Direct Debit can offer your surfers a cost effective, easy way to pay for products and services from your site especially, if they have a ‘recurring’ cost associated with them.

Direct Debit – What Is It?

Direct Debit is quite possibly one of the simplest ways to collect funds from your surfers basically, a form is filled out by the surfer, where they enter their bank payment details, account number, name, sort code. Then, the form is signed either electronically or, in person by the customer, in this case, electronically by the surfer.

Once you have the direct form filled in by your surfer, you may continue to deduct funds from the bank account on the Direct Debit form until such a time whereas the surfer cancels the Direct Debit agreement.

At the present time, around 45% of the population in the UK currently choose to pay their utility bills online by Direct Debit and, around 75% of the total population in the UK have used Direct Debit at least once in addition Direct Debit is also an alternative method of payment in the vast majority of European countries and, it is also used (although not as much) in Australia.

Direct Debit – What Are The Cost?

Direct Debit payments cost around $0.5 for you as a merchant to process, however, this charge, rather than happening on the processors side of the transaction, happens when the Direct Debit request hits your banking account.

This in itself is god news after all, you now ensure that if a membership or product costs $35 per month, you will get virtually the full cost of that membership until such a time when the surfer cancels the direct debit at their bank.

Direct Debit – An Overview.

All in all, Direct Debit is probably one of the only payment solutions that allow you to collect the full price from your surfer at the point of sale and, furthermore, because the Direct Debit method of payment is trusted, this offers your surfers something that no other form of payment can – Peace of mind. There is however one major drawback to this method of payment, it is very hard to find processors that will allow you to utilize Direct Debit on your sites in fact, to date, the main use for the Direct Debit payment method has been payments of utility bills, Gas, Electricity, Water Supply, etc however, many financial institutes will let you pay for goods and services using Direct Debit on ‘credit’ terms which can vary from 1 day to a year interest free or, not as the case so often is.

I strongly feel that within the next 12 months this method of payment could become advantageous to the adult webmaster however, the current online payment processors need to be pushed in order for this to become as widespread as credit and debit card processing is. That said, there are a few online adult companies already accepting Direct Debit as a form of payment so, at least the ‘DD’ revolution has already started.

Article written by Lee

Censored Gay Adult Pornography

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: General | Response: 0

You’ve heard it said over and over “Make them pay for the pink” or in the case of the gay market “make ’em pay for the MEAT”. But how far can you get without hardcore on a gay site?

Depending on the method you use to get your traffic softcore verses hardcore can make a big difference. If you’re working the SE’s, you set the tone by way of your descriptions and keywords – and you hope that they get you the rankings and the surfers. On the other side of the fence, when you use link lists and categorized directories, their categories will dictate where your site will go. Thus, you are totally out of the loop when it comes to its placement.

For the past six months I have been conducting a test. I built ten free sites, all to derive their traffic from link lists. Five were strictly softcore and the others a mix of softcore images and “selective” hardcore images. Each had 40 pics in order to play to the larger LLs and directories.

Let me give you a little background. The reason I started this test was to track the traffic trends in the gay market as it applied to the notion of “make ’em pay for the meat”. It was something I had done with my straight sites, but something I totally avoided with my gay sites. The reason for that one a statement I made a while back “If I wanted to see softcore I could look in the mirror when I got out of the shower.” While this is a totally narcissistic comment, it does demonstrate my ongoing point about selling to gay men.

Now don’t get me wrong in the scheme of thing I do like softcore images of the right person, but as a surfer who is looking to get off, I want what I can’t normally have. And that idea is going to send me to a site that will has what I want, OR in the case of this test, THINK that I want.

Now back to the test sites. For my softcore sites, I took various images of single men in different phases of undress from stripping to provocative poses. For the hardcore I was much more selective. I used what I call US Cable or Int’l Tele guidelines. What that means is, what do I see if I turn on a cable station or one of the satellite channels from around the world. I found “simulated sex”. Just like an R rated movie, there were scene where two guys are together with no close ups of actual penetration. So, when I went through my web images I looked for similar scenes. The images were sexual but nothing so blatant as up close penetration but suggestive enough to arouse a surfer – the taunt factor I would need to sell my sponsor sites.

With my distinct sets of sites, I began to submit to the Link Lists. 99% of the sites were accepted for each of there categories (the one that didn’t get accepted had a hardcore description and softcore images – oops). But after making the correction it was accepted.

The traffic started to come in. In the first day, the difference I anticipated was right there. I decided I wouldn’t effect anymore change in traffic so I didn’t submit to any other link lists. I wanted to test this out. At the end of the month the trends I expected were in fact there. The total of all the traffic generated 10% came in to Softcore sites. The remaining 90% came in through the hardcore sites. So this tells me that most gay surfers are hitting the hardcore categories on the LLs. It confirmed my previous assumptions.

What’s the sense of doing all of this and not watch all avenues, right? Now having scrutinized where the traffic was coming from and how, I wanted to trace how it was going out.

I used an older cgi program to track the hits out. It’s one of those standard programs that I learned to use years ago and can’t get rid of. Now remember, all of the sites are pretty much the same with wording, sponsors, color schemes, etc. The only real difference was the pics.

Based on the numbers collected from the program I found that approximately 75% of all the traffic coming into the softcore sites left on a link to one of the link lists. I had 20% go out on a sponsor’s link and the remaining 5% did not resolve (which in this program I was using tried to count the click but was unsuccessful).

Now reviewing the information from the hardcore sites, I found a distinct difference. I will not lie to you. I expected a difference. I don’t want you to think I was awestruck LOL. But, I was surprised with what I found. This time the majority went out to my sponsors – 50% went to a sponsor site, 20% went out to the reciprocal links, 19.9% went to a free gay email site (which wasn’t enough to mention on the softcore sites), 5% did not resolved. The remaining 5.1% I have no idea – they probably whacked off and logged off (I hope it was good for them LOL)

While it is not the point of this article, I will add that the traffic produced reasonable well at the sponsor end.

Let me say that my “trends in gay adult traffic” research is by no means complete. However, over the period of six month these ten sites were enough to say there is marked difference between softcore and hardcore sites. So does “make ’em pay” work in the gay market? For now, there is a definite factor depending on where you get your traffic. If links lists are your specialty, then the answer is yes.

My next step in the evolution of this is to submit these sites into the search engines. With all things considered, I’m looking forward in tracking that information. I’m off to submit. I will share the data I collect from that test soon.

Now, I just hope DMOZ doesn’t give me a hardcore time ; )

Article written by Gary-Alan.

Domain Name Transfer Agreement

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Domain Names, Forms & Contracts | Response: 0

Domain Name Transfer Agreement

For most people, buying and selling domain names is a fundamental income provider for their business model, as such, you should ensure that when buying or selling domain names you should have a legal contract to assist in the transfer of sale.Domain Name Transfer Agreement.

This Agreement is made on the Day of 2001 between:

(1) [Your name and address goes here]. (hereafter referred to as the assignor) and;

(2) [The buyers name and address goes here]. (hereafter referred to as the assignee).

RECITALS:

(a) The parties have been in discussion concerning the transfer to the assignee of the registration of the designations ‘[full domain name goes here]’ and ‘[further domain name goes here]’ (whether in lower or upper case) hereafter referred to as (the “domain names”) as website addresses on the internet.

(b) The parties wish to reach a mutually acceptable arrangement in relation to such discussions.

Now therefore, in consideration of the parties’ mutual covenants and undertaking, the adequacy and sufficiency of which are acknowledged, the parties agree as follows:

1. The assignor hereby agrees to assign, and/or cause to be assigned, to the assignee the domain names. The assignor shall do such things and execute such documents as reasonably requested by the assignee at the assignees expense to perfect such assignment and shall comply with the standard requirements of [insert domain name registrar here] as in force at the time of this agreement.

2. In consideration of the parties mutual obligations under this agreement the assignee agrees to pay the assignor the sum of $$ [Amount in words goes here] [currency goes here, Dollars, Sterling Etc] immediately following notification that all of the domain names within this agreement have been recorded at the relevant registries as in the ownership of the assignee thereby evidencing the transfer of the domain names to the assignee.

3. The assignor, whether through himself, any alias and/or his servants or agents shall immediately cease and desist from and shall not resume using the domain names or any other designation whether a trade or service mark, trading name or domain name that contains words colourably similar to that of the assignee.

4. The assignor further agrees that he shall not, directly or indirectly, individually, through any alias, or in conjunction with any person, firm or corporation, apply to register any trade mark, service mark and/or any other word or words colourably similar to any such trade names or marks.

5. The assignor further agrees that he shall not, directly or indirectly, individually, through any alias, or in conjunction with any person, firm or corporation, apply to register any trade mark, service mark and/or any other word or words colourably similar to any such trade names or marks, cause enable or assist any third party to do the same.

6. The assignor represents and warrants that it has not, directly or indirectly, through any alias or in association with any other person or entity, filed, reserved, received or granted a transfer of license of any domain name that contains the trade marks or any word or words confusingly similar thereto in any country or federal, local government, region or state authority, or with [insert domain name registrar here], or any other internet registration agency. The assignor covenants that it will not, whether through himself, any alias, through his servants and/or agents undertake any such registration, filing, or reservation or cause or assist any such registration, filing, or reservation to be made, by itself, or in connection with any other person or entity.

7. The assignor represents and warrants to the best of its actual knowledge, as of the date of its execution of this agreement, that:

(a) The assignee has the right to dispose of the domain names;

(b) The assignor has not received notice of any existing or threatened claims or proceedings by any third party other than the assignee relating to the assignors use of the domain names;

(c) The assignor has not received notice that the domain names are subject to any outstanding order, decree, judgment, stipulation, written restriction, undertaking or agreement that would prevent the assignor complying with this agreement;

(d) The domain names are not subject to any lien, charge, security interest, mortgage, third party interest or other encumbrances;

(e) The assignor has not granted any licenses to or authorized any third parties (including any affiliate of the assignee) to use the domain names or any other confusingly similar domain names; and

(f) The assignor, does not own directly or indirectly through any alias, third party or likewise any other domain name containing words similar to that of the assignees.

8. Each of the parties hereto warrants and represents that the person (s) executing this agreement on its behalf has full authority to execute this agreement and bind it as a party to this agreement.

9. The terms and conditions of this agreement shall be maintained in confidence. No party may disclose such terms and conditions to any third parties other than to the attorneys, accountants, officers or members of the boar of directors of the assignee or assignor or otherwise without the express written permission of the other party.

10. This agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective heirs, clients, licensees, representative, successors, predecessors, and assigns. In this agreement words denoting persons shall include bodies corporate and unincorporated associations of persons and vice versa.

11.This agreement incorporated herein constitutes the entire agreement of the parties. It may be modified only in writing signed by both parties. This agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which shall constitute a binding agreement when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the parties.

12. This agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the [Your country goes here, United Kingdom, United States, Etc], and the parties hereto submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the [Your country goes here, United Kingdom, United States, Etc].

13. Both parties acknowledge that if either party violates all or part of this agreement the other party may seek legal remedies to restrain any further violation of this agreement and in such a case, the violating party will be wholly liable for the cost of any such order.

Signed by: ……………………………….. Date: ………………………..

For and on Behalf of [Your company / legal name].

Signed by: ……………………………….. Date: ………………………..

For and on Behalf of [Buyers company / Legal name].

Article written by Lee

Undeveloped Domains – Put Them To Use

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Domain Names | Response: 0

Often when searching for new domain names, i come across what should, in theory be a golden opportunity only to find, the domain itself has already been registered and, whilst this in itself is annoying, what is even more annoying is that the domain 404’s when typed into the browser window.

The mere fact that someone else, a webmaster no less, has thought about purchasing the same domain as what you may have means there is already value in that domain and, more importantly, you have potentially lost a sale.

So how can we capitalize on this potential lost traffic from the off-set? That is what we will look at in this brief article.

The first thing we need to do in order to start making some additional potential profit from our domain is to create a ‘generic’ holding page until such time that we have the time or, funding, to develop the site we had intended to place on our new domain name.

This holding page can take many forms depending on the type of traffic you are hoping to target with the domain itself. Ideally, you will want to have as much choice for the surfer (or webmaster) on this holding page as you can so, you need to assess the nest types of sites to use, the best use of the traffic no matter how small it could be and, more importantly, the best way to maximize your sales potential.

One good way of doing this is to split the page into three sections, two equal sized sections at the top portion of the page and, one smaller portion towards the very base of the page designed, almost like a footer.

In the two top portions you should equally distribute both surfer orientated and, webmaster orientated links both of which need to be clearly separated.

For example, the left side of the page take all of your top converting paysites and list them by niche, they don’t have to have fancy or heavy graphics, text links will suffice for now as this is only a ‘temporary’ page.

On the right hand side of the page place some of your webmaster referral linking codes with a brief description, remembering that not only surfers could hit this page but webmasters themselves.

On the ‘footer’ portion of the page, the most important section, you should put your contact details, ideally an email address and, if the domain warrants, details of how you can be reached by instant messenger. The reason for the email and instant messenger details is a simple one, if a webmaster REALLY wants the domain that you have, he, or she, might just make you an offer on it and, if they have no way to get in touch with you then, you have just lost an offer on a domain that you might not get around to using for months.

of course, in addition to utilizing the traffic you have on the domain you can also use this holding page to generate more traffic, for example, placing a banner or button exchange code on the site or, perhaps a counter. The possibilities to generate traffic to these pages are limitless depending on how you use the holding page itself.

Well, that’s the basics of domain holding pages explained and, hopefully you will have realized that no matter what you plan on doing with your new domains, after your host has added them to your server, the next thing you should do is to create a generic holding page that you can upload into the rot of the domain name and, who knows, you might end up making some money a little sooner from that unused domain name.

Article written by Lee

Marketing Sites With Slogans

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Promotion | Response: 0

With the constant changes happening in the adult industry webmaster need to look towards alternative ways of marketing not only their own sites but the sites of their sponsors. This is where something that we have all seen daily can come in handy, what is this marketing tool? Simple, Slogans.

Slogans – What Are They?

A slogan is a short, memorable advertising phrase for example, ‘Just Do it’ – Nike. By utilizing a slogan on your site you are not only giving your surfers something other by which they can remember your site by but, you are actively building up your brand which, in turn, can mean more repeat traffic and ultimately, more sales.

How To Make A Slogan.

So now you know what a slogan is how do you go about creating one? Simple, you should think of something short, usually three to four word slogans work the best again, as with the Nike example above ‘Just Do it’ its short, sweet and memorable, try to make your own slogan fit within this guideline and you are half way done. Another thing that you may like to consider is making your slogan practical or humorous, something witty can often stay in a persons mind a lot longer than something serious, play on peoples memory and ensure they remember your brand.

Where To Use Your Slogan.

Now that you have thought up a slogan which you feel will work on your traffic and sites you need to consider the places where you can use it for maximum impact, the most obvious place to use your slogan is on your site design, either at the top or the bottom of your pages, make it clear and more importantly, make it stand out. In addition, if you have any banners or buttons created, ensure you utilize the slogan on those creatives, the goal is to have your slogan seen by as many people, as quickly as possible.

Article written by Lee

Sex Toy Affiliate Programs

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Sponsors | Response: 0

For the past year I’ve been playing with sex toys AND I’ve been selling them too!

Over the last couple of articles I have tried to enlighten you on secondary and third level sponsors, to supplement your site income. Another successful addition is sex toys – which are a hit in the gay market. Personally, I sell toys and videos in the secondary spots simply because the payouts are typically lower than most sponsors are – but my motto is money is money!

The basic reaction by most straight webmasters has been, I didn’t realize gay men liked sex toys, too. Well we do.

While there are a number of great toy sponsors out there, not many cater directly to gay men. That’s why I worked a deal on Gay Adult Shopping (http://store.gayadultshopping.com/partners/). I have joined others, but typically, they sell to a straight clientele. When I say market to straight, I’m referring to the packaging of their inventory. This is not a judgment call but a plain fact; I’d rather buy something that has an image of guy on it rather than a woman.

Now mind you, BOTH markets favor many of the products sold. I know if a straight female friend and I went into an adult store, we would look at the same dildo; and, perhaps even buy the same item regardless of the package. But when you’re surfing the net from home, it’s no holds barred. The surfer is no longer locked into the inventory of a shop on the street. He’s going to look for what HE wants. It is all perception. And, knowing that is half the battle.

Ok on to selling! I have taken three approaches in my experimenting – free sites, TGPs and memberships sites. Within a paysite, I typically didn’t SELL the store as much as I told the surfer it is there if he wants it. The real work in selling came with the free sites and galleries.

I’m a text man. I love writing copy and seeing how it works. However with the toys, I used a graphic and embellished it with text. For my free sites, I found direct eye contact shots (Images where the model is “looking out”, presumable at the surfer) were more effective than a pic of a guy playing with toys. Along with the pic, I used text like “My boyfriend and I can not get enough of them…” and “I get off watching him play…” or “The one with the most toys… Gets Off!” Other places on my free sites, I just dropped in the text link. Either worked well. I added both sets of ad links to my basic main pages. The results were good – even though I kept them to a minimum not to out sell my sponsor sites.

My TGP experiment was WORK! After my first try I found out that text alone doesn’t work well. This is definitely an approach that requires imagery. On my first pass, I offered pics and a paragraph that that sold all the things I could think of… dongs, dildos, videos and ejaculating butt plugs -You name I tried to sell it. Out of 2000 hits on that one page, I had 60 clicks into the toy store. Even though I had a sale, it wasn’t going to break the bank. But it SOLD, so I decided to try more. This time I hunted through my content for pics with toys in them and eye contact. I added banners and toned down the text somewhat. Instead of listing an inventory, I stayed in line with the text I mentioned above. I gave an overall feel of what the store had (toys, videos, lube, etc.) Then I ended it with a little tease of what delightful experiences were in store when their package arrived.

This time, it worked! On that first day, out of the 2000 hits it received, 500 clicks went into the store. I have never had that kind of click ratio off of a TGP. I was amazed. Most of the sales were for smaller priced items ($10-$20), but I had two orders that totaled over $200 dollars each. Was this a fluke? I wasn’t sure, so I tried it again. With the next few submissions the click rates were smaller, and I don’t know why. It could be that I used the same ads or something too similar to the first. BUT the click to sales ratio was about the same as my first attempt. Needless to say this has now become part of my weekly regiment.

So what did this prove? Sex toys DO sell well in the gay market even under the hard to convert traffic scenarios. I guess we like our toys just as much as anyone else =)

Selling adult products, whether on a free site, a TGP or a pay site, will bring in a few extra dollars that many webmasters didn’t even know was out there.

Article written by Gary-Alan

Using .htaccess Effectively

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: WebDesign | Response: 0

The .htaccess file is an ASCII text document that can be placed in any directory on your site. It can be used to control access to files and directories, and customize some server operation in your site. A .htaccess file can be created in any word processor but must be saved as text only. You must use FTP software in ASCII mode to upload or edit your .htaccess file. For the examples provided here, place the .htaccess file in your root directory.

There are a variety of functions that you can control using .htaccess some of the more useful of these are explained below:

Custom Error Messages.

Add the following to the .htaccess file::

ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.html

After “ErrorDocument” specify the error code, followed by a space, and then the path and filename of the .html file you would like to be displayed when the specified error is generated, each specific error code is detailed below with the recommended codes to be used in the .htaccess file in bold :

200 OK
206 Partial content
301 Document moved permanently
302 Document found elsewhere
304 Not modified since last retrieval
400 Bad request
403 Access forbidden
404 Document not found
408 Request timeout
500 Internal server error
501 Request type not supported

Using the codes above your error section of the .htaccess file should look like this:

ErrorDocument 301 /notfound.html
ErrorDocument 400 /notfound.html
ErrorDocument 403 /notfound.html
ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.html
ErrorDocument 500 /notfound.html
ErrorDocument 501 /notfound.html

Redirect to a Different Folder.

Add the following to the .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^/oldfolder(.*)$ /newfolder/$1 [R]

This redirects the user from /oldfolder/anyfile.html to /newfolder/anyfile.html, when the .htaccess file is uploaded to the otherwise empty “/oldfolder” directory.

Denying User Access.

Add the following to the .htaccess file:

<Limit GET>
order allow,deny
deny from 000.00.00.
deny from 000.000.000.000
allow from all
</Limit>

This is an example of a .htaccess file that will block access to your site to anyone who is coming from any IP address beginning with 000.00.00 and from the specific IP address 000.000.000.000 . By specifying only part of an IP address, and ending the partial IP address with a period, all sub-addresses coming from the specified IP address block will be blocked. You must use the IP addresses to block access, use of domain names is not supported

Redirect a Machine Name.

Add the following to the .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteBase /
# Rewrite Rule for machine.domain-name.net
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} machine.domain-name.net $
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !machine/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ machine/$1

This will redirect requests for the machine name machine.domain-name.net to the directory machine on the site domain-name.net.

Different Default Home Page.

Add the following to the .htaccess file:

DirectoryIndex filename.html

Then a request for http://domain-name.net/ would return http://domain-name.net/filename.html if it exists, or would list the directory if it did not exist.

To automatically run a cgi script, add the following to the .htaccess file:

DirectoryIndex /cgi-local/index.pl

This would cause the CGI script /cgi-bin/index.pl to be executed.

If you place your .htaccess file containing the DirectoryIndex specification in the root directory of your site, it will apply for all sub-directories at your site.

Preventing Hot Linking.

Add the following to the .htaccess file:

# Rewrite Rule for images
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} <URL of page accessing your domain>
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://<same as above URL>

You would replace the <URL of page accessing your domain> above with the domain name and path of the page that is referring to your domain. For example: www.theirdomain.com/users/mypage/

The RewriteCond directive states that if the {HTTP_REFERER} matches the URL that follows, then use the RewriteRule directive. The RewriteRule directive will redirect any reference back to the referring web page.

Using the above you should, safely be able to publish your sites on the internet knowing that you will not be privy to bandwidth thieves via hotlinking and also, that you will not lose any traffic through pages that are ‘not found’.

Article Written By Lee