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Over The Rainbow
So why is the gay community over the rainbow? As promised today I’ll finish up on the symbols that are prevalent in the gay community. Last week I mention the Pink Triangle and it’s political emergence. And technically, the rainbow flag has a similar political beginning.
I always love answering a question with another question (it is one of those annoying habits I have). So, when I am asked the “what does the rainbow flag stand for?” I look forward to the response when I ask, in turn, “what do YOU think it means?” Here are my top three favorite answers:
1 – “It’s colorful and gay people like colors.”
2 – “It’s a dance party thing”
3 – “Judy Garland sang Over the Rainbow you guys loved her a lot.” (This has to be my all time favorite.)
Well like any political symbol, it is a way to distinguish ourselves. But this time we look not to a place in history but we look at the world in general. No matter where you are, whether it is on 8th street in NYC or Rue du Champe in Paris, there will be a gay person somewhere. Now, some may argue that not all cultures and societies will have homosexual present. And I say, “BULL”. They are just in the closet somewhere.
So in essence, gay men and women cross every racial and religious culture around the world. We come in all shapes, sizes and colors. So what better symbol to show that with than a rainbow, all colors coming together as one – as one community. No matter how culturally diverse our world is, the gay community is made up from a piece of each.
The rainbow flag and the uses of the rainbow, in the gay community, are diverse. If you see it flying outside on a restaurant wall, and it means it is a gay or gay friendly establishment. See a set of rainbow rings around a friend’s neck, it’s gay fashion accessories. And see a political march with rainbows on posters and flags, it’s a gay assembly.
Last week I insinuated that the pink triangle was not a symbol to over use in design. Well, in my opinion, the opposite is true with the rainbow and the rainbow flag. I am NOT saying run out and re do all your sites with rainbow backgrounds. No! But, I am saying that the nature of this political symbol is somewhat more flexible. We ourselves took the rainbow and made jewelry, publications, tee shirts and such. And just as the pink triangle, the rainbow will say that it’s ok to be here, you have friends inside or you have nothing to worry about here – be yourself, this place is for you.
So what have we learned? What some people think as silly symbols that gay people use, actually have an origin – and, a potent origin at that. I still ask, for your own good, that you use them wisely and not over do it. The more you throw symbols around willy-nilly, the more people will think you do not know what you are doing. And the more that the surfers thinks that, the less likely you are to make the sale and get your business to grow.
Article written by Gary-Alan
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Redirecting To A Different Page Using JavaScrip
There are times when a simple JavaScript redirection from one page to another can come in handy and, the following JavaScripting will enable you to do this.
When a page contains this javascript, it will be redirected to another page that you specify in the “window.location=”. You can change the number of refresh seconds by changing the “move()’,1000 to the number of seconds you’d like.
Example:
1000 = 1 second
2000 = 2 seconds
3000 = 3 secondsPlace this JavaScript code between the <head> and </head> tags
<script language=”JavaScript”>
<!–hide from old browsers
var time = null
function move() {
window.location = ‘http://www.yourdomain.com’
}
//–>
</script>Place this JavaScript code in your <body> tag
<body onload=”timer=setTimeout(‘move()’,1000)”>
You should now have a page that will redirect to a new url when it loads in the surfers browser window.
Article written by Lee
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Cleaning Up The Myths On Scrubbing
Time and time again on message boards I see the same old topics regarding scrubbing usually preceded by some company being accused of scrubbing their webmasters surfers to much and the webmasters sales being lower because of the sponsor ‘scrubbing’ their surfers however, the reality of this is, it isn’t the sponsors who control how much or how little the surfers credit card transactions are ‘scrubbed’.
The E-Commerce Dilemma.
Irrespective of whether you are an online bookmaker, bakery or adult pay site owner the fact of the matter remains that only credit card fraud is on the increase and, in addition to the rise of online credit card fraud the methods in which the perpetrators of these crimes carry them out is also changing often combating the methods put in place by the online transaction processors to stop this happening luckily however, this is where ‘scrubbing’ comes into effect.So What Is Scrubbing?
Scrubbing is a method used by the credit card processor that the companies who’s site you are sending a surfer to uses. Scrubbing is in effect, a method of calculating the probability that any single transaction (or group of transactions) could be fraudulent. That is to say, is being carried out by someone other than the true owner of the credit or debit card.Scrubbing is probably the single most useful tool provided to our sponsors by the credit card processors to ensure that every transaction that gets sent to them is credible and, once the transaction is allowed (or not) a part of the information contained with the transaction is sent to a central database to help other clients of that processor guard against receiving unlawful transaction purchases.
How Does Scrubbing Affect Me?
As a webmaster, believe it or not, scrubbing is actually a good thing for you. You know that each transaction processed is first of all a legitimate one and, secondly, you know that the sponsor who you are using is not going to go bankrupt due to excessive illegal transaction. This means that the sponsor can improve the services they offer YOU as a webmaster to assist you in making more money.In essence, the scrubbing of credit card transactions at a sponsors level increases the amount of money you make long term not only with that individual sponsor but, with every other sponsors who uses the same transaction processor.
Article written by Lee.
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Using .htaccess Effectively
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 supportedUsing 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.htmlRedirect 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/$1This will redirect requests for the machine name machine.domain-name.net to the directory machine on the site domain-name.net.
Different Default Home Page.
Add the following to the .htaccess file:
DirectoryIndex filename.html
Then a request for http://domain-name.net/ would return http://domain-name.net/filename.html if it exists, or would list the directory if it did not exist.
To automatically run a cgi script, add the following to the .htaccess file:
DirectoryIndex /cgi-local/index.pl
This would cause the CGI script /cgi-bin/index.pl to be executed.
If you place your .htaccess file containing the DirectoryIndex specification in the root directory of your site, it will apply for all sub-directories at your site.
Preventing Hot Linking.
Add the following to the .htaccess file:
# Rewrite Rule for images
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} <URL of page accessing your domain>
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ 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
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Domain Name Registrars – Saving Your Business
The one thing that all webmasters rely on to make their money is something that all of us have, a domain name however, what would or should happen to your domain names when and if, your registrar files for bankruptcy or just disappears, surprisingly enough i do not recall this ever happening in the industry to date however, being prepared for the worst case scenario is always a good thing.
Prevention Is Better Than A Cure.
As the age old adage goes.The first thing that you should do before even registering a domain name is to check out the background of the company you are considering using, you need to ask yourself a variety of questions about this company including the following:
1) Is the registrar ICANN accredited?
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a non profit corporation which was formed to assume the responsibility over the IP and entire domain name structure as we know it. This in essence means that if your registrar is ICANN accredited then you at least know your domain name registration will be handled professionally and, should be reasonably secure so far as your registrar going out of business.
2) What are you paying for?
Many of the domain name registration companies packages vary greatly, with some companies you register a domain yourself, some companies register it on your behalf and, others will register your domain including some form of hosting etc, check with the company you are using to see what added services and support features they offer.
3) What is their transfer policy?
Some domain name registration companies have specific policies so far as transferring domains to other companies, registrars and, individuals go. Check with your registrar before you buy your domain to see what this process involves and, as always, check with one of the other registrars to see which registration company offers the best ‘bang for your buck’.
Saving Your Name – Help And Advice.
First and foremost, if you discover your domain name registrar has closed its doors you should immediately send an email to them and ensure you keep a copy of this email for your own records, ask them what is happening and, more importantly, what controls / access you still have available (if any) to manage your currently registered domains.Usually, you will receive some form of communication within a few days from your registration company letting you know what is happening and how you can continue to use your domain name.
In most cases, when a domain name registrar company closes what you will find is that they will already be in the process of transferring the management of your domain to another registration company.
If however, you are still able to control the domain yourself then you should immediately seek out a new registrar with whom you can manage the domain / domains that you own. At this point you should contact them and ask if they have any fast track solution to transferring your domain to their company.
If All Else Fails.
If after everything else you are still at a loss as to how your domain name transfer or registration is being handled then you should contact ICANN ( http://www.icann.org ) directly. Ultimately it is their responsibility to ensure that once you have registered a domain name, you are able to access it as you would like, in most cases however, contacting ICANN is always the last move you should make and, only use this form of information should you exhaust all other methods mentioned above.Article written by Lee
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Networking – Not Just For Computers
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
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Online Billing Alternatives – Token Payment Systems
In this article we will continue our look at the various payment solutions that are available to webmasters for use on a global scale and, this time we will look at the ‘Token’ system of generating income to our sites.
Token Payments – What Are They?
Token payments, as they name suggests is a way by which your surfers can access your members area by using pre-purchased tokens as a cash alternative. These tokens are available in a variety of values ranging from US$1 to US$5 and above.Token Payments – What Are The Costs?
The cost to the surfer (as mentioned above) can vary from solution to solution however, on average the tokens which are redeemed for payment are bought in amounts ranging from US$1 to US$5 and above, these tokens then grant the surfer access to any of the sites that uses the specific token system the surfer purchased ‘credits’ for.Token Payments – Price Comparisons.
Okay so based on our previous articles we will again say that access to your members area costs an average of US$30 for a months access, now, using the token payment method, you are now able to set certain ‘restrictions’ immediately on the level of ‘access’ your new member can have although, the reality of it is, these restrictions are set by the token provider themselves.Lets say a surfer has gained access to your site using a US$5 token, what can they get actually have access too – not a lot. Your surfer only has access to as much of the content in your site that his ‘credits’ or ‘tokens’ will allow him to, in fact, the token system itself is much like the current pay-per-view model only, IMHO, not as satisfying to the surfer.
back to the issue at hand, how much will you make from this surfer with the US$5 token who has just accessed your site, well, if your members area is good and you have enough content to keep the surfer there until their tokens run out of credit, then, you will make upto 95% of the initial US$5 token purchase.
The good thing about this payment solution from a webmasters perspective however, is that YOU can actually set how much time each token will last on your site. Therefore, the reality of it is, you could have a surfer join your site with a US$5 token and only see one movie file whereas, a surfer who joined with a Credit card for 30 days access, could in effect strip your site of its content and move onto the next paysite.
Token Payments – Overview.
All in all, i strongly feel that there is a place in todays adult industry for the token payment solution after all, webmasters have to limit access to the amount of content surfers are able to see for free (or cheaply) and start to ‘educate’ todays sufer that they need to spend some money in order to access ‘the good stuff’.By allowing webmasters to control the content and value of the token payments on their sites this payment solution could, somewhat start this education process for the surfers. Whether this will be a good or, a bad thing however, will depend entirely on the amount of use these relatively new payment solutions get from both webmasters and, ultimately, surfers.
Article written by Lee
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Converting French Traffic – The Niche Paysites That Work
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
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Search Engine Themes!
It’s safe to say that the ‘pay-per-inclusion’ model is rapidly catching on with today’s search engines and directories as they are forced to become profitable in a hurry. But there’s also another trend that’s come to the fore.
‘Theme indexing’ is a process used by search engines to determine an entire site’s primary theme. In other words, your complete set of Web pages is indexed as one, and defined as one.
This is why sites with multiple product lines and subject content often get poor rankings today. To learn how to combat this, let’s first look at the theme indexing process from the search engine’s point of view.
According to Search Engine World, the theme indexing search engine follows this basic 5-step progression as it ‘weighs’ what a particular site is about:
1. Page Titles
2. Meta Tags
3. Page Headings
4. Page Content
5. LinksThis is a general overview of the approach – each search engine is unique, and no one has the ultimate read on every search site. But to date this has proven to be true of AltaVista, Google, Excite, Lycos and WebCrawler.
All of these belong on the ‘Who’s Who’ list of major search sites today. If it’s important that your Web business be found among them, today you must write your site with theme indexing in mind. Here’s how:
The concept itself is simple. Focus your entire site like a laser beam on a single, potent theme.
The process is ruthless. Get rid of the deadwood. Set up additional sites as needed for each individual product and service ‘family’.
In the same way that you must now invest to get indexed on Yahoo, LookSmart, Inktomi and other top directories, you need to invest in separating your activities by theme into multiple Web sites. Kick out unrelated content, links and affiliate programs that don’t relate to your market niche. Build new sites as needed, with each focusing on its own unique selling proposition. This is the first step to take in the optimization copywriting process.
Having done this, here’s how to write each site to get the best possible positioning on theme indexing search engines.
Focus Your Key Phrase.
Determine what key phrase your entire site is about – a key phrase people use often on the search engines. To pick heavily searched, popular key phrases, try Word Tracker: http://www.wordtracker.com/.Write Your Copy. Throughout your site play variations on your key phrase theme. Every element counts: page titles, meta tags, page headings, page content, links. Remember to write for people first. Search engines are robotic, but people always want to know what’s in your site for them. Tell them what qualifies you to help, and what you have to offer. Balance using your key phrase with the benefits you deliver.
Once you’ve written your copy, search your text for generic phrases like ‘our product’ and substitute your key phrase. Use long copy where you can. Not only does it outsell shorter copy – it also makes it easier for you to write keyword-rich text.
Format Your Text.
Use key phrase bullets. They break up text copy and serve you as mini headlines with an entirely different look and feel.Use multiple headlines to create immediate context when a visitor explores your site. Make these headlines specific by using your key phrase. Tag headlines in your source code – <H1>, <H2> or <H3> – to highlight your theme.
Write your links as mini-headlines. Often people scan pages by jumping from one link to another. Link words look very much like headlines, or highlighted words, and should deliver your primary message and key phrase.
Measure and Test.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the ideal keyword density is somewhere between 3-7%. To check this before you submit, try the free Keyword Density Analyzer: http://www.keyworddensity.com/. For a more accurate read on individual search engines, do a search under your key phrase, then take the top 3 returns, enter their URLs and try to match their percentages before you submit. Track your placement and adjust accordingly.This is the initial approach to optimization copywriting for theme indexing search engines. Keep it simple: start here.
Article written by Lee
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The Negative Marketing Technique
Negative marketing is a wonderful thing in its own right however, negative marketing can, surprisingly enough have a NEGATIVE effect on your sales.
How many times have you seen a site that has, about half way down the page some text telling the surfer no to click on anything because ‘these are only counters’?
Counters in themselves can be VERY useful tools to the adult webmaster however, counters are given to us for free because of one simple reason, the graphics used on them are made in such a way that they will actually draw clicks from your traffic.
Most of the time however, these counters that take your hits are helping you much more than you know, from giving you addition traffic, valuable surfer stats and many other things.
Now, the same is also true for banner exchanges as is for counters, they are a useful addition to the variety of tools available for adult webmasters however, many webmasters, as mentioned above tell the surfer NOT to click on them, something i just never seemed to be able to get my head around. As you reading this post kind of proves, tell someone not to do something and you can guarantee they WILL do it
However, as i started off this quick article saying, Negative marketing is a good thing, after all, you have now got the proof to tell you that it works why not put this to use on your site?
For example, rather than telling a surfer…
‘Click Here For The Hottest Porn Site On The Web’
Tell them…
‘DO NOT CLICK HERE’
Wonder what they will do
Article written by Lee
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