Wenchy's World

Don't Give Away The Farm

By

Wenchy

Adult Copy

What do you think when you hear the phrase "free content"? Webmasters should immediately think "sponsors", as in the free content they give affiliates for sites and galleries, while Joe Surfer's brain is screaming, "Unlimited whack-off material that doesn't cost a dime!" Oh, the agony.

Those of you who know me know that the free content issue is one about which I have been, and continue to be, very outspoken. Personally I am diametrically opposed to the whole idea of free content and feel that it should be done away with entirely. Now, before the TGP and link list owners start cursing the day I was born, let me explain.

Webmastering is a business and all webmasters should strive to run their sites in a businesslike manner. We are basically in the advertising and/or sales industry which, of course, requires some type of draw or pull on the advertising end to make a profit on the sales end. But we are not alone in our endeavors; we have partners in the form of our affiliate programs. Essentially we are contract labor, signing up with a sponsor to advertise their site in exchange for a commission. Simple enough, right?

The problem comes in when we start talking about various forms of adult advertising. We've all seen television commercials, thus we all know that sex sells. However, adult webmasters seem to have taken this one step further to a "give them the sex and hope for the sale" mentality, a totally bass-ackwards approach in my opinion. Let's relate the porn biz to some "real life" situations in an effort to further illustrate my point.

Think of the businesses in your area. How many car dealerships, for instance, do you know that allow you to test drive a new car for three to five days after asking for a mere 1/100 of the selling price as a deposit? How many hamburger places have you been to that give you a free soda or fries before you pull out your wallet and buy that burger or sandwich? Sure, the local supermarket may have things for "free", but the catch is that you have to buy first to get that second item at no charge. Are you beginning to get the picture?

The Adult Internet is the only industry I can think of that gives away exactly what it is trying to sell in order to get people to buy it but can't seem to understand why sales aren't higher than they are. Doesn't make much sense when you see it in print, does it?

A couple of years ago there was a big push for no-content websites... just a couple of sample pics (no clickable thumbs) and some text and banner ads. Because it seemed like a good idea at the time I, along with many of my peers, stepped up to the plate and gave it a shot. You know what? It actually worked! I still have some of those sites hiding on my domains and they still make money to this day!

Unfortunately, the sad reality is that those of us who stopped giving away the farm made up a very small percentage of active adult free sites. It didn't take the surfers long to figure out they could still get all the free pictures they wanted once they got out of my sites (which wasn't quite as easy as you might think hehe).

Okay, so I've accepted the fact that if I want traffic from link lists, top lists, and TGPs, I'm going to have to give up some pics whether I like it or not. BUT... that doesn't mean I have to give away hardcore photos or "money shots", it doesn't mean I have to give up more than the absolute minimum required by the sites I submit to, and it certainly doesn't mean I have to make the pictures particularly high-quality or easy to get to (within reason, of course). Am I a radical or a troublemaker? No, just a businesswoman trying to apply some old-world rules to a new-generation industry.

Listen people, just because it's porn doesn't mean it has to be free! If a certain rather wealthy and well-known gentleman (whose initials are H.H.) had given away smut for free, he wouldn't be the reigning king of his own adult magazine, movie, and cable channel empire today. If the surfers want to play, they're gonna have to pay! It's really that simple.

Our sponsors provide us with excellent promotional tools that will MORE than sell memberships if applied properly with some care and thought. There is absolutely no reason for TGP galleries with 100 pics, I don't care if you're using free hosting or not! Use your heads, gang. If you give away what they want they have no incentive to buy it, and that means you make no money. It's an equation any grade-school child can figure out.

The next time you sit down to build a site or gallery, try to keep in mind your ultimate objective. You are in this business to make money, not to keep surfers happy. Use as little content as you can get away with and use it as foreplay, a tease to get them horny and desperate for release, then send them off to your sponsor for the slam dunk. If they're not inclined to click, offering them more content isn't going to change their minds. You're much better off letting them know that X sponsor has 250,000 pics and getting them off of your bandwidth as quickly as possible.

Content is an issue that is at the core of our industry. Free content, on the other hand, is an advertising tool that started out as a pretty good idea and has since turned into the bane of our very existence. Every time we give away free pictures we're lowering our potential to make a sale and turn a profit. Use free content sparingly and correctly and it can actually help to increase your sales.

Let's face it, there's nothing like a little jerkus interruptus to make a guy in need pull out that credit card! However, if the only thing he's pulling out is his hankie to clean up the mess, you've blown it (pardon the pun!)

Until next time, may all your surfers be horny and your thumbnails unclicked...

Wenchy