BUSINESS STRATEGY

Over the past four chapters we’ve discussed the first steps required for bringing an adult toy store into the world. We’ve named our baby and found a hosting company to mother it, and set up credit card processing with CCBill.BUSINESS STRATEGY

Over the past four chapters we’ve discussed the first steps required for bringing an adult toy store into the world. We’ve named our baby and found a hosting company to mother it, and set up credit card processing with CCBill. Now, we need more content.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

There’s no doubt about it. Content is the life-blood of the adult industry. Without it, you don’t have much of anything. After all, adult sites exist to sell something, and while selling a “fantasy” is certainly part of the marketing gimmick, the truth is, you’re selling images, videos, and sounds in order to fuel that fantasy with your subscribers.

Adult toy stores differ slightly in that you are actually selling tangible items, and this is where the advantage lies. It’s easy to take pictures of vibrators, pieces of lingerie, and DVDs; the law doesn’t require that you have them sign a release (how could they?). Getting your hands on all those products, just to take pictures of them, however, is another matter. Fortunately, the distributors you’re going to deal with will already have CDs full of their images, and since you’ll be selling their products, these companies will encourage you to use their images. No cost! How’s that for a different spin on the industry? You’re getting content for free.

Finding these distributors and dealing with them is the subject of a future article, but in the meantime, let’s discuss traditional adult content a little further. The basis of my store at NileXXX.com is to sell adult toys, lingerie, and DVDs. However, I also wanted to offer my paying members true adult content in addition to lower prices on everything in the store.

Step one was to attain exclusive content through people I knew. Fortunately, several girls had already agreed to model and I even had pictures of some already. All I needed was their permission to use their pictures on my site using a model release form.

The idea behind this legal document is to protect you against prosecution should the model be underage, should she change her mind about her pictures, or claim she was under some sort of influence when the pictures were shot. To that end, any good model release form should speak directly to those possibilities, as well as state in unequivocal terms who possesses the rights to the pictures.

When drafting your model release form, try to keep it short. After all, you’re trying to encourage your models to disrobe for you and you don’t want to scare them away with a phone-book-sized contract. Keep it simple, direct, and easy to summarize. Most likely, they’ll simply ask you what they’re signing. Be honest. Tell them they are declaring they are over the age of 18, that they are entering into this contract of their own free will, and they are relinquishing rights to their images and granting you full ownership of the pictures or videos you are about to take. By full ownership, they are declaring that you have the rights to do whatever you want with them, forever, whether that includes publishing them on the Internet, in print media, or even reselling them.

Here are some sample sentences you can use to cover particularly important elements of a contract. Of course, when in doubt, consult an attorney.

Indemnification: “I agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless from and against any third party claim, action, suit, or proceeding arising out of the inaccuracy of any respective representation stated hereto.”

Legal Age: ” I warrant under penalty of perjury that I am at least 18 years of age and posses full mental capacity for entering into this contract of my own free will and understand that this agreement will be governed by law without giving effect to principles of conflict of laws.”

Permission: “I understand that these photographs or videos may be reproduced one or more times for publication in any medium chosen, including but not limited to, websites and bulletin boards, and may be altered without further permission. I waive any rights for further compensation for use of such photographs or videos.”

Finally, be sure to get their full legal name, social security number, date of birth, permanent mailing address, signature, and two forms of ID. Keep all these records on file for the duration of time you use each model’s material.

With exclusive content on my hard drive, and signed model release forms in my files, I was now prepared to tackle the more daunting task of acquiring additional product. That brings us to Step Two in my “content game plan”: free content.

Free content is a double-edged sword for the adult webmaster. There’s a LOT of it out there. In one way, that’s good. It’s easy to find. On the other hand, it’s bad. Why would someone pay to visit your site when there’s so much content out there available for nothing? We will discuss creating, defining, and branding a niche in a later chapter, and supporting what I call a “competitive advantage.” But in the meantime, let’s dissect this beast known as “free content.”

Yes, it’s out there, but that doesn’t mean acquiring free content is as easy as surfing to a thumbnail gallery post website and right clicking on every image you see to save it to your hard drive. That’s illegal. It’s called copyright infringement and the porn police will be on you so fast your head will turn. But many of the same sites that sell legal content to webmasters also offer free samples to encourage visitors. In fact, there are so many of these, it’s possible to initially beef up your membership section without dropping one red cent.

Of course, all “free” samples come with a price. In some cases, they require you to float one of their banners somewhere on your site. In other instances, you must subscribe to a company newsletter (translated: they sell your email address to other companies for a small profit), and in still other cases, you have to provide a text link back to their site in the section where their “free” material resides.

As your site matures and grows, the viability of these “free” deals may not work for you. The free banners you are floating for them may no longer be cost effective, the text link you’re giving them may be cannibalizing too much of your traffic, etc. But when you’re first starting out, the price is right and I would suggest taking advantage of all these options. Just read the small print and abide by it. The last thing your little website needs right off the bat is a legal hassle.

So you may be asking, “Where do I find these models in order to take their pictures and have them sign release forms?” Or “Where do I find these free content providers?”

Well, the answer to question number one comes in a later chapter when we get to Step Four of my “content game plan.” But the answer to question number two is right in front of you. That’s right, you’ll find listings for content providers on web resource websites, on bulletin boards, and actually just by surfing through other adult sites. If you’ve come this far on making your own site, you certainly know how to research and locate the content providers for all the free porn you need to get your membership section underway.

In the next installment of this article series, we’ll discuss Steps 3 and 4 to my content game plan.

Article written by Richard at NileXXX.com, home to the world’s sexiest selection of adult toys, DVDs, and clothing.

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