BUSINESS STRATEGY

So far we’ve discussed that gleam in your eye — the gleam of impending parenthood — with an adult website acting as your offspring. We’ve questioned your motives, your abilities, and your chances for success.BUSINESS STRATEGY

So far we’ve discussed that gleam in your eye — the gleam of impending parenthood — with an adult website acting as your offspring. We’ve questioned your motives, your abilities, and your chances for success. Then we started down the path, by choosing a name for the site and a company to host it. In part three we discussed how to set up e-commerce. Now, speaking of money, we discuss more of the strategic ways you can earn a buck from your site.

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

Preserve Your Memories

Parents are often criticized for having too many pictures of their children – in wallets, in purses, on desks, above the mantel, etc. Then, with the advent of digital technology, home videos and websites joined the mix. But while constantly sharing these images with others can be considered gross and unusual punishment in some states, parents can extract value from them if they know how to look. By capturing and recording events as they transpire, a parent can look back upon those memories and have a positive effect on the present or future.

What does this have to do with building an adult website? Well, if nothing else, it demonstrates that you should take detailed notes during this early stage of setting up your site. For example, when I was researching possible hosting companies for NileXXX.com, I found my fair share of free hosts – those which offered to host my site for free in return for something (usually their own advertising). Ultimately, I decided against free hosting because I wanted to be in control of my own ad revenue when the time came. But I kept notes on each of those companies, their URLs, and the facts about them.

As I began visualizing the future of my site, I decided those free hosting companies DID have value after all, not as a way of hosting my site, but as a way of promoting it. They offered additional URLs that I could promote, submit to search engines, and generally mold into a specific launching point directed toward my “real” site. Sure, it was still too early to actually start doing any of that kind of promotion, but I mention it because now is when you’ll be doing the bulk of the research. Take notes about everything; it will be invaluable down the road.

For example, it’s a good idea to create accounts with every free hosting company that you can. These won’t be your main “doors” into your site, but they’ll be side doors and backdoors, all of which help make your site more attractive to search engine spiders. Once you have a “free” host, simply add a javascript into the main index.html page redirecting the user to your “real” site on your paid host. We’ll discuss more about javascripting in a future article.

Another option for these “free” hosts is to create another type of adult site utilizing some of the same content as your “main” site. Basically, there are four choices: AVS sites, affiliate sites, exclusive adult content sites, and product sites.

Age-verification sites (AVS) mainly rely on templates and a minimal amount of either purchased content or exclusive content. There are typically 2-4 free pages designed to convince the web user to join the AVS system. Once convinced, the surfer parts with some money in return for membership access to not only the site he/she is on, but also all the other ones under that specific AVS umbrella. It’s one of the easier sites to create. And since you’ll already have content for your main site, there’s no reason not to do it. Not only will you add an additional revenue stream, but you can use this “free” site to place banners for your “real” site.

Affiliate sites promote the content and websites of larger adult companies, the ones with access to porn stars and sets and video cameras. Some affiliate sites create their own free pages and provide affiliate content inside the members’ area, while others blind-link directly to affiliate websites and simply attach their referrer code (more on ALL of this in later editions). Affiliate sites are relatively easy to create and also guarantee professional content. Create one or two of these, as well. In addition to promoting the affiliate sites, you can also promote YOUR site, and that’s the whole point.

Exclusive content sites can vary greatly, both in scope and quality of content. If you plan on competing with the big boys, expect a high monthly cost. If you plan on competing with the amateur webmistresses out there, expect lots of competition. Almost anybody with a digital camera and a fleeting love of exhibitionism can start a porn site. But hey, that’s why WE’RE doing it, isn’t it?

Personally, I was planning on doing just an exclusive content site at first. I mocked-up an impressive first page and created the prerequisite tour pages. It was a little more ‘arty’ than other similar sites on the Internet, but I was happy with it and went on to the next step — uploading the membership content. Here’s where I determined that I couldn’t compete with the big boys, which is why I changed the direction of my site and decided to sell products in the form of an adult toy store. Conducting a quick competitive analysis of other adult toy stores revealed an amazing fact – 90% of them didn’t work and 95% of them were fucking ugly. I could compete with the remaining 5% by simply being more affordable. Additionally, since I was selling products (all of which came with promotional pictures), attaining content was easy and free.

“Content” is one of the largest obstacles you will face. Getting content for a typical adult site is rarely difficult but can be very expensive. And that’s the subject of my next article in this series.

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

BUSINESS STRATEGY

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