On Saturday afternoon, a collection of intrepid souls shook off their hangovers from the previous night’s festivities and filed into a large conference room at the La Posada Resort to absorb the collective wisdom of a panel of five distinguished figures from the online adult industry..On Saturday afternoon, a collection of intrepid souls shook off their hangovers from the previous night’s festivities and filed into a large conference room at the La Posada Resort to absorb the collective wisdom of a panel of five distinguished figures from the online adult industry.

The assembled panel represented many facets of the business – Doug Wicks of CCBill/CaveCreek Hosting lent the perspective of both a third party processor and hosting service, Steve Jones of Lightspeed Cash brought his experience as someone who quickly climbed the ladder from newbie to successful operator of a major affiliate program and content provider, “YNOTBob” Rice from YNOTMASTERS.com brought his years of experience running the top adult Webmaster resource site online, Dave Gould of Tradeshow Productions provided his tips about how to prepare for, and make the most of attending events like the Phoenix Forum, and Tom Hymes, editor of AVN Online, contributed his expertise in marketing and promoting in the print arena.

Perhaps it was the timing of the seminar, or maybe it was just the vibrant personalities that made up the panel, but this particular newbie seminar was filled with chuckles, a healthy dose of sarcasm, and more than a little good-natured ribbing between the panelists. The humorous tone didn’t prevent the panel from dispensing some valuable tips and advice, though, and made this particular seminar one of the more enjoyable ones at this year’s Forum.

The central tip that the panel worked to impart to the newbies in attendance was that they need to get out there, establish relationships with people in the industry, and make the most of networking opportunities presented by industry events like the Phoenix Forum. “Don’t be shy,” Rice said, advising that newbies should feel free to approach anyone at the trade shows and introduce themselves. Jones added, “When you introduce yourself, remember that we meet 200-300 people at these shows. Let me know what you do; tell me ‘I do hardcore fuck porn’ – don’t give me the business card that you give to your Mom, I need to know what you do.”

The panel also hammered home the point that the days of throwing up a few dirty pictures and a credit card form and watching the money roll in are over (if in fact those storied days ever existed outside the collective imagination of certain media sources), and that in this point in the industry’s development, the adult Web is a much more competitive and professional arena. “You need to treat it as a business,” said Rice, “you have to have a business plan.” Wicks echoed Rice’s point, adding, “You’re running a business, it’s very competitive, and you have to be innovative.”

In terms of more specific pointers, each member of the panel chimed in with handy tips that stem from their years of experience. “The cheapest, lowest dollar host is not necessarily the best value,” Wicks said. “You get what you pay for.” Wicks pointed out that it’s not just bandwidth that you need, it is quality bandwidth, stability and customer support. Gould recommended that Webmasters approach their job as an education, as well, saying, “Continue your education in the tools that you use,” adding that as Webmasters become more proficient with the software and other tools they use, they would become more efficient and productive, and be able to dedicate more time to the goal that all of us share – making money.

One comment from Rice resonated with the whole tone of the seminar, and of the Forum in general: “This is a business, but you gotta have fun doing it – otherwise, why bother?”

Amen.

Quentin is Director of Marketing and Sales for TopBucks and OneVerify and can be reached at quentin@seekio.com.