If you want to build something worthwhile then you have to start off by drawing up plans. Every carpenter knows that disaster awaits the builder who just tries to “wing it” when the task at hand is complex, and building an adult entertainment business isn’t a walk in the park.If you want to build something worthwhile then you have to start off by drawing up plans. Every carpenter knows that disaster awaits the builder who just tries to “wing it” when the task at hand is complex, and building an adult entertainment business isn’t a walk in the park. Connor Young talks about writing a business plan that will keep you on track and give you the tool you need to evaluate how well your efforts are paying off.

Often I get questions from people who want to get started in the adult industry but have yet to take the plunge. What strikes me bout so many of these people is just how little thought they’ve given to the whole picture – to all of the various efforts it would take to launch an adult website business. Usually these hopeful individuals are focused in on just one aspect of the trade and have completely ignored other matters that would have to be addressed before any successful business could be attempted. For example, a person might have all kinds of ideas on what type of content would convert well, but have no thoughts whatsoever as to how to get people to their website in the first place. Or maybe they have a great marketing plan, but no idea where they can get the content they need to make an attractive website with something to offer. Almost everyone who contacts me has given far too little thought to the legal issues that just can’t be avoided in the business of erotica. Before you decide that the adult entertainment business is your ticket to fame, wealth and endless babes, let me give you a bit of advice – you’d be wise to develop a complete and realistic business plan before you publish any form of erotica online.

Often business plans are used as a means of obtaining funding for a project, but in the case of an aspiring adult webmaster, a business plan can be used to map out a plan of attack and keep business efforts focused and productive. A business plan can force you to look at the whole picture, and that’s an exercise that can increase your chance of success. Don’t bother investing in expensive business plan software – a simple word processor will more than suffice. The point here isn’t to secure funding or win over support for your project; your goal is to have a plan in place for each of the various challenges that will present themselves as you proceed into the online adult entertainment business.

What things should you consider when writing your business plan? First you’ll want to start off with an introductory paragraph that briefly explains what you hope to accomplish and how you plan to achieve these goals. Follow that initial paragraph up with detailed explorations into topics such as any personal training that will be involved, software or hardware tools needed to achieve your goals, the nature of the products or services you want to offer, a marketing plan for getting your products or services noticed, and legal issues that will need to be resolved prior to going live on the Internet. Always pay close attention to time and money. Set realistic timelines that you can use to gauge your progress as you implement your plan. Make realistic calculations as to how much it will cost you to implement your plan. It’s vitally important that you’re brutally honest with yourself because setting goals that can’t possibly be attained will only set you up for guaranteed failure.

TRAINING AND TOOLS

Much to the disappointment of the religious right, it takes skills to be an adult webmaster. Do you have the skills that you’ll need? If not, you’ll have to obtain them before you can get started.

First and foremost you’ll have to learn the website design and maintenance process – that means you’ll need to understand basic HTML programming, you’ll need to become comfortable with a good HTML editor unless you want to write design all your pages with a text editor, and you’ll need to be somewhat proficient with an image editor like Adobe Photoshop or Jasc’s Paint Shop Pro. Did I mention that not all software applications are cheap, and that advanced applications like Photoshop can take considerable effort to master?

There’s more to webmastering than just HTML design. You’ll also need to grow comfortable with FTP so that you can easily transfer files back and forth from your home computer and your Web server. You’ll need to spend some time reading up on Internet security in order to avoid commonly made mistakes that can invite hackers into your life. Depending on the level of control you want over your Web server, you’ll probably need to learn all about Telnet, and you’ll need to understand basic UNIX commands so that you can “get around” on your server. Learning basic operation of the UNIX editor Vi (pronounced Vee-Eye) is probably a good idea as well.

Once you have all of the above mastered, the fun doesn’t stop there! What do you know about search engine marketing? Do you know how to use Internet newsgroups and TGP sites? What do you know about link lists, top lists and age verification systems? Website billing options? Domain name registration? Obtaining a hosting account? Pay-per-click advertising? Starting to feel overwhelmed? If so, now you’re starting to get the picture!

WEBSITE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

So just what is it that you want to offer the online world anyway? You can’t make any money without a product or service that people will want to purchase. In our case we make websites that entertain – although some of our sites entertain more than others do. You’re going to want to think long and hard about your websites because every other effort you make – no matter how good of a job you do – will ultimately fail if you don’t have a good website to offer your audience.

When planning out your website(s), give thought to what type of content it/they will offer – plain hardcore, ethnic porn, barely legal, whatever. What’s your site’s theme? And how will this site be different from the hundreds of thousands of other adult sites in existence today? Spell all of this out in your business plan. Explain what you think your hook will be and why the average surfer will be willing to pay to join. With it all in writing you’ll have something to come back to if things don’t go the way you planned. You’ll be able to read exactly what you were trying to accomplish so that you can then ask yourself “what went wrong?”

MARKETING PLAN

Of course the best website in the world is useless as a revenue-generator without an influx of visitors. Bottom line – you need an audience if you want to make money in entertainment. Generating traffic to an adult website is probably one of the most difficult aspects of making money in this business. The problem is that there are only so many people out there looking for the type of service you’re offering, and unfortunately for you people with a lot more money than you have pretty much have the majority of the eyeballs occupied elsewhere. That’s why it’s vitally important that you have a good plan of attack in terms of how you will be able to make your website stand out from the pack.

Don’t rely on just one approach to marketing. In other words, don’t just say “search engines” and leave it at that. Come up with a plan that includes a number of different approaches because when you’re first starting off the only way to find out what works and what doesn’t work is trial and error. But when writing your marketing plan keep in mind that consistency is also important. Don’t be prepared to give up on an approach after just a few unsuccessful attempts; on the flip side, you should know when to fold your cards and leave the table. Your business plan should outline a regular routine that you will follow for each and every marketing approach that you will pursue, and your business plan should set the rules for determining how successful each approach is in terms of your goals. For example, you might determine that in your plan you want to build one TGP gallery each week for a total of six months. Building one gallery might take four hours of your time and $20 worth of licensed content. At the end of the six month period if your TGP efforts aren’t resulting in adequate return for your time and money spent then plan on either changing your approach or dropping TGP marketing completely. Your business plan should have all of the possibilities spelled out.

LEGAL ISSUES AND RISK MANAGEMENT

There’s a certain amount of risk associated with adult entertainment, both from a financial and from a legal perspective. Your business plan should discuss these risks and document your acceptable risk level. The problem is that you can’t really understand all of the risks without consulting with a competent attorney with experience in adult entertainment issues. You might think hiring a lawyer is too expensive, but even just sitting down with a good attorney for an hour is helpful and should be considered an indispensable part of your business plan. Once you have identified the risks you can plan to minimize these risks through good business practices. Plan how to be discreet. Plan how to respond to family and friends when they ask you what you do for a living. Plan where you will receive your business mail, and whether you’ll need to have a business phone installed at your house so that you don’t have to use your personal phone when talking business. If you plan to shoot your own content, plan where your records will be kept and what you will do if your records are seized by law enforcement or destroyed in a fire.

I’ve only just touched on the various topics that your business plan should address. My advice is that you write up a brief outline to start and then begin plugging away at the text. When you’re done with your first draft, put it in a drawer for a day or two and then read it again, revising it on the way. Take another day or two thinking about your plan, asking yourself where it might go wrong. Think about your plan while you’re jogging, taking a shower, driving to work or just enjoying a quiet meal. When you’re confident that you’ve created the best plan that you can given the information available to you then it’s time to put your plan into action and (hopefully) start making money.

Click here to comment on this article or to read what others have said.

Connor Young is Editor-in-Chief of The ADULTWEBMASTER Magazine.

If you want to build something worthwhile then you have to start off by drawing up plans. Every carpenter knows that disaster awaits the builder who just tries to “wing it” when the task at hand is complex, and building an adult entertainment business isn’t a walk in the park.If you want to build something worthwhile then you have to start off by drawing up plans. Every carpenter knows that disaster awaits the builder who just tries to “wing it” when the task at hand is complex, and building an adult entertainment business isn’t a walk in the park. Connor Young talks about writing a business plan that will keep you on track and give you the tool you need to evaluate how well your efforts are paying off.

Often I get questions from people who want to get started in the adult industry but have yet to take the plunge. What strikes me bout so many of these people is just how little thought they’ve given to the whole picture – to all of the various efforts it would take to launch an adult website business. Usually these hopeful individuals are focused in on just one aspect of the trade and have completely ignored other matters that would have to be addressed before any successful business could be attempted. For example, a person might have all kinds of ideas on what type of content would convert well, but have no thoughts whatsoever as to how to get people to their website in the first place. Or maybe they have a great marketing plan, but no idea where they can get the content they need to make an attractive website with something to offer. Almost everyone who contacts me has given far too little thought to the legal issues that just can’t be avoided in the business of erotica. Before you decide that the adult entertainment business is your ticket to fame, wealth and endless babes, let me give you a bit of advice – you’d be wise to develop a complete and realistic business plan before you publish any form of erotica online.

(more…)