Online Marketing
from the Pros.
Lessons from adult web sites can help you lead your field
For most businesses getting on-line has only represented an added expense, with the potential of future profits. However, there is one type of business that is not only earning record profits, - it's earning 10 times as much as any other on-line industry. In one word that business is SEX.
Let's face it sex sells, unlike anything else. It is estimated that 20% of all Internet searches are sex related and that 1 out of every 3 people on the Internet is visiting an adult related site.
A number of articles have reported on this phenomenon. Prominent
newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New
York Times have all done stories focusing on the successes of
these new entrepreneurs. These articles make for exciting reading,
reporting on the success of people like Danni Ash. A former stripper,
she now generates around 3 million annually from her web site.
Another success story is that of a former housewife, Beth Mansfield
who just began to categorize the various online sex sites. She
developed the now legendary, Persian Kitty and soon began generating
around $10,000 per month from her home. She now generates well
over a million dollars in profit annually.
Another frequently written about success story is that of Stef
Warshavsky, a young entrepreneur who claims his Seattle-based
Company, Internet Entertainment Group, is making in excess of
$20 million a year! He owns several sites.
Since adult sites have experienced financial success, they have
the financial resources to develop new technologies for all businesses
to employ. Regardless of what you'd like to promote, adult web
sites foreshadow what will eventually happen in your business
this includes the innovative ways adult sites market themselves
to boost their sales.
Generally there are three approaches to earn money from adult
entertainment.
1. Membership Based Adult Site: These are sites that sell a monthly membership to viewers. They typically offer an online library of adult images that are frequently updated to keep members interested. First they entice visitors with a free look at some of their archives and then, if interested, they become members and access all their services.
2. Age Verification Site: Age Verification Sites or AVS were originally designed to protect young people from being able to access adult sites. People that are of legal age can purchase an annual "passport." Each site sells these passports and earns a commission for each sale from the governing company. Again the site typically shows visitors what is available at their site and then offers the option to purchase an AVS membership, if the visitor wishes to fully explore their site. A member can then use their passport to access any site promoting the AVS program.
3. Banner Sites: These sites only have Banners that advertise other membership-based sites. They put up content that they know will generate a lot of traffic and then sell advertisement space in the form of little banner ads. Every time one of your visitors clicks on a banner it is tracked and you are paid a "click-through" royalty, usually around $.10 to $.30 cents. Some programs offer up to $33.00 for each "member" that signs up from a banner on your site.
For some adult site owners, banner ads are their sole income. If you can create great information that attracts visitors but aren't sure how to make money from them - this could be the way. If a banner program pays you .18 cents for every visitor you send them and you send them 100 a day, you would make $18.00 per day.
Once a person visits, a good web site will try to up-sell them
with as many other products or services as they can. Some companies
solely rely on earning all profits by selling their customers
something else. In fact there are adult banner programs that will
pay you 100% of the membership profits, because they know they
can up-sell their membership other "premium" products
and services.
How This Applies To You
When adult sites first began, business was really booming. Eventually, when enough "copy cats" duplicated other people's success, a market gets flooded. This is another big lesson from adult sites. On the Internet, eventually this cycle may repeat itself in many industries. To avoid this trap make sure that your site is UNIQUE at an early stage. During the gold rush, very few people made money finding a lot of gold. The people that probably made the most money were the people selling the picks, shovels and mules! This is why "Yahoo" did so well.
For long term success, always plan a unique niche in the marketplace.
You'll not only be more noticed and get referrals, you'll also
not have to be too concerned about competition.
Memberships?
In your business, could you put up information or entertainment
that could be sold through a subscription? An on-going residual
income can really make the difference for a business. A lot of
sites overlook this type of residual income. Remember, memberships
can be annual or semi-annual.
To do this, again a lot of information could be made available
for free and then if the visitor wants access to your complete
library or statistics, they can purchase a membership.
Memberships or subscription selling can work in many formats.
For example a person might subscribe to on-going consultation
from you via email. You could also sell memberships to a private
discussion board.
Professional Associations
Would it be helpful to create a sister web site that helps you find your target market? The more times you are in a search engine, the better. If you sell your legal services, why not create a separate web site that appears more like a consumer advocate site, with articles on, "How To Choose A Good Lawyer" or "How To Save Money With A Lawyer." You'll not only attract your target market, they'll find this information valuable and may even refer friends to it. This additional site can take on many forms - again just remember to make it unique. It could be in the form of a directory of resources that your clients need, or an awards program for professionals in your field, or a consumer watch site.
Good links or banners?
Could your business be the first to organize a Web Ring? This
is similar to a banner program, but instead it is more of a standard
banner and when clicked it transfers you to the next participating
site, in a whole ring of sites. All sites have the same target
market in common and all benefit from each others' traffic.
Does your industry have a directory, exclusive to it? If you're
an interior designer, you might want to be the first to organize
a directory or search engine just for that field.
Does your industry have a discussion board dedicated to it? Discussion
boards will become a big part of the World Wide Web and are a
great tool to keep people returning to your site. Some companies
sell discussion board software, but if you go there http://www.casualforums.com/,
you can get the same service FREE.
If your industry has several discussion boards already, why not
design a site that is a simple directory of all the discussion
boards, related to your customers?
Offer FREE Dealerships
Distributors Direct is a great example of a well-organized
distributor program. Their adult video dealership is totally free
and you don't have to stock up on inventory or even design a web
site. When you sign up with them as a distributor, they give you
a unique web address that points to their site. When a customer
enters this address, their system credits you for the customer
and then leads the customer to their on-line catalog. They then
pay you 20% of all business generated by you.
Another idea could be a free classified ad page, where visitors
can post ads. You can create a classified ad board for your web
site, FREE, by visiting this site - http://www.worldtravel-links.com/admembers/intro_class.html
Once you've developed your site well, with a UNIQUE marketing angle, and have set up a network of dealers, you'll want to up-sell your visitors with back-end products. These are a must. The more products or services you have at your web site, the greater likelihood of making a sale.
If you don't have additional products - promote other peoples'.
This is known as "Affiliate Marketing" and it's practically
essential to your on-line success! For example if you're marketing
a dating service on-line, you might also want to plug a florist's
web site. Then if your customer's buys from that florist, the
florist would pay you a commission. These alliances work both
ways and the possibilities are endless. To find products or services
that you can add to your line, you might want to visit: http://www.refer-me.com/aff/
or http://www.sitecash.com.
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