Quote:
Originally posted by Robin@Apr 9 2005, 01:00 PM
>> I think the notion that "free content is the end of porn" would have been
>> proven long ago but contrary to that the industry continues to swell.
Yeah it may continue to swell - but conversions are through the floor, the signups you could make a day in 1998 take a week or a month now on the same amount of traffic. When I started I was getting signups at about 1 in 150 - Now it seems 1 in 3000 is more the par...
The amount of adult webmasters is exponentially larger - but most are hardly making much money at all - this is not an industry where suppliers have grown with revenue - there are more porn suppliers chasing less revenue.
Adult is declining and almost everyone will tell you this - it's been declining for 5 years because (I believe) of lack of innovation - so most webmasters have gone for the easiest thing they know - give more and more free stuff away to get traffic - only trouble is the traffic converts less and less - a vicious downwards spiral.
>> People will always pay to be entertained even though there are plenty of ways
>> to entertain themselves for free
No they won't - they'll ALWAYS choose the free option - look at Kazaa for example. You are just saying something that sounds good but has no basis - people ONLY EVER pay for something that they cannot get for free. We are not (mostly) *that* dumb...
The free content on the web right now is so thoroughly diluting the money that can be made that it's ridiculous. The savvy surfer today KNOWS *exactly* where to get any porn they want for free - anything at all. The only people signing up these days are those that can't find the free stuff and newbies - it's as simple as that - soon as they find the free stuff then they never sign up again.
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Our conversions are doing just fine. Our retention is excellent and we are a relatively high priced site. Admittedly, we have a strong brand but the fact that people can see us for pennies on cable compared to our site has not hurt sales only helped.
We all agree that there is a glut of content. There is also a glut of marketers. A glut of programs. The successful programs of yesterday may or may not be the kings and queens of the market today. It is natural for only a small percentage at the top to make the majority of profits in any free market.
Porn as a form of entertainment has barely changed since the mosaics in Pompeii. The way to sell it is constantly innovated according to the means to display and disseminate it.
You say the market is shrinking but what about all the analytics that say mobile porn will be a multi billion dollar market within a year or two?
People don't ALWAYS pick the FREE option. I heard that same argument at the birth of cable tv... why would people pay for what they can get for free? Simple. If you make something exclusive and offer any other sort of incentive then people will pay a price.
For example... you can go to the movies to see a big screen picture.. you can wait for it to come to cable... wait longer for the dvd... or wait longer to see the edited version on free tv. The same basic rules apply for the way we market Homegrown. You have to be a member of the site to see the whole enchilada.