Amateur Seeking Advice after Almost 1 Year of Experimentation

MRock · 01-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by erotola

My questions now, as i am planning our next step in this business, which will most probably take the form of our own pay site:

1- I now make 60% when i sell my clips at clips4sale. If i open my own pay site, how do you think that the operating costs would compare with the 40% i leave to clips4sale? How much percentage do you leave in operating costs for your pay sites?

hosting is cheap now, bandwidth too ... get a domain and build a site yourself ... CCBill will only take about 15% of subscriptions ... the content is free

You said each customer for you spent about $20 at C4S? Is that after C4S charges? Each new customer at my website is worth $25 initial, and then there's the rebills ....

2- I would like to open a pay site that would offer individual clips download as well as membership. How does this model fit with the standard affiliate-sponsor model? Is selling individual clips interesting for affiliates?

... as per Gonzo, the problem is with processors.

3- What percentage of sales is coming from your affiliate programs compared to your own traffic?

0%, but I'm just developing this area myself

4- What kind of percentage split do you experience or would expect between individual clip and membership sales? Do you expect that individual clip sales could match membership sales anytime soon?

see my previous post ... it has doubled my sales

I hope that 2008 will be as exciting for all of you as 2007 was for me ;-)

Best wishes to you all,

Dany.

Wanted to pop back in and address Dany questions each. My first post was more of an intro of Jill and I.

PS. Gonzo, let me know when you're heading to Tampa. I owe you a dinner at Berns.

erotola · 01-03-2008

Thank you Gonzo, MRock and KevinG for your replies. I am very glad to have some feedback from you guys. I have read several posts from all of you during the past months.

Gonzo i recently followed many of your posts regarding the Zango case. They were very interesting. But i cannot count the times i found your writings helpful. You are obviously a monument in here. So many thanks to you.

MRock i indeed related many times to your inquiries and findings on boards. We certainly share some interests. You are among the rare fellows who did write openly about C4S. And, euh, i almost quoted you from another thread when i wrote about the 20% split. ;-)

KevinG i recently came across your concerns about your content being stolen. And while your point did not seem easy to make that time, i did share your concerns. It is nice to see that you appreciate the content of this thread.

Gonzo i was very happy to read your comment about C4S. I am eager to see how your project materializes. From what i read here it looks quite promising. Since i started to operate a store with C4S i kept telling myself: Why is there so few postings about that model? I mean as a newcomer, i must admit that i am not a great fan of the membership model.

Why should i stop a guy who is willing to spend more dollars on my site during a given month? And why should i stop the guy who has only a few bucks to spend either? I had many sales of 3$ from customers who were interested in only a specific part of a clip. And some who ordered for more than 100$ of clips that they found appealing enough. I feel it so rewarding to have someone order a clip, and to have him order another one later on, especially if the second order is for multiple clips. ;-)

I will follow your advice and MRock's about continuing to expand my own traffic, while keeping affiliate programs for a later phase. I will certainly try to solve the processing issue for downloadables, and keep this operational model. I guess that the only solution will be to get my own merchant account.

I know epassporte and have used them in the past. I have read some threads about them and understand why you do not favor its use. I do not see that as a viable option for downloads either.

MRock my customer value may be 20$ and yours probably 75$, if your sites match the average retention rate of the business, which is about 3 months from my readings. But what if the clips download model allows you to reach a 4 or 5 times larger customer base?

Our customers want to have some fun immediately. The membership model forces them to be sure that they will want that same kind of fun later on, before committing themselves. Or think about the girl who asks you for marriage before going to bed with you…

I like to dream about porn being as legitimate as restaurants. It fills an immediate physical need (it may not be as vital though - but that can probably be argued upon) while its experience can be designed in very different manners, depending on personal tastes. Do you know restaurants that do business using a membership model?

Anyway, thank you very much MRock for all those practical tips. I will try to apply these ideas as much a possible. I did not try to run replays on cam sites yet. To be honest, i did not think that it could be an interesting source of income.

I want to concentrate on clips production for the moment. I still have my regular job so i cannot put more than say 10-15 hours a week. This is the reason why you will not see me very often on boards. This is also why i was not able to experiment as much as i wanted yet.

Last year's experience for me was mainly to verify that this can be a reliable alternative to my regular job, both in terms of possible income and self-commitment. I now know that it can be the case. I plan the switch to happen progressively starting next year. I will take the coming year to prepare a solid ground for that to happen.

gonzo · 01-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRock

Wanted to pop back in and address Dany questions each. My first post was more of an intro of Jill and I.

PS. Gonzo, let me know when you're heading to Tampa. I owe you a dinner at Berns.

You dont owe me a thing. You can do me a favor though and tell all the amatuers they can hang out here.

Do you have any plans to go to Cybernet Expo in June?

Im trying to help my friend Jay out with his great show.
Theres a rumor of an amatuer roundtable.

MRock · 01-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonzo

You dont owe me a thing. You can do me a favor though and tell all the amatuers they can hang out here.

Do you have any plans to go to Cybernet Expo in June?

Im trying to help my friend Jay out with his great show.
Theres a rumor of an amatuer roundtable.

Definately tell other ams to come here

Afraid we have no plans to make the show, but that could change. If we do make it I would love to see the roundtable.

01-03-2008	#2
erotola Still Waiting Tables... Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 9	Re: Amateur Seeking Advice after Almost 1 Year of Experimentation Thank you Gonzo, MRock and KevinG for your replies. I am very glad to have some feedback from you guys. I have read several posts from all of you during the past months. Gonzo i recently followed many of your posts regarding the Zango case. They were very interesting. But i cannot count the times i found your writings helpful. You are obviously a monument in here. So many thanks to you. MRock i indeed related many times to your inquiries and findings on boards. We certainly share some interests. You are among the rare fellows who did write openly about C4S. And, euh, i almost quoted you from another thread when i wrote about the 20% split. ;-) KevinG i recently came across your concerns about your content being stolen. And while your point did not seem easy to make that time, i did share your concerns. It is nice to see that you appreciate the content of this thread. Gonzo i was very happy to read your comment about C4S. I am eager to see how your project materializes. From what i read here it looks quite promising. Since i started to operate a store with C4S i kept telling myself: Why is there so few postings about that model? I mean as a newcomer, i must admit that i am not a great fan of the membership model. Why should i stop a guy who is willing to spend more dollars on my site during a given month? And why should i stop the guy who has only a few bucks to spend either? I had many sales of 3$ from customers who were interested in only a specific part of a clip. And some who ordered for more than 100$ of clips that they found appealing enough. I feel it so rewarding to have someone order a clip, and to have him order another one later on, especially if the second order is for multiple clips. ;-) I will follow your advice and MRock's about continuing to expand my own traffic, while keeping affiliate programs for a later phase. I will certainly try to solve the processing issue for downloadables, and keep this operational model. I guess that the only solution will be to get my own merchant account. I know epassporte and have used them in the past. I have read some threads about them and understand why you do not favor its use. I do not see that as a viable option for downloads either. MRock my customer value may be 20$ and yours probably 75$, if your sites match the average retention rate of the business, which is about 3 months from my readings. But what if the clips download model allows you to reach a 4 or 5 times larger customer base? Our customers want to have some fun immediately. The membership model forces them to be sure that they will want that same kind of fun later on, before committing themselves. Or think about the girl who asks you for marriage before going to bed with you… I like to dream about porn being as legitimate as restaurants. It fills an immediate physical need (it may not be as vital though - but that can probably be argued upon) while its experience can be designed in very different manners, depending on personal tastes. Do you know restaurants that do business using a membership model? Anyway, thank you very much MRock for all those practical tips. I will try to apply these ideas as much a possible. I did not try to run replays on cam sites yet. To be honest, i did not think that it could be an interesting source of income. I want to concentrate on clips production for the moment. I still have my regular job so i cannot put more than say 10-15 hours a week. This is the reason why you will not see me very often on boards. This is also why i was not able to experiment as much as i wanted yet. Last year's experience for me was mainly to verify that this can be a reliable alternative to my regular job, both in terms of possible income and self-commitment. I now know that it can be the case. I plan the switch to happen progressively starting next year. I will take the coming year to prepare a solid ground for that to happen.

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