Ask any TGP-related questions

**michaelbb** · 06-26-2006, 11:56 PM

2 questions

1/
hi,in january patrick from tgpfactory set up 2 sites for me.i had the full package ie design,comus install,ttt-c setup.now i am happy with the design but i would like to change the layout of the thumbs,so instead of four rows of seven thumbs i would like one large thumb in the top left of the table with 2rows of five thumbs then two rows of seven thumbs.can you advice on setting up the comus template with the macros please.
2/
how is patrick getting on with the cooking?

**mfps** · 06-27-2006, 12:04 AM

wow, thats a generous offer.

i wish i had a couple questions on the tip of my tongue.
im gonna go walk my dog, and try and think of a couple for ya.

thanks

-John
314157890

**Darkhorse** · 06-27-2006, 01:38 AM

How about tips/advice on cropping thumbs?? like the do's and don'ts??

**Dynamix** · 06-28-2006, 11:04 PM

Great suggestions so far

Keep em comin!

**allrobhill** · 06-28-2006, 11:19 PM

i check it now - very interesting, really

**ER!C L!VE** · 06-28-2006, 11:23 PM

What is the ROI minimum one should expect from purchased traffic sent to a TGP?

**Marky333** · 06-29-2006, 02:40 AM

Nice designs you got there

**allrobhill** · 06-29-2006, 03:55 AM

thx, Dynamix! my question is:
how much $ i must spent to recieve any profits from tgp?
i plan expense in 4 ways
1. hosting
2. design
3. software for tgp
4. traffic
anything else?

**Vendzilla** · 06-29-2006, 11:16 AM

How to use a trade script!
Write it up and I'll make it a sticky over at comus support

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 11:19 AM

Originally posted by allrobhill

thx, Dynamix! my question is:
how much $ i must spent to recieve any profits from tgp?
i plan expense in 4 ways
1. hosting
2. design
3. software for tgp
4. traffic
anything else?

This looks like a great place to start:

TGP's actually require a very small monitary investment to get started: the bulk of the investment is in time spent cropping thumbnails, monitoring traffic trades, and updating your site. When planning a TGP you need only take into account two expenses at the bare minimum: Domain Name and Hosting. The remaining expenses are optional, and many of them frivolous. Be sure to research your options for traffic, design, and scripts before making a hefty (and often unnecessary) purchase.

Hosting plans can run as cheap as $6 per month (yearly investment of $72.00) plus a setup fee, however many places have stopped charging for setup.

Domain names can be purchased for around $15 per year.

TGP Design can run anywhere from $40 all the way on up to $200-300 depending upon the quality, where you get it designed, and whether or not it requires custom cartooning.

TGP Scripts are often available free or free with a "skim" option (this allows a percentage of your traffic to be sent to the script owners' sites). If you do choose to purchase full licensed scripts, things can get very expensive. Comus charges just under $300 for a licensed copy of Comus Thumbs; JMBSoft charges about $90 for a licensed copy of AutoGallery SQL. Trade scripts are above and beyond this cost, with some peaking at $600 per copy.

Feeder Traffic is a valuable asset when starting a TGP but is not detrimental to your TGP's success: there are dozens of other ways to build traffic for free. Feeder traffic can cost between $2 and $10 per 1,000 hits, depending upon the source, niche, and productivity of the visitors. Free options include submitting to linkdumps, trading with GFY members and other TGP owners, gallery submission, SEO techniques.

A few example configurations and their yearly cost:

Low End - Yearly: $125
Hosting: $6.75/mo at High Country Hosting
Domain: $9/yr at GoDaddy.com
Design: $35 pre-made template at TGPFactory.com
Scripts: $0 - 2% Skim Comus, Turbo Traffic Trader
Traffic: Built up via linkdump submission, trades

Signups needed to break even: About five.

High End - Yearly: $1675
Hosting: $19.95/mo at WebAir
Domain: $15/yr at DirectNIC.com
Design: $455 at OrchidDesigns.com
Scripts: $295 Comus full version, $600 UCJ full version
Traffic: $70 - $35 for 5,000 hits from Traffic-Out.com; $35 for 5,000 hits from ChokerTraffic.com

Signups needed to break even: About 67.

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 11:45 AM

Originally posted by michaelbb

1/
hi,in january patrick from tgpfactory set up 2 sites for me.i had the full package ie design,comus install,ttt-c setup.now i am happy with the design but i would like to change the layout of the thumbs,so instead of four rows of seven thumbs i would like one large thumb in the top left of the table with 2rows of five thumbs then two rows of seven thumbs.can you advice on setting up the comus template with the macros please.
2/
how is patrick getting on with the cooking?

Hi Michael

I'll answer the second question first: The cooking is going well, however I've actually moved on to managing the place (assistant manager). After developing the recipes with another one of our cooks, I took to the front of the house and let him take care of the kitchen. I still cook once or twice a week, but just to appease my culinary cravings ;)

On to the TGP advice:
Placing a large thumb in each gallery section is actually a relatively easy task. The one thing that people tend to forget or not realize is that the large thumb usually isn't powered by your rotation script: it is a "hardlinked" thumb coded into the template and thus must be changed manually. You can avoid having to edit your template each time by including a PHP script that randomizes the thumbnail code every time the page is loaded.

Let's take a look at sample HTML code to display 2 rows of 6 thumbs (each 110x150 in size):

Code:

<TABLE BORDER=0><TR>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
</TR><TR>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
</TR></TABLE>

By making a few small adjustments we can allow room for a larger thumbnail (in this case 225x305). We need only take out two thumbs per row (two of the <TD><A><IMG></A></TD> instances in each of the <TR></TR> instances). Then we add the larger thumbnail in the top-left corner, telling the web browser to alot it a cell worth two regular cells wide and two regular cells high:

Code:

<TABLE BORDER=0><TR>
	  <TD WIDTH=225 HEIGHT=305 COLSPAN=2 ROWSPAN=2><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=225 HEIGHT=305 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
</TR><TR>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150><A HREF=""><IMG SRC="" WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=1></A></TD>
</TR></TABLE>

Now all that's left to do is randomize your thumbnails using PHP and incorporate your rotation script macros. A simple PHP script would be something along the lines of:

Code:

<?PHP
$total = 3;
$url["1"] = "http://www.sponsor.com/fhg1";
$url["2"] = "http://www.sponsor.com/fhg2";
$url["3"] = "http://www.sponsor.com/fhg3";

$thumb["1"] = "/large-01.jpg";
$thumb["2"] = "/large-02.jpg";
$thumb["3"] = "/large-03.jpg";

srand((double)microtime()*1000000);  
$random_number = rand(1,$total);

echo '<A HREF="'.$url[$random_number].'"><IMG SRC="'.$thumb[$random_number].'"></A>';
?>

Now obviously I can't teach you PHP in a GFY thread, but the basics are pretty easy to see: We define several options for url/thumbs, pick one randomly, and then generate the code for the link. Simply replace the thumbnail code in the HTML above with a call to the PHP script, integrate rotation script macros, and you're set!

Code:

<TABLE BORDER=0><TR>
	  <TD WIDTH=225 HEIGHT=305 COLSPAN=2 ROWSPAN=2><?PHP require("random-thumb.php"); ?></TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-1-query-best}}</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-2-query-best}}</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-3-query-best}}</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-4-query-best}}</TD>
</TR><TR>
...

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 12:02 PM

Originally posted by Darkhorse

How about tips/advice on cropping thumbs?? like the do's and don'ts??

Great suggestion! Volumes could be written on thumbnailing galleries properly. I'll outline a few of my personal preferences and tips here.

1. Know your audience.
If you are feeding your site with cumshot traffic, have imported hundreds of blowjob/cumshot galleries, and setup trades with TGP's in that niche, make every effort to conform to that niche! There is no need to crop a nipple or a thong if your visitors are there to see the nastiest creampie cumshots they can. This is probably the number one problem with thumbnail cropping, especially for webmasters who have sites in niches they aren't particularly familiar with. Don't think about what you would want to see, think about what your potential customers would want to see.

2. Use graphic design software.
I cannot stress this enough. I don't care how proficient you are with the Comus thumbnail cropping tool or MS Paint; nine times out of town you'll still end up with a thumbnail that is second-rate when compared to thumbs made in Photoshop, ImageReady, or even Paint Shop. The limitations of Unix/Linux GD libraries just won't allow you to create flawless thumbnails via a web script.

3. Offer some variety.
Don't use the same shot for each thumb: your visitors can only see so many cleavage shots before they die of boredom. Try to find a unique and sexy image from each gallery and create a thumb.. not every thumbnail has to be of a face, a bare chest, or a thong being pulled down. Get creative and explore different angles, white-space options, and the like.

4. For god's sake don't over-do it in Photoshop.
Many newbies (and hell even old-timers) have just begun to find the Surface Blur filter and Brightness/Contrast tools in Photoshop. I certainly don't see any problem in touching up thumbnails to remove blemishes, adjusting levels to achieve the best color balance, or using surface blur properly and on occasion to give that 'glamour shot' look. But there is no need to use these tools on each and every thumbnail you create.

5. Think BIG.
Gone are the days of 640x480 screen resolutions, 8-bit graphics cards, and dial-up connections. Don't skimp on quality by giving your visitors 88x88 low-res GIF thumbnails. With the advancements in technology in the past several years, it's foolish to have thumbnails smaller than 110x150 in size. Even if the page loads a bit slower, it will be worth it: visitors are immediately attracted to larger thumbnails.

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 12:10 PM

Originally posted by Dynamix

Placing a large thumb in each gallery section is actually a relatively easy task. The one thing that people tend to forget or not realize is that the large thumb usually isn't powered by your rotation script: it is a "hardlinked" thum....

I forgot that many of you don't use .PHP files for your TGP. If you are using a .SHTML index or archive file, you can still call the random thumb script using a server side include:

Code:

<TABLE BORDER=0><TR>
	  <TD WIDTH=225 HEIGHT=305 COLSPAN=2 ROWSPAN=2><!--#include virtual="random-thumb.php" -->
</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-1-query-best}}</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-2-query-best}}</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-3-query-best}}</TD>
          <TD WIDTH=110 HEIGHT=150>{{all-thumb-4-query-best}}</TD>
</TR><TR>
...

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 12:17 PM

Originally posted by Dynamix

Great suggestion! Volumes could be written on thumbnailing galleries properly. I'll outline a few of my personal preferences and tips here.

I have a member of my staff who can crop custom thumbs to any size for about a quarter apiece. Contact me for a quote.

Some sample thumbnails:
http://www.tgpfactory.com/high-quality-thumbnails/

I will post a full tutorial for thumbnails in that style shortly, in the mean time you can find my notes below:

PHOTOSHOP CS2
Filter > Blur > Surface Blur
Radius: 3, Threshold: 10

OLDER VERSIONS
Filter > Blur > Smart Blur
Radius: 2-3, Threshold: 10
Quality: Low, Mode: Normal

Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast
Brightness: ~15, Contrast: ~25

Duplicate the original layer and set the new layer's blending mode to Soft Light.
Apply a gaussian blur (Filter > Blur Gaussian Blur) with a radius of ~3px
Adjust the layer's opacity as needed.

Flatten everything (Layer > Flatten Layers).

Using the marquee tool, adjust top toolbar options:
Style Fixed Aspect Ratio
Width 110
Height 150

Make your selection, and crop it. Image>Crop.

Tweak brightness/contrast again if needed.

Change image size to that of your thumb (Image>Image Size)

**Vendzilla** · 06-29-2006, 03:19 PM

Originally posted by Dynamix

On to the TGP advice:
Placing a large thumb in each gallery section is actually a relatively easy task. The one thing that people tend to forget or not realize is that the large thumb usually isn't powered by your rotation script: it is a "hardlinked" thumb coded into the template and thus must be changed manually. You can avoid having to edit your template each time by including a PHP script that randomizes the thumbnail code every time the page is loaded.

Actually with comus this is done much easier and it will rotate with all the other galleries you put in that category, several comus users use this set up

**allrobhill** · 06-29-2006, 04:46 PM

thx a lot Dynamix !
it first answer that really help after reg on gfy.
I think that only you give me a right clear direction.
I can buy High End but want to start from Low End and ready to invest all profits again.
Can I ask to help me with setup my first TGP for using your refs to sponsors?
i have so many else question, I will ask it on gfy. First of all? today I decide to make a clear business plan for my first week or month.

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 04:54 PM

Originally posted by Vendzilla

Actually with comus this is done much easier and it will rotate with all the other galleries you put in that category, several comus users use this set up

Very cool to know. I recall hearing something about this on the Comus forums if memory serves me correctly - you setup a category just for the large thumbs, yes?

**Dynamix** · 06-29-2006, 04:56 PM

Originally posted by allrobhill

thx a lot Dynamix !
it first answer that really help after reg on gfy.
I think that only you give me a right clear direction.
I can buy High End but want to start from Low End and ready to invest all profits again.
Can I ask to help me with setup my first TGP for using your refs to sponsors?
i have so many else question, I will ask it on gfy. First of all? today I decide to make a clear business plan for my first week or month.

Glad I could help

If it's a TGP you're after you may want to read through my complete guide (link: http://www.tgpfactory.com/guide/tgpguide.pdf). In addition to a wealth of resources on scripts, traffic, installation, design, domains, etc. etc. etc. - it also contains links to many popular sponsors and has my link codes bulit in. I appreciate you wanting to sign up under me

Older Tutorials:
http://www.tgpfactory.com/tgp-tutorials-and-guides.html

**tara99** · 07-04-2006, 11:16 PM

Hi Dynamix,
That is a comprehensive guide you got over there

Im was wondering how do you create pink border and dotted lines on the mouse over ? like the ones in high-quality-thumbnails

thx

**martinsc** · 07-04-2006, 11:45 PM

great job on the guide

**Vendzilla** · 07-05-2006, 07:09 AM

Originally posted by Dynamix

Very cool to know. I recall hearing something about this on the Comus forums if memory serves me correctly - you setup a category just for the large thumbs, yes?

Here's an example of a big thumb set up, as you can see it uses a hidden category set up, so submitters can't submit to that thumb

Code:

<table align="center" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5" border="0"> 
<tr> 
    <td rowspan="2" colspan="2">{{mybighidden-thumb-1-query-new}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-1-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-2-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-3-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-4-query-best}}</td> 
</tr> 
<tr> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-5-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-6-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-7-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-8-query-best}}</td> 
</tr> 
<tr> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-9-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-10-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-11-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-12-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-13-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-14-query-best}}</td> 
</tr> 
<tr> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-15-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-16-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-17-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-18-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-19-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-20-query-best}}</td> 
</tr> 
<tr> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-21-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-22-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-23-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-24-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-25-query-best}}</td> 
    <td>{{all-thumb-26-query-best}}</td> 
</tr> 
</table>

**_alien_** · 07-05-2006, 08:49 AM

nice thread

**Meorazhar** · 07-05-2006, 07:31 PM

Bump for this great thread.. Just when i thought i know enough about creating good looking thumbs, i saw your excellent tutorial...

Thumbs up Dynamix ;)

**W0rfik** · 07-06-2006, 12:01 AM

Awsome thread. Thanks Dynamix!

**Dynamix** · 07-06-2006, 10:42 AM

Originally posted by tara99

Hi Dynamix,
That is a comprehensive guide you got over there

Im was wondering how do you create pink border and dotted lines on the mouse over ? like the ones in high-quality-thumbnails

thx

Hi Tara --

There are two methods depending upon whether you want the border style to apply to all thumbs or just one image. For one single image:

Code:

<A HREF=""><IMG SRC="thumbnail.jpg" STYLE="border: 1px dashed #f0f0f0;" BORDER=0></A>

For a series of images, you would setup a stylesheet. In the simplest terms, a stylesheet directs HTML web pages in how text and links appear - font size, face, color, etc. etc. Your stylesheet (a regular text file saved as "style.css" and uploaded on your server to the same place your HTML web page is) would look something like this:

Code:

a.thumb:hover img { border: 1px dashed #f0f0f0; }
a.thumb img { border: 1px solid #f0f0f0; }

The stylesheet would be called via the HTML web page's header:

Code:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Sample Site</TITLE>
<LINK REL="stylesheet" href="style.css" type="text/css">
</HEAD>

And the style with a dashed border could be utilized somewhere in the page with the code:

Code:

<A HREF="" CLASS="thumb"><IMG SRC="thumbnail.jpg" BORDER=0></A>

**W0rfik** · 07-07-2006, 01:33 AM

You wrote in one of your tutorials that 130-150% producitivity would be excellent. Why do you think so? And what about the skim percentage? There are a various of possibilities to set the skim, whats the best choice in your opinion?

**Dynamix** · 07-07-2006, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by W0rfik

You wrote in one of your tutorials that 130-150% producitivity would be excellent. Why do you think so? And what about the skim percentage? There are a various of possibilities to set the skim, whats the best choice in your opinion?

I'm not sure if it's deja vu or what, but I feel I've answered this before recently.. hmm, not a fan of the deja vu lol. Brain

Anyhow:

The statement I made regarding productivity is because of the few TGPs I have myself owned, the dozens upon dozens of TGPs I have setup and operated for clients, and most importantly the 'national' (community-wide) average tends to dictate such a number as the average.

Productivity (for those who aren't familiar with the term in regards to adult sites) is the number of times each surfer/visitor clicks on thumbnails. A productivity rating of 1.0 (100%) would be equal to one click per visitor per visit and is relatively average for newer TGPs.

This may not seem like a large number at all, but take into account this is an average - total clicks devided by total visitors. There are probably 50% of your surfers who land at your site only from a traffic trade and close the window before any thumbs even load. Think of the last time you visited a TGP and were clicking around waiting anxiously for the gallery of that hot blonde to load: if a TGP got in your way, you most likely closed it and clicked the thumb again hoping to this time get to the blonde. These surfers drop your productivity dramatically.

I have found from the majority of TGP owners (sites of all sizes) that a productivity of about 1.1-1.2 (110% - 120%) is average after the site has been online for a few weeks and has been fed traffic. As your site grows, your productivity will typically rise because you are getting more and more "bookmark traffic" - visitors who type in your domain name or click your link in their favorite places. These people are the ones who check your site daily for updates and click thumb after thumb, visiting all the new galleries.

Therefore as your site receives more and more bookmark traffic, your productivity increases: when it hits 130-150%, you have done a very good job of retaining visitors and enticing clicks on your thumbnails (in my opinion). Productivity levels of beyond 150% are stellar and probably aproaching what a popular site (read: BunnyTeens, Jamie's Galleries, Amateur Thumbs, etc.) receives.

So to recap:

Productivity is the average clicks per visitor spread across all visitors in a day.
Bookmark traffic is visitors who visit your site intentionally and typically have a productivity rating of 500%+ (5+ thumbs clicked) per visitor.
Traffic from trades are visitors who land at your site without knowing they would be, and typically have very low productivity (100% at best).

As far as your skim question:
When I setup a site for a client, I set the skim to 65% unless the client specifies otherwise. What this means is 65% of all clicks are being sent directly to the galleries, with 35% of the clicks going to traffic trades. Additionally I enable a feature called 'first click to gallery' in which the first thumbnail clicked will always send the surfer to the gallery and never to the trade. While this may seem trivial, it is subconciously leading your surfers to believe they won't be redirected to traffic trades as often as say Amateur Thumbs or another popular site that sends the first 5 or so clicks to trades before allowing galleries to show up.

Most sites these days require at least 50% of clicks going to galleries in order to be a trading partner. I have found that 65% is reasonable enough in that you are sending traffic to your trades while still appeasing your surfers with enough gallery hits.

**Dynamix** · 07-07-2006, 03:15 PM

Originally posted by ER!C L!VE

What is the ROI minimum one should expect from purchased traffic sent to a TGP?

Great business sense! To be practical I wouldn't expect a return at all from purchased traffic. While it does help to build your site's daily visitor base and feed your traffic trades, it certainly doesn't guarantee any signups no matter how much traffic you push at your site.

**pornonada** · 07-09-2006, 07:02 AM

Originally posted by Dynamix

I'm not sure if it's deja vu or what, but I feel I've answered this before recently.. hmm, not a fan of the deja vu lol. Brain

Anyhow:

The statement I made regarding productivity is because of the few TGPs I have myself owned, the dozens upon dozens of TGPs I have setup and operated for clients, and most importantly the 'national' (community-wide) average tends to dictate such a number as the average.

Productivity (for those who aren't familiar with the term in regards to adult sites) is the number of times each surfer/visitor clicks on thumbnails. A productivity rating of 1.0 (100%) would be equal to one click per visitor per visit and is relatively average for newer TGPs.

This may not seem like a large number at all, but take into account this is an average - total clicks devided by total visitors. There are probably 50% of your surfers who land at your site only from a traffic trade and close the window before any thumbs even load. Think of the last time you visited a TGP and were clicking around waiting anxiously for the gallery of that hot blonde to load: if a TGP got in your way, you most likely closed it and clicked the thumb again hoping to this time get to the blonde. These surfers drop your productivity dramatically.

I have found from the majority of TGP owners (sites of all sizes) that a productivity of about 1.1-1.2 (110% - 120%) is average after the site has been online for a few weeks and has been fed traffic. As your site grows, your productivity will typically rise because you are getting more and more "bookmark traffic" - visitors who type in your domain name or click your link in their favorite places. These people are the ones who check your site daily for updates and click thumb after thumb, visiting all the new galleries.

Therefore as your site receives more and more bookmark traffic, your productivity increases: when it hits 130-150%, you have done a very good job of retaining visitors and enticing clicks on your thumbnails (in my opinion). Productivity levels of beyond 150% are stellar and probably aproaching what a popular site (read: BunnyTeens, Jamie's Galleries, Amateur Thumbs, etc.) receives.

So to recap:

Productivity is the average clicks per visitor spread across all visitors in a day.
Bookmark traffic is visitors who visit your site intentionally and typically have a productivity rating of 500%+ (5+ thumbs clicked) per visitor.
Traffic from trades are visitors who land at your site without knowing they would be, and typically have very low productivity (100% at best).

As far as your skim question:
When I setup a site for a client, I set the skim to 65% unless the client specifies otherwise. What this means is 65% of all clicks are being sent directly to the galleries, with 35% of the clicks going to traffic trades. Additionally I enable a feature called 'first click to gallery' in which the first thumbnail clicked will always send the surfer to the gallery and never to the trade. While this may seem trivial, it is subconciously leading your surfers to believe they won't be redirected to traffic trades as often as say Amateur Thumbs or another popular site that sends the first 5 or so clicks to trades before allowing galleries to show up.

Most sites these days require at least 50% of clicks going to galleries in order to be a trading partner. I have found that 65% is reasonable enough in that you are sending traffic to your trades while still appeasing your surfers with enough gallery hits.

Are you sure that 130 - 150% productivity is excellent? I have no idea which TGP's you own, made or operate but this statement makes me laugh.

**Dynamix** · 07-09-2006, 12:40 PM

Originally posted by pornonada

Are you sure that 130 - 150% productivity is excellent? I have no idea which TGP's you own, made or operate but this statement makes me laugh.

I am talking about a brand new TGP built and/or operated by a newbie - not something engineered, planned, or put together by someone experienced in the adult industry.

**pornonada** · 07-09-2006, 12:49 PM

Originally posted by Dynamix

I am talking about a brand new TGP built and/or operated by a newbie - not something engineered, planned, or put together by someone experienced in the adult industry.

realy? if i read correct you talk about TGP's you own, operate and made:

Originally posted by Dynamix

The statement I made regarding productivity is because of the few TGPs I have myself owned, the dozens upon dozens of TGPs I have setup and operated for clients, and most importantly the 'national' (community-wide) average tends to dictate such a number as the average.

**charleychacko** · 07-10-2006, 02:35 AM

Excellent thread, dyna I have sent you a BUZZ on ICQ, hope you will RESPOND ......

**pornonada** · 07-10-2006, 08:49 AM

just in case someone is interested to find out how to find out what a good/neede productivity for his tgp/mgp is, check this article which is based on real figures and digits:

tip of the week - knowing what prod your site needs

**charleychacko** · 07-11-2006, 01:23 AM

This is one REALLY informative thread......

**ampt10** · 07-13-2006, 06:17 AM

interesting idea! great work to you guys

**iguess** · 07-13-2006, 07:27 AM

How can I get my TGP to 40-50k hits a day and keep it constant with them 40-50k hits a day?

**Dynamix** · 07-13-2006, 09:17 PM

Originally posted by iguess

How can I get my TGP to 40-50k hits a day and keep it constant with them 40-50k hits a day?

Hire DamageX

Growing a TGP to that size takes a great deal of feeder traffic (read 'startup money') and constant scrutiny of your traffic trading partners. Trades would need to be updated, added, and removed on a daily if not more-often basis.

**iguess** · 07-14-2006, 12:29 AM

Cool

Where is the start-up read at?

scrutiny as in?

**martinsc** · 07-14-2006, 12:31 AM

bump for a great thread

**Vendzilla** · 07-14-2006, 07:31 AM

Originally posted by Dynamix

Hire DamageX

Growing a TGP to that size takes a great deal of feeder traffic (read 'startup money') and constant scrutiny of your traffic trading partners. Trades would need to be updated, added, and removed on a daily if not more-often basis.

Trades are the hardest part, you have to go in and check their code to make sure they aren't screwing your surfers, you have to watch productivity. Too many cheaters make it harder for the legit traders

**rotterdammer** · 07-14-2006, 09:46 AM

Dynamix, please give me some more information about feeding a site or a network of tgp's

For example
* I have a goal of making a tgp 10K daily visitors daily
* I am buying traffic which gains a productivity of 80%
* I am setting the skim at 70% to galleries

How many traffic should I by at least and at max to gain that goal??? Are you able to do math about this question??

Thanks alot!

Rotterdammer!

**Vendzilla** · 07-14-2006, 10:25 AM

for a 10k a day site, you would probably get away with a 1k a day feed, but higher would be better, then start adding trades

**rotterdammer** · 07-14-2006, 11:15 AM

Thanks Vendzilla, but my question was actually how much traffic I need to feed my site with in total to get there.

Let say that when I am skimming 70% that would mean 30% out of 80% productivity goes to trades. That would be 240 per 1000 goes to trades.

Am I correct that at least half of the traffic I send to trades will generate traffic back so I can call it "permanent traffic".

In that case I would have to feed my site with 40.000 - 50.000 uniques in 1 month to generate a 10K TGP all depending on trades.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Traffic costs per 1k from choker: $6
Investment in traffic: (45.000/1000) * $6 = $ 270

Yearly traffic: 365 *10.000 = 3.650.000

Sales ratios: 1 sale per 20.000 visitors on your site
Income per sale: $20
Income per year: (3.650.000/20.000) *$20 = $3.650

Sales ratios: 1 sale per 40.000 visitors on your site
Income per sale: $20
Income per year: (3.650.000/40.000) *$20 = $1.825

Sales ratios: 1 sale per 60.000 visitors on your site
Income per sale: $20
Income per year: (3.650.000/60.000) *$20 = $1.217

Is it possible to go wrong???

**Vendzilla** · 07-14-2006, 11:28 AM

there really is no formula, you have to account for bad trades, people that sign up and send nothing, or just bad productivity. As far as sales ratio, don't rely on that either, depends on your traffic, more people with tgp's are selling traffic to places like Chokers and traffic holders to make money too

**rotterdammer** · 07-14-2006, 11:48 AM

For me for example, I am not new to the adult bizz and have some small but very successfull tgp's. I know what trades work good for me so I know what kinda traffic I have to buy and with who I have to trade with and who dont.

**Vendzilla** · 07-14-2006, 12:29 PM

then it comes down to how fast you want to build, the more is fed, the faster you build, I would get a 1 or 2k a day feed, then build slow, would be more stable that way!

**tara99** · 07-24-2006, 10:03 PM

Thank you for the layman`s css tutorial dynamix !!, with a simple tweak it works flawlessly with my site

arent you suppose to sell this knowledge ? hehehe :P

**weblord** · 07-26-2006, 12:55 AM

i would like to know if there is a free tgp submitter out there?

**Kimo** · 07-29-2006, 02:10 AM

very very nice!

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