An Industry Observation

No, I'd venture that many lost their positions as fry cooks for poor attitude, and hence, their swarthy stumble into this industry.

i'm sure a lot of people are. some who made a lot of money in the past are trying to hold on, others who think "one day" it will happen for them and every thing will pay off. not everyone is going to be successful here, not everyone is going to make a good living. some people would rather work from home making just enough to get by rather than work for someone else.

A VERY good point!

While I've been in the industry a good 10 years easily in some capacity. I have only been doing it full time for 2-3 years now. While I make a lot more than I did working in telco, it's not so much about the money as it is the freedom.

After 8 years in corporate America... you could not pay me enough to go back into that rat race.

However, I enjoy my work. So the vast majority of the time, I lose track of time, and day's blow by. Unlike working for someone else where I watched the clock, and could account for just about every day in the week, and minute in the day. Plus you would have to just about threaten to fire me to get me to work more than 8 hours a day, regardless of overtime rate, in my old occupation(s).

Now I work more than 40 hours a week easily, but as I said, it's not really 'work' in my mind.

I do what I do because of the perks involved. Period.

I would say more then 75% don't even make that!



Your talking about me there! Nothing beats watching the kids grow up, a shit load of money or not

I had a great day job, but lost it because of this. Now I'm making 4x what I was making there, and I get to see my kids all the time.

Amen to that

Not most, but some I am sure






That is great! Ever call the old boss and tell him.....?

In many ways our industry is just like any other - people fall into it with the dream of big money. Doesn't matter if you going for a $70k Telco job or want to open up your own program and make the big bucks.

It takes work, and as a private business owner you have to put in the effort which quicky translates into hours. If your not wiling to put in the effort it won't pay off; It's that simple.

So true. If you could sum it up in a sentence for noobs. That would be it.

There will always be people who would RATHER work for someone else, even if it's possible for them to make more on their own. They would rather know how much and when the next paycheck is than take a risk - especially if they realize working for themselves will involve a lot more work than working for someone else. It's like that in every business, IMO.

Totally agree

It matters little whether the biz is selling butter or porn - it's still a business and requires a degree of business acumen and prob more effort than any "day job" requires.

Experience can also be useful - ranging from legalities, design and coding ability, engines and traffic and content production etc. No one person is an "guru" in all these subjects, - each can be a career on it's own and consume 24hours/day, - tho a one-man business must have a grasp of several if that biz is going to have a chance of success.

Most new adult net business don't succeed - thousands of newcomers have flocked into the net side of the adult biz for several years, - then disappear into oblivion. If they had little hope of establishing a presence in the bricks and motar adult biz - it's not much different on the net.

If I were to guess I would say that:

50% of the people who post here don't make more then $200 a week in adult. Which isn't insulting them because I bet most of them really don't even try to make money. There are a lot of people here who are just here for free pictures, drama, contest threads, or just to cause hell and be pricks. There is also a lot of sig whores here who I doubt make more then $200 a week. Sure some make more then that but the majority of them dont.

I would guess there is 40% of people here who really try, and make $200 - $1000 a week. These people are either employees of some of the companies here or provide services to others here, have mainstream careers and work in adult part time, or are self employed in adult full time and make enough to cover the bills.

I would guess there is about 10% who make "good" money. More then 1000 a week, (50K+ a year), which would consist of decent size affiliates, and program / site owners. Possibly some top level employees of the bigger companies.

You really need to look at the makeup of GFY and see who are the ones that are making those posts here.
A lot of your sig whores and surfers tend to have high post counts and do the majority of the posting here.

very interesting thread.. Webby, Rochard you raise some excellent points

if the day comes that i can afford to sit at home smoking weed and playing xbox or snowboarding all day. i will be a happy boy...

To be successful working for yourself you need to be disciplined, motivated, and have a little bit of creativity.

When working for yourself you have a lot of freedom. Most of the people who don't make it working for themselves fail because they have a lack of discipline. They need to have set hours to show up for work or be fired, they need a boss to watch over their shoulder and knock them back in place when they start to slip. If they don't meet a deadline then they are held responsible for it. This is a lot different when you work for youself. People with no discipline will slack, say they will do it tomorrow, etc.. and never get the work done. When you work foryourself and you cut corners you cheat yourself and no one else. For the first time in their lives they will benefit 100% from their hard work but instead they cheat themselves, where as when they had the job they had to put in max effort to make someone else rich... doesn't make sense.
The other problem that occurs with a lack of discipline while working for yourself is the people who bust their ass and make really good money 1 week then basically take off the next week. The constant cycle of working hard, being satisfied, slacking, going back down to zero then busting ass again to make a lot to get at head. This could never happen in a regular job working for someone else, you think they would let you work twice as hard one week then take a week vacation every other week? The other problem is your wife, girl friend, family, friends. For some odd reason all of these people will pressure you to slack and work less. I am sure all of you have heard them say, " come on you work for yourself, take the day off lets go do..... ". These people would never ask you to call in sick at your job, but they EXPECT you to stop working when you work for yourself when ever they want to do something. It is hard enough for some people to keep themselves disciplined but when you have a hot girl friend, or a nagging wife, it is even harder to say no to them and keep working.

Motivation. Deals more with setting goals and trying to obtain them. You need to have high goals. Most people that don't have goals, by default they try to make enough to pay the bills. You need to have a reason why you are putting in the long hours and hard work. If you have a goal you are working towards it will not only help keep you focused but it will keep you working harder and harder and help you from falling for some of the pitfalls mentioned above. If you have no goals you might take the week off after you made enough to pay the bills. If you have a goal, such as buying a new house and you need a 50K down payment, then you are more likely to keep working more and more and not taking the rest of the week off after you made enough to cover your bills. When you have bad weeks, or you put the long hours in week after week, it is your goals that keep you going. If you are working long and hard and you either blowing the money, or working hard just to take extended days off, etc... you will eventually say the hell with all of this and just get a job.

If you are successful with motivation and discipline, then I believe in most cases you will make it. Naturally you need to have some skill and be educated in what you are doing. But even if you aren't, if you are motivated and disciplined then you will make the time to learn your trade or perfect what you are doing to the point that you should be successful.

IMO, what seperates the really successful people from the people who just do good, is creativity. Creative people are the ones who tend to come up with lots of ideas, out the box ways of doing things. People who take what someone else is doing and make it better. People who can combine two simple things to make 1 really profitable thing that no one else thought of.
Creativity can come in big and small ways. It could be a really innovative promo or way to convert trash traffic. Or if could be a whole new program or way to do something.

Those are the 3 keys to success IMO. The only forth thing I would add would be good business ethics and developing a good reputation. People can still be successful with good discipline, motivation, and creativity and scam people or never keep their word. The people who like to cheat and steal to get their way to the top usually don't last. It's ashame too because in most cases you know who these people are and you see they have the potential, they are creative with their scams, etc.. but they are too focused on the quick buck and go about things in the wrong way.

Anyway Let me know if you agree or disagree and hope this helps someone and all this typing wasn't for nothing

Very true, and I know people like that who constantly tell me they couldn't do what I do for various reasons. Some also like the fact that they have a start time and a finish time.

Add to that the fact that for many there is no one to push them to work and you have a big failure in the making. Many can't make money from home because they simply don't have the self discipline and determination to succeed. In the summer it's easy to say it's a beautiful day, I'm going to the beach; or go skiing in the winter; play with the kids, become soap or talk show addicts, or find 100 excuses NOT to work. Some people need to be pushed to work, they need directions of a supervisor because they couldn't do it on their own, they can't see the big picture. They're programmed to do what they're told to do, nothing more nothing less, and they have the "employee" mentality that they have to work to make money, period. They look at what's involved and think it's too complicated, too much learning, too much work, too much of everything and they have NO goals. Nothing wrong with that, it's just the way they are. They will work for someone else until they retire.

You really need to like what you're doing when you work online, because you can be totally isolated for days, especially if you're single. I couldn't count how many days I've worked 12+ hours at the computer, only stopping for a few minutes to grab something to eat and got right back to work. You would't see me do that in a "job".

I'm still fairly new to porn, only a couple of years, and not seriously at that. Yet I still manage to make enough money to keep going and try new things. I guess that would put me in Will's 40% of people here. Some weeks I make over $1000 in porn, and other weeks I make less than $200, but at the end of the year if I average my porn income over 52 weeks, it definitely puts me somewhere in that range. Can't complain.

Missie

I think it is obvious we share the same exact views on this.

That's a damn shame but it is 100% true. Colleges have the same mentality. They try to shape and train student to be good skilled workers for someone else and they gear their education towards helping them land a good job. I don't remember seeing even 1 entreprenuer type class in college. The teachers were straight up every day in their lectures, " if you want to get a good job, you need to know this" etc... No one wanted to teach you how to run your own business or how to train yourself to be self employeed.

For that matter why don't high schools have a class on " the real world" instead of teaching kids biology and calculus, why not teach them how to balance a check book and the importance of keeping good credit. They through students 17-18 to the wolves (literally - credot card companies) by giving them no education on spending, credit, etc. These kids go to college, credit card companies flock to them, hook them and then pretty much own them for the rest of their lives. Person destroys their credit, which is just one more obsticle to getting the loans you may need to start your own business one day, or buying your own house.

Agree with both Will and Missie Will, your post was not wasted - it was dead on. But as my father said when he left IBM to start his own business 27 years ago "The business world will always need more Indians than Chiefs. I'm just a better Chief than an Indian" ;) And I think you've divided up the business quite perfectly.

IME in both the adult and non-adult business, I've always made more money working for myself. That's because I get paid according to the work I do, not a "steady" paycheck. I always say I don't work at home, I live at work

ADG Webmaster

lol is that juicy i see

im here during my gap year, next year im off to university to persue a degree.
i got a lot of spare time on my hands and not much to do with it, so im trying to make sites and sales and posyting on gfy . i make about $200 a week,sometimes alot more sometimes alot less

thats about what I would get dollars wise if I went to work at fulltime at macdonalds. except I would rather work from home rather than watch the clock tick by will being ridiculed for woking at some fast food joint.

also I have no bus to catch, no bad weather while waiting for the bus, no late bus, no missed bus, the perks of working at home are huge, yet like will says you have to be discplined.

Recently I have pulled out my internet plug becauise I was surfing on forums too much, checking my stats every quater of an hour and just doing useless shit. pulling out the plug stopped me doing all this and has raised me to work more. I will do this now. peace

College is good but if you are able to make 50K - 100K+ consistantly and you are in college, then I would suggest taking some time off of school. It is very unlikely that you are going to get a career making that kind of money from 4 years of college. I would keep making as much as you can and then if the day comes you stop making money you then go to school. Nothing to lose.

I am friends with someone who was making well over 100K a year but was going full time to college. His school was getting in the way of his internet business. I suggested to him to take some time off. When you have the potential to make more now, then you ever could from your future "career", why keep going to school ? Why not put 100% into your own business. Good chance you will never need college. If you do, then go then. As long as you are making a lot more now, you have nothing to lose.

just yesterday you said

if you really want to be taken more seriously, then stop the usual immature acting and trolling and calling out real webmasters.... and stop lying as well

Barefootsies, I think a part of the people here make actually good money, they just use this board for self-entertaining.
You can make f.e $15k per month but have no real-life friends or no girlfriend/family and then if you work from home, then you just get your entertainment from the internet, for example - from GFY

Yes, I know it's quite pathetic though, especially if it's done over a longer time period. .

Personally, I also probaby post too much, then again, im not really getting into the fake drama usually or don't use fake nicknames etc

Depends Will - if a person is intested in applying themselves to further education, whatever training that may give can be a valuable tool in any future business. It's not all about earning a $100K, or necessarily anything to do with money.

The adult biz, or any other, is not going to change to the degree anyone who wanted to operate within it would be excluded by spending time at college.

The rare achievers I know of in the adult industry have had a college education and one in particular never stops working towards further training - even if that is simply learning another language. They could buy and sell us all several times over - there is little doubt their training help them.

Sure, there is the aspect, particularly within the US, where kids get into debt to get an education and money is obviously a factor under these circumstances.

I have to disagree. I am not saying don't go to school and persue a career in porn or any self employeed venture for that matter. I am saying if you are making really good money now, then run with it. Press the "pause" button on school, go put a 110% into your own business and you will likely increase your income a lot more since you would be putting more time into it.

It's actually the opposite of what you are saying. SCHOOL will always be there for you but making 100K+ a year might be once in a life time for you.

I know there is a lot of people here who are in school and do a some part time work on the side for income. If you start doing really well then you are on to something. I can't imagine someone making say 2K a week having to shut down his own business for a couple weeks because of exams, or work a lot less because of school work that is due. School is going no where. What is the worst that can happen. You make a lot of money for say 2 years. You go back to school and now your school is paid for, car is paid for, and you have a nice stash in the bank to live off of while you finish school. All with the money you made from the time you ran your own business. You graduate at 24 instead of 22.

Working for yourself also instills a sense of responsibility, you mature a little faster and you apreciate the value of a dollar. When you pay for school with your hard earned cash you tend to try to get the most out of it opposed to paying for it with loans. If it did work out this way and you only made it with your own business for a couple years and you went back to school, you are also a little older and definetly more experienced in real life.

there you go, being a complete faggot again, those sales an rebills are making me $200 a week, my word, stop being a complete asshole to me and grow up.

what do you mean by that?? the title of this forum is :FUCKING AROUND" & PROGRAM DISCUSSION!!! so what are expecting!!!!????

I would say the vast majority make little if no income from online adult venture

Well I for one always appreciate your postings P.A..

A lot of good points and feedback. Much appreciated all!

I am not a program owner, whale, or pimphand as some are on here, and others claim to be. I quietly make my money over three online ventures, and enjoy my success, and freedom of being self employed, the captain of my own ship, the key to the future, or maker of my own luck or destiny.

Pick whatever cliche works best for you.

But it would seem, at times, there are a lot of fry cooks who try to come off as major players. While the flood of the surfer hasn't helped over the years, it just seems as if the income gap is becoming larger with the most vocal being the fry guy.

Not to point out the obvious, but there are a lot of people who have college degrees who have their own businesses also.

One of my best friends has a Harvard MBA. He "works" for a company - he's the CEO of a public company and owns several mil in stock. He has what a lot would consider a J.O.B., but he was there building that company from the ground up and was the one who was behind taking it public.

Suppose that's up to the perceived priorities of each individual - can't say I ever thought about dollars being a high priority, there are bigger fish to fry as Juicy is doing above

but i thought that is why people go to school, to enable themselves to make more money. Well besides the missguided, the ones who go because they are not ready to start working full time, or go for the parties, or because their friends went, etc... but I doubt many if any are going purely for the education. I would think that most go to get a "degree" so they can get a better job then they would if without the "degree".... so they can make more money.

I graduated from college btw and the first hand experiences i have had made me think the way I do about this issue.

Anyway the college thing kinda got off track from the thread. It's amazing you have a serious thread about business related stuff with good info being shared and very few people want to post

I am sure there is a lot of business owners who went to college. But there are also lot of business owners who did not got to college and I don't think college is a requirement or needed to run your own business by any means.

I am trying to think of all the college class I took that has helped me with my business. Toss out all the Science classes, Geography, Geology, all the math classes ( i use a calculator for everything i need to do now). I took a lot of Criminal Justice and Poli Sci classes and don't use them for anything to do with my own business. What else, Art, Music, History, all were not needed or used. So i am a little better at Jeopardy now. Great!

Gotta be honest Will - I never went to college with money in mind. I just wanted a career in media (specifically film/video editing) - it was more enthusiasm than much else. In fact, chasing a project and making it work gave more satisfaction than money - tho, sure money usually comes along with it. The buzz of making something work and the challenge of overcoming obstacles is awesome

There are folks I know who have more educational creds than most of us - they are not necessarily wealthy, but they have achieved more in their lives than I've ever done, or will do - and highly regarded for this. These are the folks you pull in as "experts" on stuff and when it seeps out what their background/track record is - there are some incredible achievements on a fairly grand scale.

Prob the flipside, and more related to the adult biz, are a few people I know who did their college stuff and ploughed on within this industry to create empires. We are talking serious money and in excess of the billion dollar range and diversifying into, eg real estate, media and airline charter etc. They are a different breed and walking cash registers. Who knows how much value is attributed to their education - it may be more related to their upbringing or enthusiasm/determination than much else.

It's prob generally different these days - there is more pressure on kids to earn a dollar, even just to stay in college - and it's on to paying back college loans.

You can pretty much talk to someone for a few hours and know if they'll always work for someone else or if they have the balls to go out on their own, especially in this biz. So many employees "identify" themselves with the company they work for that you know they'll always be working for a paycheck from someone else. Which is why you see a lot of company hopping.

sorry i didnt reply sooner, i was in a different mood this morning. I understand what you mean, if I do start raising my revenue then I may think about it, Im hoping to go to college in 2007 to do business and running my own little business would hopefully be a win win situation, even if its adult orientated, im still learning all the same techniques. but yeh your advice is good, not so much stop, cancel everything and try to make or break it, but have a trial period of a year to see how you do and if you can grow or not.
But for me I just dont think I have the discipline, whether that is my age or not, probably, but for me to really work, honestly I do need a employer. thats the sad truth of it all. I would only feel comfortable with a guarenteed wage coming in and I would work properly instead of for example checking my stats all the time and always running down stairs to get a sandwich etc.
But I take what you say on board and will bare in mind when we arrive next year and see my current situation and whether things have gone up or down.

I really wouldn't even suggest taking time off to be honest after high school. I know people that took off the first year and never went to college. It was a lot harder for them to go because they were working more since they were not in school and they were making what seemed like a lot to an 17 - 18 guy. At 18 with basically no bills if you make $300 a week you living large, you dont want to go to school and have to work just to pay for school or work less because of school (that was their mentality) but when 22,23,24 came along and they were still living at home, working, making $300 a week it wasn't cool anymore. Everyone else was out of college making 500+ a week and starting careers.

I wouldn't take a year off unless you had a real good reason to. I wouldn't take time off at all to *try* something else. The whole point of what I was saying is if you start something on the side, part time, while you are in school and it starts making more money then you can make from your "future career", then you would be crazy not to put school on hold and persue your own business.

School could always be plan B, working foryourself should always be plan A. If you have success with Plan A then you put Plan B on the shelf. If you can't make it on your own keep trying, but do it while you are getting you education so you have something to fall back on if you are never successful with it.


BTW Plan C is finding a nice rich girl, that had no brothers or sisters and marrying her. Plan C didn't work for me but it is a good one to throw in the mix.

I might be confusing you with someone else but I believe you are a little bit older. If so, I think the mentality was different in the past. College was not required to get a good job. These days it is pretty much required, very very few jobs you can make more then 20K a year without college education. (Note to get a good job, but i do not think it is needed to make a lot of money. You can do your own business with out going to college.)

Some people want to do "X" and they need school to do it. If you want to be a doctor then you need to go to college so you can get into medical school.

Not everyone is an entrepreneur.

Or even if you want to go for the sake of learning, that is great too if that is what you want to do. If your main goal is to make money then i think everyone should at least give it a shot, to do their own business. See how it goes. It definetly isn't for everyone though.

I know a couple career students. I think they are just scared to step into the real world more so then them going year after year for the sake of education.

LOL, that was my brother. He was getting his post doctorate when his wife got pregnant with child 2 and he realized living off $35K a year that HE had to go out and apply for through grants, probably wasn't the best career path

He's now an editor for a national science magazine.

webby seems more interested in trying to 'leave a mark' than making money. although thats easy to say once you have enough money to keep you going. its just a fact though that 90% of the population, even if they tried won't leave much of a mark besides to the people who knew them personally.

Hell no.A fry cooks salary would be a step up.Everyone here is in it for the PORN

so i did see him!

id love to make as much as a fry cook man

theni could afford the extra value meal each day