Quote:
Originally Posted by DOCTOR 30
One of the easiest and biggest boosts in sales I've had was when TGP2 came out. The model was instead of 10 or 20 thumbs, just 5 thumbs and no hardcore and make sure there are blurs on the good parts. There was a community of TGP2 folks and everyone at first helped one another out. It was like taking candy from a baby. New or lazy surfers would see one of those galleries and thirst for a sign up!
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That is a very simplistic view: if it were not, many other strategies to starve or beat the surfer into submission would be more effective than they are. I do not believe the main difference was there was less free content on such galleries, but that - because TGP2 was new and those involved were enthusiastic, as well as initially unsure if it would work - the average gallery was of a
far higher standard than the average "regular" TGP gallery. Take a look at The Hun even today: you will be lucky to find even 2 galleries in 20 with any real potential to make a sale except through sheer luck.
Free porn is an inevitability, given the nature of the internet and that of the product itself. I suspect it is responsible for a much smaller loss of sales than many want to believe, but even if they are right, that particular genie isn't going back in the bottle.
To sell a non-essential, potential customers must want that thing badly enough to pay its price. For one source to be more successful than other, its potentential customers must also perceive added value - even if it is small, even if they have to pay a little extra for it - over what other sources are offering.
On the first count, we are kidding ourselves if we believe that most people, who while quite happy to look for free at pictures of naked women or movies of people f*cking, would ever pay for the privilege. A smaller but still large number will buy once or twice out of curiosity, but only a tiny proportion of our sites are good enough to build their interest into something more substantial. Above all, we are taking far too long to come to terms with the differences between the internet and the bricks and mortar world.
The only way in which the vast majority of porn sites acknowledge there are differences, is by offering live video. Then with typical greed and short-sightedness, we price that beyond the reach, if not of the average surfers' pocket, then certainly beyond his level of interest. We depend almost entirely on selling still images and movies, both of which are best suited to other media (and as I noted in an earlier post, 85% of our sites don't provide a reasonable product at all). We got left behind with blog and with a handful of honorable exceptions, we are all but ignoring other manifestations of what is commonly known as Web 2.
The internet is an
interactive medium. That is the biggest difference and also its most powerful appeal. You can bump an image up to 6000 pixels, but it is still displayed at a resolution that is a fraction of what it would be in a magazine (nor are you bound to a PC screen to enjoy a magazine). You can deliver movies, but many of the advantages such as accessibility, are offset by poor quality, download times, etc. Plus, all this content can be given away, whether legitimately or by thieves.
All of which was fine when the market was uncompetitive and there were curious surfers out the wazoo. It still is fine, although getting less so with every new sponsor and every new affiliate who appears. But our unwillingness to deal with the internet as a medium in its own right, treating it as an extension of traditional media, is leaving huge amounts of money on the table.