Why do you think Twistys is so successful?

Because they care

This may provide a few answers for you

http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=558484

Twisty's started with the same formula that many did...

QUALITY + QUANTITY = SUCCESS

The difference is.... They STUCK to the formula!

Great people! Great site!

_

90% Dean Capture 10% Other

I like Twistys and do business with them. But I do not see from an affiliates view point that they are heads above anyone else. I am not getting monster retention or anything like that. Might be me though.

You folks really know how to flatter a guy huh?

Twistys was successful before I ever jumped on board with them. In fact, had they not been as successful as they are, I might not have considered being a part of the Twistys team. Shap and Shapette are the brains behind this operation and if you've ever had the priviledge of sitting down and speaking with them about business, you would have no doubt why Twistys is so successful!

I am but a very small part of their operation and their success but thanks for the kind words

I agree 100% with you slapass. I feel from an affiliate standpoint in the past 3 years we have fallen WAAAAAAY behind.

We started as a 2 person operation (Myself and Mrs Shap). From there things grew. Time was always an issue so usually we'd allocate it to what needed it most.
-During the building phase of the site obviously 100% of our time was spent on the members area. Luckily our original member's area design (very close to the current one) was great for retention.
-Once we launched we spent the first two or three years on traffic growth and getting affiliates on board. We had a nice members area and had our daily updates all in place so we worked on building traffic and sales.
-Once sales were rolling we realised the potential for Twistys. At that point we moved into buying exclusive content, with that came the need to set up a complete production team (photoshoppers and video editors). That has been our focus over the past year or so. We had the members, had the traffic and we went back to basics to make sure we had a high quality product that was competitive in today's paysite market.

Which brings us to today. We have a killer group of photographers. Amazing photoshoppers. The best video editors. The best Affiliate Manager. Where we are behind is our affiliate area. I've spent alot of time adressing and drawing up plans to rectify the situation. We finally have everything in place and our affiliates should start to notice changes in the very near future. We know what needs to be done and finally have the talent and workforce on-board to get it done. As a result we have some really amazing stuff in the works for our affiliates and affiliate program that will completely change your impression of us. It's going to be amazing!

Pornwolf baby, you are *mostly* right - buuuut I can't take all the credit...

Shap, (along with our entire Twistys crew) do their part and together we kick some pretty serious a*s, if I do say so myself!

KUDOS everyone!!!

You have to love this response.

It probably is easier to sell blatantly hardcore sites, especially to general traffic and unfortunately, in a market dominated by lousy sites all claiming to be great, it isn't a simple task to convince surfers that sites such as Twistys, Scoreland, Karup, Sapphic and a couple of dozen others really are different.

But you have just seen one major difference: the vast majority of sponsors would simply have ignored your post. How many would have agreed with what you wrote and replied at some length? Stuff like that doesn't translate immediately into dollars and cents, but if you get reminders that someone is really putting a consistent effort into their business and has respect for their customers and for the people they work with, you know they are going to be around for the long run and that they have to be good people to follow along.

I have "known" Shap for quite a few years via various message boards and we have many of the same views. For affiliates, they mean that if you want to work with sponsors who don't have you wondering what tricks they are going to pull next on you or your surfers, sponsors like Twistys are the way to go. Ditto if you don't want to find out one day that the site and webmaster area hasn't been updated for a year because they moved onto something else and didn't bother to tell anyone. Above all, these sponsors may only rate slightly above average now in $$$-making terms, unless you make a special effort with them, but they are the future.

It will not happen overnight, but these days it is crazy for anyone new to go the smoke and mirrors route. So "quality" sites will not be the exception in future and the more such sites there are, the easier it will be to sell them, as surfers who have been screwed over and disappointed get re-educated. Conversely, although they certainly have a few years life left in them, the dinosaurs of this industry are on a downhill slope unless they change their business model.

If you don't buy into that, fine, then look on it as insurance to have 3 or 4 really good sites among those you promote. Although think about it, if you can successfully sell something you know you wouldn't waste your money on, it may take a little thought to come up with the right sales pitch or the right filtering, but surely it should be easier to sell a site that you know people will enjoy.

Twistys is a cool brand name.

Yes! If I was going to take acid with one of my affiliate managers, it'd be Kevin. I hope this clears things up for you.

not that Kevin takes acid... let me make that clear... don't want to be slandering my good man, or libelling, or whatever that may be...

ha - happens alot here!

Because Shap and Shapette run Twistys like a business (the way companies should be run) and that's the bottom line. Any program can be successful, but you need good management and business savvy to truly excel in your field/niche.

REASON # 1 - BETH AND SHAP
These 2 are the classiest people Ive had privilege to hang with. They are up front everyday people and treat everyone they meet with respect.

REASON # 2 - See reason # 1

if you want to discuss percentages. How about the breakdown of Twistys Content.

Dean Capture Content inside Twistys 2.25% of all content.
Other photographers content inside Twistys 97.75%.

I really respect Dean,but i don't really think Dean made Twisty to be what are they today,they was the bigest much before that,and Twisty works with over 40 photographers if i am sure,so combinate all that and effort they put and u will get TWISTY!
Btw,just arranged ex czech miss to shot for them,be tuned

Once more I have to agree with Mark ..

twistys was doin very well before Dean (I'm a huge Capture Fan and he knows it). As far as I can see, From knowing and working with shap, I'd say it's his attention to detail and the fact that he likes what he does and Knows where he wants to go with it. he treats everyone with respect from his affiliates to his photographers. I've worked with twistys and would do it again in a heart beat. Unlike other Webmasters, he knows that attention to detail goes a long way.
Don't cheap out, cus it'll bite ya in the ass later, Too many webmasters spread themselves too thin.

BTW Shap and Shappette,

I'll be ready to show you some new models after Maimi ... It's been a bussy summer

Shap! The man is smart, smart, smart.

Btw my point to this post was if you think Dean is 90% of our success now, what will you think in 3 months from now when the % of Twistys content that is shot by Dean starts to rise. By October he'll be 180% of our success