Quote:
Originally posted by latinasojourn
but it does not matter what you or i like, or even that we agree. what matters, as someone here already said, is will it interest the surfer enough to join a website?
and i will stand by my original statement that maybe 80% of the stuff currently shot by so-called "content producers" will not entice a surfer to join a website.
surfers are getting bored.
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Except that at 80% I think you are being kind, I agree 100%. I HATE buying content. And my main problem isn't usually with technical issues or with poorly chosen models (although both occur). It's that it all blurs together.
IMO photographers working for the online porn business ignore two things
- "quality" magazines like Pl*yb*y and P*nth*use vastly outsell the crap sold in sleazy adult stores. Partly that is because soft-porn mags are able to market themselves more widely, but the main reason is that most guys want to look at naked women to be titillated, not because they are driven to look at them. A girl clothed in frame one, naked in frame sixty, posing in between on a bed or a sofa or whatever, under plain lighting, isn't all it takes: leastways not if you want them to keep coming back at $20-$50 a month.
- Unlike magazines that appear once a month with a couple of dozen pics, web sites are there 24/7 with thousands of pics. We don't have just a few competitors, there are thousands of sites out there. Sure we can put money and effort into our designs and our sales pitches, but ultimately it's content that sells and keeps members. And content can be the most costly aspect of building a site, so shouldn't it be more than just the same-old, same-old?
These days, if possible I avoid projects that require me to buy content. But every month I used to start out looking for content, genuinely willing to pay high prices, not for exclusivity (which I don't believe really matters a damn), but for content that would make me sit up and take notice and hopefully have the same effect on my visitors. A few hours later I would end up choosing sets from someone's bargain basement because if a dollar picture (for example, I'm not saying that is all I would spend) doesn't say any more to me than a 20 cent picture, why waste 80 cents?
Imagination. That's one of the most valuable things a good photographer has.