Good stuff Unseen... but here's another curve in the road to financial freedom through porn:
As new people come into the industry, generally not knowing which end is up, and asking a billion questions about everything... most are not brave enough to enter into the paysite ownership realm for a long time. But of the ones who are, what percentage of those will also possess the courage it takes to try something untested and unproven, thus assuming yet even more risk to an already uncertain future?
This, I believe, is the main reason people just look around until they find something that is pleasing to THEIR eye.... and base their design decisions on that. It's working for someone else, so it's gotta work for me theory.
Unfortunately, we know what this leads to. Over saturation of a particular style of tour. And when the styling no longer pulls the customer, we then resort to other means... such as delving into other niches to help the over saturation in those areas as well.... or using bandaids like popup hells and dialers to stabilize the bottom line.
As a content provider, you understand that the more people that buy your content, the more saturated it becomes... soon that content will be worthless, and the generation of NEW content must follow in order to move on.
As a designer, I am in the same boat. Lots of people want tours that look just like that. I am going to provide them for as long as they keep paying for them. Just as you will keep selling your content to anyone who is willing to buy.
Content providers & designers have a unique position in the industry, as we essentially create the very face of what the world sees. But I tend to think that it will fall into a more patterned wave of trendiness very soon... one style will be the rage for a while, until it over saturates and becomes obtuse. (like the teen niche right now)... and something else will take it's place.... and so on.... this type of event usually happens when a photog or designer happens to have some extra time and initiative available, and does something radical which is later exploited. It's all good.... that's how these things work.
Anyway, I've completely forgotten where I was going with this so I'll just shut up now and leave it on a good note.
