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jayeff · 02-19-2005, 09:14 AM

On one level I agree with the original poster. I have run three successful businesses in my life, all of them based solidly on delivering to customers what they expect. I don't enjoy working in online porn because it's a lot like working in a seedy Soho nightclub, instead of the Pl*yboy Club, a mile away in Park Lane (as was).

And there is no doubt that the likes of Karup, Scoreland and ATK provide a better product and see customer loyalty as a result. But they also have the advantage that they can and I'm not sure this is true for every kind of porn. Porn is about fantasy, specifically fantasies involving the degradation of women (or men). Sites on the border between erotica and porn, have a relatively easy job because their surfers are only looking for naked women. But the market for softcore porn is relatively small, so many are going to attempt to cater for more extreme fantasies. I'm not sure it is possible to be successful beyond a certain point. For example, as a fantasy, a fat midget being gangbanged by a bunch of masked men may work. But at least via photos or movies over the 'Net, is the ultimately mundane reality something that many people will pay to see for more than a month or two?

I'm not saying that those who deliver second-rate sites have thought much about this. The majority started their businesses when the market was easy and the smoke and mirror practises are as much a consequence of their characters as of good business sense. But if they or newcomers do start trying to keep customers rather than churn them, I think they are going to have a hard time. Think about reality sites: lots of curiosity value, but that's usually going to last for all of 5 minutes because the fantasies they conjure up simply aren't very entertaining when made "real". Most of the solo girl sites suffer the same fate, albeit for different reasons.

So perhaps even if you do deliver what you promised but you are catering for any but mainstream interests, you still won't keep your members. If there is any validity in that thought, the "cowboy" tactics aren't going to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

02-19-2005, 09:14 AM
jayeff Confirmed User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 2,944	On one level I agree with the original poster. I have run three successful businesses in my life, all of them based solidly on delivering to customers what they expect. I don't enjoy working in online porn because it's a lot like working in a seedy Soho nightclub, instead of the Plyboy Club, a mile away in Park Lane (as was). And there is no doubt that the likes of Karup, Scoreland and ATK provide a better product and see customer loyalty as a result. But they also have the advantage that they can* and I'm not sure this is true for every kind of porn. Porn is about fantasy, specifically fantasies involving the degradation of women (or men). Sites on the border between erotica and porn, have a relatively easy job because their surfers are only looking for naked women. But the market for softcore porn is relatively small, so many are going to attempt to cater for more extreme fantasies. I'm not sure it is possible to be successful beyond a certain point. For example, as a fantasy, a fat midget being gangbanged by a bunch of masked men may work. But at least via photos or movies over the 'Net, is the ultimately mundane reality something that many people will pay to see for more than a month or two? I'm not saying that those who deliver second-rate sites have thought much about this. The majority started their businesses when the market was easy and the smoke and mirror practises are as much a consequence of their characters as of good business sense. But if they or newcomers do start trying to keep customers rather than churn them, I think they are going to have a hard time. Think about reality sites: lots of curiosity value, but that's usually going to last for all of 5 minutes because the fantasies they conjure up simply aren't very entertaining when made "real". Most of the solo girl sites suffer the same fate, albeit for different reasons. So perhaps even if you do deliver what you promised but you are catering for any but mainstream interests, you still won't keep your members. If there is any validity in that thought, the "cowboy" tactics aren't going to be going anywhere, anytime soon.