It seems everyone here is starting to jump on the bandwagon.
My company currently has an iron-clad solution for adult webmasters to get in on the mobile phone market.
The key to the mobile market, as far as adult is concerned, is webmaster eduation.
Not only is adult-on-cell an entirely different medium, it is also totally distinct from the internet in how it functions.
Here's a snap course summary of how it works.
-> To send pictures to a person's mobile phone, it has to be routed through a short-code. Short codes are specific to countries, and the network providers in the country.
Short codes have to be leased, or in cases such as the US, bought exclusively.
This means that to get 'global coverage', there's an incredible outlay of cash involved.
-> There are also restrictions by country restricting what can be sent. Ireland, for example, bans the sending of adult content. If you have a sponsor who claims they can send adult there, beware.
-> It doesn't stop there. Each country, and each telco have different legislation. For example, the UK has laws that can be likened to the CAN-SPAM law, that dictate what can be sent, and how. Navigating through these situations is a mine-field, so it's vital that you make sure whoever you send your traffic to has their backend water-tight- because if something isn't done properly, they stand to lose their short codes overnight.
-> The United States is an entirely different kettle of fish.
For a start, the market is different - whereas European users are quite comfortable to pay anywhere up to 5 Pounds for mobile content, US users will balk at anything over $3, generally.
-> The sending of adult content, payed via Reverse SMS is prohibited.
-> To send ANY form of bulk SMS, programs must own their own dedicated short code system. This is new legislation that came in February 2005, and not everyone has caught up with it. Again, ensure your sponsor has these points covered.
Finally, payment. If you've skimmed every other section, it's vital that you read this.
The telcos involved in the mobile process take, on average, 45-50% of a sale.
If you're talking a $5 sale, that leaves $2.50 for the sponsor, and affiliate.
If the affiliate program is paying 50%, then that leaves 10-30c as profit.
The telco cuts are HARD, DEFINED %'s. The only real variable for sponsors is getting bulk discounts, but as a general rule of thumb - add up how much sponsors are paying - if they're 'paying' 60% of the Gross sale, they're making a loss.
Whereever they are making up that loss is left as an exercise of deduction to the reader.
-> Make sure you pay KEEN attention to what your sponsor offers - whether it is 50% GROSS, or 50% NET - because there is a huge difference.
All of that said-
Our solution, which has been in development for over 18 months, is solid. We've done our homework, and we understand how the industry is based.
Our background is adult, our backing is adult. We are backed and run by Netpond, the leader in everything adult; we understand the industry.
We pay 50% GROSS. We allow webmasters to web-enable ANY of their content. We allow surfers to add text, draw on, and manipulate the images to suit their tastes.
We have worldwide billing and delivery. There are no setup costs involved, and no maintenance costs. You simply add the links, and make profit.
More importantly, we're offering *proper* deliver to the US, right from day one, done properly. There has been a worrying trend toward mainstream mobile companies to try to jump on the adult bandwagon without setting themselves up properly, which is detrimental to affiliates and surfers.
We are in beta, and are releasing publically, very soon - in a matter of days.
If you have any concerns, questions or queries, please feel free to email me -
[email protected] - or ICQ 52779009.
I'm here anytime to offer assistance, help, to bring you up to speed on any aspect of the industry, or to help integrate your website.
I hope this post helps explain a bit of the background of the market.
Simon