Very good read and in the relatively short time I've been promoting cams, all of John's points seem true. Just a few of observations I've found:
- I hate the word "free" and try to avoid it like crazy, esp. since I get a high % of SE traffic. The stereotype about only beggars/freeloaders search using the word "free" may or may not be true but if nothing else, if you push something by saying it's free and it's not, you lose credibility with the surfer ... and so does the sponsor
- I've experimented with sending surfers directly to an actual chat room or to a profile page. In this case, the link is from a specific girl (e.g. a blog post about her). I felt that the sites that redirect the surfer to the "all online" page if she's not available was contrary to the usability law of always giving the customer what they expect ...
If a link says "click here to chat with me live", when the surfer clicks it, he *should* be taken to a chat room with that girl/guy/couple in it. But it doesn't necessarily work with cams unless the guy is really taken by the photos/text, etc. you have before he clicks.
Net net, they usually find someone else pretty quickly esp. on the larger cam sites. So I'm slowly moving to sending directly to the chat room w/ the host site's redirect if she's not available.
- I love the subdomain ideas for so many reasons (SEO a big part of that - I can control getting my own traffic), but from a sponsor POV I can see it causing problems due to lack of control. If you let someone host everything on their own, even the brand, the rotten apples can cause you grief as in the end, the surfer ends up on the host site at some point.
- I'm not a TGP/MGP fan but having lots of galleries with current performers is a big plus. God knows these boards are full of TGP owners who get a ton of traffic. Maybe more of them would push cams if good, relevant gallery content was available?
- Niche niche niche. I've begun heavily pushing niches and sending directly to a complimentary site or at least category.
Webcamcash, for example, now has sub-sites for teens, gay, trannies, etc. so you can send a surfer directly to an "all online" page full of performers that suit them. PussyCash allows you to send surfers directly to a category within Imlive and has promo tools for each major niche. And of course, Webcams.com is doing the same, providing a tool to not only directly link to a category but to a host within that category. All excellent ways to promote niches.
- Lastly, with only modest experience, but fetish/dominatrix/bdsm cams seem to convert and retain the best. It doesn't take a rocket science to figure out why but it's something I'm really starting to push. The downside is that real mistresses who know what they are doing are at a premium and I wish there were more cam sites dedicated to this niche, even if the # of performers is relatively small.
That's it, breakfast time.
btw, I hope this discussion continues, nice to see threads about business once and awhile
