Mutt posed a good point. Is there an affordable solution to the decline ip paysite sales?

Lack of popularity? How stupid are you? Almost everything Paul posts gets massive views and multiple pages of replies. He consistantly generates pageviews - that is exactly what GFY (and pretty well everyone here) wants.

Paul posts - people reply. Not many people here have that power. Doesn't matter if you like what he says - he gets people to read and respond.

Excellent points. Paul is great for GFY and debates, and you can actually learn from him.

(Learn what NOT to do but that's also incredibly valuable. You needs examples of success and failure to properly see both ends of the spectrum, and to learn what does and does not work.)

Best of luck on your brick-and-mortar biz! That takes real commitment so I hope it's a huge success for you.

Me? I know the road I took to get here. I know the myriad of mistakes I made (and still make) daily that have all helped me learn and adapt (and not die). I follow successful people's examples and try to not re-invent the wheel, just put a little branding and my own spin on things. Oh, and I try to laugh and have fun while doing it. It's PORN for goodness sake! LOL

But this is why GFY is great, you get so many differant perspectives and shared experiences it can really help relative noobs like me make the right decisons along the way. Especially the way the biz is now, and the environment we are all in economicly, it's more difficult now than ever to "make it" starting from zero like I did. So any and all advice is appreciated, even Paul's. LOL

Thanks. This biz is something i've wanted to do for 10 years but was too busy chasing money doing something I didn't particularly like, instead of following my passion and building a large business doing something I liked.

When i first saw you launch, i wasn't really impressed with the whole "misterpeabody" thing because it wasn't really clear what it was, what you offered, didn't communicate any sort of benefit etc. But after watching you for a while, it's pretty clear you have a great head on your shoulders and I think you are on your way to building a recognizable brand that will do well.

Yes, cams are just as much about personalities and people connecting and bonding as it is about private shows. Average girls can do better than really hot girls when they have a great personality and a loyal user base that continually comes back because they have a great personality. Besides, not everyone likes super hot/fake looking girls. Sometimes a kind smile and personality goes much further with guys than fake tits.

depends what scale we are talking about. i dont know anything about knitting or anal excretions, like you and your mom

Markham started a huge long thread, but you seem to claim we are all here for his wisdom. every one of Markham's posts have been mocked by several people. i think that clearly shows that no matter how stupid i am, i am above Paul on that scale.

meanwhile, this is a really good thread and i have spent an hour reading it. a great marketing discussion that has nothing to do with the dumbshit ideas Markham wrote in post #1..

Paul, tell me the average cart to checkout ratio on mainstream sites.

Hint: its not 97%.

This is based on what other people in this thread have been saying.

Ecommerce is a lot different that brick and mortar. A click of the mouse is so much easier than getting in your car and driving to a store...much more likely to click away when you have nothing invested.

FTV members area

point

thread closed.

MisterPeabody has a grip on the situation. Online marketing is simply that, online marketing. You either know how to market successfully or you don't. It really doesn't matter what the product is.

It could be shovels, snowshoes, batteries, porn, linens, whatever.

If you know how to,
1) create (pre-sell) a sense of desire
2) create a sense of urgency
3) provide an immediate solution
Then sales WILL happen.

I've only met a few adult marketers.
By-and-large most are simply "order takers".

Oddly enough the biggest single cause of cart abandonment is not the lack of having a "secure" (https) cart/checkout page.

Yes it could be 750 grandmothers going to the tour. Yes it could be 750 Chinese who don't own a card.

Excuses.

We all know since the beginning a bigger % have not bought. That 800 is a fraction of the people who saw the sample. Because the vast majority of people on TGP sites looked at a gallery and never went to the tour.

Yes there are many factors for the decline in online porn. Squealer points out the main one. Bad Businessmen. In the beginning bad businessmen could make a lot of money in online porn. Then they became better, the worst were culled.

But read some of the replies to see the level of businessmen still in the business.

No one has a solution to the decline. A few are trying to imply it's not happening. The others are attacking other points. Not one decent solution to the problems we face. Well not we, you left in the business face.

Idiots telling me I live in the past, while I'm talking about the future. Idiots telling me I'm clueless and offering nothing better. Idiots who think giving the product away to millions so thousands might buy is marketing. Idiots who think the right way to have a trade show is to keep out the real customers, better to give drinks to people who will never do anything for you. Idiots who know that sites like FTV do well with a great member area. Then copy it with shit content. Yes and idiots who find "maybe" excuses for failures. And still do nothing to fix it.

Yes Squealer you're spot on. This industry was and still is full of idiots. Guys who come to see someone they know is a crap shooter, then after finding out they don't even like him, spend the rest of the day with him. A clever guy wouldn't of bothered to meet him.

go take a nap old man.

So lets get back to the theme of the thread and stop side tracking it.

Is there an affordable solution to the decline in paysite sales?

And if so what is it?

It's obviously nothing the industry has been doing, or they were doing it wrong.

Let's stop side tracking the thread because we don't have an answer. Let's think of the future, your future.

Good morning to you too Paul. Can you please start another topic please.

Agreed. Anyone who had been in business and went to an online show could see clearly that the gurus of online porn were just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

The number of fucked up business decisions these guys made is astounding.

They bought cheap disc that were sold in 1,000s from Z master. Then found out it was saturated. And the solution was buy from people who couldn't sell a set 10 times in a mainstream niche.

They had shows and kept out the real customers. Because the thought they were idiots. Anyone who went to an offline porn show could see the money to be made, information to gather and benefits of letting in people interested to meet porn stars. Would have for online. Much better to keep them out.

They thought porn was hard to sell.

Thought the the more porn they gave away = More sales, without realising it would kill sales eventually.

They thought paying affiliates a lot of money, to build a barrier between them and the customer was a great idea.

Didn't have the business sense to keep marketing in house and under their control.

Don't have the sense to look at the real reasons for falling sales. Blame it on other factors.

Don't have any idea how to grow in a tough market. Except increase the problem.

When a guru says something I've said for a long time. He's said the wisest thing ever. Me I'm clueless. Still saying the same thing.

We now hold industry shows, in the basement bar of a hotel. With people buying traffic to support those taking the traffic.

And you could change that to every business since the beginning of time.

The folks who get in on the ground level and are able to be successful in the beginning are always the trailblazers and "big boys".

A business motto I've lived by for many years has always been: "There is NO right time if you're not IN the right place"

What I'm saying Paul is that you're not really saying much of anything in these posts.
Yes, in every industry the guys who happen to be free of anything else to do in their lives and have the time and fire in the belly to jump on something at the ground level and give it their all are many times very successful.

Yes, it's been a huge mistake to give away porn for free when it would sell like hotcakes because everybody wants it.

No, it doesn't take a marketing genius to sell porn (as long as it's not being given away for free). But quite frankly...it doesn't take a "genius" to sell most anything in life. But yes, porn was real easy...until the last 3 years when people gave it ALL away and started selling cams and dating and anything else BUT porn.

You are right.

And some people have found ways to work hard and come up with ideas and still make good money (I did). But it's nowhere near the money that COULD be made if the last 3 years hadn't happened.
But it did happen and that's that.

Can it change back?
Yes.
But it will only change back when it is forced legally to do so (as in no more pornography allowed outside of a members area...not even samples of nudity) Can that happen? I suppose it possible, but not very probable.

So you talk about the future...
Well, here is my future: I plan on surviving in the porn business. I thoroughly enjoy what I'm doing. And even now I still make many times more money than most any other occupation I can think of.

There ARE people like me in this business who have the ability to ride this thing out and keep making very nice money. And every day that I survive is another day that my branding becomes another bit stronger and I find more ways to make money in porn.

Let others sell whatever they please and talk about "business" and "marketing". And you can continue to make these absurd posts telling everyone what we already know.
Bottom line? I'm going to keep doing what I enjoy and making the kind of money that most people in this world only dream of.