I have never heard the term 'super niche site' before. My guess is it's a 'general niche' site like teen or something ?

Nope. I don't like rev-share all that much unless it's a killer site that can beat a PPS.

I don't believe I've ever seen a rev-share that splits all income evenly while involving every revenue stream. Again, we're talking cross-sales, upsells, mailers, exits... what rev-share program splits those with you? None. And at the same time, without including those streams on a site, the site owner (and affiliate) are leaving money on the table. Which is why I personally prefer PPS. It's more of a traffic purchase than an actual sale purchase. The traffic/sale conversion is somewhat like a scale system configuring how much the traffic is worth.

Marc means niches like Indian or Midget...

Niches where photos and videos are lacking.

:glugglug

Yes even a couple of years ago you would only make average of $25-$28 on a 50% revshare model that used trials.

I don't see any other way to do it other than a straight split of ALL income, so if you have worked another model out I can't wait to see it !

One good thing for programs that pay per signup is that they can easily hide all income streams behind the per signup model and run their own numbers :)

Sausage - super niched site means midget gay teen lovers. A site that is such a specific niche you couldn't come up with enough content to make it worth a dime. However, some pretty deep niches were created. There is enough content for the tour and thats about it.

I'll take part of the blame for the current state of things. ARS was one of the first programs to fill our portfolio with lots of niche sites under one program. It was part of our business plan. However, 4 years later its biting us in the ass. The unfortunate thing is look at how many other programs followed our footsteps. Lots and lots of sites with lots and lots of shitty content selling to a customer base of consumers who most have already purchased porn, seen the plug in content and shitty licensed photos and know to cancel before their 3 days is up in hopes to avoid paying much of anything for their enjoyment.

Affiliate programs have 1 job - Maximize the Monetization of YOUR Traffic. ARS will always do an effective job of that. One way that is most popularly used by most webmasters is to send their traffic inventory to a paysite, hope the surfer converts and calculate an overall value per click for their traffic. Though this is the most popular, there are MANY other ways to do it. Fun stuff on the horizon... Keep your eyes peeled for the changes :)

as far as i'm concerned ars is the ibill of affiliate programs. both are out of touch dinosaurs.

pamphage - I can see your angle with ibill, but for my own sake can you explain how that comparison is made to ARS?

How exactly are we out of touch?

www.balloonbeauties.com

Not trying to bash you Marc, but for the past 2 years I've said (in posts) how crappy GIM members areas are, and your reply was always that you think they're pretty good or as good as most stuff out there.

This is the first time I've seen you admit that GIM sites are lacking in quality.

50

What's a GIM site?

no what Marc means by 'super niche' sites is a micro niche site like 'Indian Cocksuckers' - where a surfer joins up cuz that intrigued him but he finds if he's lucky 5 photosets and a video of some chick who is a vague shade of brown and then the cookie cutter members area filled with the same plugins the surfer has seen in the 100 other sites he's signed up to.

ARS doesn't own or operate any of it's sites, Global Inter Media does

most of your tours look circa 1996. also, the member sections were awful last time i had a look ( been about 8 months or so) as well, but it was like dated content and crap plugins. blech.

and i don't mean to single you out in particular. cecash has the same problem.

but hey. people make money off you guys so i'm not trying diss. i just prefer more modern programs like bangbros for general traffic and some of the nicer ccbill sites for when i need to nichefy.

LOL

Thanks. I new about global but didn't put together the abbrev:1orglaugh

That quote defines ARS/GIM sites

pamphage - I hear ya... I don't necessarily think we're a dying breed like the dinosaurs. I do believe it is time for ARS ReInvented.

For what they WERE (are) GIM sites aren't that bad. Comparing them to other sites in the same catagory they held their ground nicely. Comparing them to video sites and reality sites they BLEW ass. Thus, pave the way for the new...

Wow - a big program owner talking sense and being pretty thruthful. It's all been on the cards for a long while now and has been amazing how few want to admit to it. Kudos to ARS and Marc for doing so and being among the first. Inevitably others will follow.

GIM site lack exclusive content,but among major PPS with no exclusive content as well they are among the best from what I've seen.

I'd like to see ARS sites shift more towards TopBucks and NastyDollars type sites.

Reality is good

Exclusive content is good

Tipsy - thanks :)

We consider ourselves to be an industry leader. Leadership is not defined as being the biggest or the best, its defined by making difficult decisions at difficult times. What we are working to do is not easy, but in the long term its the right decision!

To truly reinvent yourself you must throw away the past, that is the most difficult part. The great thing is this thread will be gone within a few hours and people may forget until the months of work we've been doing reappear with ARS RI (ReInvented) and we follow through on our firm, bold stance that THINGS MUST CHANGE! :)

Marc's right - i've seen the GIM members areas - it's no worse than the other big programs and better than a bunch.

the plugins on all these sites are almost completely useless when it comes to retention. people want to join a site for the main course. you don't see BangBros/Nasty loading up on plugins, it does nothing.

personally other than Bubble Girls, CaliforniaPimp, Socal Streams and maybe Hustler and AEBN i wouldn't toss a nickel at a plugin. For teen and general hardcore niche anyway.

Mutt - thanks and that is what I meant when I 'defend' GIMs sites. Comparing apples to apples...

However, plug in content mostly does BLOW and the key is providing the customers with an experience they can't get from any other paysite that is spending a few measley grand / mo on sub standard plug in videos.

I believe there is a lot more to maximizing the monetization of traffic for affiliates and those changes will come down the pipeline too. I also believe there is other opportunities other than paysite promotion that webmasters can use to generate revenue from their traffic inventories (and easier). All changes to come with ARS RI! Coming Soon...

it means much smaller checks...bye bye standard PPS...


hello

PPS-kinda....


:winkwink: :thumbsup


still a great program...




...but I prefer revshare as long as the program has it's processing shit in order and has plan b-z....

i agree except i don't think topbucks has ever had an original idea EVER. they take all their cues from bangbros and nastydollars.

what an arrogant person you are marc.

You are an industry leader?

how so? original ideas? you didnt invent the byot
you came out with some bs dialer years after the big dialer companies did
conversions are crap for most people with your sites or havent you noticed.

I got your guy emailing me asking to work with me on your new smoke/cigarette site.. since I already have one up..

looks like i got ya there... then when i told him who I was, he backed off. smart move.

You are successful, I will give you that, but dont claim to be an industry leader when you clearly are in major trouble. I and a few others know whats going on. dont put up smoke and mirriors.

*spam*

MarcDe, a good friend just finished the creation of the BEST movie plugin ever built. Wanna have one of the ars crew members to take a look at it? (it's not released yet to public) I wouldn't mention if it was one of the same :)

*spam*

After one of the seminars at the Australian webmaster gathering this week it is obvious that there are a lot of things going on in the background in our industry that are soon going to start impacting on us.

Content will be king was one of the recurring themes put forward by one of the biggest Australian sponsor.

Just lately I've been inside a lot of paysites and it is no wonder that they cannot retain members. How can a site that offers hours and hours of niche video content on the tour but only provides 12 girls and 4 hours of that content in the members area hope to retain members?

FWIW my humble opinion is that now is the time to sign on with those sponsors who are making an effort to meet the challenges that are ahead.

If you don't do it now it may be too late when the changes happen because the sponsors that survive will find themselves in the ideal position of being able to pick and choose who they want for affiliates.

Just my :2 cents:

You are pretty spot on imho :thumbsup

However the 'good' sponsors will be able to choose which affiliates they want :) There will always be shitty sites behind deceptive tours pandering to webmasters and promising the world.

ARS is an industry leader, not by self proclamation but by MANY MANY others.

ARS brought rewards points to this business.
ARS brought PROFESSIONALISM to an industry that was about trust (obviously you haven't picked up on that whole professionalism thing yet)
ARS was the first to offer incentive payouts (ya know the first $75 day)
ARS is a leader in the this industry at providing quality, knowledgable service.

You can say what you want, but all you've ever done is run your mouth about stuff you do not have a CLUE about. The biggest question I ask myself is why in the hell ANYONE would pick you to be the face of an affiliate program.

Your complete lack of professionalism and candor is laughable. You can continue to use your little twig to poke and prod me, but I'm not taking the bate.

You are right in one respect, I am successful. However, I am NOT in trouble. I'm in the same position as almost EVERY other sponsor program out there. We're getting squeezed from every angle and trying to monetize traffic on a model that DOES NOT work anymore. In trouble is 18 months from now if we don't make changes. Today we're healthy as a horse and will continue to be because WE SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL and we are proactive enough to read it and react to it.

This certainly was an interesting thread to read!

I wish I was in trouble like Marc De!

Sausage - it was a shame you missed it - there was some very interesting info given out there.

For a long while now Marie and I have pretty much sat in the background and just observed but even we were surprised by some of the info on Saturday.

You can say that again! Good thread!

Headless / Enforcer - I feel a bit strange maybe I should post a (pic) to make it feel right ROFL

Yeah, I'm enjoying myself quite a bit! :)

Brad, last I checked you were in a whole heap of shit just like me !! ;)

because I act like a jackass on the boards makes me a bad businessman? are you kidding me? Im not here to kiss ass or sugar coat things. I say what I want and I dont bullshit people. But I am not the topic here, you are.

the examples you gave for being an industry leader is laughable in itself. rewards points? come on man

$75 pay days? lol hale MarcDe he is the king. you are actually wrong about the rewards thing, but I will let that slide.

Dont judge me because I called your bluff last year
Dont judge me because Im a dickhead on the boards


I turned a program from nothing into something in such a short time(with the help of a select few), but I dont boast about it and claim I am anything special. I am just another guy trying to make a buck.



and why not use me? Becuase I tell it straight and dont suck dick for hits?

3 things make you a success Marc and its really not that hard.

be honest with people. pay them on time. and keep shit simple.

Im still here and plan to be for a long time.

looks to me like you just did.

on the outside yea you guys are professional, great guys, team work blah blah.. what everyone doesnt know is what goes on behind closed doors.

Just dont claim to be an industry leader over petty things such as rewards points and $75 payouts. thats silly.

This entire industry was built on taking ideas from people and making them better. dont ever think I will forget the bullshit last year you pulled on me.

Marc, apparently you are near bankrupcy - so if you need me to take some of your cars off your hands, let me know!

This thread is brought to you by the genuises of GFY! :1orglaugh