Biz Discussion: Myspace and Webshots hurting the porn biz?

[SteveLightspeed]

Topic 1: I admit, I've found myself surfing webshots and myspace looking for sexy pics of hot girls. Lots of cheerleader, upskirt, bikini, and spring break type pics on those sites. Do you think those sites, and others like them, could be drawing attention and sales away from porn sites?

Topic 2: Also, back when I started in 99, it was easy to find models for the web, because the girls didn't use the internet, and didn't think anyone would ever see their pictures. Now, college-age girls know all about the web (at least about myspace), and they know how quickly they will be spotted by friends and family. I find it much harder to recruit hot college girls now that ever.


Opinions?

[Tanker]

Interesting steve


however when me and Ellisa were doing out street level marketing in Key west most of them didnt use or have never heard of myspace

[Tanker]

they all however know about www.facebook.com

[Donny]

I don't have a problem recruiting hot models. I had to change the way I was recruiting, however.

[Ramos]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

Topic 1: I admit, I've found myself surfing webshots and myspace looking for sexy pics of hot girls. Lots of cheerleader, upskirt, bikini, and spring break type pics on those sites. Do you think those sites, and others like them, could be drawing attention and sales away from porn sites?

Topic 2: Also, back when I started in 99, it was easy to find models for the web, because the girls didn't use the internet, and didn't think anyone would ever see their pictures. Now, college-age girls know all about the web (at least about myspace), and they know how quickly they will be spotted by friends and family. I find it much harder to recruit hot college girls now that ever.


Opinions?

topic 1: No

topic 2: there's still millions of chicks who have no clue

see ya in TO

[madawgz]

yeah it possibly could be, alot of people are going there instead of adultfriendfinder or something else etc...

[ry0t]

The reason I disagree is because the people who surf for free pictures of girls on myspace might be the same type of people who surf for free porn on the p2ps. Plus they cant find too much 'hardcore' type softcore pictures of things like dildo play or even pink shots. This is only my opinion because I know I cant get off to those. I do agree its harder to find new talent because many people know about the net nowadays but only slightly harder.

[SteveLightspeed]

Originally Posted by Donny

I don't have a problem recruiting hot models. I had to change the way I was recruiting, however.

I'm all ears. All I see in AZ lately is torn up meth hags. Someone that wants black, mexican, fat, or crack whores could kick some ass in Phoenix lately. Maybe my standards are unrealistically high, but I want high-quality, never-before-seen amateurs.

[Ramos]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

All I see in AZ lately is torn up meth hags

[RogerV10]

You think that is hurting the porn biz.

Look at any TGP now a days. I can list a few that i go that have 1000s of hours of free porn too look it, that update everyday.

I dont know why ANYONE buys porn nowadays

[Cyndalie]

I think they both can be powerful marketing machines when used properly. Both to attract new customers and locate possible new models. But the fact that it's not 18 on over yet, makes it a tough balance for use by adult companies.

[Xplicit]

I donno about #2 Steve, because MySpace type sites also show you which girls are down to pose in thongs, panties, swimsuits, etc FOR FREE.

These are girls who often will take the cash to strip down all the way, since theyre basically almost naked to begin with and not getting paid for it.

[SteveLightspeed]

I actually think its easier to recruit at the welfare office than at the mall or college. I think there is 1 in 10,000 girls that will pose nude on the net, and even then, only when she needs the money. Finding THAT GIRL on THAT DAY at random is like catching lightning in a bottle.

[Cyndalie]

Originally Posted by ry0t

The reason I disagree is because the people who surf for free pictures of girls on myspace might be the same type of people who surf for free porn on the p2ps. Plus they cant find too much 'hardcore' type softcore pictures of things like dildo play or even pink shots. This is only my opinion because I know I cant get off to those. I do agree its harder to find new talent because many people know about the net nowadays but only slightly harder.

I would be scared to surf for 'porn' on myspace, you never know if what your looking at is legal or not unless it leads to a (or is found on a) properly disclaimed site. Yikes!

[ry0t]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

I actually think its easier to recruit at the welfare office than at the mall or college. I think there is 1 in 10,000 girls that will pose nude on the net, and even then, only when she needs the money. Finding THAT GIRL on THAT DAY at random is like catching lightning in a bottle.

You could start a power plant with the lightning youve caught. Good job too.

[ry0t]

Originally Posted by Cyndalie

I would be scared to surf for 'porn' on myspace, you never know if what your looking at is legal or not unless it leads to a (or is found on a) properly disclaimed site. Yikes!

Yeah of course I agree that goes without saying.

[Ramos]

A hard girl is good to find

[SteveLightspeed]

Originally Posted by Ramos

A hard girl is good to find

I think someone should compile (and sell) a list of girls on myspace that are confirmed single and looking to meet guys. Think of the time that would save! There is my million-dollar idea of the day, its all yours, run with it Ramos!

[Cyndalie]

Originally Posted by RogerV10

I dont know why ANYONE buys porn nowadays

I do. But more to monitor the health of the industry by trying out what companies are really offering their customers. I 'Become the Customer" as I've writtin articles about in the past. It's very interesting what you can learn when you step out of your own shoes now and then...and it can help conversions. "secret shoppers" in adult as consulting would be a great idea. But Off Topic. Sorry Steve

[SteveLightspeed]

Originally Posted by Cyndalie

I do. But more to monitor the health of the industry by trying out what companies are really offering their customers. I 'Become the Customer" as I've writtin articles about in the past. It's very interesting what you can learn when you step out of your own shoes now and then...and it can help conversions. "secret shoppers" in adult as consulting would be a great idea. But Off Topic. Sorry Steve

You can go off topic on me anytime Cyn, we luv ya! I'd love your opinion on our new lightspeedtv.com site.

[dial]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

I'm all ears. All I see in AZ lately is torn up meth hags. Someone that wants black, mexican, fat, or crack whores could kick some ass in Phoenix lately. Maybe my standards are unrealistically high, but I want high-quality, never-before-seen amateurs.

welcome to every major city in the USA

[Cyndalie]

Steve you got yourself a sale I'll have a full report on your desk early next week chief

[Pornwolf]

This is a good discussion Steve. I don't think Myspace hurts us directly but you are correct it does hurt us. Let's look at it in a mainstream economic fashion:

The more surfers are spending time somewhere else the less time they are spending looking at porn and consequently joining paysites.

One thing we know about myspace is it's a time hog. You go to check out one profile then 4 hours later you log off. You get sucked into looking at all the hot - real - ass on there. Hell, I dare anyone to start looking at Sweet T's page and try to log off in 15 minutes. You can't do it! LOL

So, Myspace doesn't just hurt us, it hurts all businesses that focus on using that time and in one way or another attract their discretionary income. Myspace hurts TV stations, it hurts online video Game companies, and on and on.

As far as making it harder to recruit, it seems like it would be easier. I always knew there were freaky girls out there, hell, real pimping was a hobby for me once upon a time, but jeezus! There are so many girls ready for porn on Myspace it's not even funny. Plus, you already know they are hot. Easy pickins.

[Pornwolf]

Oh, combine that with YouTube and blogs and we probably found the new reason for the added business wide decline in conversions over the past 8 months.

[pstation]

I agree with #1 there. I'm an "advanced" surfer, and years ago when I wanted content I pretty much had to go to paysites. But nowadays it's just much easier to just go to webshots/thedilly/tangotime where you can see just as good shit from actual "real" people without the bullshit you encounter with going to paysites.

[RogerV10]

Originally Posted by Cyndalie

I do. But more to monitor the health of the industry by trying out what companies are really offering their customers. I 'Become the Customer" as I've writtin articles about in the past. It's very interesting what you can learn when you step out of your own shoes now and then...and it can help conversions. "secret shoppers" in adult as consulting would be a great idea. But Off Topic. Sorry Steve

Which is what i do.

Witht he amount of free porn give out there, why would anyone buy a membership.

One google search and you have enough porn to beat it off too for ages to come.

[SteveLightspeed]

Originally Posted by RogerV10

Which is what i do.

Witht he amount of free porn give out there, why would anyone buy a membership.

One google search and you have enough porn to beat it off too for ages to come.

Right, I should have added google and yahoo image search to the first post

[wyldblyss]

Consider MySpace your brand new free talent agency. Hire someone to surf MySpace to find every hot chick that has the look you are looking for and is posting pics in seductive poses or wearing next to nothing. The girls don't have to living in Arizona Steve...fly them in for a week or two a month to shoot and then send them home...hell...I bet a lot of them would move to Arizona in a heartbeat...especially eager chicks that want the hell out of thier small towns and live somewhere exciting.

[SomeCreep]

Myspace doesnt hurt porn sites, so much as it does dating sites.

[Mutt]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

Topic 2: Also, back when I started in 99, it was easy to find models for the web, because the girls didn't use the internet, and didn't think anyone would ever see their pictures. Now, college-age girls know all about the web (at least about myspace), and they know how quickly they will be spotted by friends and family. I find it much harder to recruit hot college girls now that ever.

very difficult to recruit fresh girls these days because the girls know how pervasive the Net is and their first concern is family and friends - some people bs them but we don't - their sites and galleries will be geo-ip blocked but we tell them that's maybe 80% effective and they will be seen. the amazing thing - guess it isn't that amazing - is that they usually let the cat out of the bag themselves.

my new mantra i repeat to my partner John everyday is 'we need to find total skanks who happen to look like angels' - the two girls i post here alot are nice girls - very concerned about what other people think - and i don't blame them.

[Mutt]

Originally Posted by wyldblyss

Consider MySpace your brand new free talent agency. Hire someone to surf MySpace to find every hot chick that has the look you are looking for and is posting pics in seductive poses or wearing next to nothing. The girls don't have to living in Arizona Steve...fly them in for a week or two a month to shoot and then send them home...hell...I bet a lot of them would move to Arizona in a heartbeat...especially eager chicks that want the hell out of thier small towns and live somewhere exciting.

sorry it ain't that easy - i'd say 95% of messages i've sent on myspace have gone ignored.

[fuzzylogic]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

I'm all ears. All I see in AZ lately is torn up meth hags. Someone that wants black, mexican, fat, or crack whores could kick some ass in Phoenix lately. Maybe my standards are unrealistically high, but I want high-quality, never-before-seen amateurs.

move to nebraska

[Cyndalie]

I see your point, but I find surfing for free porn to be annoying...it can take forever to find what you want..that's good, and 30 sec clips can only take one so far. (Then again, I'm a chick surfing for porn...I want what I want and I want it now! That's every customer tho.) I prefer to find a place I feel comfortable downloading from, that has the quality of the content I want, and can get me off repeatedly without having to go through the annoying process or surfing popups, cj's, and misleading links and shit every time. I think as long paysites keep what they give for free in check and ensuring visitors they will get what they want, whenever they want, in the format they want as a member these free "social" and "image" networks shouldn't damage sales that much. Plus they still are marketing machines for us, it's the balance that's tough.

Very Interesting stuff guys! My wheels are spinnin

[Cyndalie]

Steve..you've got lscash email

[minusonebit]

Myspace is just stupid.

But I doubt it is taking surfers away from paysites anymore than the TGPs do. There is plenty of free porn to beat it to out there.

[BVF]

Even the crackheads know about the internet now...One of the reasons I had to move out of Ohio is because the shit exploded once people started getting internet access in the hood.

I have crackheads walking around right now that are local pornstars now because of me....But the downside is that all of the girls on the street knew about me and the site and som eof them that had no problem with it years ago and were good repeat models and referred me to their friends, all that ended once their family saw it....Some fool even downloaded some pics and made T-shirts of one of my models and passed it around in the hood...she called me irate thinking that I did it...

So I left before it got even worse.

but to answer the question, myspace won't ruin shit...you gotta surf through too many ugly chicks to find the real good ones...Porn surfers don't have time to click on 200 pages to find 10 real hot chicks.

[Pornwolf]

Originally Posted by BVF

but to answer the question, myspace won't ruin shit...you gotta surf through too many ugly chicks to find the real good ones...Porn surfers don't have time to click on 200 pages to find 10 real hot chicks.

I disagree BVF. I'll start with one person's profile I know and it ends up taking me to page after page of hot chicks. I have to literally close the site to stop running across related chicks. That '6 degrees of separation' thing is something else.

[slavdogg]

so free porn shit ur give away is not hurting your biz
but myspace is ??

love your logic

[munki]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

Finding THAT GIRL on THAT DAY at random is like catching lightning in a bottle.

If anyone has become a pro at lightning taming, it's you Steve.

[SteveLightspeed]

Originally Posted by slavdogg

so free porn shit ur give away is not hurting your biz
but myspace is ??

love your logic

Well, the pics I give away are labled with my URL, and are on pages containing links to my paysites. I don't see any links to my sites from myspace pages.

Love YOUR logic

[slavdogg]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

Well, the pics I give away are labled with my URL, and are on pages containing links to my paysites. I don't see any links to my sites from myspace pages.

Love YOUR logic

you give out nude and hardcore content, dont you ??
pics and vids ??

There is No nudity or hardcore content on myspace. NONE
surfers dont buy memberships to your sites to see chicks in sexy clothes. Do THEY ??
they want PORN, young pussy shots, chicks masturbating, fucking
You cant get that on myspace, but you can sure get enough of that from the free porn you've given away

[RawAlex]

Considering that courts have ruled that covered shots of crotches could be considered porn, I think myspace and others are taking a major risk when it comes to 2257 documentation requirements. There is nothing stopping a minor from posting a nude or topless picture, and there is no way to verify the ages of models that appear on the site or the copyright that may exist on an image.

Anything that absorbs a huge number of surfers can hurt the porn business, but in the end, if you want to see actual hardcore action, porn is the place.

Now in the case of Lightspeed, you may find that these sorts of sites affect your softer core girls sites.

Alex

[Probono]

My opinion after 10 years at this is that there is so much free porn out there that you need to do a few things to survive.

1. Have unique content that can capture their imagination and draw them in so they do not go elseware, including interaction. Interaction is a key to the lure of myspace.

2. Follow Apple's lead and price aggressively so there is such a low entry point that people do have no problem whipping out the card. Why steal it whe it's only a buck or two. This also means NO recurring billing or at least a non recurring option. Most buyers dislike recurring charges, me included.

3. Always try to innovate.

Steve you have some of these bases covered. The entire affiliate model has screwed up the market place because of SPAM, free content without limits and just too many TGPS and other free sites out there. People who troll free sites rarely buy.

We have tried many different concepts and I will admit things that worked a couple of years ago do not work as well today.

[Probono]

One more thing on finding models. In the past we had them beating down the doors, then when they were outed we removed them. We warn ladies now that they will be discovered before we sign them, it has reduced the pool sigificantly but we still get panic calls. To much exposure and too many puritans.

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

Topic 1: I admit, I've found myself surfing webshots and myspace looking for sexy pics of hot girls. Lots of cheerleader, upskirt, bikini, and spring break type pics on those sites. Do you think those sites, and others like them, could be drawing attention and sales away from porn sites?

Topic 2: Also, back when I started in 99, it was easy to find models for the web, because the girls didn't use the internet, and didn't think anyone would ever see their pictures. Now, college-age girls know all about the web (at least about myspace), and they know how quickly they will be spotted by friends and family. I find it much harder to recruit hot college girls now that ever.


Opinions?

Haven't read the entire thread (yet), but interesting topic.

Whether or not Myspace or others of its kind are hurting the adult industry would obviously be difficult to answer. But one thing I can say - is I doubt its hurting the niche portion of adult. Myspace doesn't cater to or interest the typical fetish/bondage demographic...so in that regard I'm not concerned over it.

I also tend to think TGPs would be more damaging (as a whole) than places like Myspace - simply because surfing Myspace for nudity is still rather hit-and-miss.......whereas the TGPs usually guarantee lots of skin all the time.

Just a few thoughts.

[Halcyon]

Very interesting topic.

And a bit unsettling to think that the reason why it is harder to get models is because, as a whole, they are less ignorant about what they are really doing.

I wonder if any model has ever DRM'd all their content (to eventually expire) to ensure that their career in adult would have an end when they choose it to. Would that even be possible?

[Mutt]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

And a bit unsettling to think that the reason why it is harder to get models is because, as a whole, they are less ignorant about what they are really doing.

very unsettling

ask steve, ask anybody involved in the niche - there are few happy faces in this niche at the end of the day.

[slapass]

Is that why we are seeing so many models from over seas? I thought it was just the cost.

[HDADULT]

I dont if this angle was discussed but I see it might be more as a gateway to
get into the business. Every other myspace profile is music, a production company and wanna be models. Not that many years ago college girls were nervous about showing there pics or emailing them and now they talk about there whole life and show pics of there tits and asses. Eventually they might figure out they mind as well get paid for it.

[Donny]

Originally Posted by SteveLightspeed

I'm all ears. All I see in AZ lately is torn up meth hags. Someone that wants black, mexican, fat, or crack whores could kick some ass in Phoenix lately. Maybe my standards are unrealistically high, but I want high-quality, never-before-seen amateurs.

I'd happily tell you what's been working for me. Just not on a public message board. But it really has been working well.

I have to weed through some bad ones too, of course. But that's to be expected.