Shap

I tried to tone down the drama factor on my thread title for this one

Here is a problem I believe many webmasters are guilty of and it hurts them and the collective whole as a result...

Most Webmasters focus their time and energy on problems they are facing today without considering or assessing problems/changes they will be facing in the future.

An example of this is tubes. Look at the other thread I started. Most people are still just talking tubes tubes tubes. We all get it. Tubes have more content, more variety, and more available than your typical paysite and all for free, that obviously doesn't help people sell memberships. We get that. The problem is if we all keep crying TUBES TUBES TUBES we are going to get blindsided by other problems/changes that we won't be prepared to deal with and handle.

The way some companies deal with problems/changes is to say WE EMBRACE the change. Translation our content is on tubes and we accept their traffic. That's great for them. But the problem is they stop there because they think they've solved the problem and embraced the change. Far from it. They are simply making a few dollars today but not truly addressing their long term problem which is the continued devaluation of paysites. The same can be said about aggressive billing practices. A bunch of us complain about it but I'd say 95% of us were/are doing business with a company that has very aggressive billing practices.

If we only worry about the problems we are facing today then we shouldn't be surprised when something blindsides us and knocks us on our ass in the future. Assessing Future Problems, Changes and Risk is a key component to managing a successful business.

Sorry if I'm being Captain Obvious. Just thought I'd share my thoughts.

Shap

Btw As you guys can see I have a lot of shit on my mind. My wife and Mpahlca are fed up of hearing it so I'm back on GFY

Amputate Your Head

We fear change. Change is evil.

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notime

Some good business threads here lately Shap.
Keep up the good work!
The things you write and adres are true.

Shap

Thanks. I've learned quite a bit from mainstream entrepreneurs who share their experiences and talk about what works and doesn't for them. I'm just trying to do the same here. Obviously it's just my personal opinion. People are free to agree or disagree. I think there is a lot that can be accomplished by sharing information. In fact I'm even sharing my crew. My top guy Michael is out today helping out my friend's company giving them some consulting and helping them try to turn things around.

There is power in sharing

notime

You come across as a good motivator too. I am sure that can rub off towards others here to get a more positive state of mind to innovate, since nobody could ever cry and whine themselves to success

I am still growing with my content business and traffic business. It's hard work and 7 days a week with long hours and very frequent personal contacts with clients, staff and partners, but we all know nothing happens or grows when you sit back, are lazy, bitch, blame others or cry.

Shap

Thanks. I think I'm better at that in person because I'm energetic. On forums that usually means hitting enter before proof reading and then starting a war of words instead of a positive discussion. I'm not always very good at relaying what I'm thinking and putting into words what I mean. On a forum like this it only takes a few misplaced words for things to be completely twisted and turned into something negative.

Thanks again

notime

I know
We sat next to each other in the Amsterdam seminar on a panel and you surprised me with your positive energy and extensive knowledge which you shared to the people attending.
I'll email you in a minute for some business.

Shap

Awesome mrshap at twistys

NaughtyRob

Tubes are the new tgp/mgp and great for cms, its just those huge illegal tubes that suck ass for us.

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notime

The world does not end at gfy or with tubes. Is your content already sold on dvd's? Blu ray? Is it in Revshare's, VOD's, Television VOD's, IPTV, Iphone apps, mobile operators in Portugal, India, Poland, Spain or on the new TV channels launching soon in Holland?
If not, send me an email and let's make a deal like we spoke about before. Ask MaDalton if you don't believe me.
Content=content, it just needs to be sold.

Barefootsies

Completely agree.

When tubes first came out, I drank the kool aid. But then I realized it is ridiculous to try and FIGHT TECHNOLOGY. I also asked around on a number of surfer forums and received a lot of feedback. Over time, TUBES became the preferred delivery method for a lot of reasons.

The point being, it's better to try and find ways to make technology work FOR YOU, then wasting your time and energy trying to fight a losing battle. You'll never win as proven throughout history. You have to learn to make them work for you.

Note, I am talking about the use of technology and advancement in delivery platforms. Not content theft which is a completely separate issue.

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Shap

lol

fatfoo

I just want to say that there are 2 different kinds of tubes. One kind steals content, and the other kind does not steal content. Yes - long movies (especially if higher quality) available for free on tubes will make people pay less to paysites. People will watch more porn for free on tubes.

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DeanCapture

Well dayummm, that explains why he hasn't returned my email today

When he's done there - send him this way. I could pick his brain for a month

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Argos88

Exactly, tubes are a very small problem and some people even think that tubes are the same as FileSharing systems, Torrents, Illegal Forums... Those places account for over 80% of the free content out there.... Tubes only around 5%.

I can't believe so many webmasters in this forum don't even know the existence of Extreme-board or Pornbb.... Man... We are talking about COMPLETE MEMBERS AREAS SITE RIPS in HD available for free.... Not a 30 minute Flash video. Too serious.

When I complain about torrents, or rapidshare, some people quote me and say: "You are right, those tubes are killing the business".... NOO!!! TUBES NO!!! File Sharing.. Two totally different things.

When we as webmasters still think as 2005 and not as 2010, we are completely out of biz...

When you see sponsors like AWEMPIRE supporting sites like EXTREME-BOARD, then you start believing this business is completely done.

The breaking news say that Extreme-Board is accepting donations via paypal.. And nobody cares... Can you believe it? This is really hilarious... Can't believe nobody complained or took care of them already.. and paypal is still processing them.

And maybe this was not the intention of your post, Shap, but anyway.. Good thread.

will76

Is.... Posting too much on GFY when we should be working

(not I, but a lot of people here post or "talk" too much but do nothing.)

To your comments for this thread. I don't agree exactly. It is always good to look ahead but if you are dealing with 2,3,4 different problems that are crippling your business RIGHT NOW, you have to fix them first before you think about what "might be next". It's smart to try to think ahead and try to predict future problems, and if possible incorporate that into the fixes you need to fix the current problems, but chances of all of that happening is slim to none. People here are lucky to fix the pressing problems they are facing right now to keep their business alive much less be thinking about what might happen 3,6,12 months from now.

The people who stay ahead of the game and already have a fix for tubes, stolen content, issues with cross sales, credit card crunch, etc... they should never let their guard down and they should be thinking ahead.

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will76

Look at the rankings for the top 4-5 tube sites. They get a ton more traffic then file sharing sites. The internet noobs find the tube sites first, which have great placement in SE and are often talked about word of mouth and receive a lot of type in traffic. Those are the people who are the most likely to sign up to a porn site. The people who make their way to file sharing sites and get hardcore into that are already past the point of spending money on porn. They are more of savvy surfer. Sure file sharing sites hurt too. But i personally look at them as newsgroups of the late 90s early 2000 where lots of free porn and videos where given out before the tube sites came along. But typically the people who used news groups weren't the noobs but more experienced surfer. The more experienced surfer is not the one that is likely to pay for porn. ( IN MOST CASES NOT ALL).

Not to mention that file sharing sites are known for being full of viruses and you get no preview before you download something. (if there are anything like the bearshare and limewires) not sure how the others work. Noob surfers want to see the preview video and don't want to download shit because they are worried about getting viruses.

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mvee

Organizationally you need to do both. Someone who is only looking at tree's and someone surveying the forest. Shap you are the President of your company and your job is to look at the forest. Fortunately, you have the luxury to do that because you know you have a rockstar in Michael who is focused on the trees.

Much smaller companies don't have that same luxury because they are fire fighting the whole time and rarely have the opportunity to sit back and think strategically about the future and what technologies and market conditions may impact the things they are implementing now.

That said, your point is valid. Companies don't grow unless they are thinking about growth and the future and what technology decisions will impact future growth. Market/Tech watch meetings can be injected into the DNA of any small company. It's just a matter of discipline.