GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - In regards to my StudioCash thread, a response to the cynics relating OUR INDUSTRY.

I made a thread regarding the launch of StudioCash after 2.5 years of work.
http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=409950

A few people stated that they are skeptical as to if we will be anything different than the hundreds of programs already occupying the internet (and rightly so it is human nature to be skeptical).

This thread is NOT ABOUT STUDIOCASH. Yes, I mantion how StudioCash will be doing business only as a reference to our industry. This thread relates to our industry as a whole, and how we do business, and how we treat our customers. It is very long, but hopefully it will start a discussion about what our core business is really about, which is the CUSTOMER!

**READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**

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What I tell you now may not give you a clear picture of what sets us apart from the rest untill you actually see the finished product itself, so I understand if you remain skeptical and that is okay, I wouldnt blame you, I would be skeptical as well if someone promised me the world.

Let me make one thing clear, I am not here to put down any other program whatsoever, I am just pointing out our assets and differences and what sets us apart from what webmasters are used to.

What makes StudioCash different are the little things that no one else pays attention or effort to. Things on the Join page that makes the difference between a join and a closed browser.

Members area with as much content in a single site that it is equivlant to the amount of content found in a cookie cutter program's entire protfolio of sites, COMBINED. Now most of you may be thinking "why should I care about how much content there is in a members area of a site, in a PPS program I can only get paid once on a surfer, so it doesnt matter if he does not like the member area of a site and cancells, I will get paid for the initial signup regardless."

But deep down inside, I bet most webmasters do care about how a surfer is treated. If you had the choice of sending a nameless person to a popup hell or to a site with no popups and we got paid the same amount for either, we would all send them to the site with no popups, because most of us want to do good and want everyone to benefit from our work! So why then do we send our traffic to a site

Think of it in terms of how we think about the enviroment. The old thinking was that you can do whatever you want to the enviroment, and it won't effect us. So we litterred and poluted, and then we started to feel the effects, and now the way people treat the enviroment has changed. I believe this exact phenomonon will happen in our industry, so I am taking the initiative that it is not okay to just put up a pretty tour and charge the surfer $40 for a $3 product.

Mutt mad a great point here a few days ago saying we are an industry that charges $40 for our product while giving the customer back a product worth $3 in VALUE! Yes, other products may cost the company $3, and they sell it for $40 as well, but they are giving the customer $40 in VALUE, while sadly, we do not do the same in this industry. We promise the surfer the world, and then give him Idaho. It is amazing that our industry

But how long can we survive like this? Think about this: Most of us would agree that the only people paying for porn now are the new surfer who just got his computer and an AOL connection. Why is that? Yes, free porn has alot to do with it. But think about it for a second. We have alienated most of our previous customers either by billing methods that are outright theft, or by simply ripping the surfer off by telling him he can have 10 oranges if he join, and then giving him a rotten apple instead when he does.

I ask you, how long can an industry survive and most importantly THRIVE when it's sole customer base are people who are trapped into purchasing its product for the most part, and who will never pay for that product again. Will the internet continue to grow at the same pace that it is in U.S. in the future? What happens when there are no more new surfers to expolit?

We will have content presented in such a way that the surfer will understand that it will be worth it to join this site. Customer support for webmasters and surfers that will be beyond what they expect, and exactly what they SHOULD be given! THE FACT IS that in this industry, as a whole, we treat the customer like dirt.

Let me give you an example. 90% of programs offer NO customer support to their customers. If you go into a paysite, when you need support, most of the time the only link you will find will be a link to the customer support site of Paycome/ccbill, etc.

When a customer wants to cancel, or is unhappy with their membership, their first point of contact is with a paycome or ccbill rep on their site! So lets say a surfer is unable to download a video on a site, he tries to find help on the paysite, but instead, the only thing he can find is a link to http://www.billingsupport.com (paycoms support). So he goes on that site, and what does he see? "click here to cancell your membersship". And you can pretty much tell how the rest of this story goes.

So what we have done is we have created a stand alone customer support site with a live customer support rep (show me another company doing that) and a gazillion help files covering every single question a surfer might have. So now we are there to help the customer when he has a problem instead of giving them the easy out and having them cancel.

Everyone talks about how retention is awfull and down to 30% and blah blah, well, have you dont anything about that? Have you actually addressed the issue? Or are you doing the same things you were doing in 1999? Keep doing the same thing, and you will keep getting the same results.

I don't think you guys in partnership program realize how much money you are losing because of simple things like this? I would venture to guess alot.

The biggest asset of this industry is it's greatest downfall...and thats the fact that it's so easy to make money in adult compared to other industries. It is so easy to make money in this industry that no one takes the time to innovate and try new things and simply improve! Why should they when they can do the same thing as everyone else has before them and still make money.

I believe that kind of thinking is flawed. It pays to think different. As I said before though, action talks and bullshit walks, so the proof will be in the pudding soon. Thanks for reading my little rant. I look forward to the criticism that may unsue. :)