Will YOU become the Shark or a Dinosaur in this industry?
 

Great little article I just read at XBIZ.com hits the nail on the head when it comes to your future in this the online adult industry.

Bottom Line - Adapt or you will go the way of the Dinosaur:thumbsup

Highlights from Become the Shark By Ayrora Temple

Take a lesson in 'Mutation 101' and become the shark. The shark is also the ultimate survivor... you as an adult operator have to ask yourself, "Do I want my business to die out like the dinosaur, or do I want to survive like the shark?"
Here are a few helpful tips for learning how to swim with the big fish:

* Learn how to become immune to everything that comes along to destroy you.
One of the shark's greatest strengths is the formidable immune system it has been able to evolve over the years; protecting it from countless, often unseen, enemies on a microscopic scale. Likewise, if you can become what noted adult attorney Greg Piccionelli calls "a hardened target" then your operation can for all intents and purposes be immune to many of the conditions that might otherwise afflict it.

* Learn to feed in shallow water ? it may be more dangerous, but it's also unexpected, and could be a very effective means of securing your next meal.
For adult website operators, this could mean getting by on smaller margins; for example, charging $14.95 (or less) per month for a membership that once easily sold for $29.95 per month ? the idea being that a price point can drop so low as to be "as good as free" ? which then greatly diminishes the economic appeal of "free porn." After all, if you can satisfy your appetite by easily feeding on schools of smaller fish, then why chase a lone whale at the bottom of the ocean's depths?

* Find easier prey and learn new techniques for hunting it.
Once again, as a master of adaptation to the challenges of its environment, the shark has managed to evolve its range of suitable prey to ensure that it is well fed. In the adult webmaster arena, this evolution can be mimicked by choosing less challenging prey. For example, trying to sell live, interactive services that surfers can't get for free ? such as webcam sessions :winkwink: and phone sex / video chat ? may make more sense than trying to sell still photos and video clips, which are readily available for free.

* Change your structure and multiply!
From small bottom-feeding sand sharks to behemoth open-ocean whale sharks, the species has diversified into myriad forms and spread throughout the world. These physical adaptations can be mirrored by the adult webmaster. For example, a successful affiliate seeing declining referral revenues might feel they can do a better job of retaining customers and thus decide to open a paysite; whereas a paysite operator with established traffic sources might find that sending those visitors to another program might be more profitable than trying to satisfy those visitors himself. It's all about finding where you fit best and then spreading out from there in an effort to ensure your longevity and food supply.

Think as though your company is a living, breathing animal. Pretend you are that animal and that you're being killed off. Your survival instincts should kick in and help you survive ? just like a shark.

As I watched my partner blow the virtual dust off of an old website and wonder if it was worth putting any more effort into, I asked him "As a Webmaster, are you going to continue to master the web, or are you going to end up letting the web master you?"

It really is your choice as to whether or not you can evolve and thrive like the shark, or go the way of the dinosaur ? but if you choose to do nothing then you will surely fade into extinction; a remnant of what might have been. As for me, I'll be lurking in the shallows, sniffing the water for the scent of blood, ready to strike.

Article: http://www.xbiz.com/articles/99944
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Nice article. Im starting to buy into the adapt or die shit Sticky has been spouting.. :(

do you have ANY idea how many sharks get killed by humans every year????


fuck that, I don't wanna be a shark and get my fins eaten by some Jap girl with hairy pussy

$14.95 is not as good as free.$10 sites never took off.Why don't they write an article about how stupid the industry is for supporting the giving it all away model and supporting illegal tubes and the $100 in hidden prechecked cross sales and actually out those people. Its not being a shark, its being so use to making money in spite of one selves that now some are so desperate they will support thieves or embrace questionable billing practices on the hope it will help them make money.
Basic business principles dont change.

Kinda neat today you can say what myself and my others have been saying for over a year ago and not get slammed across the board for it.

Because they would have to pull 80% of the advertisers they have if they actually attacked or felt this way.

Sharks are on the verge of virtual extinction through over fishing for, amongst other things, Chinese demand for shark fin soup.

Not an ideal analogy, really. Who would want to be a species on the verge of being eaten out of existence....?

Perhaps a better analogy would be "Will YOU become the Chinese fishing conglomerate or a Shark in this industry?"

You are right,my bad. I forgot this is short term make a buck adult. lol

I love listening to Dinosaurs like this talk.

Tube sites are the future. Complaining won't make them go away, it will only make you go away. So you have to use them to make money or they will just go ahead and make money without you.

Tony the number one rated site by the majority of review sites is Videobox that was one of the first to try the $9.95 price point for it's basic service with an available udgrade/upsell. Based on how well this business model works I am surprised more have not given this price point a try.

Articles are being written weekly and threads posted daily about this but you must realize that GREED and the lure of easy money is probably the most powerful influence of any in this particular industry.

Until this industry creates some type of watchdog association or governing body, which will NOT happen, to monitor questionable business practices then I am afraid very little will change in terms of how business is currently being conducted. It seems that GREED over ETHICS is the current mantra of this industry and that is a very unstable state to be in.

I agree with you 100% so where does that leave today's adult webmaster. Fighting to do the right thing when it comes to developing a profitable business model or......

Cute article, got any links to what Ms. Temple has accomplished in this industry that makes her advice worth anything ?

Nice read!

I think perhaps there is a difference between being a shark versus a barracuda or catfish :thumbsup

Brad

I know right... I remember you were one of the first. :)

Pretty sure I slammed you for it, too.

You left out a 3rd option, "a parasite", someone who feeds of others hard work...

Sharks really have not evolved much over time. Most are the same as they were during other era's.
Dinosaurs could not adapt out of their situation regardless - they done got smoked by something beyond their control that no amount of adaptation would of prevented. Same with about 95% of all other land based life forms.
Giant sharks also ended up not evolving or adapting. They remained perfect predators who ate up all of their prey and ended up dieing off.
Whale sharks, well technically different species.

Ya I understand metaphors and such. Just have always disliked both of them. Regardless and staying with metaphors. I deal in micro-niches and such. I have no plans on being a shark, nor a dinosaur. To many predators after the same food supplies and to messy when they do get to feed. I for one will live of the niche crumbs. I for one will remain a cockroach.

You had to read that to learn to adapt or die?

If your business savvy is that bad then you might as well get out now!

Well said :thumbsup

I want to become the industry Koala Bear.

They have very unique technology, that took a great deal of time to create and money. I don't know of any other site on the 'net doing what they are doing.

Paysites have tried this, it doesn't work. You can't offer a $10 membership, cut access like we have to in paysites, and still get upgrades without serious complaints.

The standard $10 a month price point has been tried and failed. It appears that anything under $19.95 (or so) is pretty much pointless if it's a standard subscription based paysite.

Adapting this would cost most Companies prob, 50k-100k - for a chance.


It's not so much greed.. I had $20 memberships and was making about $20k a month. Duke told me to bump them to $29.95 - just to see what happens (he wanted to show me what it did for him)... In the very short term, it increased my net by $10k a month...

Now the compound of that is off the chart. That isn't greed, it's smart business.

People charging $40 a month, still have 50% trial to conversions. Even if they convert better, they would take a major drop in overall company net revenues. It's not greed, it's saving your business....


As you said it won't happen, but even so we don't need another association that does nothing. Just like trying to get forums to ban against sponsors does nothing.

It comes down to people like you and me and others reading this thread, to bash, smash, cuss, yell, complain and bitch until every person knows the truth about every skum bag in this business. On every forum, blog, your webmaster submit pages...

Even review sites, they have surfer comments that just bash "EVERY" skum program, yet they still promote them.


We don't need an association - All Webmasters just need to a grow a set of balls.

I think its because if one is actually producing content for a site. $9.95 doesn't cut it.

I agree with what the article is saying, but not a lot of it's examples...

Just because review sites rate it highly because of the content per dollar ratio, does not mean that it is the best pricing model out there. I personally convert niche sites that charge $34.95 with no trial better than I convert videobox.

Quoted for truth.

Who decides who gets to be in this "association"? The online market is a free and open market, and best left like that. I'll be the first to tell any association that tries to govern my network to go fuck themselves. :)

Hmmm references to being the shark.... see sig and avatar :)

Good article and a good read, some valid ideas but very flawed theory.

The greatest survivor by far is The Roach.

I will leave it that we all know how the roach is able to survive.