i don't know how many of you read the CE board, but this is where i got this from last month, posted by a guy called "obnoxious bastard" he has some of the greatest fucking ideas and posts.. this is his whole post, anyone serious about the biz. should print this out
posted 02-21-2001 21:42
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Good Morning.
Before I get started, no cracks about the ensuing spelling errors. I busted 2 fingers in a car accident last week and typing without them is proving to be something of a challenge. (insert your own, one handed typing joke here)
Anyway, Something I was thinking about on my recent vacation, one of many things to share with everyone, is the glaring "lack of planning" I see a large number of you are exhibiting.
How many of you have taken the time, to sit down with a pencil and paper, away from the computer and word processors and spreadsheets and write up an old fashioned goals sheet, or for some, you may call it a marketing plan? Have any of you made a business plan? Any of you registered this venture as a business? If you don't have a business, how do you take advantage of any tax situations you are entitled to? Have you ever done any market research in what you plan on providing to this super saturated market we call adult entertainment? Anyone?
The reason I mention this, is that so many new people, as well as veterans (if you can call anyone in this business a veteran... 2-4 years in the business is a lifetime for some), get caught up in the "more money..more money" blood lust. New people expect instant results. Instant free content. Instant pre-built web pages, instant search engine page one rankings for all the high traffic keywords, Instant free hosting, instant checks, etc etc.
Yet, very few, if any have an itemized, detailed list of where they are going, and what they are planning and most importantly, how to get to the final destination. If you don't know where you are going, how do you know how to get there the most efficiently? If you don't know how to get there effectively, you can't recognize when you start to wander off the path. If you don't catch these errors early, you are losing money. Period.
A month or so ago, someone posted the old "million dollar formula". This plan, in and of itself, is not a bad place to start, all though, for almost everyone here, it is unattainable. However, this should not dissuade you from using the plan. It gives you a target and something to focus on. I would revise it somewhat and look into those numbers hard and long. (insert your own joke here) Make it a more attainable goal for your first year, then revise it for your second year, then the third, etc. Make it workable and reachable. This is a living document that should be updated regularly. But, If you set your goals to high, you will only end up disapointed.
Another thing, how many of you go out and look at your competition? Not only the successful sites, but the not so successful ones as well. There is much to be learned from someone elses mistakes and failures, and it is less expensive to learn that way to.
For example, my mistake on my vacation was to trust someone else to execute some daily scripts and routines for me. I have known this person for a long time and they are not ignorant concerning computers and web server, web site technology. However, they made some alterations to the routine, because they thought they knew what I wanted, and they didn't understand the process like they thought they did. End result, those changes cost me almost 225,000 hits across my network of sites in those 12 days that I was gone. So, you tell me, how much did it cost me to make that assumption? How much would it have cost you?
However, when you stumble, and you will stumble, take the time to disect the problem to infinetesimal details. Accept the fact that maybe you screwed up, and most importantly how can you correct it quickly if something like it happens again. Always have a fall back position and plan. Also, don't stop trying something new. But before you do, make sure you completely understand how it fits in with your overall goals, and how quickly you should see results. If it doesn't measure up, determine why not, if it does, determine why it did.
There is an excellent knowledge base here, if you take the time to stop whining about "where is my check", and "how come my stats aren't working."
Dark G, is one of the many, who will hate me for this, but I recommend you pester the hell out of him, he seems to know alot more than he is sharing. So go get him and the rest. Stop worrying why your stats arent updating. Spend the time working and revising your plans.
Screw the stats. The only time you ever need to check stats is the day before the pay period ends, or if Nancy or Mike or Jim send you a letter saying there is a problem with your account.
If you are watching counters, you are not contributing to your own success. Stop wasting your time, and everyone elses by complaining about your counters not working and get to work. The only counting that matters is the kind your bankers computer does when it sends you your monthly statement. If you are watching pretty graphs, you have wasted electricity.
Finally, Don't ignore the non-adult sites. Find out why they are successful, if they are, or why they aren't. Anything a non-adult site does, can be altered to an adult site marketing scheme, if you do some work into the nuts and bolts of what they are doing.
Thats enough for now, finally.
Obnoxious Bastard
posted 02-21-2001 21:42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning.
Before I get started, no cracks about the ensuing spelling errors. I busted 2 fingers in a car accident last week and typing without them is proving to be something of a challenge. (insert your own, one handed typing joke here)
Anyway, Something I was thinking about on my recent vacation, one of many things to share with everyone, is the glaring "lack of planning" I see a large number of you are exhibiting.
How many of you have taken the time, to sit down with a pencil and paper, away from the computer and word processors and spreadsheets and write up an old fashioned goals sheet, or for some, you may call it a marketing plan? Have any of you made a business plan? Any of you registered this venture as a business? If you don't have a business, how do you take advantage of any tax situations you are entitled to? Have you ever done any market research in what you plan on providing to this super saturated market we call adult entertainment? Anyone?
The reason I mention this, is that so many new people, as well as veterans (if you can call anyone in this business a veteran... 2-4 years in the business is a lifetime for some), get caught up in the "more money..more money" blood lust. New people expect instant results. Instant free content. Instant pre-built web pages, instant search engine page one rankings for all the high traffic keywords, Instant free hosting, instant checks, etc etc.
Yet, very few, if any have an itemized, detailed list of where they are going, and what they are planning and most importantly, how to get to the final destination. If you don't know where you are going, how do you know how to get there the most efficiently? If you don't know how to get there effectively, you can't recognize when you start to wander off the path. If you don't catch these errors early, you are losing money. Period.
A month or so ago, someone posted the old "million dollar formula". This plan, in and of itself, is not a bad place to start, all though, for almost everyone here, it is unattainable. However, this should not dissuade you from using the plan. It gives you a target and something to focus on. I would revise it somewhat and look into those numbers hard and long. (insert your own joke here) Make it a more attainable goal for your first year, then revise it for your second year, then the third, etc. Make it workable and reachable. This is a living document that should be updated regularly. But, If you set your goals to high, you will only end up disapointed.
Another thing, how many of you go out and look at your competition? Not only the successful sites, but the not so successful ones as well. There is much to be learned from someone elses mistakes and failures, and it is less expensive to learn that way to.
For example, my mistake on my vacation was to trust someone else to execute some daily scripts and routines for me. I have known this person for a long time and they are not ignorant concerning computers and web server, web site technology. However, they made some alterations to the routine, because they thought they knew what I wanted, and they didn't understand the process like they thought they did. End result, those changes cost me almost 225,000 hits across my network of sites in those 12 days that I was gone. So, you tell me, how much did it cost me to make that assumption? How much would it have cost you?
However, when you stumble, and you will stumble, take the time to disect the problem to infinetesimal details. Accept the fact that maybe you screwed up, and most importantly how can you correct it quickly if something like it happens again. Always have a fall back position and plan. Also, don't stop trying something new. But before you do, make sure you completely understand how it fits in with your overall goals, and how quickly you should see results. If it doesn't measure up, determine why not, if it does, determine why it did.
There is an excellent knowledge base here, if you take the time to stop whining about "where is my check", and "how come my stats aren't working."
Dark G, is one of the many, who will hate me for this, but I recommend you pester the hell out of him, he seems to know alot more than he is sharing. So go get him and the rest. Stop worrying why your stats arent updating. Spend the time working and revising your plans.
Screw the stats. The only time you ever need to check stats is the day before the pay period ends, or if Nancy or Mike or Jim send you a letter saying there is a problem with your account.
If you are watching counters, you are not contributing to your own success. Stop wasting your time, and everyone elses by complaining about your counters not working and get to work. The only counting that matters is the kind your bankers computer does when it sends you your monthly statement. If you are watching pretty graphs, you have wasted electricity.
Finally, Don't ignore the non-adult sites. Find out why they are successful, if they are, or why they aren't. Anything a non-adult site does, can be altered to an adult site marketing scheme, if you do some work into the nuts and bolts of what they are doing.
Thats enough for now, finally.
Obnoxious Bastard
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