Need opinions on a business model

[Hottalking]

Aside from ?Hello?, this is my first official post to GFY, and it?s a biggie. I am interested in getting some thoughts and feedback on an adult business model that I have created. The site is hottalking.com and our focus is on audio erotic stories. I think it has potential, but a set of fresh eyes is always a good thing.

The revenue model is similar to iTunes, where the stories are categorized into genres and the price for each is $2.95 regardless of the length of the story. The average length happens to be about 7 minutes. Every story has a description and a 10-20 second preview so folks can decide if they want to buy it or not. Once a story is purchased it can be downloaded immediately. I decided against a monthly membership model in order to give potential customers the freedom to pick and choose what interests them without having to commit to anything.

We grow content in the following manner: Folks can submit their own original audio stories to our site. (They must pass the quality standards outlined in the rules section). Each time a story is downloaded from our store, they will earn 20% of the fee. I am considering raising this to 40%. Currently CCBill is our gateway and PhantomCart handles the shopping cart. In addition, we have a group of independent contractors called the ?Hot Talking Talent Network?. These are men and women who have agreed to record stories on demand. We pay them $9 for each story they perform, plus 20% of each download. The $9 we pay them is funded through another really cool service we offer called ?Submit for Performance?. Basically this allows anybody to send us an erotic story in text format and a member of the talent network will perform it. The charge for this service is $20. So after the $9 we pay to the talent network member, we earn $11.

Since it is in everybody?s best interest that stories are downloaded often, we are in the process of creating a program called ?Meet the Voices?. This allows talent network members and other folks who submit stories to promote themselves on our site. Each person gets a teaser ad, plus a webpage dedicate to them. There is no charge for this service.

Sorry for the long-winded description. Does this sound viable? Anything I am missing or should consider? Any and all comments are welcome.

Thanks

[LoveSandra]

bump 4 you

[Majestic]

Another bump. I wanna hear some feedback!

[Hottalking]

Anybody have any thoughts?

[fatfoo]

Welcome to GFY, Hottalking. I like price of $2.95 it is a cheap price - a lot more people will buy the product.

[Arnox]

If you can design it well, I think it'd be pretty tops. I know that people like shit like that - hell, literotica.com has more reach than Brazzers.

I think you've got a killer idea that hasn't really been developed, plus I'm sure there are plenty of review sites out there that can pump you with some quality 'alternative' traffic.

[officegirl]

Yep fully agree, in these times i feel price structures have to change from the 1996 style of pricing, and feel you are onto something there, good call.

natasha
x

[Naechy]

Sorry for the long-winded description. Does this sound viable? Anything I am missing or should consider? Any and all comments are welcome. Nothing. Sound good.

[clicker]

Test the market and get it going asap on the cheap. Analize the traffic you get.

"Folks can submit their own original audio stories to our site."
You might take a lesser stance on this part. I would produce the stories yourselves and then have the user upload section as an option but not part of the business model.

[kjmaster]

There is no better way but to put the website to a test.
I really like your idea and I believe in a few month you will get the "correct" formula according to statistics and feedbacks.
Good luck!

[GlobalCorp]

It can work. Run a test -

[Hottalking]

Originally Posted by clicker

Test the market and get it going asap on the cheap. Analize the traffic you get.

"Folks can submit their own original audio stories to our site."
You might take a lesser stance on this part. I would produce the stories yourselves and then have the user upload section as an option but not part of the business model.

You are right on the money. That is exactly what I am doing. At this early stage of the game I cannot rely solely on user submissions to build content.

[Hottalking]

Originally Posted by fatfoo

Welcome to GFY, Hottalking. I like price of $2.95 it is a cheap price - a lot more people will buy the product.

I was actually annoyed that 2.95 was the lowest price CCBill would allow. My original price target was 1.29.

[Hottalking]

Originally Posted by Arnox

If you can design it well, I think it'd be pretty tops. I know that people like shit like that - hell, literotica.com has more reach than Brazzers.

I think you've got a killer idea that hasn't really been developed, plus I'm sure there are plenty of review sites out there that can pump you with some quality 'alternative' traffic.

You mentioned "If I can design it well". I would very much appreciate an objective review of how you think the site looks. If you have a few spare minutes, go to my site and let me know what you think. Don't hold back on your assessment. I need honesty. If anything interests you, let me know and I will send it over to you.

[pornguy]

A business model is what it is.. It can work or it can fail. There is not set way to say if you do X this way you will make money. If you put a McDonalds in the middle of a Super rich fancy neighborhoods with only seniors you will make some sales but you wont make nearly as much as you would have in a regular middle class one. They Both have the exact same business model.

Most of it depends on you, your experience and your desire to make it.

Dont ask us. Ask yourself, and look inside you to see what you want.

90% of the people you see here this month trying will just be chatting next month and gone completely within 3 months.