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We've already teamed up with the great crew over at YNOT to link
to some of their newsworthy articles... if anyone else has some
industry articles that you would like us to link to.. please contact
Shok.
Business Communication: The Basics:
Communication is the most important element in today’s society.
Every time we interact with another person we communicate, most
of the time without even thinking about it. Bad communication causes
families to break up, wars to start, and business deals to go bad,
to name just a few examples............Read
More Here
Where has industry loyalty gone?:
Little if anything upsets me more than when I feel that a business
associate or friend has shaken my trust or has been disloyal...
no matter how much time is allowed to pass, you can never quite
regain that level with me that you once had unfortunately...........Read
More Here
Some Thoughts on Counters:
Some of you might not use counters on your websites, since a lot
of ISP’s provide decent stats packages these days. Most of
the stats packages that are installed by an ISP for its clients
(or installed by webmasters themselves) are log-dependent. In other
words, they look at your logs on a regular basis – once a
day usually – and crunch all of that information into something
that is useful to you................Read
More Here
Great Leadership Doesn’t Come Cheap:
In order to practice and improve your leadership skills, you don’t
need to be the head of a large corporation. In fact, you don’t
need to be an executive or manager of any company. You can lead
people to success from any position...............Read
More Here
What is a Website Review?:
A substantial percentage of adult webmasters are still operating
without having had their website reviewed by an attorney. Various
reasons are offered for this, including: “I know the law,”
“I stick to soft-core content,” “My friend told
me what his lawyer said,” or, “What is a website review?”
None of those excuses justify the unacceptable risk...............Read
More Here
Inside the German Sex Industry:
Germany, once perceived as having one of the most tolerant attitudes
to porn, is now one of the most regulated markets. Anyone wishing
to sell into Europe’s largest market must now adhere to the
rules as laid down by the government...............Read
More Here
Good Business Etiquette in Adult:
I know you entered the adult world looking for fantastic times and
adventures that you had never experienced. While adult can be quite
the walk on the wild side, you should a lso keep in mind that this
is a business, and a lucrative one at that..............Read
More Here
Incorporating Disadvantages
Yesterday we looked at the advantages of incorporating a business.
So today we will look at the downsides. There are several advantages
to incorporating a small business, there are also disadvantages
that need to be considered. The main disadvantages of incorporating,
I think, are the increases in paperwork and cost, which can be substantial
compared to a sole proprietorship or partnership:........read
more here
Incorporating
At one point or another most of us have thought about incorporating.
Is it to your advantage to incorporate or stay a sole proprietorship
or partnership? A common scenario is for small businesses to start
out as sole proprietorships or partnerships and become incorporated
at some later date when the business has grown. If you're one of
the people considering incorporating your business, here are the
main advantages of incorporating:........read
more here
Signs Of Too Much Debt
Yesterday we talked about accumulating debt over the holidays and
how easy it is to do. Some of you may be in serious debt and not
even realize it. Being in debt sucks ass and about 10 years ago
I was loaded with a ton of it. I had 3 maxed out credit cards. I
was lucky enough to have great success in 1997 with the adult net
and was able to wipe out all that debt and promised myself to never
get in a situation like that again. I put together some warning
signs that you might be in deep debt do-do.........read
more here
Holiday Debt
I hate the holidays. I really do. I guess around the time I got
my first credit card, Christmas stopped being fun. Although it was
great to go out and buy everyone something for Christmas, it took
me half the following year to pay off all the bills. Debt sucks
and it's easy to get trapped with a load of it. It's bad enough
that at the end of the year you get hit with insurance, taxes, property
taxes, etc., but then you got to shell it all out for presents.
I'm all for canceling Christmas and just going on a trip somewhere,
but that never works out either. I put together some tips to help
you stay out of debt this year. .........read
more here
Best Biz Ops From 2004
Do you try and stay current with other businesses outside our industry?
I try to. I read tons of financial and start-up company publications.
It's always fun to see what new businesses are taking off and which
ones are sinking. I put together a list of what the hottest biz
ops of 2004. Some were surprising, some were not. How many of you
are somehow involved in these industries?.........read
more here
Retirement Planning:
Have you started thinking about retirement planning? I have to admit
I have pretty much dropped the ball on this. I need to get something
going but I always forget and get busy with whatever I'm doing.
I will for sure be setting up some sort of plan by the 1st. As I
work my way through to figure out what is best for me I will start
posting articles about it to help you guys out as well if your looking
for more information also.........read
more here
Taxes: Dependents:
With the end of the year quickly approaching it's time for yet another
tax article. Yes I know it pains you, but you need to be ready to
fork over your hard earned dollars. Today let's talk about claiming
dependents. Apparently I can't claim Jim, Greg and Brad. I also
can't claim my pets and all the prositutes on Harry Heins. Here
is the criteria you need to know.........read
more here
Profitable Networking:
Trade shows provide huge potential to not only grow your contact
list, but to also visit with current customers. Keeping current
customers happy can go a long way because if they are happy, then
you have the advantage of word of mouth to help you sell more to
new customers. It's important to have a list of people you need
to talk to first. These people will have the qualifications to be
a new customer because you know for a fact thet they could use your
sevices. From there move to making new contacts. The parties thrown
at Internext offer fantastic oppurtunities to meet new people and
start a dialogue........read
more here
Becoming Wealthy:
How many of you consider yourself to be rich? I'm sure alot of you
have at one point made alot of cash. What did you do with it? Did
you invest it? Did you blow it on hookers and drugs? Or is it secretly
working for you everyday making cash while you sleep? I am not rich,
and I never really aspired to be filthy rich, although it would
be nice, I always just wanted to live comfortable and not worry
about money.....on second thought maybe I need to be rich!........read
more here
Present Ideas For Dad This Christmas:
Within hours, Brad's life will change forever. Not only will baby
Shaw be here soon, but so will Christmas. Will Brad be doomed forever
to get socks and underwear for presents for now on? What do you
get dad for Christmas? I always get the worst crap and I hear the
same excuse every year..."You are too hard to buy for!"
Well I looked around and put together a list of the top presents
to get dad this year.......read
more here
Gathering Tax Documents:
It's getting closer and closer to the end of the year and if your
like me, you start sweating the tax stuff thats coming. So far we
have talked about mistakes people make on taxes and depreciating
your computer equiptment. Today I put together a list of documents
you need to get together when your ready to prepare your taxes.......read
more here
Tips For A Great Web Page:
If your a newbie to web design or a seasoned pro, every now and
then it's good to check out other people's tips on strong points
to consider when building a website. There are always certain things
to think about when putting together a website that apply to both
adult and non-adult design. I put together a few points that may
help you when you build your next website......read
more here
Suitable Daytrading Stocks:
Are you a stock trader? I always wanted to be a successful day trader
but I'm always afraid that I will lose it all. I dabble here and
there but nothing serious. So far my secret is basically watching
the price of oil and knowing when to buy a stock that moves with
the price of oil like airlines. When oil prices go up, airline stock
tumbles. Thats when I buy, and then when oil goes down the stock
always shoots right up, I hold it a bit and then sell. I gathered
up some info on day trading stock and what to look for........read
more right here.
Splurge Spending:
If your like me, you probably have wasted alot of cash over the
years on stupid stuff. I have tried hard to curb my bad spending
habits and to tuck away cash for retirement or something more important.
I'm the type of person that if I have a pocket of cash and a plan
to deposit it in the bank, I will probably end up with box of pinwheels
and big foam "I'm #1" finger........read
more right here.
Wireless Hotspots:
Before my laptop battery took a crap on me I had big plans. I wanted
to be able to go anywhere I wanted with my computer and be able
to get online. Really though I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes
to wireless connections and I'm slowly learning as I go. I want
to be able to go to Starbucks and be the dork in the corner surfing
porn or Sheri Santiago pics. Apparently though you need a "hotspot"
or a place that pics up a good wireless signa. lApparently there
are lists and maps of such places and I have compiled a bit for
you if you would like to be an uber geek like me.......read
more right here.
Depreciation Of Biz Expenses:
Since most people in this industry are paid by 1099, the IRS gives
you a chance to write off some of your expenses. Expenses like computers,
office space, possibly your car. If you have a CPA they can point
out some things that can be written off that you might not expect.
When I worked at home, my CPA showed me how I was eligible to write
off a portion of my electric and a few other bills. You have a chance
to write off expenses in one year, or you might opt to write off
the depreciation over several years. I put together a bit of information
that you might find useful when you go to file your taxes this year.....read
more right here.
Create A Buzz:
Do you remember all the hype about that movie "The Blair Witch
Project"? There was some great buzz generated and it turned
into a cash cow for the movie studio and creators. Creating a buzz
about your product or program can be sometimes hard to do, but with
a little work it will pay off big time....Read
More Here
Common Tax Mistakes:
Everyone makes mistakes. But making mistakes on your tax return
can lead to an IRS-sized headache later in the year. Make sure you
don't make these common mistakes....Read
More Here
Quick Ways To Increase Traffic:
Some quick and easy tips to getting more traffic to your website...........Read
More Here
Adult's Evolution... Will You Survive?:
Over the past four or five years I have seen a number of things
affect the bottom line of the adult industry. Different sectors
of the industry felt these developments at different points in time.
When I entered the industry as a content provider, licensing content
was still a pretty good way to make money in this business............Read
More Here
Gonzales and Brownback: New Angles in the War on Porn:
If you’re looking for a solid bet, place money on Alberto
Gonzales being confirmed by the Senate as Attorney General of the
United States of America – despite the inevitable protest
votes of a number of Democrats, and possibly even a few Republicans...........Read
More Here
Legal Checklist for Operating an Online Dating Site: courtesy
of Ynot
Masters
While operating an online dating site does not generate the same
high degree of legal risk as, for example, an adult website, online
gaming site or online pharmaceutical sales sites, an online dating
site can create its own unique set of legal concerns.........Read
More Here
Internext Seminar Coverage: Converting And Retaining Traffic:
Early on Day Two of Internext Expo, the second part of the traffic
seminar got underway in front of a sizeable and attentive audience
– despite the early hour and the soothing, soporific effect
of the moderator’s honey-toned voice. Moderated by Colin Rowntree
from Wasteland.com, the panel of traffic experts consisted of Jack
Mardack from Adult Friend Finder, Legendary Lars of Streamray, and
Fred Warner from Activenet. ........Read
More Here
Winter Internext Expo 2005: Attendees and Exhibitors React:
Well, the year came and went. And some companies came and went.
But the doom and gloom was never justified. The industry is still
standing, still raring to go, and still making fist loads of cash
for companies who found ways to comply with the new policies........Read
More Here
Internext Seminar Coverage: Billing and Processing:
One thing every pay site needs is a way to collect money from surfers.
Billing and processing are complicated topics; Visa’s rules
and conditions seem to be constantly changing, and no one wants
to lose their credit and/or their good name over a few too many
chargebacks. .......Read
More Here
The Death of the Old School Pay Site?:
In 2005, the webmasters who want to survive the pay site game will
need to produce their own content. For amateurs, this is nothing
new – it’s business as usual. But for the old-school
webmasters, producing content might be a chore. Just to clarify,
nobody is saying that you will have to shoot your own content yourself
– although I suspect a lot of you wouldn’t mind that
fate .......Read
More Here
A Vacation In Heaven:
I flew into the Reno airport where I was met by a Bunny Ranch limo
with the beautiful Alexis Fire riding shotgun for the 30-minute
drive to Nevada’s capital, Carson City, the home of the brothel.
Upon arrival, we dropped off my suitcase at one of the many 3-bedroom
homes on the grounds of the Bunny Ranch ..............Read
More Here
Live Cams Aren’t Just For Up-Sells Anymore:
When it comes to up-sells, that’s what live video is for;
members who want a little one-on-one time can wander over to your
live video plug-in content and purchase some attention. It’s
a nice bonus when it happens, but you don’t expect it to happen
too often. ..............Read
More Here
Billing for Content in Europe:
It never ceases to amaze me how US-centric our American friends
are. Not only do they seem to assume that everybody outside of the
US can read and understand English, they also assume that the preferred
payment method worldwide is the credit card. This is not necessarily
the case..............Read
More Here
Profiting From Erotica Stories:
Erotica often gets overlooked because of its reputation for being
flowery, or softcore, or worse yet, for women. But, in fact, erotica
spans as many varieties, niches and genres as any of the porn that’s
being sold online. Erotica stories can be found on many adult pay
sites, free sites, even TGPs. Stories help increase retention at
paysites and help convert free traffic to joins.............Read
More Here
Online Adult: Then and Now:
Not long ago – in fact, just a few hours before I started
to write this editorial that you’re now reading – the
question was raised on YNOT’s webmaster chat board: How long
does the average adult webmaster last these days? Is this industry
just one huge revolving door?............Read
More Here
The Language of Niche:
As a writer, I’m not usually at a loss for words. As an English
Lit. major, in college (don’t laugh) I used to love hunting
through the dictionary to find those obscure words that would stump
my teachers and send them flipping through their own dictionaries.
That little tactic would usually bump my mark by at least half a
grade point, and it also provided me with a great vocabulary over
the years............Read
More Here
Looking Beyond Passwords: A Hacker’s View of Your
Website:
When I got started in the security of adult sites back in 1995 it
was all about passwords. Every time a password would get posted
to the web the exposed site’s server would quickly get overloaded
and crash. I remember writing complex scripts to thwart password
sharing and hacking attempts............Read
More Here
World Wide Webmaster: Greece:
Greece is either goats or gold to adult webmasters. This land of
opportunity has world-class athletes and world wide webmasters competing
to please its crowds in 2004. Yet the best results come to those
who master the fundamentals...........Read
More Here
Is It Porn or Just Naked Pictures:
At a recent Internext seminar I asked a panel of third party payment
processors what measures they took to ensure the value of the paysites
that they process for. They replied they check the site content
matched up to what was promised in the tour in terms of quantity.
They said they were unable to decide on the quality, suitability
and porn worthiness of a site, claiming it would be different to
each viewer...........Read
More Here
Webmasters React to Bush Second Term:
I feel kind of sorry for any newbies who had the unfortunate timing
of joining the industry during the last few months, and especially
the last few weeks. From the tone on the boards, and the constant
tension in the air, such a noob might have gotten the impression
that politics are the main focus of this industry...........Read
More Here
Insider's Guide to Promoting a Real Amateur's Web Site:
Most of us don’t have the necessary resources to compete with
the so called “big boys” as far as promotion is concerned,
however we do have an option that is not available to them. I’ll
tell you more about this...........Read
More Here
Get Traffic Using Expiring Domain Names:
Each day, twenty thousand plus domain names expire and become available
for anyone to register. This is valuable information if you are
seeking a domain to help you boost an existing site’s traffic,
or even if you are just looking to resell domain names for a profit............Read
More Here
The Art of Up-Selling:
Anyone with a bit of savvy in this industry will tell you that it’s
much easier to generate increased sales from existing customers,
i.e. cross/up-selling, than it is to find new customers. It is one
thing to get the standard sale, but its far better to super-size
that sale...........Read
More Here
Content: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:
So, you are getting ready to do an adult Web site. You have a great
concept and you think you have “the site” that is going
to make you a millionaire. All you need is the content. You start
looking around and confusion sets in as you find so many options,
each with its own subset of opinions...........Read
More Here
Sig Prices Return to Earth:
Much like the dot-com boom and bust of early 2000, there seems to
be a readjustment of value as advertisers fight to ensure their
money is well spent. People like Legendary Lars, of LegendaryLars.com,
who once made a splash paying out top dollar for superstar signatures,
are starting to look a little closer on what can be gained. ..........Read
More Here
Profitable Laziness: More Money,
Less Work:
We are all looking for ways to make money. We have plans, dreams,
hopes and yearnings. I don’t know about you, but my little
dream is to make enough cash to lie back on a tropical beach while
watching hula girls and drinking fruity boozers with pink umbrellas...........Read
More Here
What's your edge? Develop it and
do it:
A lot of people get started in this business and never realize their
goals because they do exactly the same thing and everyone else.
You can make money copying other people, but not nearly the amount
you can make if you blaze your own trail as the saying goes..........Read
More Here
Differences in Sales and Marketing Strategies: Mainstream
vs. Adult:
On one such occasion I met one of my marketing peers. Despite his
distain for porn, he was intrigued that I had spent roughly the
same amount of time in sales and marketing in the mainstream world
as I had in adult..........Read
More Here
Making Music for Adult Productions:
My partner and I hadn’t considered producing music for the
adult industry when we first started recording together. Initially
we just wanted to build a digital recording studio at my house so
that we could jam together and record for fun. But, it wasn’t
long after our first few recording sessions that we both realized
that we were producing some very professional quality music..........Read
More Here
We Women, We Horny, We Have Money:
As a writer, it’s always flattering to receive feedback. As
a woman, I have to admit, it’s validating to know that my
sexuality is being taken seriously by at least some portion of the
adult industry...........Read
More Here
Owning and Maintaining Your Own TGP:
Running a successful TGP is hard – harder than running successful
free sites for sure, easily harder than AVS sites, and I would dare
to go out on a limb to say even harder than pay sites. With that
said (and your feet firmly back on the ground), the TGP site, the
granddaddy of all free sites, can be a very profitable venture..........Read
More Here
Using Scripts to Work Smarter, Not Harder:
I want to focus primarily on the different programs available to
automate your site. Though these scripts are meant to manage TGPs,
they are more than capable of maintaining, managing and operating
other kind of sites as well...........Read
More Here
Wooing Women: Marketing Porn to the Other Fifty Percent:
While there are more men than women in the adult industry, there’s
no shortage of women working as models, sales reps, traffic gurus,
amateurs, sex writers and company owners ............Read
More Here
Domain Names: To Dash Or Not To Dash?:
There’s more to the dash than might first meet the eye, so
let’s take a quick look at the use of dashes in domain names
– when to use them, why they might help your search engine
marketing efforts, and when to avoid them. ............Read
More Here
Targeted Text: Aiming At Your Audience:
Words are like bait. Tasty little morsels of bait used to lure surfers
in, hook them, and lead them all the way to an open wallet. In order
to catch the type of surfer you want, you need to use the right
bait.............Read
More Here
Using Traffic Effectively:
So often I see people talking about buying a ton of traffic. Soon
they are complaining that it did nothing. They got no sales, they
did not get all the traffic they were supposed to get, and so on............Read
More Here
Sorting the Traffic Alphabet Soup:
Whether you are new to the adult industry or have been around for
a while, traffic in its different types and various sources can
cause confusion and aggravation............Read
More Here
Erotica and Adult Websites:
I love sex. I love talking about sex, I love writing about sex,
I love everything about sex. But, I have a secret to confess: I’ve
never really been into watching porn............Read
More Here
Live and Interactive: The Online Advantage:
Almost two years ago I pitched an article on reality sites to one
of my fellow editors. He felt at the time that reality sites were
old news. Today, many months later, top adult website affiliate
programs are still focusing much of their energy on building and
promoting new reality site concepts............Read
More Here
Anime/Manga: Niche Advantages:
One of the most complicated issues that newbie adult Webmasters
will face is the problem of choosing a niche. Even experienced Webmasters,
who are said to be old stagers, sometimes need to shift from one
niche to the next in order to keep up with the growing appetites
of adult market consumers...........Read
More Here
Independent Webmasters and Pay Site Marketing:
If you work at home and want to run your own pay sites then you
will be facing a growing challenge that you will find, in the coming
years, increasingly difficult to address..........Read
More Here
Marketing: What's Working?:
What was once a sure sign that your company had arrived on the scene
may now be viewed as a lack of focus, or worse, an act of desperation.
.........Read
More Here
Confessions Of A Sex Toy Reviewer:
Since I began reviewing adult products, my work has encroached into
the bedroom, my bathroom, and on many occasions been found on my
kitchen table.......
Read
More Here
The summer 2004 Internext Expo convention concluded in Hollywood,
Florida this week, and opinions about the show have not been in
short supply.....
Read
More Here
The members of the Traffic Roundtable panel at this year’s
summer Internext Expo show proved their knowledge of traffic-related
issues. The information they provided was incredible, even for someone
such as me who deals with adult website traffic issues every day......Read
More Here
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