Burn a Newbie!
  Written By Raven

Since I moderate a message board and write for a resource site, one would think my patience is everlasting when it comes to newbies. It isn't. I have spent most of my adult webmasterhood giving back to the community; so, it would seem I'm ranting about stupid newbie questions. I have always maintained there are no stupidities, other than questions not asked.

What bothers me is the attitude I see, which seems to be running rampant across the boards. Free and easy used to describe the girl who put out, after the football game. Now, it's the mainstay of those who are coming into this business. We who have been here and don't live under rocks know how tough it is to begin any business venture. The adult industry is under fire from many different directions, not the least of which is VISA and the American government. The Internet is growing up and we'd better get with the program or we will be left behind.

Nothing is Free.

Free hosts are going away in droves. Traffic is not easy anymore. Putting a site on a free host makes no business sense. Using sponsor content will not result in increased sales. The opposite is true. Day after day, I and others repeat the same things. The Internet is no longer free. Yet, day after day, I read the same thing. New people, fresh behind the ears, don't want to pay for hosting or content or domains or software. They want to see if the water feels okay before investing any money. Veterans know that, in order to make money, one has to spend something. Hosting is so inexpensive these days, I don't understand why anyone would balk at paying ten dollars a month for a virtual account. It's easy to set up and it's cheap. Domains cost practically nothing. Content is inexpensive. There are software HTML editors, which can be downloaded for free or very little cost. What else does a newbie need? Resource sites are loaded with articles and tutorials. With so many resource sites available, there is no reason why a newbie can't begin to create a site of some sort and have the cost be less than $100. Nowhere else have I ever seen business start up expenses be so low. Create a free site or a gallery and learn how to market and sell porn. That seems simple enough to me.

No. What they want is to start their empire, without expenditure. There are newbies who have a camera and a girl; the word pay site creeps into the picture. That's when the costs begin to pile up. There's the registration fee for VISA. And, then the whining begins. They don't want to pay the registration fee. Why can't they use PayPal? Sorry. PayPal stopped processing adult back in June. Well, what about Verotel? Maybe; but, know that VISA International is going to quickly follow on the heels of VISA US. If payment is not now, it soon will be. The same goes for ProBilling. We warned webmasters about GloBill. Those who didn't listen are in a very real bind now. All because of not wanting to spend $750. Had they done so, they'd still be in the business.

There is Acacia, breathing hot and heavy, waiting for their day in court. Will they win? I don't know nor would I say in this article. Ask me in private, when their lawyers aren't trolling the boards. Can they win? Of course. On a resource site, it is best to advise everyone of the worst possible scenario. If Acacia does win, there will be fees due. If they don't, someone else will come up with a patent and charge users. The Internet is no longer free.

Article after article has been written about treating this industry as the business it truly is. Why do newbies fail to listen? Even with repeated warnings, newbies keep asking for a way to circumvent the issue of cost. They are worse than a virgin surfer who doesn't want to join a pay site. Getting new webmasters to part with their money is just as difficult.

Onward to the discussion of easy. Webmastering is not easy. Those of us who have been around know this. From carpal tunnel to panic attacks to drug abuse, we know how difficult it is to sell and market to the unseen audience. There is no face to face for this type of business. When I ask newbies who their target audience is, I am met with blank pages. No answer. While I realise it's not easy to predict who will buy what, there are some theories which make sense. We get a feel for a certain niche or genre and we look into the colours and fonts and graphics we predict will turn on the age group we want to buy from us. There are times we are wrong; but, we do think about this and research toward hitting the right age group with the tour we think will sell best.

Every time I see a post from a newbie, I cringe. I'm so afraid I'm going to tell him/her to get off my Internet or get a clue. It's not that I don't want to help new people. I do. I'm more than willing to look at first time sales attempts. I do not expect them to know the tricks of the trade. That takes time and experience. When I hear that little effort will be made, that they are looking for the path of least resistance, the path that doesn't interfere with their wallet or social life, I begin to burn. Computers are faster and more efficient than they were a few years ago, so speed is not the question. Hand submitting to TGPS is a must. Forming a relationship with link list owners is a must; otherwise, the site in question falls by the wayside. Auto submitters may have their uses; but, not if one wants to make money consistently. Traffic is at a premium. There are plenty of new surfers. There are also lots of new sites for them. The demand is equal to the supply or the supply has come dangerously close to surpassing the demand.

It is possible that, with regulation, there will be a lessening of free sites. Certainly, many AVS found out they were not supported by VISA, making their model obsolete. Many of them are either going out of business or closing the loop. No longer can they call themselves Adult Verification Systems. Now, they will be known as Adult Entertainment Networks, which is fine; but, they were an avenue to travel when it was too costly to create the pay site. With three hundred pics, anyone could have a 'gold' site or 'platinum' site. I don't know how long AEN will last. It seems they are superfluous; but, we'll see.

My message, other than a rant and rave, is fondly directed toward those who are new to this industry. Spend your money wisely; but, spend some of it. Utilise the resource sites for figuring out where to spend money. Ask questions. Absolutely ask questions. Find a host who doesn't rip you off. Buy content from a reputable provider.

Finally, know this. No business venture is easy. While the tenets which help you achieve success are simple, there is no easy road. Certainly, it's not free.