Historically, porn has pushed the technological envelope – from photos to VCRs, digital cameras, web cams, and the adoption of broadband Internet access – by tantalizing erotic urges, porn moved the masses to adopt new technology. The early days of the Internet boom continued this tradition; flooding traffic with pics and soundless clips. Pushing forward, pix soon became larger, and clips filled with sound. It was good… then the big players got lazy and fell into mediocrity.
Mediocrity: the expectation of being paid for access to content of the same quality freely available.
Without a radical change, increased bandwidth, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, and video editing software will crash the current format. Video-On-Demand (VOD) is far from being ready for prime time. In fact, VOD will simply continue the thrills-mixed-with-irritation trend. While VOD should be pursued, choppy streams and unavailable servers will certainly infuriate pay-per-minute customers.
The key to continued pay site success lies in embracing current technological advancements, branding, and reaching for the absolute best. There are three key areas, each with detailed points, paving the road for continued profitability for all invested in the adult industry.
In detail, the areas are:
- Improved Visitor Experience
- Increased Perceived Value
- Boost Webmaster Options
Improved Visitor Experience
Increased Respect: First things first: clean-up any existing mess. A primary obstacle: remove the disrespect displayed to visitors. For example, pop-up ads and exit consoles. There is a simple rule of Web design: only put items worthy of screen "real estate" on the site.
Greeting a visitor with pop-ups reeks of tackiness. If you want their money, respect them by treating them as a person and not a number. Pop-ups generate revenue, however, there are better, renewable methods of profit maximization. Slamming new visitors with pop-ups is tacky; exit consoles for declining visitors is irksome. Show visitors some respect. Irksome tactics, tackiness, and disrespect simply causes surfers to go elsewhere, like to P2P networks.
Considering the main page is often the same entrance for members, the last thing paying members want are pop-ups. While some browsers and add-ons allow an escape to the hassle, pop-up suppression should be needless for a visit to a pay site – especially, if following a blind link to get there.
Previews at Membership Quality: Stating "members get a higher quality" rings hollow; prove it. If a site has "1000s" of images and "100s of gigs" of movies, showing a few samples is harmless. If the quality is truly exceptional, then paying for the content becomes a viable option. On the other hand, typical porn collages only display Photoshop skills, forcing the site to rely on flash and fluff. Are all the shots in a collage? Of course not, so show the goods; small, choppy, or slowly downloaded preview clips lower perceived value.
Give a taste of the true service, and joining becomes more reasonable. However, endless porn collages without previews cause sites to blur; nothing sticks. There are plenty of free sites out there – plus a good number of pay sites for nearly every niche. Pay sites betting on flashy tours for enticement and retention are betting on flimsy terms.
Kill the Mediocrity: Pay sites must raise their service's perceived value, including higher-quality content. If the clips, for example, are simply an additional 85 of a scene where 15 were freely available, there is no value added.
Having more does not increase perceived value; higher quality does. Only fools would pay for bottled tap water — even in vast quantities. Now mountain spring, purified, or distilled is worthy of purchase.
By seeking $40 monthly dues, pay sites must bring something extraordinary to the table – especially considering the cost of craving multiple niches! Forty bucks is equivalent to, if not greater than, standard broadband access. For that price, fast, crisp, and eye-popping previews and content is vital. After all, affiliates are using free sex to sell sex – the quality, not merely quantity, has to increase.
To be fair, multi-site access passes, like OxPass, need to be addressed. While a good idea, they still fall prey to requiring the consumer to be in front of a monitor and clicking. Further, it boils-down to more 4-inch semi-streaming clips, when a larger television tube provides a more enjoyable experience.
In the series conclusion, we'll take a look at increasing perceived value and boosting webmaster options. Stay tuned!
