opinion

Tools of the Trade

Recently, XBIZ World magazine asked several industry players, "What technology — software or hardware — could you not do your job without?"

Here's what they had to say:

That's a tough question to answer because there is so much that I could not live without. The top programs I could not live without are: 1) Spambayes spam filtering system. I receive over 10,000 emails per day, at least 9,000 of which are spam. Without a strong spam filter I'd be screwed, and not in a good way. 2) Excel: it allows me to track information, make long-term projections, graphs and charts for all. 3) HTML kit from Chami. All my HTML and PHP in nice, neat colors and rows — check code using TIDY is sweet. 4) Unified Stats and Stats Remote. I'm sending a lot of traffic to a lot of places, nice to have my stats in one place. I wouldn't be able to track without them. 5) Google Adwords Editor, with over 60,000 keywords in Google it would be a nightmare to work with the data manually.

— James Cybert, Director of Marketing, HotMovies

Obviously, in this day and age, it's near impossible to do anything remotely resembling business without a computer or cellphone. But the one piece of software that really and truly shocked me upon coming into this industry is the instant messenger program. I use instant messenger all day, daily; for inter-office communication, for quick business questions to studios where I also need something in writing, or just as an easy and unobtrusive way to say hello. The reasons that this way of communicating is so great is that, unlike a phone, you don't have to speak out loud ... so you can be having an honest-to-god conversation with someone else while talking to someone on IM. It's immediate, so you don't have to wait for the back-and-forth of email. And lastly, you can keep several conversations going all at the same time.

— Justin Brand, Content Manager, SugarDVD

Although I have only been in the adult industry short of two years, I have become very accustomed to many different aspects of technology that I use on a regular basis. As far as hardware goes I am unable to produce on such a wide scale without my high-end computer system utilizing a dual monitor interface. The dual monitor setup has definitely increased productivity and saved on time. In regards to software there are a few different items to mention. I currently rely on Edit Plus for all of my programming and coding needs, Adobe Photoshop for all graphic design and photo retouching, Total Commander for overall file and FTP control, Chameleon Submitter for the wide array of free sites my galleries reach in little time, ICQ for being the industry communication standard and Skype for increased communication via VOIP since I currently reside outside of the U.S.

— Donnie Adamson, Affiliate Manager/Marketing, LatinTeenCash

My Blackberry 8830 is my savior. I am so affiliate-conscientious that I make myself reachable all hours of the day (including weekends), and the Blackberry makes this possible. While I'm driving, sleeping, watching a game — whatever it is, I am able to respond immediately via email, IM or direct conversations and provide the Effex Media affiliates the response that they deserve and have come to know. What can I say, I love my job.

— John Mauser, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Effex Media LLC

Related:  

Copyright © 2026 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

profile

LoyalFans' Anastasia Pierce Bridges Creator Education, Empowerment and Ownership

Anastasia Pierce beams when she talks about her 26 years in the industry. Full of passionate energy, she clearly doesn’t just work in adult; she loves it.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Growing Site Revenue Under Ever-Changing Compliance Rules

Over the past year, many merchants have reported earnings that were flat or even a bit down. This is due to three main factors: age verification regulations, click-to-cancel rules, and banks backing away from cross-sales due to regulatory requirements and the rollout of the Visa Acquiring Monitoring Program (VAMP).

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

AI Safeguards for Platform Compliance and Trust

If your platform hosts user-generated content (UGC), then you already know protecting your brand is not merely a matter of good design or strong community guidelines. It requires systems that can verify who your users are, filter what they upload and ensure your business stays on the right side of regulators, payment processors and public opinion.

Christoph Hermes ·
opinion

How to Eliminate User Redirects and Improve Checkout Retention

Running an adult site, you work hard to create traffic and make sure your funnel is optimal, with the end goal of getting users to make a purchase. Then, right at that critical moment, what do you do? You send them somewhere else. Not good.

Jonathan Corona ·
profile

Stripchat's Jessica on Building Creator Success, One Step at a Time

At most industry events, the spotlight naturally falls on the creators whose personalities light up screens and social feeds. Behind the booths, parties and perfectly timed photo ops, however, there is someone else shaping the experience.

Jackie Backman ·
opinion

Inside the OCC's Debanking Review and Its Impact on the Adult Industry

For years, adult performers, creators, producers and adjacent businesses have routinely had their access to basic financial services curtailed — not because they are inherently higher-risk customers, but because a whole category of lawful work has long been treated as unacceptable.

Corey Silverstein ·
opinion

How to Build Operational Resilience Into Your Payment Ecosystem

Over the past year, we’ve watched adult merchants weather a variety of disruptions and speedbumps. Some even lost entire revenue streams overnight — simply because they relied too heavily on a single cloud provider that suffered an outage, lacked sufficient redundancy and failover, or otherwise fell short when it came to making sure their business was protected in case of unwelcome surprises.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Building a Stronger Strategy Against Card-Testing Bots

It’s a scenario every high-risk merchant dreads. You wake up one morning, check your dashboard and see a massive spike in transaction volume. For a fleeting moment, you’re excited at the premise that something went viral — but then reality sets in. You find thousands of transactions, all for $0.50 and all declined.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

A Creator's Guide to Starting the Year With Strong Financial Habits

Every January brings that familiar rush of new ideas and big goals. Creators feel ready to overhaul their content, commit to new posting schedules and jump on fresh opportunities.

Megan Stokes ·
profile

Pornnhub's Jade Talks Trust and Community

If you’ve ever interacted with Jade at Pornhub, you already know one thing to be true: Whether you’re coordinating an event, confirming deliverables or simply trying to get an answer quickly, things move more smoothly when she’s involved. Emails get answered. Details are confirmed. Deadlines don’t drift. And through it all, her tone remains warm, friendly and grounded.

Women In Adult ·
Show More