There comes a time when you need to assess the situation that you find yourself in, and decide whether you run your business, or your business runs you. Sometimes this is really a cathartic process, but at the end of it you emerge, stronger and wiser than before...
"Live Free or Die:" When General John Stark, illustrious member of Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian Wars, and the Hero of both the Battles of Bunker Hill and at Bennington, VT, during the American Revolutionary War, uttered these now famous words that would become the official State Motto of New Hampshire, he could scarcely imagine that 193 years later, this toast to his wartime comrades would become the title for an article on online porn:
Just as our world has changed, evolving dramatically during the two intervening centuries, so too has the business of online adult entertainment changed; evolving over the past few years into an amazingly dynamic and diverse, but for many of us, a decreasingly profitable, and increasingly dangerous, line of occupation.
Facing the Challenge
With profits eroded by a glut of free porn, and a marketplace conditioned to expect free content due to the short-sighted marketing plans of those who sought to make a quick buck, combined with increasing scrutiny by those who would rob consenting adults of their freedom of choice concerning the materials they wish to be exposed to in the privacy of their own homes, as well as a myriad of other factors, today's profit-minded adult webmaster has his or her work cut out for them.
While some webmasters attempt to turn the tide and change not only the marketplace, but the market forces and consumer demand driving it, I have decided to take a different approach. While we all must operate our businesses based upon our own beliefs and within our own individual set of circumstances, I have recently come to the conclusion that "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em:" But with a catch. There's always a catch:
Now I'm sure that more than a few of my readers would much rather see me spend all my time and energy crusading against free porn rather than increasing the supply of it, I have come to the conclusion that doing so is an unnecessary waste of my time and energy. Sure, I could convince a few webmasters that giving out content for free hurts the industry as a whole, but to what end? At this point, the damage is already been done, and despite the best efforts of some of us in the industry, this damage is irreparable.
[Stephen enters "story mode"] Across the street, on our private little beach, there is a fair-sized boulder, sitting at the water's edge. An imposing hunk of stone, set firmly in place eons ago, it stands immovable as the waters swirl before it. Most of the time, it is high and dry, but when the tide turns against it, the stone has no power to stop the incoming torrent. Although it stands bravely against the raging sea, the cold waters simply rush around it, bypassing this obstruction, and slowly eroding it away, until one day, it will be gone; turned to sand and dust by the forces it could not withstand. The rock may be harder and stronger than the water, but in the end, the rock cannot change the nature of the water, and the water will finally win through perseverance and flexibility. "He who hath ears, let him listen:" [Stephen exits "story mode"]
Drastic Times Deserve Drastic Measures
A few days ago after a long and personal talk with Dawn Elizabeth about why she no longer had any interest in being a "porn star," I too decided that it was time for a change. Bored and dissatisfied with much of my current inventory, I decided that radical changes were needed; a departure from my normally conservative, drawn-out approach to things. I set my free-hosted AVS network free, and will no longer waste my time 'dicking around' with my old 'crypt' sites.
One of my personal favorite sites, and by far my most 'popular' site, "Shaved Schoolgirls" got the axe, too. This homage to little bitches with silky-smooth, shaved snatches, while incredibly tame and featuring only very mild, soft-core, single girl images, was the sort of thing that provoked the foes of hot teen Lolita porn. Sure, all the 'girls' on this site were in reality 20-something strippers in pigtails, but the fact remains that it was an unnecessary magnet for unwanted trouble. Vastly entertaining though it was, it is now part of history. As a side note, anyone who is not troubled by trouble can make me an offer on the ShavedSchoolgirls.com domain:
Even some of my non-adult sites were not immune from this grand "Spring cleaning." Sportster-Racing.com went away due to trademark concerns with the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., coupled with the fact that there are simply not enough hours in the day to give all of my sites the attention they deserved. Altogether, around a dozen different 'domain' sites, and 100 free-hosted sites that once were, are no longer: Take a look at your own inventory of sites and see where you can improve.
This is not a tale of death, however, but one of re-birth. Just as Spring is now upon us, there is a glimmering new bud popping forth from the roots of my first site. One that I will nurture and now be able to devote so much more of my attention to. A new concept that will combine the best of all that I have discovered over the years in this business, and provide the world with what *I* think an adult site should be, and not what I think other's believe it should be. Innovation, and a ton of free porn, yet done in a way that allows me to sell what other's give away for free:
A new season, a new site, and a whole new way of doing business. I have shed the shackles that distracted me for too long, and will now focus on the best of the best. Take a look at your own inventory of sites and see where you can improve. If you find yourself wasting your time and energy, spreading yourself too thin, and all over the place, then perhaps it's time for you to make a drastic change, too... Good luck! ~ Stephen
