So the Internet bubble had burst and I had gone from counting my options to counting pennies…
Rule number 1? Never count your options. You might as well grab a ream of paper and count that. Anyway, it was like musical chairs with way not enough chairs for everybody. And instead of playing that game, that’s when I clicked on that ‘webmasters click here’ link for the first time. And that was the first time I had ever thought about a career that combined what I do best with what I like best. And that was also the first time I decided I am not going to keep my affinity for porn as some sort of dirty secret. I full believed and still do that to not honor and embrace any of these goes against the grain of the formula. Find something to do that combines your experience, skills, hobbies, and interests and happiness and success will come as a result.
It was around then that the first pop-up advertisements were created and launched. And the entire hubbub surrounding them. That X-20 ad put the entire online advertising industry on its ear. At a time when many were arguing the death of the banner ad due to paltry click-throughs a common topic of discussion was about that camera ad and how its garnered as much exposure and recognition as many of the big sites. Hee hee. These folks should surf porn on a daily basis if they wanted to be impressed by pop-up advertising.
Online adult entertainment has often been credited with blazing the trails of what’s new and good on the Internet. I totally agree. But at that time it completely disrupted my porn surfing in a big way. I am not even going to try to talk about technology and pop-ups and unders and all that because most of y’all know tons more that I would ever know about them. Or want to know. But I do know this. I credit pop-up advertising methods for helping me realize my vision of combining my experience, skills, interests, and hobbies into a career. I hated those things and hate can be a good motivator. Hate is too strong of word so suffice it to say that strong dislike can be a good motivator.
It was right then and there that I honed my clicking skills. I focused on that little x in the top right corner of my browser and refused to even look at the ads interloping on my surfing. At the same time I was reading adult webmaster articles here at Xbiz and elsewhere that brought up the need for this industry to not only explore new ways of maximizing your current revenues, but the need for embracing new revenue streams. Now you’re talking my language. I’ve done that. I’ve gone in to a new industry and come up with new ways of monetizing eyeballs. Figuring out how to get surfers to pull out their credit cards and make a purchase. Or two.
A germ of an idea for what I could contribute to this business was forming. Well, let’s call it a nugget. Whatever it was it was really more like a BB rolling around in a boxcar. But it was coming. Or at least breathing hard. I had the problem clear in my mind, but not the solution. Yet. The problem was twofold as I saw it at the time. The need for the industry to maximize current revenue stream and embrace new ones. The over-abundance of pop advertising and your message getting lost in that clutter. And the majority of efforts being focused exclusively on traffic. Traffic. Traffic. Traffic. Every adult resource site had information on traffic. Traffic is king. It’s all about traffic. I’ve got traffic? Do you? Here, have some of my traffic that I didn’t convert. Send me your traffic back. Maybe they will convert here. Here’s a new question for the boards- How do I get more traffic? If my site(s) convert at 1:300, then I need x# more sites to hit my goal of a gazillion dollars.
Don’t get me wrong, no traffic = no job. I get that. However, I’m not an expert re: traffic. I’ve never been tasked with increasing traffic to a site. I have been asked to create new ways of converting that traffic and retaining that traffic that also monetize that traffic. That BB in a boxcar was now more like a bowling ball in a wheelbarrow.
With the majority of efforts and resources being put into traffic generation, there exists an opportunity for me to contribute. I will discover and bring to light new ways for you to make more money. And it would be with new revenue streams that also increase your revenue through increased conversions and retention.
