After reading last week’s “Jerky for the Puppy” article, Digdug (a self-proclaimed “total newbie“) made a post over at XBiz’ popular Cosmic Village message board that many folks in his position can certainly relate to, and so, today, I’ll try to answer his questions…
Here’s the post Digdug made: “I've been heavily into computers and the internet for about 8 years. I've always wanted to create some kind of site, but my attention span isn't so great - well ok it's about that of a goldfish. For the past few I've really been kicking myself that I didn't get something up and live years ago and somewhat feeling like it's just too late now - there's too many sites already. But I don't know - much of it's not that great - as in there's lots of room for improvement.
So I think I want to just do it, you know - just put something out there, like you can't catch a fish without your bait being in the water and if it's there and I catch nothing at least I can be satisfied that I'm fishing.
That's where I'm coming from in case you might wonder. I'm resolving to "just do it." I have lots of experience with computers in general - I love to design, I do desktop support professionally, and I have lots of ideas all the time, can't stop them and don't have enough hours in the day or the attention span but I'm working on that. What I don't have is much of a clue as to how to get started.
This XBiz site looks incredibly helpful. The "Jerky for the puppy" article suggestions make a lot of sense and I would like to start with something small and free to get my feet wet. But there's a lot of it that I don't understand.
Mr. Yagielowicz writes about thinking first of using Top Buck’s “Free Bannerless & No Header Hosting” but then deciding on a TGP instead - where would be a good idea to host that? I don't absolutely have to use a free host, but I'd like to know what the best deals out there are and how it would work with "Top Bucks free daily gallery pages" - does Top Bucks' machines serve those pictures? I ask because if paying for hosting, I'd have to consider the bandwidth limitations on different service levels.
Does anyone have any suggestions on finding more info on getting started? I have a million questions but don't want to burden this group by asking too much.”
Stephen Responds
So to Digdug and everyone else who has decided to “just do it” – here’s a few words of questionable wisdom and experience that might help you along: While it’s true that you would have been better off starting something a few years ago, it’s almost never too late to begin, and that includes now! You’re right in thinking that the best plan for a newbie to the biz is to just put something out there, and then learn from your mistakes, and successes.
Having a short attention span won’t help however. Success in this biz takes tremendous dedication and many long, hard hours of work and study. Many (most) of the sites that I have built lasted long enough to bore me, and then I moved on, trying new techniques and technologies – since it’s the problem solving, more than the profits, that keeps me interested. And there are plenty of problems to solve.
Starting from a solid foundation is the best way to begin, and the foundation of any successful online business is traffic. Without traffic, it doesn’t matter how good your site is – no one will see it, and you won’t make any money. This is one of the reasons I suggested (and not without some criticism) that a good place to start is by building a Thumbnail Gallery Post (TGP). Sure, these ‘traffic pumps’ flood the Net with tons of free porn and make it harder for many other sites to turn a profit, but the damage is done, and adding (or conversely, killing)100 or even 1,000 TGPs a day isn’t going to change things either way.
Keeping in mind that to make money, you must realize that you are in the “traffic” business – and NOT the “porn” business, developing a TGP (which is arguably one of the best adult traffic attraction tools), makes sense, especially if your goal is to build a traffic funneling mechanism to feed your ‘real’ sites which you can develop later on as your knowledge and experience increases. While there are an infinite number of advanced methods for profiting from TGP traffic, and an equal number of dangers in trying to, let’s just say that having one is a great way of building a large base of prospects.
As far as hosting goes, I would have used Top Buck’s “Free Bannerless & No Header Hosting” – even for hosting a TGP – but as the article stated, you need 3 sales to qualify, which knocks newbies and all recent program joiners out. But they (Top Bucks) does provide considerable help in that they host and update the gallery pages, as well as the banners in their Banner of the Week program. This means that when it is carefully designed, even a highly trafficked TGP will use a minimal amount of bandwidth, allowing you to choose a host based more upon reliability, support and ‘uptime’ than on the lowest cost per GB of transfer. Cosmic Village’s “Hosting Highway” message board can provide many options to choose from, or email me for a personal recommendation.
As for where to find more help, that’s easy: right here at XBiz! Not only will you find lots of friendly folks here at the Cosmic Village, but hundreds of informative articles and tutorials covering every aspect of the online adult entertainment industry. Come back tomorrow and read “My 2nd TGP” to see some examples. Good luck! ~ Stephen
