educational

The Power Of Chat

Adding chat to your existing site, or building a chat community, can be rewarding both financially and mentally. It can also be an extensive exercise in failure. My success is a combination of equal parts of hard work and luck...

If your intention is to add chat to your existing site, that's a great idea. Your users will return more frequently, and may end up using the chat more than any other feature on your site. Since there is very little difference between adding chat and starting a chat community I won't bother to distinguish between the two.

The first thing to consider, and this will make you or break you, is the name of your site. Even if you're adding it to your current site, a name is needed. It will help theme your community and make adding rooms more logical. Names with "chat" in them seem to work best. It's easy to feed the old ego and pick something like "Mike's chat place" but in the long run that's a dead end with a bleak future. "Chatropolis (SM)", a word I coined after a few drinks, has many more possibilities. It creates images of a city and has possibilities for endless rooms. It has worked incredibly well for us.

Your next decision will be server software. Unless you plan on staying small and crashing a lot I would stay away from Windows based servers. A UNIX based server will give you a lot more bang for your buck. They range from Free to 100K. We even sell the server we run Chatropolis on. Buy a server that does not have restrictions or is priced on the amount of users online. This is generally a bad idea for everyone. Do your homework and demo all servers extensively. Before you buy anything send a fake support e-mail to see how fast they answer. This is very important if you think you will need a lot of support.

Policies & People
You'll be writing a lot of policy for the users and changing it often until you get it right. One policy I am highly against is making a user register. This stops growth and will kill a good site in a few weeks. You want to get users in the rooms and keep them there. I suggest that you make your site free for at least the first year and always have a nice free level of access.

The key to having a fun site is new people. You can never have enough new people. If you run an adult content site, make the chat available to everyone, members and non-members alike. This will bring people back, and every time they return you get a shot at selling them your content site.

Should you charge? Well if you are strictly running a community site, then you will probably have to. If you do have a level of paid access, make it just that. Always have a lot of free spaces available. You will never get someone to pay for an empty site. Add special features for members so that membership is a value. If you run an adult content site you may want to include special chat access in a membership for your main site. But remember if your main biz is content you want to get the users back. The chat won't make you rich anyway.

One of the biggest mistakes I see chat masters make is in contact information. If you want to build trust that leads to a purchase, you won't do it with sketchy contact info. On our join form I include the number to the telephone on my desk. We include our physical address, mailing addresses, main telephone number, D&B number, corporate info, plus my name and the full names of some of my staff... If you're afraid to publish this info, how can you expect a user to trust you enough to pull out their credit card?

You must have a great support system. All servers have quirks that may require some users to seek help. Have an extensive FAQ, knowledge base and support software that allows you to use templates (you will be answering the same questions a lot). Update your main page with system news often – users will read it and find it comforting to know there really is a human behind all the HTML.

Why do sites fail? Mostly it's from unreasonable expectations of the creator. A chat site takes a long time to become popular even with extensive advertising. They are difficult to build up but the flip side is that once they get going the users are extremely loyal.

Good luck!

Michael Ludwick runs Chatropolis, one of the largest and most successful chat operations.

Copyright © 2024 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

opinion

To Cloud or Not to Cloud, That Is the Question

Let’s be honest. It just sounds way cooler to say your business is “in the cloud,” right? Buzzwords make everything sound chic and relevant. In fact, someone uninformed might even assume that any hosting that is not in the cloud is inferior. So what’s the truth?

Brad Mitchell ·
opinion

Upcoming Visa Price Changes to Registration, Transaction Fees

Visa is updating its fee structure. Effective April 1, both the card brand’s initial nonrefundable application fee and annual renewal fee will increase from $500 to $950. Visa is also introducing a fee of 10 cents for each transaction, and 10 basis points — 0.1% — on the payment volume of certain merchant accounts.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

Unpacking the New Digital Services Act

Do you hear the word “regulation” and get nervous? When it comes to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), you shouldn’t worry. If you’re complying with the most up-to-date card brand regulations, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

The Perils of Relying on ChatGPT for Legal Advice

It surprised me how many people admitted that they had used ChatGPT or similar services either to draft legal documents or to provide legal advice. “Surprised” is probably an understatement of my reaction to learning about this, as “horrified” more accurately describes my emotional response.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
profile

WIA Profile: Holly Randall

If you’re one of the many regular listeners to Holly Randall’s celebrated podcast, you are already familiar with her charming intro spiel: “Hi, I’m Holly Randall and welcome to my podcast, ‘Holly Randall Unfiltered.’ This is the show about sex, the adult industry and the people in it.

Women In Adult ·
trends

What's Hot Now: Leading Content Players on Trending Genres, Monetization Strategies

The juggernaut creator economy hurtles along, fueled by ever-ascendant demand for personality-based authenticity and intimacy — yet any reports of the demise of the traditional paysite are greatly exaggerated.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

An Ethical Approach to Global Tech Staffing

One thing my 24-year career as a technologist working to support the online adult entertainment industry has taught me about is the power of global staffing. Without a doubt, I have achieved significantly more business success as a direct result of hiring abroad.

Brad Mitchell ·
opinion

Finding the Right Payment Partner

Whenever I am talking with businesses that are just getting started, one particular question comes up a lot: “How do I get a merchant account?” It’s a simple question, but it has a complicated answer.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Taxman Cometh for Every Business

February may be the month of romance, but it is also a time when we need to think about something that inspires very little love: taxes. April is not far away, and the taxman is always waiting. This year, federal and most state income taxes are due Monday, April 15.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

The Continuous Journey of Legal Compliance in Adult

The adult entertainment industry is teeming with opportunity but is also fraught with challenges, from anticipating consumer behavior to keeping up with technological innovation. The most labyrinthine of all challenges, however, is the world of legal compliance.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
Show More