Celebrating 10 years in the business, company founder and CEO Bruno Dickman attributes his company’s success to its ability to offer compelling and effective design to webmasters and adult entrepreneurs at a time when most website creation lacked cohesive design and more importantly and painful to webmasters, “Left money on the table.”
Dickman says when he started his company he realized there were a number of companies that had good amounts of traffic landing on their properties, but it just wasn’t converting.
“We knew these sites could convert a lot better. Our vision was that we could help companies reach higher by delivering creatives and tours that performed better than what was around at the time. Our goal was always to deliver the absolute best we could. No compromises. No shortcuts,” Dickman says.
The executive notes that the last 10 years have been the most exciting decade of his life. Along with Chief Creative Officer, Mike Dickman — the other half of the two passionate kids — the company’s primary function has always been to deliver top-notch design services.
“Our first big break was designing a large package of fullpage digital ads for Silvercash,” Dickman revealed. He said that account allowed his fledgling company to move out of his home into real office space where the company could stretch out and flex its muscle.
Dickmans Design really took off however, when it landed a deal with industry leader Webquest and designed sites for Vivid and Hustler. Dickman said his company engineered a full redesign on the front end of both properties.
“The previous tours had that standard late ‘90s look and had been online for a long time. We are proud to say we gave both the look and performance one is to expect from such top brands. The performance boost rate was undisclosed, but Mike Youtan, our interface with Webquest back then said they were very pleased. We have worked on several sites for them after that,” says Dickman.
He adds, “Everyone literally came to us after that. For a long time we were unable to satisfy the demand we have created.” Despite the work frenzy, Dickman admits that was one of the best problems his company, or any company for that matter, could ever have, vaulting his young firm into the Internet limelight.
Another milestone and key to the company’s success is its long-term relationship with CECash. Dickman says the intense demand and huge volume created by CECash provides the kind of challenges that keeps his company sharp, noting that unlike his firm, some design companies simply rest on their laurels once a working template is in place.
The last decade has seen Dickmans Design grow to a team of 15 with multiple divisions and enough office space to house 48 potential employees. The company also houses other divisions and has enough new office space to house 48 employees with a goal to grow and prosper in every market it chooses.
Most of the company’s portfolio is made up of tours, affiliate programs, medical sites and branding work. And Dickman looks back at 2010 in particular as a very important year for his company because it signaled a shift in its business model. He explains that his strategy is not to compete in a crowded arena, but rather deliver services and solutions like no other company.
One project that stands out in Dickman’s mind was working on the adult social media/networking/usergenerated content of hybrid site Playpen, where said he helped the company render from top to bottom in a form that he would like the entire adult industry to adopt.
“The development of the site is hard to describe it because there’s nothing out there likeit. Our team has worked closely with the Playpen crew to create the platform. Our work was focused on wire framing and producing the interfaces for models, affiliates and users. So everything, from the content submission by the models, to the user experience and the affiliate stats has Dickmans work on it,” he explains.
Dickman also gives kudos to the input and involvement from Kathee Claudio, director of operations at Playpen, who he says played a major role and showed “rock star” competence while interfacing with Dickman’s User Experience Director Eddie Dickman. “Pulling this off was challenging but extremely rewarding for our team.”
“Playpen is social and fun for users. It’s profitable for the models, affiliates and will definitely be to the platform owners. It’s not launched yet, but it will be soon, and it will be amazing. We are thrilled with the project because of its complexity but also because working with the Playpen team was a stellar experience. They are bright folks indeed,” Dickman says.
The 10-year birthday also marks the design company’s move into consulting and full range of creative services for companies “that are looking into build new, complex platforms that will survive Adult 2.0.”
Dickman says he is elated about his firm recently merging with a yet undisclosed Israeli tech company so it can dive deep into technology challenges and create products that are ready to be marketed. He also notes that he has begun helping flagship companies to establish solid presence in Brazil.
“For a long time we have not focused on technology. We now see this as one of the few strategic mistakes we may have committed. But now, thanks to the merger with a tech company, we will be able to not only research, plan, brand and design, but also develop, integrate, implement and truly deliver a 360 degree high-performance solution. That’s what the industry can count and rely on in the coming months and years,” Dickman promises.
He explains that while his company became best known as a creative innovator, he admits he always had a strange feeling that something was missing in its offerings.
‘Today we know what that is and we are excited to be adding a technology innovation arm to our company. We are thickening the R&D side, moving to more programming oriented projects, brand-supporting applications, advanced software related systems and possibly complete products including the research, planning, creative, design and development aspects of a project,” Dickman says.
The new mandate fits well with his company’s ongoing mission to boost the online performance of its clients. He notes, “With the death of standardized paysites, being able help our clients render completely new adult entertainment platforms is crucial for our growth and survival.”
But Dickman wants to go beyond simply creating beautiful designs for the company’s next decade. The goal is to deliver sites that convert and deliver what the entrepreneur describes as a “Full solution, ready for the real world.”
