A common mistake the majority of people make when starting to make their own porn is they think that just because they’re showing their naked body and doing something sexy, their clip will sell — and sell well. Sure, simple video concepts can have the ability to make money, but when porn is hard to sell in the first place, and you’re marketing to people who are already purchasing unique content from the models they love, the average masturbation video might not get the attention you think it deserves. Everyone’s bodies and orgasms deserve attention and money, but this market is competitive. A hot body, or a cute face, isn’t enough to succeed in the clip world. You need to give people a reason to buy your videos.
When I entered the industry, I thought: people will pay good money for my porn, because it’s me, right? That led to me over-pricing my generally quite average videos at the beginning of my career. I will never argue against charging for what you’re worth, but for me, I wasn’t thinking of my porn’s value in the context of the industry. I was thinking of my porn’s value to me, personally.
Not only do conceptual videos give you an excuse to price that video higher, but they’re also incredibly fun to make and map out.
So many newcomers and even non-industry folks think they can post one video and make a lot of money. I’ve jokingly heard mainstream people say, “If I fail at my job, I can just do porn,” and, “If I choose to sell my sex tape, I’m charging $500 for it,” one too many times in my life. People assume this career path is easy, the last resort and a quick way to make cash without realizing that every porn creator is working in a tough market. Though there is some truth that selling videos or nudes can lead to fast money, maximizing your profit margins and having longevity in this part of the industry comes from creating a memorable brand and unique videos.
Casual masturbation clips will always sell, but they’re not good videos to rely on for any sort of growing income. I price my simpler clips lower than my videos with creative concepts, because I put less effort into them in the first place and not a lot of people will buy a three-minute clip of someone using a magic wand for $25 — unless you’re well-known that is. After all, the bigger the name you have in the industry, the more those casual clips are worth. Market value is important to consider. Plus, these kinds of videos tend to sell better when priced lower, as they are more financially accessible for people to buy.
The best advice I have been given regarding online sex work was to lower my prices. I saw someone tweet out that lowering their prices on videos made them sell better, to more people and actually made them more profit. I decided to try it out and ended up getting my highest payout ever. When I lowered my prices, I realized that if I wanted to charge more for my videos, and still sell them, I had to create more engaging content that you could not find elsewhere. I am forever grateful for those cheaper “bread and butter” videos of mine (they’re perfect for members to add to orders of more expensive videos), but the content I’m making now not only makes me feel more excited when making them, but they’re a part of what I’m known for.
If you have a video idea, and it’s not that fleshed out yet, think, “What can I bring to this that will make it different from all the other videos in the genre I’m working in?” Then, do research. I look at how other models are approaching the subject and look for gaps to fill. What isn’t being showcased yet? How can a video meet that need? I often research in non-porn spaces as well. What’s popular in the media right now? Relevancy to the “real” world is something that sells because it makes your content more realistic. Having a particular perspective and a plot can add so much production value for a video.
When I started making my Halloween content last year, it forced me to think about character motivations, and how the world in which that character lives would make them operate. I made a Mrs. Frizzle from the “Magic School Bus” JOI video, with me as Mrs. Frizzle helping a student with their homework during sex-education week. That’s a scenario that viewers can imagine happening to Mrs. Frizzle on the TV show, but then the video starts slowly getting heated with flirting and jerk off instructions. My videos aim to go where the viewers wanted the original content to continue. With each video I make, I ask, “How can my character’s world fit into sellable clip categories, while still being true to them?”
I’ve learned to apply this concept of “world building” to original characters too, and it’s made my content that much stronger. Having more lore behind a character you’re playing makes them more believable to your audience. My “YouTuber Fucking Machine Blackmail” video is a good example of that. I was originally planning just do a casual live review, but I wanted it to be more marketable, so I came up with a story surrounding it and fetishes it could apply to. “YouTuber” style porn videos aren’t new, so I decided to explore sponsored content, which is a hot topic in the news and on social media right now, but something I hadn’t seen parodied in a porn video. I ended up with a coercive story of a YouTuber being blackmailed by the company sponsoring her video, making her fuck herself on YouTube to get her paycheck. It’s taboo, it’s topical and it hadn’t been done before.
Making unique and highly creative videos is the key to thriving in this competitive clip industry. Interesting takes and perspectives get noticed by consumers and have helped me grow the following that I have. Random masturbation videos can be amazing, and a great place to start (I started there too), but creative videos with a story behind them will get you noticed. Not only do conceptual videos give you an excuse to price that video higher, but they’re also incredibly fun to make and map out. Go out there and get creative!
Gwen Adora can be followed on Twitter @Gwen_Adora and her clips can be found on ManyVids.com as “gwenadora”.
