As masters of clip artistry, married couple Lindsey Love and Mike Love have attained that rare blend of brilliant branding, industry acclaim and business success.
From their early days of cam modeling to the rise of their video-selling ventures, the Loves have learned how to work hard and play hard in equal measure.
We actively try to focus on our well-being and health. We have scheduled time for social media, video production and leisure.
And as they thrive with high-traffic content platforms Modelhub and Pornhub, the upbeat pair takes plenty of time for mental health and bonding with dear friends. Then, when it’s time to collaborate with colleagues in the biz, they follow industry best practices for STI testing and content trade agreements.
With their positive can-do attitude and passionate social media presence, the Loves were crowned 2019 XBIZ Best Cam Duo at the luxurious Faena Forum during XBIZ Miami this year.
Throughout that week, Lindsey shared her insight on panels, unfurled beautiful wings as a White Party angel and made lasting friendships, before bringing home two shining trophies.
To fully enthrone the newly anointed royalty, XBIZ sat down with the duo for this exclusive Clip Star of the Month interview.
XBIZ: Tell us about your earliest days in the adult industry. How have your professional goals evolved since then?
Love: When we first got started, we were just over 18, going to school and working full-time while struggling to pay rent. Our first goals were to make enough money to pay our utilities and maybe buy ourselves a new shirt or two — up until that point, we had been shopping exclusively at second-hand retailers.
As we gained more success we also gained more popularity. In just a few months, we were paying our bills and had extra left over, so we started investing in our equipment. Then, our goals shifted to being the best couple on Chaturbate whenever we were broadcasting. We wanted to be No. 1 at the end of each hour.
Now, our goals have changed considerably. It’s been four years and we no longer strive to be the best — we focus our time and attention on the others around us and on our mental health. Michael wants to buy a house for his mom and little sister so she can go to a decent school system, and I want to achieve and maintain wholesome relationships, with friends and family.
We no longer live stream or worry about rank. We only make content when we are feeling inspired and creative. Most of our days are spent out of the business-sphere, and are instead focused on enriching our lives. I couldn’t be happier with the way our goals have changed.
XBIZ: What led you two to begin producing clips?
Love: We had been live streaming for half a year and our fans had asked us to make some clips for them. Originally, I was against the idea, but one of them convinced me by explaining that he loved our shows but couldn’t catch us live because of the time zones. He requested that we start filming, so I asked our fans what they thought. There was an overwhelmingly positive response, so we began producing clips.
However, there was not overwhelming support. In fact, we barely sold any clips at all. It took months before people started buying them, but then we became better known for our videos! People would watch us stream, then go buy three or four videos to watch that week while we were in school. It became a beautiful symbiotic relationship.
XBIZ: Discuss your relationship as a clip artist duo and how you maintain a healthy work/life dynamic.
Love: We actively try to focus on our well-being and health. We have scheduled time for social media, video production and leisure. The days that we’re happiest are the days that we spend not worrying about sales, marketing or drama.
They’re the days that we go hiking with our friends, gaze at the stars or sleep in late and have sex all morning. We take a lot of time off and enjoy each other’s company.
XBIZ: What is your preferred video-selling platform and why?
Love: Modelhub! Their platform is very clean, crisp and extremely profitable for us. We are able to not only sell our exclusive clips, but we are also able to sell the digital downloads of our free-to-view videos on Pornhub.
This allows us to do cross-platform marketing. I can release a video for free and make money off of the ads, while also making money from the paid downloads through Modelhub. Additionally, once a customer starts paying for their videos, they’re more likely to spend more in the future and buy more clips; it’s a great way to introduce people to paying for their porn.
XBIZ: Talk about your strategy for marketing clips, on social media and elsewhere.
Love: I hate marketing. Luckily I have the advantage of an extremely large reach through Pornhub. With 100 million daily users, it markets by itself. Anything else that I do is just to maintain a social media presence and build followers.
XBIZ: Describe the kind of content that seems to be the most popular with your fans.
Love: With our non-paying fans, our vanilla boy-girl content does best. With our paying fans, our collaborations with other models sell best. To be even more specific, I [Lindsey] have a very large following of fans who enjoy my content filmed with trans women, so those videos always do very well for me.
XBIZ: How often do you collaborate with other talent, both as a duo and independently? Talk about how you ensure a positive outcome for all parties involved, business-wise and in terms of production.
Love: First and foremost, we follow industry standards and only work with other models who are FSC PASS tested. For anyone who isn’t aware, in the professional industry, an STI test is required to work with other models. These tests are only valid for 14 days, and the model pays for the cost out of pocket. Because of this, when we test, we try to work with as many models as possible during the two-week period that the tests are good.
If we get booked for a professional scene, we have to be tested, so we try to make the most of it and do content trades with other models who are also tested. This gives all of us the best bang for our buck, while protecting ourselves.
We attempt to ensure a positive outcome with everyone first through open communication. We show our PASS tests to the other talent and make sure they are tested as well. We then discuss rights to the video(s). We usually do content trade where we share the rights equally. There can be room for disagreements here, which can make content trades risky.
Moving forward, we will be doing exclusive content trades primarily. This is where two videos are filmed, and each model receives one that they own exclusively. Price matching is not an issue, and content can be publicly posted to Pornhub and other streaming platforms without complaint.
In addition, some models like to receive the unedited files for the video to put together themselves. If this is what the model wants, we immediately send the clips through WeTransfer so they can begin working on them.
If they don’t mind waiting, we edit the videos then export twice — once with their watermark, once with ours. Sometimes the other party does the same for us. This is organized through open communication, so discuss with your collaborator what you both want to do.
In regards to production — we use whoever’s equipment and location is best for the scene!
XBIZ: What was it like attending XBIZ Miami and winning Best Clip Artist Duo at the XBIZ Cam Awards?
Love: XBIZ was a delight for me this year. Mike couldn’t make it, so I went alone. I took part in as many activities as I had time for while building professional relationships. I got to be an angel at the White Party, I hosted a panel on clip production, gave advice to all models who asked and made lasting friendships.
The days flew by and before I knew it, I was standing in line with my friends at the red carpet. We sat down and, nervously but excitedly, watched the show. We were all nominated, so the tension was high. The hosts were funny and the winners were well-received by the crowd.
My anxiety was building as each category was called. When it finally came time for the Clip Artist Duo nominations my stomach felt like a bottomless pit of butterflies. Then they called my name! I could hear my friends cheering from the crowd while I stumbled over my words on stage.
It was a huge honor. After years of work we were finally awarded by XBIZ, something I’d always dreamed of. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
XBIZ: Any major ambitions for the coming year?
Love: We have three major plans that we hope to achieve by the end of the year. We are going to be setting up our business as an LLC, which will allow us to operate at a more cost-effective rate while also commanding respect in the business world.
We have plans to build and release a membership site from the ground up. We will post only high-quality, cinematic films while making 100 percent profit after paying our processors.
And our final goal is to finish setting up our studio spaces. Our home has two separate workspaces that we are dedicating exclusively to porn production.
With the completion of these goals, we will be satisfied calling ourselves professionals, while optimizing productivity for the years to come.
