I began creating my own amateur content for tube sites a little over a year ago. Mainly being a performer up until that point, I’d been shooting with several independent filmmakers and had seen the benefits of owning your own material firsthand. I was also fully aware that it was going to take some time and effort for my work to pay off. What I couldn’t have anticipated was the opportunities that followed along the way. With that said, here are a few discoveries I’ve stumbled upon this past year that are noteworthy.
At first, I posted all my original videos for free on my Pornhub channel and retweeted them like crazy on social media. Everyone’s backstory is unique, mine is that I’ve been in the industry for a long time, which means that I’ve built up a sizeable fanbase, but it also means there are plenty of videos starring myself that are circulating the site. While that can be a good thing in terms of exposure, it also comes with its own complications.
Because I shoot most of my videos in 1080 HD or 4K, many fans would prefer to drop a few bucks and own the better-quality version, rather than just download a scene for free off a burn site.
I decided the best thing to do was make a bunch of really hot videos and post them as free-to-view on my channel. To my delight, it worked, and I gained a good amount of attention right away. Yet it wasn’t until I was fooling around on the backend of my channel one night that I realized there’s a pay-to-download option for free videos.
Because I shoot most of my videos in 1080 HD or 4K, many fans would prefer to drop a few bucks and own the better-quality version, rather than just download a scene for free off a burn site. It may not seem like much, but this has led to hundreds of video sales on free-to-view videos this year, which adds up when put into perspective.
One trick I’ve figured out by releasing my own scenes is what I like to call “the funneling system.” I make it a point to shoot a consistent amount of content, and devised a pyramid setup upon which I release the videos, premiering them exclusively on my Fan Club at first. Anyone can charge whatever they want for their Fan Club membership on Pornhub, but if you’re cranking out four to five videos a month, it’s worth it for someone to stay subscribed. Also, they get to see a scene long before it’s released anywhere else, even over fans that are willing to buy it outright.
I’ll switch the video over to be seen on Pornhub Premium some months down the road, as well. When I first started using the platform, I didn’t understand the value, since my videos were barely getting views. It wasn’t until recently, nearly a year down the road, that I now make more money off my Premium views than I do off my free ones, but that’s with over 50 for-sale videos now available on my channel. In fact, just this past month, I was the featured performer on the site’s main page, with a good number of the videos in the playlist from my very own production collection.
If all your best scenes are free-to-view, what entices a viewer to join your Fan Club or watch your content on Premium? Lucky for me, I enjoy editing, so shooting sex toy reviews became a fun way to keep my channel updated often with fresh and sexy material. The first toys I reviewed were some that I had lying around the house, including gifts from past shoots with other companies. I even went out and purchased a few that I wanted to try.
As time went on, toy companies began sending me unreleased merchandise to test out, even some very expensive high-end stuff. Now, I’m fortunate enough to have companies hiring me for paid reviews, something I never would have believed was even a possibility when I started.
The tools are here for everyone to make tubes work for them, and not the other way around, and I hope this article gives someone somewhere some insight!
Britney Amber is an adult star and content creator who can be followed on Pornhub.com/pornstar/britney-amber as well as @Britney_Amber on Twitter and Instagram.
