The morning’s program began with a panel discussion addressing the question “Where’s The Traffic?” Moderated by SleazyDream.com owner Scott, the panel consisted of Danielle Ward from TrafficDude.com, Mario Amaral of Loaded Cash, Brad Gosse of P2P Ads and Stafford of Python Pays/Dollar Machine.
Regarding the fundamental questions of where, how and from whom site owners can obtain traffic, Gosse suggested that a good place to start is with expired domains, especially those with an existing traffic base.
“You can get your hands on a lot of Yahoo-listed adult domains that have expired,” Gosse said. “That’s what I would do if I were starting today.”
Gosse cited the domain-name search and link popularity software Mozzle, available through Mozzle.com, as a particularly useful tool for seeking out expired domain names that have an existing traffic base.
In addition to traditional means of generating traffic, like TGP and link trading, the panel emphasized the importance of tapping into emerging areas, like social networking sites, blogging and viral marketing by way of user-post sites.
Following the traffic seminar, the newbie focused “Newbies: Keys To Success” discussion offered industry newcomers the opportunity to pick the brain of several seasoned industry figures, including moderator Joel Drapeau of Gamma Entertainment, Greg Jones from 2Much.net, Brad Mitchell of Mojo Host, Naughty America’s Mark Bauman and Sagi Cezana of Adult Friend Finder.
While the panelists acknowledged that the adult Internet market is substantially more difficult to crack into as a newbie today than it was in the “glory days” of the late '90s, they maintained that for the newbie willing to put in the time, thought and effort, success is still very much attainable.
“Don’t get discouraged,” Mitchell said. “Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.”
The third and final panel of the day focused on member retention for paysites. Moderated by Oystein Wright of Mansion Productions, the three-man panel represented a broad range of perspectives. Ken Farrell of TheBestPorn.com and PornUsers.com drew on the extensive feedback supplied by users of those sites to speak from a customer’s point of view, while GigaCash’s Stephen Bugbee tackled the topic from a subscription site operator’s vantage, and Alain Roy from Copernic supplied suggestions for technical solutions that aid member retention.
If there was a dominant theme to the discussion, it was that sites must deliver on the promises they make to their customers through their marketing and advertising message.
“You have to make sure that the models you feature on your tour are easy to find in the members area,” Bugbee said.
Farrell said that from the feedback he has seen from consumers, another crucial factor is the way sites handle updates.
“Updates are key,” Farrell said. “The first thing we look for when reviewing sites for TBP (TheBestPorn.com) is consistent updates.”
Farrell added that in the current market, an update schedule of one update per week should be considered the minimum number for a site to be viable.
“More companies are updating daily,” Farrell said. “Some are even updating three and four times per day.”
Although largely a dry discussion of the various means by which one can improve retention, the discussion was not without its lighter moments.
Asked for the top three reasons for cancellation supplied by customers terminating their memberships, Bugbee quipped that the dubious responses “My son stole my credit card” and “My husband does not look at porn” topped his list.