GFY Educational Series: Consumer Focus Sells Niche Sites, Post 2 of 2
Do you have enough sponsors?
You always want to be sure you have enough sponsors to promote on a niche site. Mixing up types of products, such as pay sites and cams and so forth, gives you more options to choose from. Because there are not a ton of science fiction themed membership sites, many affiliates who promote
EroticFandom.com also promote upsells like costumes and similar related products. Ideally, however, you will pick a niche which has a few strong programs which can be sold well next to one another.
If a TGP is only galleries from one site or a blog is only posts about one site, then that isn't very interesting to the surfer and, thus, is not very profitable for you, except on that first visit. If you use all material from one multi-niche sponsor, with no common editorial thread, then that is going to just feel like wading through free porn to the end user.
It is good to be creative in figuring out what can be promoted on a consumer-focused traffic site in terms of how program A and program B can fit together because x and y characteristics are in common. The common thread does not have to be a standard adult niche like Teens or Amateur. One easy thing to do, if you run a program, which of course a lot of the folks still in the industry do, is to promote other sites your contributors work with. For example, I have a blog where I tell my audience about lots of other places they can find my work and talent's work and so forth. So, if I shoot someone, and she also shoots with
Kink.com or
BurningAngel or
NaughtyAmerica or cams for
Streamate, then that is an easy upsell for me. If you take an exclusionary, competitive stance, you are not only being unpleasant, you are losing money. I don't make anything for promoting magazine or in-person appearances, but do I think it is nice for the talent if I mention those too, and, most importantly, it gives the end consumers more value.
Are you giving the end consumer value?
Always ask yourself, if you were in the surfer's shoes, would your site seem like it provided value. Update regularly. If you have a TGP or tube, make sure the galleries or clips fit what the theme or niche of your site is intended to be and try to pick quality content to showcase. If you have a blog, make sure you offer information and not just all upsells for one site or product. Not every single thing you post has to have a commercial end.
Summary
Think of your site as a publication and not just a sales tool. Think of yourself as an editor and not just a marketer. Know who your audience is and what your niche is about as best as you can. Promote more than one site, but choose sponsors which have synergy with one another. Care about the consumer enough to provide value to your readers.