Nice!:pimp

Nice profit margin you mean fine sire. Content is the gift that keeps on giving.

:pimp

So the question is : Can a noob make it in today's market?

The answer is straight up Yes.

But to succeed, he has to be smart and understand that there is no set path to success like there was before.

If you think there are set costs to a shoot, that there is only one way to building a paysite and that there is only one way to getting your sales, then you're set to fail. Those that will succeed are those that can keep an open mind and find their own way of doing things.

Nobody will ever give you a roadmap to success.

Great Post! Very true words.

Exactly right. I have never followed the sheeple in my own path. Whether shooting content or hosting. Yet still succeed.

When I started, I licensed content and tried to make a go of it that way. However, over time I did not like the restrictions and realized there was money to be made in licensing (older content), DVD, and many ways to skin that same investment six ways from Sunday. So I decided to leave my corporate job and do this full time. I was already making money online with the sites I had, was not married, no kids... meaning minimal expense.

When I decided to go down this path, people told me I would never get anyone to shoot for the dollars I wanted to pay based on budget available at the time. They told me girls were paid $150-500.00 a scene, even for fetish content, and so forth and so on. A lot of discouraging remarks and feedback.

Needless to say, they were wrong. We COULD find people willing to work for what we paid. We COULD find ways to get 5-10 scenes out of girls in a single photo shoot. We COULD make money and return on our $3000.00 initial investment easily. We COULD make pay sites without all of the best and fanciest CMS, content, designs and so forth.

1. Keep your overhead costs low to maximize profits.
2. Live in a place where you geographically have a labor advantage.
3. Make your own rules for how your business will run. What you pay. What is involved.

There is still money to be made. But there are many many different factors involved on what can, and will, determine your profitability and success. That is, if you really want it, and have the work ethic and drive to make it happen. As I said before, few actually do.

:2 cents:

I think part of the problem, specifically with those wanting to launch their own sites are blinded by many of the larger programs operations and successes.

Yes, these large programs have budgets that newer site owners may not be able to match, but many of their budgets are spent on attracting affiliates and in-house sales, not on development costs.

I worked with a very large program (at the time) a few years back on some development stuff and the costs that were being thrown around the boards at the time were nowhere near what they spent on a site design, content shoots, hosting, etc...

For anyone to say that you have to spend $X to launch a site is laughable, because it can, has and will be done for costs ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars and everywhere in between and above, just because Joe Schmo Webmaster spent $10k getting their paysite up and running, does not mean everyone else needs to spend the same amount.

Costs vary greatly from locale to locale, what someone in NY can pay for a custom shoot, someone in BumFuck Alabama is going to pay a lot less for, because they get to dictate the market pricing, not the abundance of producers and talent.

As mentioned above, running a successful business, online or no, is dependent on overheads, if you go into it spending thousands of dollars with no real game-plan, you're setting yourself up to fail, whether you are a newbie or a seasoned pro.

A better question to answer in this thread might be:

How many established webmasters have launched affiliate programs in the last 5 years that have gone tits up?

I can think of a lot right off the top of my head.

Is that because they didn't spend the money? Because they weren't known in the industry? Because they didn't have the contacts? Or; was it because they had no clue about the basic principles of business and just went with perception of what is needed on the message boards?

I am never embarrassed by our being frugal, nor do I apologize for our focus on true amateur and not professionally shot "amateur", so why would you or anyone else be?

What you are really saying is our cheap rates don't work for your business model and I don't have an issue with that; so, being "embarrassed" about it comes off a little bit condescending just because you don't want to shoot for the price we are offering and which many of the amateurs we work with are happy to get. No problem. Each of us does what works for us and obviously both of us have been in biz long enough to be "right" about our opinions.

I am constructing a small temple in which I will burn incense made from white roses, symbolizing truth, in dedication to the great wisdom of this post.

Its been mentioned multiple times in this thread, the cost to launch a business where you make a bit of money is infact minimal. This thread didn't have making it in the business in mind, nor making minimum wage, he asked can you make a business based on paysites and make GOOD money on a modest budget. Good money isn't making 1500-2000 a month, or atleast not in the original posters view. Sometimes i wonder why people keep steering away from the actual question and turn it into a thread regarding 'can newcomers make it'

No need for an affiliate program? Drive your own traffic?

Again you steer away from the initial question, the original poster said newcomer, a newcomer doesn't come into this industry and have the abilities to market their own program. Hell most experienced programs dont even have the ability to send themselves all that much for sales.

And drive your own traffic only works if you want to be a few sales a day max. What newcomer would have enough traffic to send themselves more than a sale or two a day?

No newcomer is going to come into this industry, send themselves 5-10 sales a day.

To make enough money to grow (make more than your bills), you need to pay your bills and make enough to save for a new project before you run out of content/updates for your current website.

30 staff.. What do you do?

Why don't you be more specific about what exactly is a modest budget and a good amount of money in profit for q1 through q4? Let's set that bar so you can see what I am saying, WA is saying, Ruseful, etc. is actually very much on point.

Like I said previously, if you want to keep moving the measure then of course you are going to be able to "prove" your point, which is "it is harder than ever to start a paysite and make it successful in a reasonable amount of time in today's market", an assertion myself and the others that have commented similarly disagree with.

Read the thread, boss. It's clear what Ruseful does. A better question would be 30 staff.. what do THEY do?

Why are you asking me, the original poster said good money (which he said was roughly 5k a month) on a modest budget and he already mentioned that, he was throwing out 50-100k as a figure. Its not me making up these figures, its me answering a direct question with his figures in mind

The difference between making a 2k a month business and a 4-5k a month business is huge (and it shows in the startup cost)

I also explained in previous posts why the costs jump up quite a bit from small site to medium size (medium site being what he expects as a monthly return). Though you guys keep talking about how its so easy to launch a cheap small site, not taking into account his actual question

A 1.5-2k a month job pays your bills, you dont bank nothing, how would you keep shooting for it and keep it updated? how would you ever get to the level of making 4-5k if its just paying your bills.. 4-5k a month allows you to grow and and maintain. Remember, paysites run out of content and when they do, they drop alot. In order to keep 2k, you need to launch another site before that one runs out (where would that money come from) or keep shooting so that it doesn't run out. Either way. You need to make more than your monthly bills

Or youre basically making a one time investment where you end up with nothing to show for it but a job in adult for a year or two.

I have no idea what he has planned or what he does so im not going to sit here and claim whether thats good he has 30 or not. But theres alot of big companies that have few employees and there has been big companies who have tons of small time employees and truthfully. It always seems to be the big companies with a ton of small time employees that eventually fade away.

There is only so many people that probably bring a real valuable skillset and earn their wage.

I think once you get to a certain level, you stop becoming frugal and you start to maybe hire more than you really need and it takes its toll on you as a company.

While this is probably not the case for him, it just made me remember a recent conversation I have with somebody about this exact same subject.

Didn't topbucks have like 300 or so people at one time, those kind of numbers for a program/paysite business in adult, are quite shocking. Makes you wonder.

FTVCash/FTVGirls had what? 2? 3?

Kind of off topic but figure my opinion on the subject is better than most posts on GFY so ;) Thought i'd share, it somewhat relates

Maybe somebody will read it and put the thought in their head that they may have more staff than really needed.

No it isn't. Nor do you need to invest $50k to make $5k/month.

Frankly, I am really amazed by your blind ignorance on some of this stuff. No offense.

You see things one way, and one way only. While obviously Far-L, myself, and others have not followed that path and obviously made a living doing it differently without the Manwin sized affiliate program and alike. Not to mention all of these semantics about what 'you' think is successful versus Far-L versus the O.P.. Nothing is as black and white as you're trying to paint it in this thread. Online, or otherwise.

You're entitled to your opinion of course. But that doesn't make it more right than Far-L and his business model.

:2 cents:

You and Farl-L got into this industry a decade ago, the route into this industry was hardly the same as it is today.

Just about everybody i've talked to who runs a business in adult knows they couldn't go in the same way and if they did, they wouldn't make a fraction of what they did

Are you going to claim you could, the exact same way, minus all the information you've picked up in that time?

What I think is successful? Why do you keep saying that, why are you arguing like this is my opinion.

This is the OP's question. He said how much would it take to make 5k a month because thats what he feels is a making good money.

Youre acting as if i made a thread titled 'can newcomers make it successful' and then started throwing up some imaginary level of success. If you want to debate level of success, talk to the OP

I dont disagree with his general number he used as what he considers good money because its the amount that owuld pay the bills and allow you to keep putting money into your business to maintain it and treat yourself to dinners and not be urgently waiting for the next paycheck to come so you can buy laundry soap ;) 50k a year isn't a fortune given you still have to keep reinvesting (so you end up actually only pocketing a portion of that for bills), i think him saying thats GOOD money is accurate

I'm sorry I disagree, that is exceptional money if someone has only invested $5000 in their site slash program.

That means that they will have broken even in 3 months or less. Can you think of any other business model, online or offline where a new legal business venture starts and can break even in such a small amount of time? I can't off the top of my head.

As I mentioned above, we have a client right now working on a selection of tube style sites and an affiliate program, I can be certain that as long as THEY don't screw anything up, they're gonna be making pure profit within 3-6 months max, possibly sooner.

They didnt have anything when starting this project, no domain names, no web hosting, no site design, no content, to date on 'inventory' alone, they have spent less than $3500, that includes 30 domain names, 12 months of hosting and enough content to see them through 6 months of updates to their members areas. This client could have gone the route of what is being described by a few people in this thread and blown through $10,000 plus to achieve exactly the same thing, t they didn't because they are micro managing their finances and budgeting accordingly, they have an idea of how much the sites are going to cost them in the 1st year, they have a goal of natural affiliate growth of only 5% every quarter, with a sales goal of 2 a day, bare minimums, realistic sales goals for a company with next to no experience in adult.

If they meet their sales goals of 2 sales a day, at $30 a month for a membership, they stand to make $1800 a month, that isn't even counting rebills and new sales on month two. After 2 months, they will have made their initial investment back, plus still have content on hand so they realistically do not have to reinvest for content for 6 months. Around $12,000 in revenue for 6 months on a project that is costing them less than half of that... If they meet their expectations which I feel they will because they have the drive, determination and motivation to make it happen.

The thing is, these guys have taken the time to find out information, listen and digest that information, put it to use and actually shop around for products and services they need to open, manage and maintain their new business venture. Sometimes going into things with a set budget is a good thing, even if that budget is low because it means you will actually spend that extra 30 minutes looking for all the available options to you instead of just buying the first thing you find that does what you want.

Ultimately time will tell with this company whether they can achieve their growth and revenue goals but from what I have seen of them so far, they aren't operating based on 'perception' and actually have a pretty solid understanding of the basic principles of business, buy supplies below sales cost, find deals on supplies, negotiate terms with suppliers.

Mr. Peabody, do you qualify as the elusive example we've ask been seeking? Or have you been around a long while?

We're not debating about the level of success, we are debating your preconceived notions that in order to make $5000 a month, someone today has to invest $50,000 plus on a website, they don't. It can and has been done on much lower budgets and even today can still be done on much lower budgets than that.

Out of the 3500, how much used to acquire the content? 6 months worth, must be non-exclusive, no?

If youre talking about profit margin on small investments, adult is one of the best. I agree.

However, lets say you have 5000, you start taking your time to put all the pieces together, your bills come, 2,000 goes by. Youre now down 7,000. Lets say it only took this newcomer 1 month to produce a design and all the tools and all his content is edited because im sure you guys think it can all be done super quick. So he gets 1500 in his first month, bills come. He's minus 7500.

Im sorry but do you guys think these people are on disability collecting checks? lol time is money

In what scenario are these newcomers not having to pay their bills and make a living from this?

And what site can you spent 5k and make 1.5 a month? If a newcomer can do that, how much are you making on 5k investment then, 3k a month? Jesus, money must be flying from all angles eh?

But hasn't in 3 years? Why? It occured quite a bit back in the day. I can name a ton of programs that did pre 2010, explanation?

From what I have seen they went with 6 custom shoots and the rest was none exclusive, from several sources, they have close to 10,000 individual image sets, around 50 DVD titles and a bunch of story content, I don't know the exact number but I'd say based on the other stuff they have ordered, it was probably less than $3k total.

In addition to me, they also have another designer working on banners and buttons for them at $4 a pop and they actually aren't bad quality wise. They also have plans to offer some of their own upsells, not sure what they are right now but from chatting with these guys, they seem to think they can use them in adult sites and they won't compete with their own product, my guess would be some kind of herbal supplement or software as they come from a mainstream background.

Either way, my point is, they have a decent grasp on the business side of things, they're counting their pennies now so they don't struggle later on when it comes to growth.

Again, perception vs. reality.

Just because a program rep posted on a message board that the company they work for dropped $50k on a website design, that doesn't make it true.

If it were, everyone on GFY would be driving Veyrons and blowing their noses on $100 bills.

Why i asked for what network you run is because your posts remind me of how i assessed what my profits would be before i got into it and actually did it.

Why are you not taking into account 15 percent for processing, server cost of a few hundred a month, password security script for all domains with a memberbase, affiliate payout unless you think you'll have no affiliates, no cms cost, no affiliate software?

oh right, you think youre going to manage your business while updating an affiliate program page by hand and cms by hand. :/

Your 1800 will start to look like $800 and you are far from covering your bills and further getting into the hole

? This forum is full of industry vets, alot love to post. There has been 1800 views to this thread. It has more views than 85 percent of the threads on the frontpage, it has 4 pages. GFY has never been anything but non vocal, if somebody had a name off the top of their head of a recent successful program/company that started in the past few years, they would probably have named them.

Almost all programs are eventually posted on GFY, in spam threads or launch threads. Or have a press release on xbiz.

It doesn't take a genius to realize there has been a severe lack of brand new companies in adult in comparison and the only ones to succeed who have attempted are big budgeted companies who are expanding with profits earned previously.

I think people are confusing 'unlikely' and 'impossible'

Giving somebody a tip that its unlikely isn't saying you cannot do it. Nobody has ever claimed its not possible for a newcomer to come in with a modest budget. I have carefully chose my words in every post of mine and never once said its impossible.

for sure :)

I can tell you that the biggest budget in the world will not overcome a bad work ethic/drive/motivation. Regardless of porn, online or offline world, you must have the drive to succeed and overcome the endless obstacles in your path.

Money can buy you a better mousetrap, but you still have to do the work day in and day out.

:2 cents:

I think we've just discovered the problem in why you are not understanding what we are saying.

If you have a budget of $5000, and your bills come to $2000 before you have even launched, you are under budget by $3000 not in the hole for $7000. But what it does mean is that you wasted $2000 and only have $3000 left to develop the sites, buy content, etc...

Lets look at it as a real world business...

I have $5000 to invest in a small affiliate program, lets say I want to launch with 10 paysites.

I go out and buy the content to use in these sites, a selection of images and DVD titles, lets say I spend $2000 on this content acquisition, because I don't want to blow my funds immediately as i still need to have the sites designed and also get the affiliate stuff setup.

My next step is to purchase the domain names, I am going to pick 11 of them, one for each website and one to use for the affiliate program, total cost, depending on your registrar of choice, between $8 and $15 per domain, lets go on the higher end of that scale for arguments sake, I have just spend $165 on 11 domain names for 1 year each.

I now have $2835 to spend on designs for 10 paysites and an affiliate program design.

Now it comes to finding a designer to actually put the sites together, I know that tube style tours are making money right now, I go and check out the various designers, see what is in their portfolios and discover i can get a full tube design created for lets say, $800. I ask the designer to lower the price, she cuts $100 off, so i now have my first paysite tour designed for $700.

I still have $2135 left for the remaining 9 paysites and affiliate program design.

I ask the same designer how she feels about creating just some headers, not full tubes (because the first site was complete and all I need to do is change out headers and CSS files to make each one unique) and what the cost would be for 1, she tells me $300, I say 'okay cool, now what if i order 9 of them?', designer tells me she can do each header design for $175, I agree and the header designs are created.

I still have $560 of my initial $5000 investment left to spend.

Oh, I need hosting too, so I shop around for that, most adult hosts are charing anywhere from $50-$100 a month, but I know that some non-adult hosts are actually fine with adult content, so long as it is legal. I find a 12 month non-adult hosting plan, with comparable specifications to Webair (as the example) for $120 a year so I order it.

I still have $440 of my initial $5000 left.

Oh I also still need to get setup for processing, I ask the designer who they would recommend, they tell me CCBill or Epoch so I contact them and ask them what the costs are, I get told to process for Visa its going to cost me $750, but, I dont have that in my budget, I discuss the options about using each processor exclusively for a period of 12-24 months and see if there is anyway they can work with me on the processing fee, Epoch tells me no, CCBill tells me yes, I go with CCBill and get signed up. (this is something that has actually happened for my clients currently.)

I still have $440 left of my initial $5000 investment.

What else do I need to buy? Oh thats right, an affiliate program design, I ask the designer that I have already spend a decent amount of money with if she can work on a program design for me, nothing fancy, just enough to put the basis details of the sites I am offering, some promo tools and a couple of nice looking pics of chicks with their tits out, she agrees and tells me she can do a nice affiliate program template for $250, I haggle on the price a little more based on how much I have already spent and tell her she will be my priority choice for future work, she lowers the price to $200, I agree and pay.

I still have $240 left of my original $5000 investment.

This can ALL be done within a 30 day time-frame, and can all be done for less than $5000.

I launch my sites and 30 days later have made between $1200-$2000 (based on your figures of 1 sale a day).

It will take me about 3 months to break even and, even make a little profit.

I take that last $240 and go and buy beer, weed and hookers to celebrate the launch of my new, profitable business, that I'm going to have for many years to come, not just 1 or 2.

How am *I* in this scenario, losing money, I have no bills to pay, because I have already purchased hosting for a year, already have the domains registered for a year and own the designs and content I am using outright.

Even if i siphon off 25% of the money I make back into the business, I still break even in 3 months and that $500 a month I am putting back to invest in the business means that within a year I can launch another 10 paysites, invest in new content, domains, renew hosting costs (even upgrade hosting if required).

If my math is off any, please let me know, was writing this on the fly... Based on real life examples, no perceived examples or speculation.

You can lead a webmaster to success but you can't make him think...

This thread highlights why so many will fail and few will succeed. It has everything to do with not following sound business advice like Barefootsies, Ruseful, WA, and others have tendered and believing in false conceptions about what is necessary to become successful.

For years I have watched companies spend their way into oblivion on stuff that was completely unprofitable while thinking that what they were doing was absolutely necessary to be in biz. Going after affiliates for example, spending Y to get less than X in profits until the program folds... then blaming the tubes or the piracy or whatever.

Yeah the majority of people dont have the extremely driven and dedicated mentality, so why when you respond to a thread like this, you dont assume theyre an average webmaster? If a newbie comes to you and asks you a question like 'do you think its possible for me to accomplish this' - are you going to assume theyre the average person or this witty/web savvy professional business man?

I know youre going to assume theyre an average webmaster because thats typically what youre dealing with

So wouldn't you respond with its unlikely?

Youre not in this thread, youre saying its possible because its possible for that real slim percent of person that you think he should be. Is this not true?

Webmaster Advertising, launch a paysite for 5k with 1 sale a day in mind and see where you end up. Get back to me when you do.

See my post above.

As for software like StrongBox, who cares, if its non-exclusive content its probably likely on TGPs, Tubes, Directories, Free Sites and the likes anyway.

CCBill handles all aspects of the affiliate program, I am on a budget, why do I need something like NATs to run a program, there are plenty of site owners on GFY that dont use NATs that make a decent living just using what CCBill provides.

CMS can be picked up after the first month or two, can even have one custom coded for around $1500 (on the high end).

Again, you seem to be saying a site owner NEEDS all of the things you mentioned to succeed, they don't.

I have launched a new paysite with way less than that, it honestly takes me about 15 minutes to put a simple tour together, with a selection of thumbs all linking to the join page, through CCBill.

They make money, which is why I don't have an affiliate program.

As I said earlier today, I don't seek validation from anyone, I'm just saying it can be done, has been done, will be done again and, will be profitable for those that do it, so long as they go about doing it the right way.

Lets not forget, only 3 or 4 years ago affiliates scoffed at the thought of having paysite tours that looked like tube sites... Yet where are we now?

First of all, ruseful hasn't given any information in this thread. Nor has be given a number of how much it cost him to do what he did. He also was never a newcomer. And both of you launched your programs 10 years ago and have 10 years experience and you dont understand why you may think its easy for newcomers?

Do you know how easy it is to launch 5-10 years ago? Do you know how easy it is to maintain that and have that ease of learning at a slow pace and cushion?

If you think launching in 2013 with no prior experience isn't hard and unlikely to the average webmaster. I just dont know what to say.

I know people that put together 15 min tours and spent 2k on a paysite that was successful too, way back. Would you mind sharing the domain so i can check it out :)

Agreed.

With all of the typos there, I am not sure what you're getting at, but I am going to assume you are saying that basically it's a small percentage of people who can succeed.

If that is you question, the answer is yes. But not based on the O.P. and his $50k budget to make $5/month yoke. But because I believe that ultimately you're work ethic and will to succeed is what makes or breaks you. The money can make it easier and faster assuming you have the right blue print in the first place. However, that is not going to be the KEY to the success or failure.

:2 cents:

Who said anything about nats. CCBill has no affiliate software. So its getting clearer to me that you are unaware and giving your opinions from the other side of the window.

Really?

So what you are saying is, if I sign up to CCBill, I am not able to run an affiliate program without additional software?

Wow that was a completely messed up sentence. sorry :1orglaugh

So youre saying even the percent of people who have drive and work ethic is real slim. But you think a decent percent of people can pick up enough knowledge about the industry to learn all the scripts, places to promote, understanding of where your content will convert, what style of content to produce, who to edit your content, how to work video editing software, photo editing software if you dont end up paying somebody, etc etc and succeed with a small investment to the level of paying their bills and then saving enoguh from this profitable site to reinvest into it to keep it going? all without having prior adult industry experience...

i'd love for you guys to guide one of your friends who hasn't worked in adult and is looking to get into it and point them over to these boards and tell them, well there you go, start! and see how much money is spent before he gets to launch date. including his time and bills.

again i have to say, you understimate how much knowledge you've picked up being in this industry for as long as you have and launching when it was easier to stay afloat. it sounds so easy to us but people outside this industry, its alot tougher than you think, hell i tried to show somebody how to use smartthumbs, that was a while until he got a good understanding of how it operates.

I dont consider that person dumb or unmotivated, he simply isnt' experienced in this industry or the type of scripts we work with day in and day out, its a big learning curve

you can, i said you'd be doing it by hand. Adding each tool by html/css each time you add a new zip,fhg, or whatever. not including any other tools, since most people offer embedded flash and other flash tools becuase those tools are in high demand, you'll need to code something so you can offer flash on your blank html page ;) typically affiliate software does that for you automatically

they have nothign to offer your tools, no

and sure you can cut corners and not offer more than banners or banners and fhgs but for every thing i suggest you should have to make 5k and that you suggest you can cut, well its going to add up and i dont think that program will reach what the OP's monthly income that he had in mind

Most people use ccbtools. or something similar/custom and to get into the cheapest package that includes flash tools, its 150/month.

Doing it by hand is an issue because? Oh and you actually didn't say that, just to be clear.

I'm on a budget remember...

Again, just because 'most people' offer Flash, that doesn't mean that *I* would have to offer flash in my example above, which you seem to have just glazed over...

Building a gallery takes what, 10 minutes?

Building a free site takes what, maybe 15-20?

Uploading content to the server, can be done overnight, so there really isn't any 'hands on' time needed for that, simply set it when you go to bed, or leave the office, wherever..

You seem to be stuck on what *your* perception for a successful site is, not what is actually needed. Again, go back and read over this thread from page one, in order to make a successful business work, you need to look at it from a business perspective.

Offering things right off the bat that many people probably aren't going to immediately use is a bad waste of time, resources and money.

A new program to launch, only needs hosted clips, fhgs and free sites currently, perhaps mobile tours too, but even that isn't a guarantee that sales will be made by affiliates.

Why exactly would I need to offer Flash if I am on a budget and launching a new paysite or program without knowing anything about this stuff, if the person doing all of this knows nothing about this as you keep saying, then I don't know that they need to offer flash.

Then again, maybe instead of blowing that remaining $240 on beer, weed and hookers I could have used that to build a few Flash ads... Yet still be under my initial budget of $5000.

Reading your posts reminds me of when you tell a kid to clean his room, the kid replies with "i only need to put my clothes away, vacuum and make my bed, itll take 10 minutes mom"

When the kid actually sits down to clean his room, hours pass. Between the exaggeration of how long things take and the spacing between certain tasks, it always takes longer than what you quickly added up in your head. Much longer.

Im sorry but i just think your wrong and I totally see where youre coming from but it just wont be that easy or work out like that.

I dont believe you can succeed cutting so many corners and offering so little (unless you want to continue down a path of staying small which the OP said he wasn't interested in). The way you guys are making it out to be, as long as you ahve content, paysite, tools, it = money and success. It simply doesn't. Let alone the profit margin and quickness of return you guys are speaking of, especially from some guy who hasn't touched a piece of adult industry software in his life.

Well... without going into too much detail:

10 editors
9 crew members
2 production managers
1 webmaster
3 developers
2 designers
1 social media manager
1 upload manager
1 DMCA/2257 compliance manager
1 affiliate manager

And myself of course.

You need to understand that we are shooting in excess of 120 full scenes a month for updates to our existing sites and also for the new sites I am launching in my own network. We also shoot and edit content for other companies/sites too.

Its a very simple blueprint I use for the launch of each new site that factors in the site requirements for new staff and the extra burden on existing staff's time. I hire as/when needed.

As for my initial investment to start the company pre revenues, it was $200k. This enabled me to launch 2 sites: orgasms.xxx (sept '11) and casting.xxx (aug '11). We hit the ground running of course, simply because I knew what the tube users wanted. I knew the length the tube clips needed to be, I knew what to tag the clips with, how to title them and how to watermark them. I joined the Content Publishing Programs of the biggest tubes and uploaded. I got no favours and needed none. As stated before, I run my company so its self sufficient. I reinvest my profits into new sites/staff as/when the profits afford me to do this.

Of course, I have a better knowledge than most regarding how to utilise the tube traffic, but even today, I spend around an hour a day looking at all the clips on major tubes. Looking at why some clips were more successful than others, why they had high/low views, high/low ratings, reading all the user comments. Looking for any little micro switch that made a +/- difference. It also has a huge influence on the new sites I launch. No one spoon feeds me this information, but its out there for everyone. For instance, for uptodate most popular search terms on a tube, look at the footer on RedTube, they actually list the most popular search terms on their site. It helps to tag these terms in all of your tube submissions, and also load 1 or 2 into the title. Your clip will show up in more search results.

Want to know what niches do well? If you are looking for an easy answer, click on the most popular list on YouPorn Channels. Reality sites fill 5 of the top 8 (I own 3 of them). Sensual/erotic sites fill the other 3 (I own 2 of them). However, if you have the impetus to look into this further, do what I do, and study the tubes. Seriously, all your answers are out there.

Having said all that, you can't serve a turd to the tube users, it simply wont work, no matter if you have identified what niche they want, how long the clips should be etc. Thats where you need a good crew and the best editors to make sure every tube clip you put out there is the best representation of your brand.

This is just my story and the way I do things, not saying its the right way, but it works for me, (I have just hit 13,000 active members). I'm an approachable guy and will gladly help anyone that cares to reach out.

True dat.

In time? Yes. In 30 days? No.

I did not learn all of that stuff in a short period of time. I took me time to learn that stuff. I recall spending a good 3 months just reading and reading all of the various boards, hahahahahahaha University or whatever it was called, and anything I could.

But even when I did NOT know all about shooting content, video editing, running adult oriented (traditional model) pay sites, it only took me a few months to get up to speed. That does not mean I stopped learning. It means I was profitable and in the black. I kept learning, tweaking, trial and error over the decade plus.

What I am getting at here is, I am self taught. If I can do it, so can others. If you have the WILL.

I have to teach my assistant these things so I can scale my business now. In addition to her, I have a number of worker bees doing various one off tasks. Is it a nightmare? Sure. Not one of these people have adult industry experience and all work locally. Can they learn to do adult webmaster oriented tasks? Yep. All doing just fine. It takes time, yes. But can be done.

totally agree!!!!

I hear that :(

Editing takes the majority of almost everyday. I eventually got to outsource that stuff. Its the most time consuming job in adult. Unless you use some real crappy smoothing plugin. Not surprised one bit thats what the majority of your employees do. I think my first 2 employees may be doing that.

You took a path of learning it all and going through the stages, you started in tgps no? Thats where i remember doing most of my business with you real early on.

That gives you the experience to lessen your budget. Thats all im trying to say! If this guy came into this thread and said, i want to get into adult and learn the ropes and eventually launch a paysite business, how much would it cost then, i'd say a fraction but if you want to come in with a budget for a paysite business , that means a learning curve and that learning curve is going to cost you a pretty penny.

If somebody wanted a sportsbike, you better have money for repairs when you lay it on its side because you jumped 2 levels. lol

Remember the OP said no experience.

Whoa no teaching your assistant. :1orglaugh newcomers dont typically have these kinds of connections in order to guide them along to success ;) As they have nothing in it for themselves

yep, once the crews have shot the content, its the editors that I live/die by. When we need to take on a new editor, we give raw footage to 6 hand picked freelancers, look at the results, choose 2, give more raw footage to them and then make a decision. Its all time consuming but I am proud to say we have some of the best editors in the business.