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Thread: Anyone ever run their own site?

  1. #1
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    Default Anyone ever run their own site?

    Every once in a while I play with the idea of starting my own website. Photography is a hobby of mine and I have a studio set-up thats good enough to start with, video equipment, web design skills, and a tech-savvy boyfriend. It wouldn't cost anything initially to do some of my own photo shoots and videos to see if its even something I want to pursue, and the start up of buying a domain and hosting shouldn't be outrageous if we can do all the behind the scenes stuff for free.

    But can an R-rated/Playboy level nudity website be lucrative? I have virtually no bills, if I could make at least just $500 - $1,000 over cost per month that would be good enough for me.

    Can other women who have done personal website share their wisdom?
    Some specific questions:
    1) On average, what is your monthly expense to operate your site?
    2) What other features do customers seem to be interested in? (ex: journal, live chat, other ways of interacting?)
    3) Is there anything you would have done differently or would recommend to a newbie?

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    Default Re: Anyone ever run their own site?

    Starting a members website is a legal nightmare! First and most importantly, go see/talk to an ATTOURNEY so you can get a good idea of what you are getting yourself into. This investment alone is not an expense many expect to come along when they are starting an adult website, but if you want to own a legit company and do it legally this is the first step you will need to take. If you do not take this step you can make grave mistakes and end up committing federal crimes (especially concerning 2257 law) As I said this expense alone is overlooked, but worth it. If you start a non adult business you will have to get an attourney. This is the same with the porn business but there are much more serious consequences if you do not. If you cannot afford to get an attourney you should WAIT to start any adult biz until you can.

    It seems everyone and their mother has a members site, but most of the girls are only PHOTOGRAPHED MODELS, and do not run the sites on their own. Members sites are often run by adult-related companies, not the girls themselves. The girls are models and paid actresses.

    Get in touch with Michael Fattorosi, he is a well known porn attourney located in Cali, if you are really serious about this.
    Last edited by cyberstripper; 10-22-2009 at 08:11 PM.

  3. #3
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone ever run their own site?

    ^^^ agreed with cyberstripper !!! I used to operate a very profitable personal pay website, but ultimately decided to close it down for the following reasons ...

    - as cyberstripper pointed out, the section 2257 law now creates SERIOUS legal jeopardy for website 'owners' / content 'publishers'. Besides the potential federal 'sex crime' felony charges for failure to comply, I did not savor the thought of granting de-facto permission to a warrantless search of my home ( = place of business ) to any LE agent on the basis of section 2257 records inspection

    - the ability to obtain a credit card merchant account for any adult business has gotten more and more difficult ... and especially so for an adult business like a website that does not have 'brick and mortar' assets and has annual transaction totals of less than $1 million per year. As a result, in order for a single girl website to process internet credit card charges these days, it's necessary to pay up to 20-25% of the gross amount to a third party credit card processing service.

    - adult web hosting fees have increased over the years, but are 'reasonable' for still pictures. However, increasingly, video chat and video streaming are necessary in order to earn any serious money - and this requires 100 times as much bandwidth. While this bandwidth cost can be kept relatively low if a huge volume is involved and the website owns and operates their own servers, it is incrementally quite expensive for a single girl website hosted on a server that is owned and operated by someone else.

    - in the last few years, search engine placement has migrated from sites who are able to cleverly 'tag' themselves to sites that are willing to pay big bucks. Thus today a small single girl website is likely to wind up on search result page 100 unless she is also willing to shell out hard cash to improve her placement. An 'aggregator' web host can pay for prominent search engine placement and effectively split advertising costs 1000 ways among the 1000 webcam girls it hosts.

    The bottom line where my own evaluation was concerned was that the 50% payout available from 'aggregator' webcam host websites is only about 10-15% less than the net earnings from a similar amount of direct sales from a single girl website. As stated above, the webcam host is charged far less for the processing of internet credit card charges because they DO have 'brick and mortar' facilities and can therefore operate their own credit card merchant account. As also stated above, the cost of X gigs of bandwidth is probably only 1/3rd as much because they can aggregate the bandwidth requirements of 1000 'clients' and purchase 1000X gigs of bandwidth at a much lower cost per gig.

    Also, the single girl website is exposed to financial and legal risks that she would not face if she uses an 'aggregator' webcam host websites to 'front' for her. For example, if some malicious hacker cracks website pay area security and hands out free passwords, the single girl website can face a huge bandwidth bill with no credit card revenue with which to pay for it. There is also potential risk of 'long distance prosecution' if the single girl website conducts business with a customer who happens to live in a city where the content of her website is considered illegal. 'Aggregator' websites can afford to invest in full time server security monitoring / full time adult industry legal counsel etc. where a single girl website simply can't.

    Based on all of this, I opted to relinquish the responsibility and liability that goes with being an adult website 'owner' / adult content 'publisher', and live with a 10-15% lower net income by shifting to an 'aggregator' webcam host.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 10-23-2009 at 02:59 PM.

  4. #4
    Veteran Member pornlaw's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone ever run their own site?

    Cyberstripper and Melodie and given some really great advice...

    Solo girl sites can be profitable though. And $500-$1000 is easily accomplished if you have a solid marketing plan and be willing to put in the time and effort.

    My GF has had her own site since 2002 ( www.VanessaBlue.com ) and it has been a solid source of income for seven years.

    If anyone is interested in their own site, please feel free to contact me at michael(at)fattlegal.com.

    I do offer gratis consults for new clients.

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