CONTENT TRENDS

Among the top questions asked of anybody in the adult industry (right up there after, “Hey… do you get to bang all those girls?”) is, “So, where do you find your models?” Apparently, there’s a public misconception that someone somewhere has a “girl mine”, where he digs countless eager 18 year-old girls out of the ground, washes them off and then sends them into the adult business, and they’re never seen again.

I’ve been around the adult business for a long, long time.CONTENT TRENDS

Among the top questions asked of anybody in the adult industry (right up there after, “Hey… do you get to bang all those girls?”) is, “So, where do you find your models?” Apparently, there’s a public misconception that someone somewhere has a “girl mine”, where he digs countless eager 18 year-old girls out of the ground, washes them off and then sends them into the adult business, and they’re never seen again.

I’ve been around the adult business for a long, long time. In fact, in one guise or another, I actually pre-date the adult Internet market with my involvement in all things adult. And I can tell budding Webmasters one thing; there is no such thing as a girl mine. The world market for models has never been more competitive, and it’s a great time to be a good looking, horny teenage girl (has there ever been a crappy time, I wonder?). There are probably more potential photographers now than there have ever been, and girls who manage their careers or sign exclusive contracts can coin it in.

Not that it’s of much use to you if you’re at the back of the queue, looking for new talent.

So where does a budding photographer or Webmaster locate brand new, fresh flesh? Let’s face it… fresh faces are what drive this business. Ask anyone making adult movies. Sure, great girls will always find a market, but the average site member will tire of the same old face pretty quickly.

First things first, forget model agents. If you’re hoping for someone that no one else has used, then a model agency has to be your last port of call, because they’re the cattle market of modeling. It’s the agent’s job to find his client as much work as she can physically cope with in order to earn his percentage. If you want them new and fresh from the pack, then you’ve got to think laterally. And you’ve got to have a plan.

While approaching cute young girls in the street might seem like a good idea, put it to the back of your mind unless you want to spend time in a cell. The police take a pretty dim view of harassment, and your defense of, “I was hoping she would take her clothes off for money” isn’t going to win the judge over. One of the most successful photographers I know actually employs girls to do his talent spotting for him. They cruise nightclubs and bars looking for likely girls and then hand out business cards. Some photographers work on a commission basis, others pay a flat rate to trusted models and make-up artists. If you have a girlfriend, put her to work! Get her out on the beach in the summer, handing out flyers or business cards to groups of girls. You might be surprised by the results.

Does your town have a college or university in it? It’s incredible just how quickly students can burn through money when they put their mind to it. Model fees are a great way of topping up bank accounts before vacation time. And don’t forget Spring Break. If you want public nudity shots, you can’t go wrong with Spring Break. That delightful combination of sunshine, alcohol and peer pressure may be well worth considering. [Publisher’s Note: Keep in mind that when people bare all in public, American-based Webmasters do need to comply with USC 18 § 2257, and prove that any individuals in a sexually-explicit photograph or image that you publish were at least 18 years of age at the time the images were recorded, regardless of the fact that such images were taken in a public place.]

In Europe, the vast majority of girls coming into the scene are from Eastern Europe. Countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic are now reaching saturation point as far as photographers are concerned. Now the big name snappers are looking further afield, to places like the Ukraine. The key to success in a foreign country is simple: pay the girl the same money as you would at home. For some of these girls, sixty dollars is a great weekly wage. For some, it’s a monthly wage. Offering them a couple of hundred dollars to take their panties off for your camera and the understanding that their parents won’t see it on a newsstand any time soon is a powerful incentive.

A number of photographers have moved out of countries like the UK and set up shop in Eastern Europe, but for every one who pays realistic wages, there are others who try to get away with paying local rates. The result is that the best girls, the ones who could waltz into World Modeling and secure a Vivid contract on day one, go elsewhere. The trick is to get over there now, before the place is shot to death. Of course, there are risks involved. I’ve heard horror stories of mobsters “arranging” shoots for Western photographers and then robbing them of their cameras, film and money at gunpoint outside the airport. Let caution be your watchword.

It’s safer then to stay home and exploit your own market. After all, why travel thousands of miles around the globe when there are so many untapped areas here at home? Think about it. The United States is a very rich nation, but maybe 10% of the population control 90% of the wealth. To extrapolate that in simpler terms: there are a lot of money-hungry girls out there, and you just have to find them. So think about the poorer states of the union. Find out if there are any statewide advertising papers you can run cheap ads in, and hit the local press and their classified sections. Remember, you have to speculate to accumulate. Even if the girls who send you their pictures are ugly enough to sour milk while it’s still in the cow, someone somewhere will want to shoot them, or buy them as content. Unless you’re Danni Ashe or Suze Randall, never discredit a model until you’ve seriously thought about marketing her images everywhere you possibly can.

And while we’re on the subject, think about how and what you shoot. If you’re spending money on a model, you might as well maximize your time with her. If you specialize in doing dildo shoots, ask the model if she’d be willing to do some watersports stuff so that you can sell or trade it with other webmasters, or just put it in the picture bank in case you ever tap that market.

With the adult business as tight as it is right now, the best thing you can do is diverge into different markets, or at the very least consider how you can maximize your own. Cool Piranha, Inc. has done just that, and we now represent an incredibly broad cross-section of photographers who specialize in everything from standard glamor and hardcore to heavy bondage and sado-masochism material. It’s the only way to chase the mighty dollar, and let’s face it, it’s all about the money, honey, and if you need custom shot material then we can get that sourced too. It’s the benefit of being based in the US, EU and Eastern Europe – we get to leverage each market for everyone’s advantage.

Cool Piranha, Inc. work with adult photographers from all over Europe, representing them as an agency to ensure they always have the latest adult images. Their photographers’ work has been seen in adult magazines ranging from Hustler, High Society and Club in the USA to Mayfair, Men Only, Knave and Fiesta in the UK. Uniquely, Cool Piranha Content seek out adult industry photographers and sell their latest images for them, rather than buy rights to old stock. Their niche content is therefore exclusive and has never been seen on the Internet. For more information, please contact support@coolpiranha.com.