And most importantly – where are those newbies? The room was a bit over half full and appeared to be disappointingly empty, considered the topic of the seminar. As YNOTBob later would remark: “There are about 300 newbies upstairs (at the booths) and they’re missing out on this right now.”.Will the New Breed of Newbie please stand up?

And most importantly – where are those newbies? The room was a bit over half full and appeared to be disappointingly empty, considered the topic of the seminar. As YNOTBob later would remark: “There are about 300 newbies upstairs (at the booths) and they’re missing out on this right now.”

On Monday morning at 11:08 AM precisely, the first InterNext seminar entitled A New Breed of Newbie was opened up by AVN moderator Frederick Lane, prominent legal advisor and author of Obscene Profits. He asked attendees two fundamental questions that would explain what constitutes the “new breed of newbies” mentioned in the seminar’s title. Fred’s first question was simple: How many in the room do not currently have a Web site at all.

About half the people in the room raised their hands.

The second question was: How many people in this room started their adult Web business because of a layoff, or downsizing at their mainstream companies.

More than half of all attendees raised their hands, albeit hesitatingly.

This was a sobering moment for anyone wondering about the current mainstream employment situation in this nation – increasingly more people seem to be getting into an industry that historically has received lashings from many political and religious sectors. The “Jizz Biz” still has a stigma attached, and people involved in it can face social and professional persecution, yet a staggering number of people at that seminar had begun to realize that working for somebody else in corporate America may not provide the stability or security once praised.

Fred let the numbers speak for themselves and moved on to introduce the seminar panel to the attendees. From left to right the following speakers would each deliver a few minutes of their wisdom, experience and advice to the room:

Steve Yagielowicz, Editor in Chief of Xbiz, Mark Tiarra of Duke Dollars, our very own YNOTBob, Johnny V. of Porn Posse, and Sex Money’s Matthew Sclier, a.k.a. “Chipmunk”.

The overall message from the panel was that the online adult entertainment industry still offers the potential for great wealth; however, each speaker made sure to point out that all those coming over from mainstream will need to understand and adjust to the differences.

“Look beyond skill sets that have sustained you in the mainstream,” Steve stressed. His advice was to remember and tweak three key areas, namely managing traffic, managing exit traffic and minding the nuances. Steve closed by saying, “The moneymaker will not always be obvious.”

Duke Dollars’ Mark Tiara was next to enlighten the crowd. His key advice focused on traffic (where have we heard that before?) and stickiness (meaning how many people are coming back to your site again). Mark cleared up some myths about the legal environment, content, and billing issues, as well as search engine optimization, and advised Webmasters to focus on the latter only after building free sites and submitting them to TGPs (thumbnail gallery posts) and MGPs (movie gallery posts) first.

Mark commented on how the worst looking sites often make the most money because in the adult industry it’s all about how the content is presented to the surfer and not necessarily a fancy appearance, which often just frustrates surfers on dial-up because of long download times. High-tech (read: flash pages) are often counterproductive to one’s bottom line and should be avoided. This may be something newbies to the industry will take some time getting used to, especially if all they did in the past was create splash pages for mainstream firms.

The always funny and honest YNOTBob agreed and advised to “forget most of what you have learned at your mainstream jobs”. Bob shared his Newbie Agreement with the room, which resulted in attendees feverishly taking notes and the occasional giggle and expression of enlightenment. The crowd collectively seemed to warm up at that point.

One comment Bob made probably answered one of the most important questions newer Webmasters ask themselves: “Yes, there is still a ton of dough to make in this industry, but only if you do it right. If you do well, we do well”, Bob said.

The rest of the panel nodded in agreement.

Johnnie V reminded participants to treat their businesses as such. “Honesty,” he said, “is paramount to doing well”. He also warned new Webmasters to not get stuck with just one or two niches but rather network with Webmasters of other niches to appeal to as many surfers as possible.

“Chipmunk” Matt Sclier made the transition from mainstream to adult a few years ago and shared his experiences and insight by acknowledging that getting into this business consists of a good amount of trial and error. He stressed that great customer service is something both the adult and mainstream worlds demand in order to succeed. Finally, it was Matt to point out the importance of tapping into the international market, which makes sense as his company, Sexmoney.com, is based out of Germany. Matt likes Web sites that offer a sense of community and invite surfers to come back and develop a relationship with the sites.

Fred took the microphone again and opened up for a quick session of Q and A. Webmasters asked questions ranging from basic content questions to more delicate questions, such as what “Acacia” was.

Was that just a needle dropping?

The panel did a great job answering the questions to the best of their abilities, but it was soon clear that the time allocated to this seminar was not nearly enough to cover all points. After about an hour of solid information exchange the panel and attendees were released again to mingle and network upstairs in the exhibition hall. Anyone taking their business serious was now undoubtedly filled with even more questions, and either ready to quit or ready to take on their new adventure with full force.

The “New Breed of Newbie” seems to consist of people from all walks of life, but increasingly from what often is referred to as mainstream. While the United States is facing record numbers of unemployed and the fact that the words “job security” mean nothing anymore, many alternative sources of income are being considered. Since the adult industry is often referred to as “recession resistant” it makes sense to at least consider this vast field.

Thanks to the advice and help from individuals such as those speaking at the seminar at InterNext, entering the adult industry from a professional aspect has been made more manageable.

The “New Breed of Newbies” has an unprecedented amount of resources at its disposal which, if utilized correctly, will turn those newbies into the next generation of industry leaders.

Now let’s grow and get rich together…

Kroywen Phoenix LLC is a horizontally diversified company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, venturing in E-commerce, and adult- and non-adult media featuring Web sites including KroywenPhoenix.com and GatesOfSin.com. The Kroywen Think Tank is looking for members in the following areas: adult entertainment, sales and marketing (all industries) and political development. To apply please visit http://www.kroywenphoenix.com/thinktankideafactory.htm.