The panel for the Internext seminar “Gay and Lesbian Sites: Constructing Desire” included industry veterans: Morgan Sommer – co-founder and president of Cybersocket; Karl Edwards – president and co-owner of Bedfellow; Lisa Turner – head of marketing and advertising for BadPuppy; and Rob Novinger – co-creator of C1R.The panel for the Internext seminar “Gay and Lesbian Sites: Constructing Desire” included industry veterans: Morgan Sommer – co-founder and president of Cybersocket; Karl Edwards – president and co-owner of Bedfellow; Lisa Turner – head of marketing and advertising for BadPuppy; and Rob Novinger – co-creator of C1R. With such a stellar lineup, it was a little disappointing as well as surprising that this seminar wasn’t as well attended as many of the others, considering that there were 15 to 20 years combined online adult experience among the panelists, and that the gay and lesbian adult markets are not as saturated as many of the straight markets.

“Show them enough to get hard – sell them enough to get off” as quoted by Edwards basically summed up the ‘what’ of constructing desire, but the actual ‘how’ was not really discussed in enough depth during the hour. A more fitting name for this panel actually would have been “How to market and maintain your established gay website – four industry leaders relate their own experiences.” Nevertheless, some important insight was offered that could be very useful to newbies interested in starting a gay or lesbian website the correct way.

Regardless of the fact that all four panelists run considerably different types of sites, it was basically agreed upon by all, that creating desire with erotic imagery is not just throwing up a bunch of softcore shots on your site in the hopes that potential customers will simply want to become a member to view the hardcore shots and videos. Learning what your customers want is much more important than giving them what you think they want. Stated Turner, “Constructing desire is the total package – it goes way beyond the images – there is the customer support, the free tour… you have to give potential customers many means to subscribe.” She continued, “Customer service is very important. Listen to your members and send them e-mail responses to their requests – make them feel at home. In this market, your month-to-month subscriptions are your bread and butter. Keep focused and try to stay exclusive.”
Edwards agreed, but added, “The problem with many gay niche sites is that once you get your customers in, it is not so ‘niche’ anymore. These types of exclusive sites drive people in, but memberships don’t last. ‘Niche’ is actually a bad word – I prefer ‘specific’.” While Edwards and Turner happened to be the most outspoken panelists at this seminar, one thing was clear among all of the panelists regarding the gay and lesbian market (which many consider to both be ‘niche’ markets in and of themselves) in that while they should be considered separate markets, there is the possibility of creating desire in both men AND women with the same content.

For obvious reasons, straight men don’t want to see gay male content while surfing, as much as gay men don’t want to see women while surfing. With lesbians, and straight women in general, the range of interests can vary greatly, but isn’t only reserved to more ‘sensual’ erotica as is widely thought. Lumping gay and lesbian content into one category can definitely kill desire, so to speak, even though there is the possibility of creating desire with straight women and gay men with the same content. Sommer commented, “Both gay men and straight women buy Playgirl.” Turner added, “A lot of our members are female, and we have found that several of our images create desire in both men and women.” Consequently, there is basically little to no crossover appeal between lesbian sites designed strictly for women, versus what is considered most appealing to straight men. It was offered that certain groups of lesbians are actually scared of porn, while others are strictly into gay male erotica. Neither is typically the case for the majority of straight men. While girl-on-girl action is very popular for many straight men, it is not typically presented in a manner that most women regardless of sexuality find desirable.

In closing, while the gay and lesbian market is staying on top of technology and trends, with live feeds and scheduled programming among other offerings, the growing trend of sites running in other languages has not quite caught on yet in these markets. Foreign language sites are a largely untapped area and should be explored by gay and lesbian webmasters before it like so much else becomes saturated.