AMATEUR ANGLE

This seminar, part of the Amateur Clinic at Cybernet Expo, was an excellent follow up to the “Basics and Marketing of an Amateur Site” seminar. Simply put, this seminar offered many do’s and don’ts in building up your already established amateur website.AMATEUR ANGLE

This seminar, part of the Amateur Clinic at Cybernet Expo, was an excellent follow up to the “Basics and Marketing of an Amateur Site” seminar. Simply put, this seminar offered many do’s and don’ts in building up your already established amateur website. Panelists Lee Burnstein of Amateuremail.net and Ken Bramon of Angiexxx.com and KB Productions did a fantastic job of speaking quite frankly to the audience in rapid succession.

Ken opened up by stating that it is very important to have a solid business and marketing plan for your amateur site. In your pursuit of traffic, utilizing “friends” pages is a good start, but you also need to produce and get out odd banner sizes, and change them monthly to see what works best. “Your stats are your lifeline – each hit you get is worth something. If you false advertise, your visitors will just cost you money in bandwidth, so don’t just go for mass traffic.” Lee agreed adding, “Keep a log of how your banners are doing – keep the ones that work the best and throw out the worst ones.”

A major thing to keep in mind, is that statistically speaking, the average surfer who buys memberships to adult sites is a member of seven sites. And a main reason why he might buy into your site is because you may seem attainable or more “real” to him. That is a very important draw to amateur sites, and why the niche has exploded into the business that it has become with a practically infinite number of niches and sub-niches, with a “fan” existing out there for really any type of amateur performer. Ken stated, “Prove to your members that you are attainable by having bar-meets. If you treat them well, they will treat you even better.” Both panelists then shared stories of how various amateurs have received huge and expensive gifts from their fans as well as how one fan actually paid an amateur girl to do her taxes for her.

Because many amateurs start out treating this business as a hobby, Ken emphasized the importance of demanding a contract when dealing with others in the biz. Especially when buying traffic, “Know what you are getting. Don’t buy raw hits unless you can get the person selling you traffic to join your partner program and see the conversions. And don’t be afraid to trade traffic for money. If visitors don’t join your site, or retain, get them to join someone else’s site.”

“Ten good clicks is better than a million shitty clicks,” stated Lee, matter-of-factly. “Buying traffic is not the best thing to do for your amateur site, email traffic is the best traffic. Everything is about email nowadays. As well, you should be putting out a weekly newsletter with updates to constantly be getting your name out there. You should also be using TGPs and submitting to link lists, as well as utilizing an upsell service.” When it comes to emailing out newsletters, surfers by and large prefer text email over HTML, since a lot of people out there are still using AOL and dialup Internet access. Even though AOL users can be some of your best traffic, AOL is well known for suing spammers, and so you should tread cautiously. Lee added, “Check with your hosting company about their rules on sending out bulk emails. Double opt-in users tend to complain the most, but you should be sending out emails to all of your members, both past and present. Your members list is your list.”

Ken emphasized the importance of getting involved in several webcam networks for excellent exposure, and not limiting yourself to one or two when it comes to driving traffic to your site. But he also greatly emphasized the importance of updating your site and particularly your free areas and tour to retain your visitors and increase your chances of sign ups. “Your free areas are your store front. Don’t give your surfers the option of a cheap trial – it can eat up bandwidth and cost you money. Make it easy to navigate, but don’t trick them to make them stay… it won’t work.”

Other ways to drive quality traffic to your amateur site is to use cam systems and to promote bigger sites on your own. Don’t discredit the opportunity to get money for signups through other amateur sites! Essentially, it’s about giving the surfer every option available. If you can’t make money through your site, do it through someone else’s. Lee stated, “Every amateur site should have a cash program. Don’t be afraid to lose some money on sales. But also, don’t just stop at the sale. Milk your customer for all they are worth – upsell!”

Jay “LAJ” Kopita is the Executive Editor for YNOTNews and the Communications Director for YNOTMasters and can be reached at editor@ynotnews.com and jay@ynotmasters.com.