AJ,

My post wasn't meant to be the biggest spam post you have ever seen. The thing I like about this message board is that the vibe is mellow, unlike other places. If I have an announcent that is related to a thread, then I will share it w/ other webmasters on this board. Yes, cascading billing has been around, but correct if I am wrong in saying that MPA2 has really brought it to the forefront.

Perhaps other webmasters on Xnations are not as saavy as you are when it comes to being in the "know" on cascading billing? I took a look at JetBucks (yes that was a plug) and noticed you are only using CCBill. Perhaps you should consider using cascading billing. ;)

Poppy

hehehe :cackle:

awww man, no matter how hard I try... :shucks:

:D

You wanna see blatant spam?

BUY MY CONTENT. VIRTUCONTENT.COM

But you people wouldn't have me any other way. And that's a trend I plan to stick with. I won't stop until the OTHER HALF of you have my feeds. Muahhaaaaaaaaa!

Amen Laurie :cool:

Yep, I agree the vibe is mellow and that X-Nations is a cool board. As far as the MPA2 thing, I will just say that it is a good software program. Has it brought cascading billing to the forefront? Possibly for normal users but from what I know most of the bigger companies have been using it for quite some time, so it very well could have brought it to everyone else at a more affordable price. My point was simply that ... well nevermind I think we have beat that to death.

As far as JetBucks going cascading billing, I am in the process of looking for a buyer for JetBucks and its sites because my business is concentrated elsewhere at the moment. Maybe if someone buys JetBucks they will take the responsibility of doing their own payouts and using cascading billing. The problem for me is I have a small crew, mostly of developers, and managing our own payouts was not an option. In order for webmasters to promote they need to be paid, and CCBill offered the best services at the time the sites were created.

Anyhow, lets move on with this thread :)

AJ

My business seems to do better when I denie my affiliation to it.
I can't figure out why though.:huh:

It's that freakazoid avatar you've got; it scares people off. ::-|

Awesome thread!
No predictions, but trends I see going on *right now*...

- Content providers are happily and eagering following in the footsteps of TGP; giving out HUGE packs of free content "to drum up business" and then wondering why business has dropped so much. It's because no one needs to buy content anymore guys, there's at least 3 huge packs being given away each week. Even message boards are doing it.

- More webmasters are leaving virtual hosting and going with their own dedicated servers for more control and cheaper prices.

- "Veterans" in the industry are finally trying things they've never tried before - like TGP, because what they've been doing all of this time is no longer bringing in the $$ it used to.

- Everyone and their brother is opening up a message board in the hopes of selling advertising and supplementing their plummeting income.

- 12Clicks nailed one of them - industry gurus are putting their heads down and working on new projects, and not telling a soul about what they're doing in order to really protect their new traffic/$$ source.

- Newbies are having a *harder* time doing things because they're being handed everything - from pre-made galleries to pre-made free sites (?!?), banner-free unlimited bandwidth free hosting, free *quality* and hardcore content - EVERYTHING is free and they have no reason, no incentive to LEARN how to do it themselves. If they don't learn it, they won't understand it - and they'll expect to keep being handed things for free rather than doing the work themselves.

- Bigger folks who were making 200+ signups a day are now down to 20+ signups a day and they're panicking.

- Softcore sites are quickly catching up with reality sites (bikini, drunk girls, cheerleaders etc) and as the legislation keeps coming, more folks are turning to these types of sites.

- People are finally realizing that "teens" and "tits" aren't cutting it anymore and that it's not the amount of traffic that you have, but what you DO with the traffic you've got. More folks are turning to more specific niches that have way less traffic but its ROI is higher.

That's what I've seen going on recently, the "recent trends"... as for what's coming? Wait until September and see if you can believe the differences between then and today. With the left-hooks that many webmasters have taken over the past 8 months, this summer is going to be the death of them business-wise.

So what makes a good marketing person?

that's right! business like this is like the bush fire in Australia......that no one can stop them.....

Carrie! Are you trying to scare us all? LOL
Of course a lot of what you're saying is on the mark. Maybe not to the extent you're taking it though...

And I agree with you on the many different boards that are popping up. I'm just glad that xnations has prospered amongst them all. I personally feel that the usual webmaster hangouts will experience an eventual exodus as webmasters grow and/or grow up. Hopefully right here is one of the places that they will make their daily visits.

Re: hmmm
 

it won't happen
there are FLASH-OVERS now (at least thats what they call em here in Australia)

just like a popup but done with flash and you cant close them - agh! so much more annoying!!! :mad:
but oh so effective :D