[JohnIP]

My My My My My…Lots of opinions on this board from knowleable folks trin to make sense of a market change. There’s really two issues to deal with …how to react to the “cold” and how to prepare and prevent yourself from getting more colds in the future

Ive been in this Biz of 7 years…experiencing, surviving and growing my company through change after change. This one is indeed one of the larger changes. I agree with a lot of what Toolz, Cyndie and Brad have said. Some disagreement on the flavor and tone.

Bottom line is if your gonna place blame or look at the cause for the current condition it ALWAYS lies with the source of the $$$ in Business. Sponsor’s caused this problem…nobody else…unethical sponsors that wanted a quick buck…semi ethical sponsors that felt they had to play to compete…ethical sponsors that supported a system of competitive reciprocal welfare that let a crummy business model survive for as long as it has. That’s why there’s turmoil and that’s why theses disruptions in the time continuum …and it will continue to occur until the base structure is fixed….and merely changing price points AINT the answer to THAT problem.

What do I mean by competitive reciprocal welfare. It means propping up your competitors business in order to make a buck yourself. When was the last time you went to Sears and while walkin out of the store they handed you a Brochure for the same line of products at JC Penny’s and Sears expected JC Penny’s to do the same for them each paying one other a commission(ie Exit Consoles). When was the last time at the Cash register in Sears, when buying your favorite Bob Vial product…you were offered the opportunity to buy a similar product sold by J C Penny’s and Sears expected JC Penny’s to do the same for them each paying one other a commission(ie Cross Sells).

Crazy …Nuts …unheard of right….but that’s what this piece of the porn industry does. Hell its not even done in the regular porn industry…Does Larry expect Christy Hefner to sell subscription ads for Hustler in Playboy on commission?... does he think that’s a good thing for his business…I don’t think soooo

Now some of you I’m sure can make excuses for the practice...offer up theories about how this business is different…write me dissertations about how everybody makin money together and havin a “Good Time” is really way cool

But the bottom line is this practice AINT GOOD BUSINESS, and is one of the largest contributing factors to this industries problems. It fly’s in the face of the immutable laws of how people run a good business (Sorry a bit of a Carl Sagen moment there

Can you, under specific curcumstances and conditions, make alot of $$$ doin it …sure…but not forever. Deriving large percentages of your revenue through reciprocal agreement with your competitors , a poor business practice established early on in online porn biz, like a VAST number of companies large and small do in this business, is bad business and only serves to let the weak hang on...the scammers continue to have a hay day..and keeps this industry in constant turmoil and keeps it from TRULY maturing into its own.