Looking for some advice

[frawdav]

I have a girl who modelled for years (fashion and commercial) before going to college. Now that she is done with school, she would like to make a few bucks by starting an adult website. The idea would be for her to be the focus of the site as she is both beautiful and has a sexy girl-next-door look. I think if we can capture who she is (a pretty, sexy, smart nerd who loves computers and sci-fi and is willing to take off her clothes for the camera), then we can get customers.

I have worked in the online business myself for years in various capacities, but I know enough to know that I don't know anything apart this end of the industry - so I was hoping some of the people on this board might be able to help me out with some advice and suggestions.

1. Should I try to put everything together myself? I would need to find a hosting service, an ecommerce service for billing (ccbill?), and put he actual site together (I do have graphic designers and web guys for that). Or should I go through some type of turnkey service to do all of that? (I am guesisng that the turnkey services are not the way to go - but I should still look at it.)

2. What are the business implications of doing it myself? Licenses, etc.

3. How many of these types of sites are successful? Are single-girl,monthly-subscription sites a feasible way to make money? I know some of them drive a lot of traffic - but how rare are those?

4. How much content do you need to start out with? How much new stuff do you need to post each week? How important is video content?

What are the things I should be aware of? What do I need to watch out for? How good an idea is this for a side venture to make a few bucks?

I would really like to hear from people who know what they are talking about - and that seems to be the people here! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

(By the way, if this is the wrong forum for this, let me know and I wil try to get it moved to the right one.)

Thanks!

[Panky]

Welcum to XNations

Before launching a solo girl site, consider having your model do webcam shows for awhile. Build up a faithful group of fans. This will also help test her to see if she really has what it takes to stick with it and is comfortable before you invest a whole lot into this. It will also put some money in her pocket.

If this is really what your model wants to do and she has proven that she has the positive work ethics and attitude, then you have a few options with developing a solo girl site.

• You can do it alone. Work with a few key people to develop the site. If you are not a designer, hire a designer. If you are not a programmer, hire a programmer. If you aren't sure how to generate your own traffic and market the site, work with someone who does have the skill...
  
  You can join an existing sponsor and have the model and/or site appear in their portfolio of sites. Work out the agreement and make sure it is fair to both sides.
  
  Create a paysite and plug it behind an AVS system

Whatever she chooses to do, make sure she owns her own domain and the name in which she will use as her online presence.

Remember that solo girl sites are all about the model. The personal touch. She will need to interact with her members as much as possible. The best solo girl sites out there are ones where the model is active with her members. This isn't about doing photo updates and vid updates once a week. It's all about the personal touch with the members. A lot of work and dedication goes into running a solo girl site, not only from the people running the behind the scenes work, but the model herself.

Research other solo girl sites that compliment the niche(s) of your model. Join a few of the ones you like. Take notes about the site. What is it about the site design, members' area, and just the whole user experience that you like or don't like? What are the price points for membership? Take notes, but never copy someone elses site.

Have your model network with other models that have solo girl sites. This will help you to learn, build a name, and eventually work with traffic trades. Some of these models may want to do scenes with her as "friends".

Another way to make some money and to test your model is to make several videos. Cut them into clips and then sell them on a site like Clips4Sale.com. http://www.clips4sale.com You can set-up a store that basically will sell her videos. Register a site name, then watermark the videos with the site name. This will work to help her brand her name and build up a following before she launches a full blown solo girl site.

Before you launch a solo girl site, have plenty of picture and video content stock piled. Have enough where you could do one picture and one video update a week for at least a few months. You never know what life will throw at you and you always want to make sure you have enough of content to do regular updates in case the model has personal problems, has an accident, becomes pregnant, falling out between co-workers, whatever may happen..., to keep the site updated and functioning until whatever the problem is can be worked through.

For the legal and business issues, consult an attorney who is familiar with how the adult industry works, the online adult industry works, Federal, State, and local laws. Should you incorporate or not? Do you need permits? Does your local municipality allow you to produce porn in a studio or your home? All these questions and more can be answered by a qualified attorney. Every community, state, and country has different laws.

J.D. Obenberger from XXXLaw.net is known in the industry.
http://www.xxxlaw.net/

You can also find an attorney through the Free Speech Coalition at:
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/

You'll also need to find information on 2257 and how it pertains to you, proper model release forms, and what your models can and can't do on film or pictures. An attorney and many of the resource sites like YNot.com have information or links to people to consult to make sure whatever it is you are doing is legal and will save your butt in court should the time ever come.

If you don't already have traffic, it is best to begin building up traffic before launching a full blown solo girl site. Brand her name. Build-up a fan club so to speak. It will make things a little easier when the site does launch if you already have traffic you can direct to it.

As for updating, you can update with as little as one pic set and one video set each week. How much content you launch with depends on the niche and membership fees. For example, people aren't going to pay $25.00 a month to enter a site with 5 pic sets and 5 video sets of a solo girl teen. Rare niches can get away with much less content than something popular like solo girl teen sites. Mix in a few random webcam shows each week. Make a schedule so members know when to tune in. Interact with the members a lot. Just her presence live inside the members' area, will keep some members happy and rebilling. Take a look at other solo girls members' areas and see how much content they have and how often they update.

Another option is considering launching a site that appears behind an AVS system. (Adult Verification System) Basically, you build a membership type site and then plug it into the network The AVS takes care of the processing and you have access to existing traffic. You would promote this site much like you would a paysite that resides outside of the network. You won't need as much content to launch it and the AVS system handles all of your processing. All you need to do is promote your site and update it on a regular basis.

Some AVS systems:

• Netverifier
  http://www.netverifier.com/
  
  Sex Key
  http://www.sexkey.com/
  
  Adult Bouncer
  http://www.adultbouncer.com/
  
  Cyberage
  http://www.cyberage.com/
  
  Adults Allowed
  http://www.adultsallowed.com/
  
  You can find more here:
  http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=m...56&slot_id=138

Whatever you and your model choose to do, make sure she registers her own domain name and her own name. This will be her online identity and you want to brand it. Branding goes a long way. She owns that domain and name. It is hers. Don't allow someone else to have the rights to that name.

[terraangel]

oo panky grate advice
I update 2 times a week sometimes 3 for my solo girl site with video clips in free and pay. then I add movies for the video page 2-3 every month.
ancer emails and wright in my blog.
Anything I can do to make the come back for more.
My rebills are a lot better then when I first started.
I also have my own .com and when I rebill for this year I am going to go for 2 years out insted of one.

[jjacksonesq]

This may sound self serving but you really should consult an attorney who can explain 2257 record keeping requirements and what obscenity law affects you. Also, you should consult an attorney about general business matter such as partnership agreements, contracts, and copyright matters. You may have to spend a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars now but in the end it may save your tens of thousands of dollars.

Good luck and hit me up if you have any specific questions.

[elfineer2k]

it is one thing building a site from start to finish... but marketing, promoting and getting the clicks to your site is another beast.

[RageCash-Ben]

Originally Posted by jjacksonesq

This may sound self serving but you really should consult an attorney who can explain 2257 record keeping requirements and what obscenity law affects you. Also, you should consult an attorney about general business matter such as partnership agreements, contracts, and copyright matters. You may have to spend a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars now but in the end it may save your tens of thousands of dollars.

Good luck and hit me up if you have any specific questions.

good advice john

[XXPEACHYXX]

Hi there hun.
take a look on adultwork.co.uk
your girl could advertise and work from that site if she wishes [ just to get a feel for it and then maybe move onto her own site]
It is free to join and advertise yourself and setting up your profile page is very very easy.
I advertise my phone chat service and escort service on there and through it i can earn over £650 per week.
if she webcams they will take 30% of her earnings [ that is less than any other site on the web that i know of ]
anyway hun, take a look at the site and see what you think

good luck to you both

xxpeachyx

[jjacksonesq]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Ben.