View Full Version : How easy would it be to make a million?
From a new site launched now in 2006?
Compared to say a site launched in 2000?
Do you think it would be easier or more difficult?
alot more difficult for the small one man banned, but with everything alot more professional, alot easier for bigger businesses willing to invest in people who know what they are doing
If you have a good product and know what you are doing I think it's a lot easier now. The barrier to entry is a lot higher but if you know what you are doing I think its a lot easier.
Providing you have the money to invest and the know-how.
The difference is, 6/7 years ago you could make a ton of money for virtually no set up and no knowledge.
But now if you know what you are doing, even with no investment at all, you can aproach a sponsor, get free unique content, free hosting, a designer making exclusive material and much much more. All you need is a small clue and you can make more money than most other jobs. I doubt you would become a millionaire but you would certainly be making more than anyone else you know, without leaving the house.
Yes and the big difference now is that the people without a clue are dropping out of this business fast. I predicted this last year but I have been surprised at how quickly its happening.
As a paysite ownder I think that its a lot easier now.
As an affiliate I would think that you would need to be pretty clued up to do well. The cream is rising to the top.
As an affiliate I would think that you would need to be pretty clued up to do well. The cream is rising to the top.
Ive seen people on other forums writing tutorials to members that how they can be earning $1000 a month within six months and making it a sticky, seems the forum owners think that an affiliate earning $1000 a month is something to aspire to.
So yes I imagine its not so much the cream is rising but the rest are falling and falling fast :)
ukwebmasters
05-09-06, 10:30 PM
bigger businesses willing to invest in people who know what they are doing
can someone invest in me please
lol
Yes I have seen this too. As a site owner as you are yourself I think that the affiliate model of business is changing and the *good* affiliates that know what they are doing now need a lot more help and support to work *with* a program so that they can really become part of the team.
Affiliates needing tutorials to make $1000 a month in six months is just wasting their own time. You need to have an understanding of the business and know what you are doing.
can someone invest in me please
lol
We will. How can we help you?
Bernice
05-09-06, 10:35 PM
I'd say harder now - the competition is a lot more intense, most of us who have been around a long time have lost lots of cash along the way as processors go belly up. The remaining processors could go at any time. legislation is tightening up. Traffic sources are so varied its harder to cover all the bases. Surfer numbers are down and decreasing. Cost of entry is higher, vagaries of search engines have made it harder ad harder to get SE traffic
About the only thing thats stayed the same or gotten cheaper for a producer is the models and the cameras.
Frankly I never thought the web would last even this long and I truly wonder how much longer it will hold out. Newer technologies coming along in the pipe of which G3 is just the tip of the iceberg may make it fearsomely expensive to compete in the future. I have seen glimpse of technology in the pipe through a close friend - its good but it will be scary in cost to implement and really the preserve of people who can afford vast set-up costs - people like Vodafone for instance.
Just glad though its lasted as long as it has and I have done well from it - thats enough for me.
I'd say harder now - the competition is a lot more intense, most of us who have been around a long time have lost lots of cash along the way as processors go belly up. The remaining processors could go at any time. legislation is tightening up. Traffic sources are so varied its harder to cover all the bases. Surfer numbers are down and decreasing. Cost of entry is higher, vagaries of search engines have made it harder ad harder to get SE traffic
About the only thing thats stayed the same or gotten cheaper for a producer is the models and the cameras.
Frankly I never thought the web would last even this long and I truly wonder how much longer it will hold out. Newer technologies coming along in the pipe of which G3 is just the tip of the iceberg may make it fearsomely expensive to compete in the future. I have seen glimpse of technology in the pipe through a close friend - its good but it will be scary in cost to implement and really the preserve of people who can afford vast set-up costs - people like Vodafone for instance.
Just glad though its lasted as long as it has and I have done well from it - thats enough for me.
I couldnt disagree more. If you cant compete with the competition it just shows that you need to raise your game.
1000 times more people with broadband than just a couple of years ago.
Better sales tools that affiliates could have ever dreamed of 5 years ago.
What else could you possibly want?
Yes I have seen this too. As a site owner as you are yourself I think that the affiliate model of business is changing and the *good* affiliates that know what they are doing now need a lot more help and support to work *with* a program so that they can really become part of the team.
Affiliates needing tutorials to make $1000 a month in six months is just wasting their own time. You need to have an understanding of the business and know what you are doing.
I have always traditionally generated most sales myself, up till about a year ago, but since then Im only maybe creating 1/4 of my sales.
As an affiliate that I am also I try and create decent relationships with sponsors. But am finding more and more are employing so called reps who are completely clueless. I see good people out there looking for jobs when programs are employing people with no clue at all.
The other day I had a program make me 8 customized sites all pay per click, one for each of my pay sites. They looked great and must have taken them ages. But they didnt think to ask, becuase if they did they would find out I had no use for them at all and dont have any upsells on my sites.
They presumed thats how I made sales. My old boss use to say when I was a graphic designers at a printers. "Presumption is the mother of all fuck ups"
This new trend as an affiliate is the one thing I think is going the wrong way, reps who dont know the business and probably have never made a sale themselves in their life. Goes back to the old saying "If you cant do it, teach it"
The difference is, 6/7 years ago you could make a ton of money for virtually no set up and no knowledge.
But now if you know what you are doing, even with no investment at all, you can aproach a sponsor, get free unique content, free hosting, a designer making exclusive material and much much more. All you need is a small clue and you can make more money than most other jobs. I doubt you would become a millionaire but you would certainly be making more than anyone else you know, without leaving the house.
I agree, why does it have to be about making a squillion pound, how about just getting out of a fucking shit job, working for yourself and earning more than most.
Yes there is so much more available to affiliates but then it's available to all affilaites so there is no "edge". They can all sign up, get all the tools and try and make money.
The good thing is that now it's not so easy so most will give up.
Affiliates needing tutorials to make $1000 a month in six months is just wasting their own time. You need to have an understanding of the business and know what you are doing.
Yeah I sort of agree, but if you can write a tutorial and get 100 affiliates all making $1,000 per month after 6 months then surely that is a good investment.
Lets say a whole day writing the tutorial, then you get 100 affiliates, after 6 months each is making a steady $1,000 per month. $100,000 divided by 2 = $50,000 Per Month :cheers2:
Yeah I sort of agree, but if you can write a tutorial and get 100 affiliates all making $1,000 per month after 6 months then surely that is a good investment.
Lets say a whole day writing the tutorial, then you get 100 affiliates, after 6 months each is making a steady $1,000 per month. $100,000 divided by 2 = $50,000 Per Month :cheers2:
If someone needs a tutorial on how to make $1k a month in six months time then I doubt they will ever get there
If someone needs a tutorial on how to make $1k a month in six months time then I doubt they will ever get there
Maybe not, but many will and it will be much much more than $1,000.
If you came into this tomorrow would you know how to make $1,000 per month?
Some of those "newbies" could become the next whales.
Maybe not, but many will and it will be much much more than $1,000.
If you came into this tomorrow would you know how to make $1,000 per month?
Some of those "newbies" could become the next whales.
Maybe, maybe times have changed, but I know I was making way more than $1000 a month before I even knew webmaster forums existed and that was in the days when an affiliate paid for his own hosting, his own content and when a good program had 5 banners for marketing
ukwebmasters
05-09-06, 11:27 PM
and that was in the days when an affiliate paid for his own hosting, his own content and when a good program had 5 banners for marketing
ummm, like now, yeah?
Maybe, maybe times have changed, but I know I was making way more than $1000 a month before I even knew webmaster forums existed and that was in the days when an affiliate paid for his own hosting, his own content and when a good program had 5 banners for marketing
But you did not switch your computer on, decided you wanted to make money with porn on the internet, and then did it. You must have read a tutorial or similiar along the way.
I'm not talking about posting some crap on a forum to get more affiliates on board I'm talking about having tutorials on your site to help people learn how to sell your "product".
Although even tutorials on forums could work, if you got 10 affiliates each sending 50 sales per month. Surely an extra 500 sales per month are better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.
dvtimes
05-10-06, 12:53 AM
I would say not hard at all.
But it would need to stand out.
Lets face it 80% of sites are just bought content.
But I would sugest to make good money you would need to invest a few quid.
Its not just the content, its what you can offer on top.
To be honest there are not many GREAT sites, most are just a set of pics and vids.
I think it would be harder to get the right idea now it would have to be something original its probly better to try some shit with cellphones
A lot of great points in this thread I must say. Yes a lot of folks are dropping out and thats great, leaves more pie for the rest of us.
I also agree that the entry level bar is rising, if you just talk about the gallery submission market for example, in another 12months time I reckon everywhere will be payed to submit and that will kill off even more people.
Affiliates today compared to 6 years back when I started have never had it so easy. The amount of tools is just staggering and add to that Free hosting. Bugger me I'd never had thought 6 years back there would be free sponsor hosting.
As for the question can you make a million from a new site in Todays markets? I don't see why not. My opinion though would be to try and do it in a sub niche market rather then a popular vanilla market, that would give you a fair heads up from the getgo.
-N
Yeah I sort of agree, but if you can write a tutorial and get 100 affiliates all making $1,000 per month after 6 months then surely that is a good investment.
Lets say a whole day writing the tutorial, then you get 100 affiliates, after 6 months each is making a steady $1,000 per month. $100,000 divided by 2 = $50,000 Per Month :cheers2:
The reason that you don't see too many of these is because (a) That's what running a program consisted of a few years back and it became increasingly clear that the business was moving too fast for that ever to work now and (b) you have to devote your time to the guys already making those numbers of sales. Its just good business.
There are two basic rules to being an affiliate and unless you have 110% understanding of these two rules then you will struggle. You *MUST* know your traffic and how to convert that traffic into sales and second you *MUST* understand the sites/s you are selling and how to sell it/them to your traffic. The first rule here is a basic requirement of the business now and rule number two will be an indicator of how successful you are. We are happy to spend all day helping affiliates understand our site/s and our target audience and that is something we can do to push up your sales. We can help you match pics/video/text to your traffic as we *REALLY* know how to push the right buttons and that’s a lot more sensible than trying to start affiliates from scratch.
I agree, why does it have to be about making a squillion pound, how about just getting out of a fucking shit job, working for yourself and earning more than most.
You need to make as much as possible doing this as its not going to last forever in its present form and no one wants to have to go back to that shit job after spending all day surfing porn at home and waiting for the cheques and wires to come in? Can you imagine how hard that would suck?
piss easy i've been in adult one year exactly on the 27th of this month i've already made a million dollars (in theory... $2,800+ in one day, hopefully get this stable... needs to be everyday for a year to make a gross mil)
strictlybroadband
05-10-06, 09:22 AM
can someone invest in me please
lol
If you're Dean, I hear you can now afford to invest in yourself... congrats!
If you're not Dean, my mistake - better luck next time. :)
xcite-tv
05-10-06, 09:23 AM
Its not just the content, its what you can offer on top.
To be honest there are not many GREAT sites, most are just a set of pics and vids.
what would you say a GREAT site needed apart from quality pics and video ?
xcite-tv
05-10-06, 09:25 AM
I think it would be harder to get the right idea now it would have to be something original its probly better to try some shit with cellphones
in my opinion
People will not watch porn on a screen that small and in public in great numbers
in my opinion
People will not watch porn on a screen that small and in public in great numbers
Plus 9 times out of 10 you don't get paid.
xcite-tv
05-10-06, 09:38 AM
This is a very interesting thread, as we have started a site in the last year and would not be doing it unless it was going to make a million a year at some point
we came from a background of business and then producing content for 6 years now for other people... so this was a steep learning curve and a direction that we didnt plan, but we quickly saw that as porn producers it was the ONLY way to sell content to make that kind of money. we looked at mobile content and pay-per-view and tried those markets with some success but nothing made more money than this.
but its not easy for people with no web marketing experience so we just try and make the best content we can as a starting point
hopefully the rest will fall into place
the balance is investment in time and money and dragging yourself away from making a living to give it 110%
Elisha Jade
05-10-06, 10:18 AM
I imagine it isn't impossible, but i'd sure like to know how ! lol :)
I think with a lot of hard work, research and knowledge it could be done now. Perhaps not as easy as 7 years ago though.
adultbusiness
05-10-06, 10:55 AM
If you're Dean, I hear you can now afford to invest in yourself... congrats!
If you're not Dean, my mistake - better luck next time. :)
No, I'm Dean..... did you mean me or another Dean!?
Oh, I'm confused now... :joystick:
If you have a good product and know what you are doing I think it's a lot easier now. The barrier to entry is a lot higher but if you know what you are doing I think its a lot easier.
Providing you have the money to invest and the know-how.
Been reading this thread with interest..... what your saying above SGS is quite true... the barrier to entry is a lot higher... and this will close off the traditional route that a lot of people have taken into this business who start small and build up...... So as you say the cream will come to the top and the big boys - or the ones who know what they're doing will be the winners in the long term.
As a relative newcommer to the business (coming up for 2 yrs now) and coming from a business background rather than a techie background, I am still amazed at how simple the business model for paysites is, but how complex it can be to implement... direct sales, affilaites, other channels to market, ROI for a site plus ROI for marketing, prioritising requirements (financial, marketing and on-going development), changing customer requirements and expectations, changing technology - managing your own expectations, building industry knowledge and networking, managing sub contractors... it goes on and on........
I see more partnerships developing... that is people with ideas and/or technical knowledge teaming up with people who know the business..... as we're getting to the stage that not many individuals will have the complete skill set to be successful in the industry, but established organisations in the business will have built these skill sets.
Because of the simplicity of the business model and the development of easy to use technologies (video and stills) your always going to get people trying to get into the market.... a few will survive but the majority will spunk their money away..........
The last point I'd like to make on this, is this business is really no different to any other business...... you have to invest time, effort and money before you see any return........ My original plan had me making decent profit in 6 months after initial launch of my site, but a couple of months after launch I had to modify the plan into something more realistic which has panned out in general terms as follows:
Year 1 - Invest to develop site/business (Lose money)
year 2 - Site/business to change to being self supporting with all running costs/ development costs met out of income (Break even)
Year 3 - Continue to invest but have sufficient income to start to take money out of business for living salary.(small profit)
Year 4 - Increase investment but have sufficient income to take decent money out of the business (good profit)
So as of now, I have not earned anything out of the business..... Everything earned is reinvested to develop the business.
I've rambled on a bit, but the title of this thread is 'how easy would it be to make a million?' my answer is bloody difficult.... the rich will get richer but the poor will get poorer (to quote someone I cant remember).... but, The Opportunity Is There - if you really want it.......
dvtimes
05-10-06, 11:29 AM
From a new site launched now in 2006?
Compared to say a site launched in 2000?
Do you think it would be easier or more difficult?
Are we talking about porn sites?
Its just that a good idea non porn can make you a mint.
Such as those sites that tell you the cheapest car insuranse or gas bills and so on.
If you create a site that people would find of use, they will tell others.
To me there are still growth areas. I still think somone will do a much better version of Ebay as well as PayPal. Some have tried, but to be honest they have been poor and not deserved to work.
Even such as creating a new poker site could pull in the cash. Lets face it these sites make millions, so even if you got only a few people to join, it could easily make you a million.
You need to make as much as possible doing this as its not going to last forever in its present form and no one wants to have to go back to that shit job after spending all day surfing porn at home and waiting for the cheques and wires to come in? Can you imagine how hard that would suck?
I was just wondering what you meant by this? I understand myself and do for see some massive shake ups in the future esp with billing.
But I don't see online porn, be it whatever form it's in, disapearing. Unless the interweb is going to disapear overnight there will always be a market and there will always be a way to make money from that market.
-N
dvtimes
05-10-06, 11:36 AM
I was just wondering what you meant by this? I understand myself and do for see some massive shake ups in the future esp with billing.
But I don't see online porn, be it whatever form it's in, disapearing. Unless the interweb is going to disapear overnight there will always be a market and there will always be a way to make money from that market.
-N
Well for one things its getting free. There are sites offering full streaming porn films free.
Also the next thing will be streaming (net) TV, direct to your pc or even TV. So you may have a situation where 'porn sites' are out of date.
xcite-tv
05-10-06, 12:13 PM
I see more partnerships developing... that is people with ideas and/or technical knowledge teaming up with people who know the business..... as we're getting to the stage that not many individuals will have the complete skill set to be successful in the industry, but established organisations in the business will have built these skill sets.
This is something that we are keen to develop as we know our strengths and firmly believe that to make a lot of money at this you CANNOT do everything yourself
The one problem I personally have, is the fact that Partnerships seldom work for any great period
xcite-tv
05-10-06, 12:15 PM
Well for one things its getting free. There are sites offering full streaming porn films free.
Also the next thing will be streaming (net) TV, direct to your pc or even TV. So you may have a situation where 'porn sites' are out of date.
if the TV is connected to a media centre of PC then you would be streaming porn from a web server anyway so what would change?
its the people who think that IPTV is the way forward for porn that i would worry about... IT COULD BE the way forward but not the way they think it will
I was just wondering what you meant by this? I understand myself and do for see some massive shake ups in the future esp with billing.
But I don't see online porn, be it whatever form it's in, disapearing. Unless the interweb is going to disapear overnight there will always be a market and there will always be a way to make money from that market.
-N
Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I think that affiliate business model will change a great deal in the coming months. Online porn will be around for a long time yet but you need to get paid.
Well for one things its getting free. There are sites offering full streaming porn films free.
Also the next thing will be streaming (net) TV, direct to your pc or even TV. So you may have a situation where 'porn sites' are out of date.
If you are just selling "porn" you are already out of date. We cater for a market that want to buy into the personality and this market is growing faster now than at any time before.
I do agree though that if you run a cookie cutter site filled with just bought content and/or plug-ins the days are numbered.
Are we talking about porn sites?
Its just that a good idea non porn can make you a mint.
Such as those sites that tell you the cheapest car insuranse or gas bills and so on.
If you create a site that people would find of use, they will tell others.
To me there are still growth areas. I still think somone will do a much better version of Ebay as well as PayPal. Some have tried, but to be honest they have been poor and not deserved to work.
Even such as creating a new poker site could pull in the cash. Lets face it these sites make millions, so even if you got only a few people to join, it could easily make you a million.
Yes I agree and a huge amount of people worldwide now have access to broadband connections.
Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I think that affiliate business model will change a great deal in the coming months. Online porn will be around for a long time yet but you need to get paid.
Righty with you now mate and yes I fully agree. :)
-N
Been reading this thread with interest..... what your saying above SGS is quite true... the barrier to entry is a lot higher... and this will close off the traditional route that a lot of people have taken into this business who start small and build up...... So as you say the cream will come to the top and the big boys - or the ones who know what they're doing will be the winners in the long term.
As a relative newcommer to the business (coming up for 2 yrs now) and coming from a business background rather than a techie background, I am still amazed at how simple the business model for paysites is, but how complex it can be to implement... direct sales, affilaites, other channels to market, ROI for a site plus ROI for marketing, prioritising requirements (financial, marketing and on-going development), changing customer requirements and expectations, changing technology - managing your own expectations, building industry knowledge and networking, managing sub contractors... it goes on and on........
I see more partnerships developing... that is people with ideas and/or technical knowledge teaming up with people who know the business..... as we're getting to the stage that not many individuals will have the complete skill set to be successful in the industry, but established organisations in the business will have built these skill sets.
Because of the simplicity of the business model and the development of easy to use technologies (video and stills) your always going to get people trying to get into the market.... a few will survive but the majority will spunk their money away..........
The last point I'd like to make on this, is this business is really no different to any other business...... you have to invest time, effort and money before you see any return........ My original plan had me making decent profit in 6 months after initial launch of my site, but a couple of months after launch I had to modify the plan into something more realistic which has panned out in general terms as follows:
Year 1 - Invest to develop site/business (Lose money)
year 2 - Site/business to change to being self supporting with all running costs/ development costs met out of income (Break even)
Year 3 - Continue to invest but have sufficient income to start to take money out of business for living salary.(small profit)
Year 4 - Increase investment but have sufficient income to take decent money out of the business (good profit)
So as of now, I have not earned anything out of the business..... Everything earned is reinvested to develop the business.
I've rambled on a bit, but the title of this thread is 'how easy would it be to make a million?' my answer is bloody difficult.... the rich will get richer but the poor will get poorer (to quote someone I cant remember).... but, The Opportunity Is There - if you really want it.......
Excellent post. :)
From a business point of view you have to also factor in:
1. Billing can and has changed with a minutes notice over the years. One minute it's there - the next minute it's not.
2. .xxx will drag on for a while but when it finally happens it *could* be game-over as we know it at this point in time.
3. A few years ago you could make a lot of money with just a few shitty photos and now we are putting up 2 to 3 gigs of video a week just to update one site. This business moves very fast and sometimes it's only your plans that hold you back.
aaron_sterlingcash
05-11-06, 10:45 AM
Steve do you mean a personal fortune of a million or turnover as they 2 very different things, I dont think its so hard to hit turnovers of that size but the yard stick defo is personal net worth as a marker.
With only being a relively new paysite owner its harder for me to comment on things of the past but id say from what I now know its harder to make a personal million as the game and stakes are rising all of the time a lot of capital investment and knowledge of the business are core to building brands strong enough to become real cash cows and bring in that personal fortune.
aaron_sterlingcash
05-11-06, 10:52 AM
I also see a lot of sponsors failing and there being a real reduction in the number out there simply becuase of a few factors such as technology can you afford to move to HD for eg...soon it will be a standard you will have to have it to be able to compete well as it stands its not a cheap thing to swap to, also webcam system and such all need a team behind and all need serious capital investment, most sponsors simply dont have the money or capcity to keep up with the market, as in any market be it mainstream or adult when you dont keep up you loose. Thats the nature of the beast.
xcite-tv
05-11-06, 11:14 AM
I also see a lot of sponsors failing and there being a real reduction in the number out there simply becuase of a few factors such as technology can you afford to move to HD for eg...soon it will be a standard you will have to have it to be able to compete well as it stands its not a cheap thing to swap to, also webcam system and such all need a team behind and all need serious capital investment, most sponsors simply dont have the money or capcity to keep up with the market, as in any market be it mainstream or adult when you dont keep up you loose. Thats the nature of the beast.
I believe you could make a million before most surfers even know what HD is never mind have the technology to watch it
[QUOTE=aaron_sterlingcash]I also see a lot of sponsors failing and there being a real reduction in the number out there simply becuase of a few factors such as technology can you afford to move to HD for eg...soon it will be a standard you will have to have it to be able to compete.QUOTE]
Disagree, with different niches the type of material need to get a surfer off is different, i don't think amatuer surfers what everything in HD.... infact i think that would make you less money.
Cater for your audience
This is something that we are keen to develop as we know our strengths and firmly believe that to make a lot of money at this you CANNOT do everything yourself
The one problem I personally have, is the fact that Partnerships seldom work for any great period
The subject of partnerships in this business is quite interesting..... I finished off my career in it/telecoms as partnership manager for a major telecoms manufacturer and was globally responsible for a partnership with part of BT...
Maybe a league above what were talking about here, but the principles would still be the same...
Partnerships have been around since the year dot... most accountants, lawyers and doctors practises work under a partnership.... although there is a move away from this due to liability laws.... and partnerships have flourished in business, from 2 guys getting together to set up a business to major corporations combining some of their resources to increase added value and develop new markets........
The key to a successful partnership is equality- in terms of the effort, resources and value that each partner puts into the pot and also takes out of the resulting profits.
There is in theory no reason why this cannot work in this business, but I expect the business is littered with broken and acromonious partnerships.. Why???
Maybe its because at certain stages in the business development imbalances appear in terms of what the other partner is bringing to the partnership.... for example, initially when a site is being set up there is heavy emphasis on the design and construction of the site... once that is done then it switches more to a maintenance task..... So initially the creative and technical requirements are to the fore, then the marketing has to take over.... Creative people by their nature can be quite blinkered in how they see things, and think everything eminates from their work... etc etc... its a vicious circle...... which can lead to friction... On the otherhand, marketing/business people can not understand the creative process and either not value it enough or put too high a demand on it.... again leading to friction....
But if your broaden your perspective on partnerships away from 2 or more people working together to a combination of resources then the issues become easier to manage.....
If you look on your affiliate program as a partnership, then its a different ball game. You have a defined role for your affiliates, producing the site, producing supporting material etc... the affiliate has a singled defined role, i.e. getting you sales... and the what each partner gets out of it is clearly defined and everyone is happy......
You could extend that concept too... for example I have an established affiliate program just concentrating on mature sites, whats to say I cant take on a 3rd party site and market it to my affiliates?
Same could apply for agreements with content producers who give you the content say, with a 6 month exclusive use for a cut in the site sales....... Providing you can agree on a valuation of producing that content against the cost of producing, maintaining and marketing the site then it should work out ok...
I wouldnt be afraid of partnerships.... but they need to be entered into with eyes open and objectivity from both sides........when done correctly they work well, when not done correctly, the shit really hits the fan...
Its Common Sense really!!!
xcite-tv
05-11-06, 11:42 AM
The subject of partnerships in this business is quite interesting..... I finished off my career in it/telecoms as partnership manager for a major telecoms manufacturer and was globally responsible for a partnership with part of BT...
Maybe a league above what were talking about here, but the principles would still be the same...
Partnerships have been around since the year dot... most accountants, lawyers and doctors practises work under a partnership.... although there is a move away from this due to liability laws.... and partnerships have flourished in business, from 2 guys getting together to set up a business to major corporations combining some of their resources to increase added value and develop new markets........
The key to a successful partnership is equality- in terms of the effort, resources and value that each partner puts into the pot and also takes out of the resulting profits.
There is in theory no reason why this cannot work in this business, but I expect the business is littered with broken and acromonious partnerships.. Why???
Maybe its because at certain stages in the business development imbalances appear in terms of what the other partner is bringing to the partnership.... for example, initially when a site is being set up there is heavy emphasis on the design and construction of the site... once that is done then it switches more to a maintenance task..... So initially the creative and technical requirements are to the fore, then the marketing has to take over.... Creative people by their nature can be quite blinkered in how they see things, and think everything eminates from their work... etc etc... its a vicious circle...... which can lead to friction... On the otherhand, marketing/business people can not understand the creative process and either not value it enough or put too high a demand on it.... again leading to friction....
But if your broaden your perspective on partnerships away from 2 or more people working together to a combination of resources then the issues become easier to manage.....
If you look on your affiliate program as a partnership, then its a different ball game. You have a defined role for your affiliates, producing the site, producing supporting material etc... the affiliate has a singled defined role, i.e. getting you sales... and the what each partner gets out of it is clearly defined and everyone is happy......
You could extend that concept too... for example I have an established affiliate program just concentrating on mature sites, whats to say I cant take on a 3rd party site and market it to my affiliates?
Same could apply for agreements with content producers who give you the content say, with a 6 month exclusive use for a cut in the site sales....... Providing you can agree on a valuation of producing that content against the cost of producing, maintaining and marketing the site then it should work out ok...
I wouldnt be afraid of partnerships.... but they need to be entered into with eyes open and objectivity from both sides........when done correctly they work well, when not done correctly, the shit really hits the fan...
Its Common Sense really!!!
Your absolutley right there is no reason a partnership shouldn't work in principle on a larger scale such as you mentioned. There is no problem with that business model as there are too many people and one person alone cannot bring it to its knees
i was talking about a 2-3 person partnership that in my view would invariably lead to destruction when one or other wasnt pulling their weight..
thats just my warped view, having seen my family destroy itself because of ill conceived business partnerships over the last 30 years
dvtimes
05-11-06, 11:46 AM
Also are we talking 1 million usd ($) or ukp (£) or a different currency.
After all in some countries 1 million is equial to 50p.
mOBSCENE
05-11-06, 11:52 AM
Also are we talking 1 million usd ($) or ukp (£) or a different currency.
After all in some countries 1 million is equial to 50p.
In those countries at least, DVtimes, you are a multi-millionaire :cheers2:
I remember quite a few years back being on hols in Turkey...... and carrying around millions of turkish lira in my back pocket..........
So DV in some countrys you already are a millionaire............
Steve do you mean a personal fortune of a million or turnover as they 2 very different things, I dont think its so hard to hit turnovers of that size but the yard stick defo is personal net worth as a marker.
With only being a relively new paysite owner its harder for me to comment on things of the past but id say from what I now know its harder to make a personal million as the game and stakes are rising all of the time a lot of capital investment and knowledge of the business are core to building brands strong enough to become real cash cows and bring in that personal fortune.
Turnover would be a good goal to set when you are starting out but only money in your bank account counts. You can't spend stats :)
Also are we talking 1 million usd ($) or ukp (£) or a different currency.
After all in some countries 1 million is equial to 50p.
UK £ is the only currency that counts at the moment.
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