In the past, amateurs were left out of the adult conventions, both in being asked to be seminar presenters and in being recognized as vital participants in the seminars and the exhibits. There is an increasing interest in this fast-growing segment of the Adult Industry. Therefore, some of the experts in the Amateur Market were asked to serve on this panel--a great step forward in recognizing the importance of this niche.
Chris Rodger, a.k.a. Evil Chris, heads up the operations and marketing for Wild Rose Productions in Canada. Farrell Timlake heads Homegrown Video, which specializes in amateur videos and also runs a paysite, hosts a webcam ring and leases content to webmasters. Seska's website, Seska's Amateur XXX Page, is "one of the most popular single female websites," according to Chris. And Rick Muenyong, a self-proclaimed computer geek, started the huge Adult Webmaster resource site, YNOTMasters.com, which he later sold. He went on to build Ranks.com, AmateurRanks.com, EroticRanks.com and AmateurMasters.com.
Some of the advice given by the panelists to those interested in starting an amateur site included the following:
- People join an amateur site because they have connected in some way with the amateur.
- Decide on your niche and stick with it, adding things you're comfortable with as you go along, either from your own ideas or those suggested by your fans.
- Don't try to be something you're not; your visitors will sense it.
- The amateur community is special because they work together, share links and promote one another.
- There's somebody out there for everyone. Whatever it is you have to offer, there is someone out there who wants it.
- Communication = Retention. Establish an interaction with your visitors and they'll return.
- You have to be willing to share a lot about yourself.
- Do a lot of research before beginning a site. Figure out what you want (Is it a hobby or vital income?), weigh the risks, don't expect to make a lot of money, check out other sites, take advantage of online webmaster resources and decide on your limits.
- The future will bring more hand-shaking with mainstream as amateur cams are being added to mainstream adult sites.
- Look for traffic sources (Search Engine listings may or may not be helpful, as are Thumbnail Gallery submissions), evaluate your stats carefully, and join webmaster communities.
- Networking is a great way to draw traffic.
- The future may bring more revenue sharing: direct your exit traffic to another site the surfer prefers which will pay you to direct them there.
- Also in the future, you may see two smaller sites hooking up to form one larger site. And you may see more one-on-one shows where the surfer pays per minute to watch the show and interact with the girl.
- There is more demand for live webcams, and every site should expect to have one.
- It's important to answer your own e-mail.
- Joining a cam network is a good idea. There are about six different networks, currently. Figure out which one fits your peronality by buying some memberships and seeing how the girls are.
- Laws have relaxed on obscenity, but the political climate changes, so be aware of what is currently going on. Make sure you have your age verifications and model releases in order, especially for hardcore, but it's best to do it for all models.
- On bandwidth costs: Amateurs on average use between 1 and 3 gigs a day. Some amateurs start hosting sites for others to help with the costs. It's important to optimize all your photos to save on bandwidth.
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