An ‘Old Boys' Club' in Online Adult's Midst
In my nine years' experience in the online adult space, I am more than confident there is an elite group of organizations with specific leadership personalities that spearhead and truly drive a significant amount of innovation, trends and overall business benchmarks for our community not only to exist, but also to evolve.
Like other industries, there are powerful, influential decision-makers who are active in public relations or clandestinely operate to remain competitive. However, this strategy is rooted deeply in long-term business relationships of lucrative alliances that generate unthinkable numbers that any webmaster would find attractive. Clearly, relationships in the affiliate model and - more specifically - the subscription-based model, have experienced the maturation of a traditional "old boys' club." In terms of soliciting Internet traffic, your best friend also is your largest competitor. This dynamic is unique to our industry, and generation gaps between leaders have materialized and resulted in an old boys' club - one that likely is difficult to penetrate.
The online adult industry arguably is fewer than 15 years old, and organizations that operated during its infancy - and continue to do so in contemporary markets - make up a small group. Those who still are active likely may be part of this elite group. The online industry has no governing body, and with no obligation to report finances, our industry widely has been considered as a Wild, Wild West atmosphere. The association of being a "maverick" traditionally has resulted from aggressive business models and often considered unethical in our current standards of operation. The few who successfully operated throughout this evolution truly represent a powerful "old boys' club" that understands peddling smut is secondary to building enormous amounts of wealth.
The old boys' club is exemplified in a few synergistic experiences. Many of the aggressive e-marketing webmasters are active behind the scenes of major affiliate models but don't market themselves due to previous legal challenges. However, the industry's established decision-makers are the ones with enormous amounts of capital and industry experience behind them. You likely will not see them at a webmaster convention; however, the individuals who have been around for some time understand and respect the path they have paved for up-and-coming webmasters.
Additionally, many powerhouses have consolidated themselves to take equity ownership in multiple companies and in most cases avoid any public announcements of these partnerships. The partnership itself is combination of industry leaders who revolutionized their own businesses and joined forces to compete in today's unseen markets. Many don't have the resources, capital or intelligence to understand opportunities that exist beyond the daily operations of a typical program, and their experiences render them visionaries. They are expanding their business models in mainstream realms, repurposing their experiences in consulting, working intimately with card processing and being active in mergers and acquisitions.
A direct example of this is the convergence of traditional studios and online markets. The influential leaders who operate within their respective spaces are consolidating these two markets in the best interest of expansion and adapting to the inevitable trends that are pulling our two industries together.
The old boys' club does exist and those who aggressively operate in a market that once seemed "recession proof" will continue to be the leaders in each new chapter of our evolution. The irony is, our industry always has discouraged unwanted attention, so to have some within it admit they are part of this special society normally wouldn't be a wise.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that these individuals are still making money, as evidenced by hearing their names spoken at a private dinner. While "old schoolers" quickly offer testimonials that pique the imagination of how far one could push the limits of e-marketing, it's obvious their strategies have yielded millions of dollars and now revered in old wives' tales and witch hunts of the online adult industry. In my opinion, this is the real taboo no one wants to talk about.
- Albert Lazarito is the vice president of business development and strategy for CECash.
This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of AVN Online. To subscribe, visit AVNMediaNetwork.com/subscribe.
