Amidst an otherwise enjoyable ia2000 for her, adult video star Jill Kelly offered a few words of warning for fellow performers wanting to stake themselves to an Internet presence.
"Make sure you domain your name," the friendly blonde said sharply. "Set your name right away before somebody else does. And talk to everybody…but if you have the time to do your Web site, do it yourself. Read everything. Have an attorney look at it. And weigh all your options."
Kelly spoke from bitter experience. She's been on the Web for just over a year, but the first six months, hosted by what she politely calls an "unscrupulous" group, saw her and a number of fellow performers losing money despite the hosts claims to make large payouts annually.
"I also referred friends to (this) certain company and they have not received any money," Kelly says, "and these girls work so hard, making adult movies, making a name for themselves, and then turn around to have some f***ing asshole steal your money."
The business is hard enough to make your way through without that kind of thievery, Kelly says, her smile hardening into frustration at the memory.
"I understand that a company has to make money, but so do I," she says. "And if the girls are making money, they're going to make a better site."
Six months ago, though, Kelly switched gears. She rebuilt her Web site on her own and found two more agreeable - and more scrupulous - hosts, including Personal Porn for her www.wiredpink.com; www.jillkelly.com is hosted by Astral Ocean.
"In three weeks, the money that we'd made - and it's not even finished - proves to me that (my former hosts) they were making money and charging me for shit that I didn't even approve of," she said.
Meanwhile, Kelly's working now on bringing new features to her sites and planning to make what she hopes will be the best and most sophisticated adult star's Web site. "I care about the fans of this industry and I care about the people making the material in this industry," she says. "And live is coming in, that's the way video is going to go, live and online. And if you're smart and you do it right, everyone can make money here."
