...[M]uch of the world lives without the "basics" which are taken for granted in the West, such as electricity. Two billion human beings alive today have never made a phone call, and billions more have never ventured onto the Net. When these non-Net users eventually do log on, you can be certain the demographics of cybersex will change...
PART I: DEMOGRAPHICS
We Are Everywhere
It's widely believed, even within the industry, that the majority of those who surf for online erotica are single males, 18-24 years of age; one sexually active, 20-something observer of e-porn opines that these young men "don't get out much."
But how close is this to the truth?
"People who use the adult Internet are just about everybody that you can see as you walk down a street or look around on a bus, or share a cab with, or sit next to on an airplane," says Andrew Edmond, CEO of SexTracker (www.sextracker.com), the leading statistical analyst of the adult Net business. "There really isn't a cross section cut through our community where we can say these people look at porn and those people don't, and they're easy to tag. It's a desire and habit many people from all walks in life pick up at one point or another. Some people are habitual users, some aren't. Some use it during stages of their lives and some turn away from it. I think it's part of our culture - it always has been."
So, it would seem, that almost everyone is doing it. And if almost everyone is doing it, what's the point in studying demographics?
"The lack of appreciating and understanding demographics prevents growth," says Edmond. "Sites that get 500,000 hits a day and don't analyze their data are bleeding profits out onto the streets. Demographics affect our advertising, publicity, marketing and more.
"[When] the industry realizes that the wielding of demographics will take us from our current low sign-up ratio to a higher one, then this won't be a small one- or two-billion dollar industry, but rather a ten- or 20-billion dollar business, as it should be."
Gender
"In depth, gender is the easiest thing to talk about," says Edmond. "Fourteen percent of those on the adult Net are female, and 86 percent are male, with a margin of error of roughly plus or minus six percent."
Although women are by far the minority when it comes to surfing for online sex, according to attorney Greg Piccionelli, of the L.A.-law firm Brull Piccionelli Sarno Braun & Vradenburgh, "There's an increasing number of women being attracted to adult sites, particularly those involving more romantic and sexually implicit motifs."
Webmistress Oceania, who specializes in spoken and written erotic stories (www.peacockblue.com), agrees. "There's a growing demand for female-oriented sexual enter-tainment and content, but less than one percent of adult sites are for women," she contends. "Women [have been] a non-entity when it comes to sexuality. We're changing that. It's about equality."
Significantly, Oceania believes that erotica for women is different from its male counterpart in that it seeks to provide what she calls "more than the usual anatomy lesson."
Case in point: According to Theresa Flynt-Gaerke, Vice President of Retail Operations for Hustler Entertainment Inc., half the clientele at the company's upscale Hustler Hollywood sex emporium, located on L.A.'s glitzy Sunset Boulevard, are women - a fact that her father, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, finds astonishing. "That [figure] blew me away," Flynt remarked. "When I started Hustler 26 years ago, only three percent of our readership was women. We had extensive demographic studies done. Then in the early '90s, it was right over 25 percent. So, when I decided to open Hustler Hollywood, I wanted to create an atmosphere where both men and women feel comfortable. That's the thing to getting people in - you make them feel they're in a Neiman-Marcus or Barnes and Noble. All of a sudden, it's not dirty any more."
Flynt-Gaerke elaborates: "Hustler Hollywood targets women, which is a lot different than old porn parlors. I personally feel women have been ignored in the design of sex stores. And now, realizing the disposable income women have and that we shop more than men, it's only right that we have stores for them. Because they're the ones using the sex toys."
Not surprisingly, Hustler Hollywood's gender demographics don't quite translate to the company's online erotica, which many would classify as "male oriented." According to Flynt Digital Vice President Anthony Tang, Hustler.com (www.hustler.com) members are generally single men. "Not that we don't get our fair share of women - five to 10 percent," he says. "But the majority are single males."
What women like to do online at Hustler, Tang says, is shop. "There's a much larger percentage of women buying from our electronic storefront, www.shophustler.com, versus signing up for an explicit membership site."
Age
If the growing number of women who like to surf and shop for sexual material comes as a surprise, prepare yourself for industry figures regarding how old e-porn users are.
While the presumed 18-24 demographic has long been considered the staple of e-porn, according to SexTracker, this group totals only 20 percent of all sex surfers - just two percentage points above another six-year grouping, 41 to 47-year-olds. Thirty-one to 40-year-olds account for 26 percent, and 41 to 55-year-olds comprise 33 percent of adult Web surfers; those 56 and older account for just seven percent.
The bottom line: while the 30-and-under set accounts for 34 percent of porn surfers, those aged 31 to 55 - the middle third of life - account for well over half of those surfing for adult material.
Edmond believes he knows why. "Sexual prowess and vigor is always associated with the young male," he states, "so it's assumed young men must be the only people looking at this type of thing. But in fact, pornography is an idealist's tool, something used for visualization. What better than a 35 to 55-year-old man to need some visualization tools, not only to think about himself in a sexual situation with the woman of his dreams, but also with him as the man of his own making and not suffering from age. So from that perspective, this finding, which is contrary to prevailing opinion, makes sense to me."
The Flynt Empire also finds that the majority of its consumers are older than the 18 to 24-year trope. Larry Flynt says the readers of Hustler magazine are from 18 to 35, with a median age of 28; Flynt Digital's Tang says that "Hustler.com has a pretty broad age demographic. It's mostly people within the later twenties, early thirties."
Piccionelli, too, believes there are a large number of men over 35 who surf the adult Net, but the attorney cautions that, "There appears to be some rumor - I haven't actually seen any evidence of this - that a large number of Web surfers are underage. Some parties overseas I've spoken to recently seem to be convinced that, at least in Germany, their peak group appears to be about 16, 17 years old. Obviously, if this is true, this is a problem."
Relationship Status
Edmond's figures regarding the marital status of surfers are also eyebrow raising. "Thirty-three-percent of surfers of adult sites are single," he states. "Divorced, ten percent; separated or dating, ten percent. The majority, 46 percent, are married."
"A lot of couples use the Net," says Alexandra Silk, an adult performer-director who plays the "Naughty Bailiff" on Playboy TV's Sex Court (www.playboy.com/pbtv/), and also does live nude chat at her site, www.alexandrasilk.com. "More so, the females out there together with their husbands, or speaking on behalf of their husbands. Or their husbands or boyfriends see me and then they say to their significant others, 'Hey, look at her.'
"I couldn't really say why," Silk continues, "but the work I do seems to be couples-friendly. It has a sex educational benefit, in teaching how to share an experience they're maybe afraid to try. Because I seem like a very average or normal lady, it might encourage them to do so."
Occupation, Income, Education
According to SexTracker's CEO, "The highest percentage of adult Net surfers work in manufacturing, production and operations - blue collar work - 13 percent. Next highest are professional, medical or legal, at ten percent, and sales, advertising and marketing, at ten percent. Students are the third-highest category, and every group after that is at less than seven percent."
As for income, says Edmond, "At zero to $9,999, eight percent. $10,000 to $19,999, 12 percent. $20,000 to $29,999, 14 percent. $30,000 to $39,999, 19 percent. $40,000 to $49,999, 14 percent. $50,000 to $59,999, ten percent. $60,000 to $69,999, six percent. And $70,000-plus is a total of 15 percent. Which is interesting because it shows you that right at $30,000 to $40,000, which is right in the middle of middle class, is the highest consumption of adult content."
Flynt Digital's Tang says his research shows that most Hustler.com members are in the mid- to upper-income levels, $35,000 to $50,000 a year. "These are people who are not afraid of spending $180 or more a year for a subscription," he says. "Most are from a more-educated class, people who have high-speed access, often at work. About fifteen percent of our end users use 56K or higher. They're actually a more computer-savvy group, compared to overall usage."
High-speed access is also often found on campus. This, plus the fact that 21st Century academia often requires computer use, is likely a contributing factor to the spike of sex surfing among students.
According to Edmond, "The largest educational bracket for adult Net users is for some college, at 35 percent. High school graduates at 22 percent. Those with a Ph.D, just two percent."
Race, Religion, Region
The breakdown of e-porn users by ethnicity, religion, and region is also intriguing. According to Edmond, "Caucasians make up 75 percent of the adult Internet's users. Asians are seven percent. Blacks, four percent. Hispanics, three percent. Arabs are one percent. What is termed as 'others,' ten percent."
SexTracker's figures reveal that the states with the highest number of sex surfers include New York at number two, Florida at number three, and Texas at number four (the latter two governed by Bushes, by the way). California weighs in at a hefty six percent - number one, nationwide.
According to LTD Internet Inc., which specializes in Asian-oriented sites, most of its customers are from North America, especially California. Not surprisingly, these live chat and voyeur- cam sites have a large number of Asian-American customers.
Conversely, Flynt Digital's Tang says that most of his customers, approximately 20 percent, are from the East Coast.
As for religious demographics, Edmond indicates that "Fifty-nine percent of adult Internet surfers are Christian. Two percent are Jewish. One percent each are Muslim and Hindu. Thirty-seven percent are agnostic or other."
When one considers the foregoing data, it should come as little surprise that English is the language of choice for 76 percent of all websites.
Still, the adult Net has global appeal. Alexandra Silk closely monitors hits on her site via the MK Stats statistics program. "I'm known worldwide," she says. "It's amazing to reach out and 'tech' someone in Portugal or Spain or Italy or Japan. I have a very big fan base in Italy and France... To reach worldwide is fabulous."
Time
Silk's MK Stats program not only tells the porn star where her fans are located, but when they're most likely to log on to her site. "Definitely nighttime is popular," says the star. "Weeknights have the heaviest hits. Although it can vary - if, say, I do Howard Stern's show, then that particular day booms. Weekends seem to be less busy."
Silk's webmaster, N. Smith adds, "The two heavy periods for Alexandra are lunch hour and dinner hour, believe it or not. We assume that the lunch hits are coming from - I won't mention any company names - businesses. Versus the dinner hits, which tend to come from portals such as AOL and MindSpring, and tend to be more personal surfing."
Edmond says demographics reveal that Thursday is the best day of the week for selling memberships to adult sites.
Frequency and Free Sites
"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful," Mae West once quipped.
How much time are users spending at adult sites and how often are they spending money online there? Edmond says, "Statistically, when a surfer starts at a search engine or he gets a URL from his buddy, it's always a free site. Consumers don't go out there wielding credits cards, asking 'who can I give my money to?' Business doesn't work that way - you have to earn money, and to do so you have to compete for the user's interest. You have to sell them, and the process of selling starts at a free site. Pay sites can be free sites too - that's what the tour on the front page is. They've got all sorts of free content that says, 'Look at me! Do you want to see more? Give me money.' Free con- tent gets the user up to the level of desire to spend money on a higher quality of content, which can only be found at pay sites."
The industry analyst goes on to say, "I believe out of a thousand users coming into the adult Internet, one ends up spending money on something. That's incredibly poor performance on our part." Edmond thinks a sophisticated application of demography by the industry could help raise the sign-up ratio tenfold, to one in every hundred surfers.
Politics, Class and the Digital Divide
Pundits such as Jim Pinkerton, of cable television's Fox News (www.foxnews.com) and Long Island's Newsday (www.newsday.com), and Paulina Borsook, author of Cyberselfish: A Critical Romp Through the Terribly Libertarian Culture of High-Tech (Public Affairs; $24.00; ISBN 1891620789), make the point that the average individual who goes online (surfing the non-adult Internet, that is) tends to be more independent and libertarian in his/her views than someone who doesn't log on. And, understandably, leading adult figures such as Flynt and Screw (www.screwmag.com) publisher Al Goldstein are highly critical of the two-party duopoly that runs Washington.
But, Edmond counters, "I believe the statements about libertarianism have been somewhat diluted by the arrival of Joe Sixpack on the Net. About 1994, there was certainly a heavy libertarian aspect to the Net as a whole that continued on to 1996, when the interest for the Internet was picked up rather heavily by the world at large. Nowadays, I don't think you can find any different cultural demographics, such as political bias, among the denizens of the Internet." Edmond concedes, however, that SexTracker has not conducted a political survey per se.
In 1932, when President Herbert Hoover ran for reelection against Franklin Roosevelt, a telephone poll showed the Republican incumbent had a decisive lead. Nevertheless, FDR went on to prevail in a landslide. What accounted for the discrepancy? The pollsters did not factor in a class component - that in Depression Era America, most citizens who could afford phones were wealthier than the average worker, and hence tended to vote GOP.
In the same way, economics plays a role in skewing the demographics of who surfs for sex online. The fact that people in the middle third of their life account for more adult Net usage than those in their late teens and 20s leads SexTracker's Edmond to the conclude that affluence may well be a factor, particularly where more-expensive high-speed access is concerned. Of course, people in their peak earning years are generally expected to be wealthier than teens and others just entering the job market. But this economic factoring not only impacts age demographics, but also ethnicity. "Something you've got to consider," says Edmond, "is if there's a bell curve of areas with access to Internet technology. There's a barrier to entry that classifies the whole world according to just a segment of what we're looking at. The countries and most of the people who have access to adult content online, to an alarming rate - 75 percent - are Caucasian. That means there's a tremendous population out there that hasn't been properly marketed to for this type of content. Users have to be diversified."
This may also be true for the gender gap, as well. "I surmise the reason why the female numbers are so low is because there's not a lot of content that's easy to access for women clients. Meaning that the more the industry gets serious about female demographics, as far as a marketing vehicle for content delivered to them, those numbers will increase," Edmond concludes.
Indeed, observers say there is a lot of arrogance in the high tech computer/Internet realm, starting from the very top, with Bill Gates, down to the newbie webmaster with a free site. Many in the field tend to forget that most people in America, and the over- whelming majority of the planet, do not own or have access to computers (although high speed- and other Internet access is avail- able at many facilities, including cyber cafes, universities, private and public schools, and public libraries. The latter two have, of course, triggered numerous ongoing debates about filtering software.)
It's also worth remembering that much of the world lives without the "basics" which are taken for granted in the West, such as electricity. Two billion human beings alive today have never made a phone call, and billions more have never ventured onto the Net. When these non-Net users eventually do log on, you can be certain the demographics of cybersex will change, perhaps radically so. Edmond points out, "The only notable difference I see be-tween standard adult content - strip clubs, magazines, videos, or CDs - and the Internet, is that there's a small class barrier to entry right now, in regards to the typical expense consumers incur in order to gain access to the computer medium, which typically is a $1,000 computer and some education that hasn't really permeated the developing countries yet. We're going to be playing catch-up with the rest of the world for a while, as they all get onboard. Any study we'd see would be heavily influenced by the barrier to entry by cost, economy, and education at this point."
PART II: MARKETING TECHNIQUES
First Steps: Protection
"The adult entertainment industry has led the way in e-commerce," says attorney Greg Piccionelli. "Virtually every technique for profitably selling things on the Net was pioneered by the adult Web. But the drawback of Internet marketing techniques is that once you come up with a successful idea, everyone else can do it, too. The tendency of the adult industry to push the envelope is, by and large, squandered."
Piccionelli warns that in their haste to sell products and services, cybersexers neglected to protect those methods invented for marketing online erotica. Piccionelli says shopping carts, one clicks, tracking, and affiliate programs (wherein one is paid to send traffic), may well have been introduced by the adult community; but now, the affiliates program is widely used by Amazon.com - and not only has Amazon patented this, but it could conceivably exercise its patent right against adult entrepreneurs, even those who might believe they invented or used the method first - but failed to register with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Piccionelli suggests a solution. "About two years ago, the ability to patent business methods became available to everyone in the U.S. A patent is a government enforced monopoly and you can exercise that monopoly against your competitors. Registering patents is especially important since the new methodologies can prove, in some cases, to be far more valuable than the goods and services originally sold via the marketing techniques." For instance, Piccionelli says, Walker Digital owned a patent, and licensed one of the claims to that patent to Priceline.com for almost $1 billion. It's now worth billions more. The [speed at which] development occurs on the Net makes protecting one's innovations through patents all the more important.
As SexTracker's Edmond declares, "This is the Internet and things move in a year about the equivalent of seven years of activity in your normal business."
The lesson: If you think you've got a really great new marketing idea, look into having it registered.
But if you don't have any great ideas brewing, take heart, and read on...
Basic Business to Consumer
Edmond lists the more conventional methods for attracting consumer traffic, starting with the most common way to advertise: through search engines and banners. E-mail programs, he says, are another way to reach users, who often check their mail before cruising the Net [for more on the subject, see "Marketing Your Website Through E-mail" in the August issue.-Ed.] Edmond also recommends Age Verification Systems, which, he says, do more than the name implies; he likens them to the AAA or AARP. "You buy membership to the central (AVS) site, but profits are distributed throughout the organization [to the member sites], giving consumers more buying power. You can get cheap stuff with group buying power. Some of the biggest companies on the adult Web are these unions which go out and seek the best benefits for consumers against the adult webmasters who produce the content."
Edmond further recommends specializing in a particular niche. "Gay, and certain other content hasn't been readily available to mass consumers before. I'm talking about surfers from Kuwait, the Ukraine - who don't go to the neighborhood sex shop for midget erotica. In lots of ways, niche is becoming the meat and potatoes of the adult Internet," Edmond states.
Basic Business to Business
As in mainstream business, big adult companies use incentives to win and keep webmaster fidelity. Edmond refers to Cybererotica's (www.cybererotica.com) recent Jamaica trip for webmasters, and PrimeXTC (www.primextc.com) and Hustler.com's sponsorship of David Lee Roth's Hard Rock Hotel performance during the ia2000 Las Vegas in January as ways the big boys can woo Webheads. These, plus conferences and conventions at prime destinations like Vegas, Miami Beach and New Orleans, enhance branding for webmasters. "For instance, AgeCheck and Cybererotica had a 1,000 square-foot bar right in the middle of January's ia2000 in Las Vegas, spending tens of thousands of dollars, and giving away free alcohol during the convention, just to get adult webmaster brand loyalty. Extreme marketing happens on that level," points out Edmond.
According to SexTracker's CEO, another business-to-business method is predatory pricing. "Every Thursday, CEN gives away $100 to webmasters per join, even though they're probably only making $55 per join. They're paying at a loss, but just on Thursdays, the day of the week when most sign-up for new sponsorship programs. They grab a majority of people signing up at a loss, so they can stay profitable throughout the week."
The Media is the Messenger
If celebrity is the currency of 21st Century America, then mass communications is the primary means for reaching large populations. An essential point for cybersexers to grasp is that it doesn't matter what gossip-mongers say about you - what's important is that you're talked about.
In his early cinematic epics, Cecil B. DeMille was known for filming orgies - he got away with it as long as his hedonists incurred God's wrath by curtain time. Today, it seems to make no difference whether or not an adult venue is made coast-to-coast toast by a media investigation. For example, Edmond says, swingers' site Wetlands (www.wetlands.net) was portrayed extremely unfavorably on a TV newsmagazine - and its owner, JonBoy, went on to make $5 million off of the expose. "Awareness, even in a negative light, really does a lot of good. People will make up their own mind," Edmond maintains, suggesting that the only bad PR is no PR.
Larry Flynt epitomizes the adult veteran who's reaped the benefits of the media limelight. His obscenity battles with the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, though portrayed negatively in the press, helped to increase sales of Hustler. Years later, the 1996 Hollywood feature The People vs. Larry Flynt greatly raised Flynt's profile as a free speech champion and, significantly, offered an even-handed if not entirely sympathetic portrayal of a man seen in more conservative circles simply as America's top smut-meister. (Flynt told AVN Online, "Woody Harrelson does a better me than me.") The film was directed by Oscar-winner Milos Forman (Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), a Czech exile who, perhaps influenced somewhat by his own life experience, conferred onto Flynt prestige as an American dissident.
"The movie made Larry's name almost a household word," says Flynt Digital's Anthony Tang. "This is a legacy for Hustler .com; why traffic's still generated by people doing searches for the name out of the exposure he's already had."
But Flynt did some publicizing of his own. His offer of $1 million for hard info about illicit affairs with congressmen, and The Flynt Report, which exposed Republican peccadilloes during the Clinton impeachment brouhaha, not only led to the resignation of the Republican House Speaker designee, but also generated enormous free publicity for Flynt.
Probably the only other adult non-performer to receive comparable media coverage is Hugh Hefner, who not only hosted a '60s TV series but was depicted in the 1981 made-for-TV movie Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story and Star 80, the 1983 Bob Fosse feature about Stratten. In 1999, Hef was portrayed in a more upbeat made-for-TV biopic and has, of course, been featured in countless interviews, including ABC TV's Politically Incorrect, which shot for a week at the Playboy mansion in May 2000. Playboy TV, which launched in 1982, is available in more than 20 million U.S. homes, while Playboy .com (www.playboy.com) also reaches a mass audience.
The media spotlight has also shone on IEG's Seth Warshavsky. "His purchase of the Pamela/Tommy Lee video for www.clublove.com was very lucky," comments Edmond. "I doubt he would have had as much success as he's had without that video. That got about as much mention in the mainstream press as just about all porn media combined in recent years."
Adult impresarios are not the only ones benefiting from mass exposure. There is a substantial trend of adult talent who parlay celebrity in other media into membership for their pay sites: Model/actress Doria went from the pages of Playboy and its cable TV show Night Calls to operating her own website, www.doria.com, as well as webmistressing for other top models who've gone online, such as "Queen of the B Movies" and Playboy TV's Judge Julie, Julie Strain (www.juliestrain.com); Dakota Kelly once modeled for big breast magazines, then took her fans online (www.thedoublejranch.com).
Dozens upon dozens of XXX stars, such as Alexandra Silk, have their own sites as well. Guest spots on The Howard Stern Show by contract stars such as Vivid's Janine, Wicked Pictures' Jenna Jameson, and others, typically translate into massive hits on their websites. "Radio is our second best way to promote and has always been an important factor in getting our product to a larger audience," says Brian Gross, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for Vivid. "Appearances by Vivid Girls on radio and television have had a phenomenal impact on branding and getting the Vivid name out there. Vivid doesn't pay Howard Stern to book Vivid Girls; we're in constant contact with his representatives."
Branded
"Brand names are extremely important," says Flynt Digital's Tang. "One of the things Larry Flynt's name and the Hustler brand have allowed us to do is survive in this highly competitive marketplace. People go to the trusted brand name. It's been incredibly important for us. We haven't had to spend as much on advertising because surfers generally gravitate towards Hustler.com. Any time Larry is in the media, we have spikes in our traffic. Every time he's out there debating, the more readily seen he is, the more Hustler.com is seen. He's Hustler. As he propagates out through the community, so do the websites."
Vivid's Gross echoes the sentiment. "Branding is extremely important, as far as getting the Vivid name out there. To us, the Vivid Girl is as famous as the Playboy Playmate, the Penthouse Pet. It's important to get the Vivid name out through the girls and through our movies. The first Vivid Girl was Ginger Lynn in 1984. There are currently ten Vivid Girls, with exclusive contracts for a certain amount of movies per year for Vivid only, and participation in promotional events, such as personal appearances."
Logos too, can play an important role in promoting your brand. Think of Playboy and you may think of a bunny; think of McDonald's and you probably picture the Golden Arches. Fallen Angel (www.fallenangelxxx.com) CEO Luc Wylder designed a unique logo to raise his firm's profile. "It's a bit intellectual and not easy to figure out," he says. "Actually, it's an abstract rendition of 'F A', Fallen Angel, with a spear, a global symbol for the world. In front is a triangle, which symbolizes 'A', but if you studied calculus, you'd know it's a symbol of change."
Investing in Technology
Technical innovations in the new medium of the Internet are another way for sites to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack. "Hustler.com really embraces the idea of broadband video," says Tang. "It's what a lot of adult sites today lack. There's a plethora of JPEG, old stuff, a lot of picture content, but there's still not readily available high quality video on demand, nor broadband - the market we're trying to hit. Unlike many sites who give you one or two five-minute clips of some fuzzy, square image, we're act
