ONLINE 101: A Beginner's Guide For Webmasters

You can never be too thin, you can never have enough money, and you can never have too much traffic, at least not in the wife... er, banner-swapping world of adult Internet. That is one reason why newbies are so important. They are the new blood that provide nocturnal amusement and nourishment to an industry that sucks up traffic like snow up a governor's nose. But they also buy things (sometimes) like content and advertising. We say sometimes because everything one needs to start an adult site is often provided for free by hosters, the only proviso being that the hosters banners must adorn the site's pages, thus providing them with the traffic they will need to live forever.

And if the word is out that the Golden Age of Internet porn is over, there are still many people who are willing to risk a lot to enter this business, including their freedom, and there is certainly no lack of people willing to help them in that pursuit. In fact, the adult webmaster resource sites are thriving. Our advice is that prospective Web pornographers spend some time perusing them. If you have any questions, jump in and ask. You will be inundated with helpful responses. There are also dozens, if not hundreds, of articles and seminars designed to assist your entrance into the online adult community.

That said, newbies need to be very careful, very discriminating, and yes, very suspicious. This is not a regulated industry. If you get ripped off, your local district attorney will not come to your aid. Your neighbors will not take up a collection for you. Your family will not lend you a sympathetic ear. Your only support will come from other bastard children of the Internet. Protect yourself. Be honest. Be legal. And get yourself a good attorney.

With the Internet only gaining commercial success over the past five years it would be fair to say the online adult industry is still in it's primary stage. However, this is one of the most advanced industries on the Internet, not only because of the amount of revenues and profits it is generating, but also because of the technology used. Although this industry is not for everyone, hard work and long-term focus are assets. Depending on what parts of the industry you decide to participate in, you are going to need some investment capital. In this business nothing is free.

What IS This Networking Stuff?

What I wanted to go over was a few tips and ideas on something that has become VERY near and dear to me in my time in this business. NETWORKING! I can still remember a conversation with my friend from Web Overdrive here -Snoops a loooooong time ago when I started working with newbies on my board. I said to her, ?But I don't KNOW anyone!' and she replied - ?OH - you soon will!' And she was right! Once I started to learn about how to meet people in the same line of work ?on-line' it made a huge difference to my income AND my working practice and whole way of life!!!

But I'm jumping the gun here a little bit :-) Let me explain what is meant be ?networking' for the newer people here. It basically means meeting people who work in the same or related field as you do and getting to know them. It's about making contacts in business and, especially in this business, making friends too. That might sound kinda sappy but just making friends and shooting the breeze on-line really does make a huge difference to what you can pick up on in terms of the latest news, tips, tricks and ideas. Your business friends, colleagues or whatever you want to call them will basically help you and your business get where you want to be - and you can do the same for them.

ANYONE can network. You don't have to be brilliant with people or a great conversationalist. That would rule me out altogether! You just need to be interested to talk to folks and not be frightened to share what's working for you.

One final point on this before we move on to the next section here. The Internet can seem like this huge anonymous thing - a machine - a faceless entity where all you ever deal with are endless submit forms and auto-reply emails but it's really just an illusion! The Internet and the Adult Online business is ALL people. Deals are made, links are swapped and empires are built with PEOPLE - not machines and this is another important reason to get networking. It really is essential to getting where you need to be...

Your Name - Your Most Important Asset

OK so you are going to make your presence felt on the web? Cool! The first thing you need to do is to pick out a name for yourself! You CAN use your real name as I do but the problem with this is that 1) there will almost certainly be other people with your name -- which leads to confusion. Plus it will be harder for people to remember you. 2) When you see some of the cool nicknames out there like, Frenumboy, Girlie Girl, and Dr Lector - you'll wish you had picked a better one LOL!!

Seriously though, your nick name, net name or on-line identity is pretty important. Not just on aesthetic terms but on a much more important level... Your name is the most important part of your business. It's essential that other people in the industry - your sponsors, your workmates and your contacts know that you are honest, reliable, and basically a stand up guy (or girl!) Time and time again we see people come to boards and shout and piss and moan at every one and every thing. There are people who cheat sponsors and do all manor of other things that give them a ?bad name'... You CAN change your nick name and come back with a different one - but people are not dumb. They know how to do a whois and your sponsors that you ripped off WILL remember that address!

In short, keep your name ?clean'. Be a stand up webmaster and not one that folks want to avoid. There are a lot like that around already :-)

I've Got My Name and I'm a Good Puppy! What Next?

What it is, where to get it, how to use it, helping out.OK that's great! Now we need to get you out there - in the battle field and get you known. You need some people to NETWORK with! Don't be scared :-) Right now there are a lot of people just like you who are very new at this or who do not know anyone and want to meet people of the same experience. (Not that you should limit yourself to that!) The ?bigger boys' in the business are 99\\% VERY nice people who will be more than happy to shoot the breeze with you, answer questions and help you get started. Here's a GOLDEN RULE to follow in networking - no-one is above you - there are just some with more experience - NEVER be afraid to ask them a question or open a dialogue! There have been MANY times when I thought, "This person has been doing this for a LONG time - should I really start to speak to them???"

There Are Number of Ways That You Can Start to Get to Know People...

STEP ONE is to go to www.icq.com and download the latest version of a program called ?ICQ' - (I Seek You) - You'll see why! ICQ is a text chat program and the industry standard at the moment for talking to other Adult Webmaster - new AND old! STEP TWO You're going to have to start hanging out at one of the Adult Webmaster chat boards out there... there are a lot around and Tom's Newbie Booster - my board is as good as any :-) Hang there and you have TWO choices at this juncture. First you can wait until someone posts their ?ICQ number' - it's like their phone number for the package - and then ADD them to your ICQ and start talking to them. OR you can post to say HI and then ask people to add you to their ICQ program and say hi.

In Closing...

DON'T be shy - you'll have to get in touch with some people here. Trust me - they will be VERY glad you did and I guarantee you - there are friends out there that you never knew you had... Have fun NETWORKING! *