Taking the Club Med approach to the adult Web, 413 Productions is part of the new generation of Internet-based companies that fuse creative development, design, production, and management under one banner. 413 Productions' all-inclusive Web venture includes design, photography, e-commerce, hosting, marketing, traffic generation, and accounting. Four years removed from debuting their first site, 413 Productions has progressively built a solid reputation by producing technically superior Websites and creating a business portfolio tailor-made to their clients' Internet needs.
The success of the company, headquartered in Orange County, CA, is due in large part to the hard work of the 413 Productions staff, beginning with co-owner and CFO Kelly Madison and CEO, co-owner, and designer Ryan Wilkinson. Joining them are David Rome, designer; Gucci LaMour, a photographer based in Atlanta, GA; Channel Starr, administrative assistant, model, and assistant photographer; Danielle, public relations and marketing in Florida; Art, a programmer in Irvine, CA; and Jeff, a programmer in Texas.
They currently watch over 11 Websites: 413Productions.com, KellyMadison.com, LanaLotts.com, XXXAspen.com, MercedezXXX.com, GucciGirls.com, ToplessPussy.com, KellyKash.com, 413Dollars.com, PanterasByWilkinson.com, and 413Girls.com.
"We run a company based on trust and partnership," says Madison. "Ryan and I are equal partners and we run several sites that are partnerships with adult stars and well-known adult photographers." She continues, "We have found that there is enough money to go around in this industry so there is no need to ever cheat anyone.
"Honesty," says Madison, "is above all what you can expect from us."
That mind-set applies to members, models, employees, clients, traffic partners, and affiliates, according to Madison. Adhering to the notion that if you want something done right, then do it yourself, 413 Productions does their own customer service, has their own merchant accounts, and all of the affiliate billing and accounting is handled in house (their online processor is Net Billing, with hosting provided by Naked Hosting). "We keep a keen eye on where everyone's money goes," Madison says. "And we make sure everyone gets his or her fair share."
Debuting in October 2000, the wonderfully naughty KellyMadison.com is 413 Productions' flagship site. "I think it owes its popularity to the fact that it fits a niche," says Madison. "I'm amateur, I'm tall, I have naturally large breasts, and I'm thin and I'm over 30, and I do hardcore."
The enduring popularity and profitability of KellyMadison.com is vital to 413 Productions' business. It's the engine that drives the machine. "My site has paid for all the development and costs of all of our new sites," says Madison. "The 413Productions.com site is dedicated to clients, models, photographers, and fellow Webmasters."
Like you've died and gone to content heaven, the site offers 100,000-plus original photos and videos. "From day one, we have updated that site every single day," she says. "We have operated our site like we were a big company and it has paid off. We take this attitude toward our other sites as well. We never complain to our partners that they are giving us too much content. We are content whores."
She adds, "We will work harder than anyone who wants to work with us. We are a long-term thinking company. We aren't looking for the quick buck. We build long-lasting relationships. That's harder to do, but it pays off."
Fashioning a winning adult business in a saturated marketplace is an ongoing endeavor, and Wilkinson believes a big marketing campaign can only help so much. "You need the numbers," he says. "Webmasters aren't going to give you the time of day without high conversions and long retentions. It's a small community out there; if you can provide the numbers then you get the exposure."
Madison says all of their content is produced in-house, including video production. They've recently come out with a line of DVDs for both Madison and Lana Lotts. "It's going very well and we are working on new video projects for the future," says Madison. "We do all the design and Gucci LaMour does all the glamour photos for the tour pages, and we all work together cohesively. We study the Net for new ideas and to see what's hot, and then apply it to our business."
Finding the exact mix of content while building Websites is tricky, but Wilkinson said it certainly helps to work with popular models. "Kelly [Madison] has been published in several men's magazines, Mercedez is a Vivid Girl and spokesmodel for Pony shoes, Lana Lotts is extremely popular on the 'Net and just started doing adult films, Aspen Reign is the reigning Miss Nude World, and the list goes on," he says. "Put beautiful and popular women together with cutting-edge design, update it continuously and give the customer what they want, and run an honest business - that makes for a winning combination."
Never did the phrase a head for business and a body for sin" apply so well as it does to Madison, a sales rep for the last 10 years working in the commercial printing industry. "I wore a suit and drove a company car," she says. "Now I wear my birthday suit and operate a video cam."
Upon graduating from college, Wilkinson took his degree in graphic design and went to work for an advertising agency. He soon landed a job at graphics company - where he met Madison. Ah, fate. "I was the VP and Ryan was my second shift designer/pre-press guy," says Madison. "We started talking about running our own business and about getting in the adult industry. We went out to discuss it further and one glass of wine turned into our entire future."
It was perfect for Wilkinson, who was keen to cash in on the Internet gold rush. "I knew of others that were making a small fortune in the adult biz and figured I would give it a shot," he says.
What Madison could not have foreseen was her instant popularity as a model. Her star power quickly elevated the brand and brought about invaluable attention. "I began this endeavor thinking that I would be the one hiring the models and overseeing the business," says Madison. "We quickly discovered that not many models were as dependable as we were, so I became the model. Never saw that coming. I love it and I wouldn't have planned it out any other way."
At the onset, Wilkinson assumed the Internet gig would entail "golfing all day while the money rolled in." And now? "Now I work 16-hour days, but it's totally worth it," he says. "I can play golf when I retire at 30."
Their affiliate program, KellyKash.com, was set up over a year ago to help promote KellyMadison.com because, as Madison explains, "we were experiencing such great conversion ratios and member retention, so we implemented an affiliate program."
Presently, 413Dollars.com handles all affiliates' needs, whereas they once offered one site with one affiliate program. "Now we operate five sites that share each other's member's sections," says Madison. "If you join KellyMadison.com, GucciGirls.com, LanaLotts.com, XXXAspen.com, or ToplessPussy.com, you get the others for free. What this means to the Webmaster is that they can pick one or all of our sites to promote and tell potential members that they are getting five sites for the price of one."
They also offer an affiliate program for MercedezXXX.com. "We are extremely proud to run her site, and her numbers are very strong," says Madison.
She adds, "Each of our sites is so different, which works well for the Webmasters looking for variety or a specific niche to sell to."
The Webmaster community can be a fickle bunch, and Madison feels it's important to observe trends on the Net. "We love to find very successful sites with strong affiliate programs and study what they do," she says. "It makes us work harder and strive to provide our own affiliates with huge profitability."
Wilkinson believes many on the Web have not rolled with the changes. "There are still quite a few people who have the '1995 mentality,' as I call it," he says. "They think that if you put up some naked photos and think up a cool URL you are going to make millions. It's far from that now. It's hard work and you have to always stay ahead."
He adds, "I study what goes on in the adult biz and what is popular in mainstream. It's all about reality. Amateur-style photos and video are the most profitable for me. Consumers want reality. They want the girl next door doing what the porn chicks do."
That said, Wilkinson's take on the state of the adult Internet industry is thus: "We have shown an increase in profit every month since we started in 2000, so I don't see the economy affecting me overall."
He says that if numbers do drop, he works with the 413 team to make changes that will offset any temporary losses. "I do understand that the market place is much more competitive [now]," says Wilkinson, "and that's why I work so hard to stay ahead and to keep producing money-making content."
According to Madison, the biggest thing happening at the company currently is the debut of 413Girls.com and 413Dollars.com. "To be able to offer all the other sites for free for joining just one is very powerful," she says. "Some days our members get five updates in one day. That's a lot of content and that's what people want."
She continues, "We want to make it as easy as possible for our affiliate partners to make a lot of money and for their members to stick around for a long time."
Asked why KellyMadison.com and 413 Productions have thrived, Madison is succinct: "Hard work." Two words one uses a lot when talking about Madison and 413. Even the company name is a testament to that. "It's our address to our business," says Madison.
She tells the story of leasing an old warehouse, an icehouse, actually, built in 1930 and complete (or is that incomplete?) with ripped-up asphalt for floors and wood beams as walls. "Ryan made many trips to Home Depot, and working single-handedly, he, in three months, had built a carpeted - with new plumbing, Jacuzzi bathtub - beautifully decorated photography studio," Madison recalls. "That's where we shot all our content to get my site up. We also ran out of money while building the site and had to secretly move in the warehouse. There was no shower, no windows, and no air conditioning."
Is there a better metaphor for 413 Production's success than the building they inhabit? "We roughed it, but it was all worth it," says Madison. "So the name 413 means a lot to us. It's the beginning of where we are and where we are going."
