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Barefootsies 07-05-2015 07:02 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom6995 (Post 20516020)
Writing a killer cold call email for a mainstream venture.
Email marketing has a lot of moving parts. The application could be amazing, but you still have to worry about ip reputation management, delivery plus getting past spam filters, then there is just having good offers and conversions not to mention the source lists to mail. That is just the tip of the iceberg. All of those can easily be overcome assuming you have the budget and time to learn. But most don't.

Good luck on the venture top notch.

:thumbsup

mineistaken 07-05-2015 07:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shap (Post 20516040)
Agreed 100% however at the same time how much time is wasted on email? As an example I like MaDalton but when I had Twistys I had 15 madaltons hounding me on email. Eventually you tune out and only tune back in when you need something.

Email is very hard to master imo. I imagine if you are strictly a sales person email should be your specialty. For me it's always been a struggle
Yeah, that is the problem. When you (as business owner/ceo) do not have time for emails. Solution is to delegate them to someone in your company who has more time or who's hours are cheaper. Try not to give out your own email too much etc.

Ps: there is a difference between emails that try to sell you something and emails that buys. It is not a big deal to ignore selling emails, but ignoring emails from buying customers is completely different matter. Many companies do that, it amazed me for years :)

Barefootsies 07-05-2015 07:07 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shap (Post 20516044)
It's also amazing when you realize what you thought you wanted wasn't really what you wanted.
Yep. I simply had gotten so caught up in the chase, I did not realize that I could do most of what I really wanted now while I am healthy enough to do it (i.e. traveling). Why chase down $5 million dollar dreams that could be 5/10/20 years away when you can do them making a $100/200/300k?

It seems almost laughable now that I did not see I already had the keys in my hand to what it was I really wanted, and was simply not using them because I had built this prison of responsibility and took my eyes off the ball. I simply was spending 90% of my time on work, and little time on myself or my own happiness.

Barefootsies 07-05-2015 07:10 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by mineistaken (Post 20516049)
Ps: there is a difference between emails that try to sell you something and emails that buys. It is not a big deal to ignore selling emails, but ignoring emails from buying customers is completely different matter. Many companies do that, it amazed me for years :)
Quickly to your point, that is you're assuming they actually get them.

Most of the emails I receive from an adult oriented company end up in my spam folder. I do occasionally peek in there, and assuming your on that first page I might see it. But if not, you could be easily missed depending on how much spam that person gets. I find many, not all, adult webmasters dump their pornographer.com emails into a Gmail account. So they will end up being shit canned more often than not by default.

Food for thought.

:upsidedow

Markul 07-05-2015 07:15 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by sojproductions (Post 20515955)
Traffic from affiliates, we used to have stacks of good affiliates, most are on auto pilot nowadays and new affiliates dont seem to be interested in our main niche even though it still sells well :/
If you have hosted mp4 files I can get you both traffic and affiliates :thumbsup hit me up: markul (att1) easyxsites.com :pimp

Shap 07-05-2015 07:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Markul (Post 20516055)
If you have hosted mp4 files I can get you both traffic and affiliates :thumbsup hit me up: markul (att1) easyxsites.com :pimp
sojproductions is getting great feedback and offers here :)

mineistaken 07-05-2015 07:21 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516052)
Quickly to your point, that is you're assuming they actually get them.

Most of the emails I receive from an adult oriented company end up in my spam folder. I do occasionally peek in there, and assuming your on that first page I might see it. But if not, you could be easily missed depending on how much spam that person gets. I find many, not all, adult webmasters dump their pornographer.com emails into a Gmail account. So they will end up being shit canned more often than not by default.

Food for thought.

:upsidedow
Fair point, but if you run business and provide email to customers - make sure you do not miss any email in your spam folder or whatever.
I mean does it make any business sense to lose half of your customers just because you can not take care of your spam folder?
Spam folder is not an excuse :2 cents:

Shap 07-05-2015 07:22 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by mineistaken (Post 20516059)
Fair point, but if you run business and provide email to customers - make sure you do not miss any email in your spam folder or whatever.
I mean does it make any business sense to lose half of your customers just because you can not take care of your spam folder?
Spam folder is not an excuse :2 cents:
Agreed!!

Barefootsies 07-05-2015 07:26 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by mineistaken (Post 20516059)
Spam folder is not an excuse
True dat top notch.

However, I am just talking from experience. Most of the adult domain related emails I see are junk boxed. Not because I put them there, the gmail filters do. I do try and check my spam folder every now and then to see if there is something in there that shouldn't be. But, not everyone does that.

The better solution as a business owner (you) would be to make sure your emails are hitting the inbox, and finding a way to track openers and such that way you know they are, or are not, receiving and reading them. You would then be able to follow up accordingly if your emails are not being opened or read. That would actually be a better solution for you if this is a major problem for you as discussed versus waiting on them, assuming they read and do not reply, etc.. It's a no-brainer based on your example.

In short, you invest in your business and take a more proactive approach if this is so critical in regard to them actually being able to receive and read your emails. Especially if it's costing you thousands or whatever was previously cited. For a few bucks, you could resolve this, and follow up by IM or phone if it was that important.

:2 cents:

MaDalton 07-05-2015 07:49 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shap (Post 20516040)
Agreed 100% however at the same time how much time is wasted on email? As an example I like MaDalton but when I had Twistys I had 15 madaltons hounding me on email. Eventually you tune out and only tune back in when you need something.

Email is very hard to master imo. I imagine if you are strictly a sales person email should be your specialty. For me it's always been a struggle
it is one thing when someone just sends out emails as a cold call but when someone asks me to make an offer and then - after spending my time and efforts to put everything together - doesn't even have the courtesy to reply "sorry, not what I was looking for", I find it outright rude - no matter who big the income imbalance is.

I worked for large mainstream companies and this is not what I was taught - but I notice it a lot among people that always just worked on their own/online.

MaDalton 07-05-2015 07:54 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516062)
True dat top notch.

However, I am just talking from experience. Most of the adult domain related emails I see are junk boxed. Not because I put them there, the gmail filters do. I do try and check my spam folder every now and then to see if there is something in there that shouldn't be. But, not everyone does that.

The better solution as a business owner (you) would be to make sure your emails are hitting the inbox, and finding a way to track openers and such that way you know they are, or are not, receiving and reading them. You would then be able to follow up accordingly if your emails are not being opened or read. That would actually be a better solution for you if this is a major problem for you as discussed versus waiting on them, assuming they read and do not reply, etc.. It's a no-brainer based on your example.

In short, you invest in your business and take a more proactive approach if this is so critical in regard to them actually being able to receive and read your emails. Especially if it's costing you thousands or whatever was previously cited. For a few bucks, you could resolve this, and follow up by IM or phone if it was that important.

:2 cents:
I check my spam folder every day, it is the nature of our business that make emails end up in there, can't avoid it completely.

and i started using Sidekick by HubSpot - The Ultimate Email Advantage for important emails to see whether they were opened

Barefootsies 07-05-2015 07:57 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaDalton (Post 20516070)
i started using Sidekick by HubSpot - The Ultimate Email Advantage for important emails to see whether they were opened
My point exactly. If you're using email as your main POC, than spending a few bucks invested in tracking those emails so you can follow up accordingly by IM or phone whatever seems like a sound proactive business no-brainer.

:2 cents:

mineistaken 07-05-2015 08:23 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516062)
The better solution as a business owner (you) would be to make sure your emails are hitting the inbox, and finding a way to track openers and such that way you know they are, or are not, receiving and reading them. You would then be able to follow up accordingly if your emails are not being opened or read. That would actually be a better solution for you if this is a major problem for you as discussed versus waiting on them, assuming they read and do not reply, etc.. It's a no-brainer based on your example.

In short, you invest in your business and take a more proactive approach if this is so critical in regard to them actually being able to receive and read your emails. Especially if it's costing you thousands or whatever was previously cited. For a few bucks, you could resolve this, and follow up by IM or phone if it was that important.

:2 cents:
Actually it is the other way around.
THEY should make sure they read buyers emails, not buyer (me). If I send 5 emails to 5 companies trying to buy one thing and only 2 replies - I pick and buy from one of the 2. Those 3 that did not reply - lost possible sale.
It is not my problem to make sure that THEY received my buying lead. It is their problem, not mine. I am not going out of my way (tracking openers etc) to convince that they should take my money.
And when I AM on the receiving end (people send buying request to me) I am 100% sure to catch every single one of those emails. They do not need any tracking openers when sending to me as well.

Tracking openers is for those who send emails trying to SELL things :)
And as we agreed - answering to emails that sells you something is not that crucial.

When I send emails trying to sell something I am perfectly fine knowing that many of them will not reply. That is kind of normal.
When I send emails trying to buy something - I am amazed that some do not reply.

geedub 07-05-2015 08:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20515646)
Finding that drive, hunger and motivation again. That drive that made me lose track of time, work 18 hr days and realize I forgot to eat that day because I was so engrossed in what I was doing.
I miss this too.

Shap 07-05-2015 08:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by geedub (Post 20516094)
I miss this too.
What changed that caused you to lose it?

RSD 07-05-2015 09:01 AM
Marketing for Zwipper.com, so it becomes the no1 ads website all over the world!

takethebluepill 07-05-2015 09:25 AM
Honest answer....finding sites to promote that I can feel good about promoting. There is so much crap out there that offers nothing more to the surfer then a weight loss plan for their wallets.

I'm speaking mainly about dating sites, as I tend to spend most of my efforts in that niche. But in the adult arena there are really only 2 that I would ever consider dealing with....Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder. Sure, on AFF, the ratio is about 1 female to 20 males....but there are real females, which is more then I can say for the rest of the crap out there.

THe industry as a whole is so terribly dated and stale. The general business strategy seems to be to treat the actual product as an afterthought...as long as we can get some money out of each surfer before they realize that we really aren't offering anything new.

It may be porn, but that doesn't mean that my normal business ethics and morals need to be thrown out the window. And in this industry, its very hard to find that balance.

BigFurry 07-05-2015 09:40 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by takethebluepill (Post 20516111)
I'm speaking mainly about dating sites, as I tend to spend most of my efforts in that niche. But in the adult arena there are really only 2 that I would ever consider dealing with....Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder. Sure, on AFF, the ratio is about 1 female to 20 males....but there are real females, which is more then I can say for the rest of the crap out there.
On the other hand, there are lots of honest porn paysites, that are upfront, give tons of exclusive content to their members, and don't do anything shady.

Ironic, isn't it?

Relentless 07-05-2015 09:48 AM
Building a sales force in a new industry. I'm finding I can sell the product but I'm having a hard time finding other people able to sell effectively as well. Now sorting out whether I can automate some of the process so I can sell more, or build a better training program and tools so they can sell more, or both.

The Porn Nerd 07-05-2015 10:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516043)
That right there is a HUGE responsibility, and I also am glad to be out from under it. A few years back I had 5 part timers, 2 full times, a handful of programmers and designers working on all of my projects. Between servers + programming + payroll I was carrying a lot of responsibility and monthly expense. It was very very stressful having these people livelihood in your hands.

In the past 18+ months, I have had a lot of change and people close to me or that I have known through the years pass away. It has given me a lot of perspective considering I will be 43 this year on how I would like to spend the last 1/3rd of my life.

I have cut almost all staff, server expenses by 90%, and scaled back and back and back to the point that through automation I can still attempt to live a decent lifestyle without that huge monthly recurring nut you have to carry on your shoulders. I am honestly very relived.

What I had thought I wanted a couple of years ago, is not really what I want now. I would much rather invest in life experience (weekend trips, vacations, traveling) and free time with a comfortable life and my friends versus working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to be the next (fill in the blank). I am much happier now.

:pimp
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516051)
Yep. I simply had gotten so caught up in the chase, I did not realize that I could do most of what I really wanted now while I am healthy enough to do it (i.e. traveling). Why chase down $5 million dollar dreams that could be 5/10/20 years away when you can do them making a $100/200/300k?

It seems almost laughable now that I did not see I already had the keys in my hand to what it was I really wanted, and was simply not using them because I had built this prison of responsibility and took my eyes off the ball. I simply was spending 90% of my time on work, and little time on myself or my own happiness.
This is a brilliant post because it shows what can happen in this Industry (and I am assuming other online businesses as well). I too did the same thing building my little paysite empire. I started with 2 sites and now I have 88. LOL But I was spending 16 hours a day, 7 days a week doing this shit. I had resisted for years opening an office and hiring in-house employees EXACTLY for the reasons you outlined BF.

So now I take days off, travel, use the freedom online work gives you, etc. I am MUCH happier now. Do I still obsess over my business? Yes, every single day. But I found that balance so it's all good.

Shap 07-05-2015 01:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd (Post 20516126)
This is a brilliant post because it shows what can happen in this Industry (and I am assuming other online businesses as well). I too did the same thing building my little paysite empire. I started with 2 sites and now I have 88. LOL But I was spending 16 hours a day, 7 days a week doing this shit. I had resisted for years opening an office and hiring in-house employees EXACTLY for the reasons you outlined BF.

So now I take days off, travel, use the freedom online work gives you, etc. I am MUCH happier now. Do I still obsess over my business? Yes, every single day. But I found that balance so it's all good.
It's funny post sale i've done nothing but enjoy myself and mostly enjoy time with my family. We've traveled so much and my boys who are 7 and 4 have really got to enjoy the best of me. When i was still running things I wasn't able to separate work and life. I really am an all in guy and if something pisses me off at work I can't just magically forget about it at home. So it's been really nice to have the past 4 years of being the super duper nice guy.

sonofsam 07-05-2015 03:01 PM
I have to say, this thread is the best thread on this forum for at least the last few years. Tons of great info and brainstorming.

One thing that surprises me with my new business is how hard it is to give people my money. Its frustrating when you are slowed down by lazy people who aren't as driven as you are. The shitty thing is I need these people to do the work before I can move forward with my project, but everyone seems content with their shit incomes and apparently making a few grand for 1 days work isn't that high of a priority for them. Labour workers.... Just a headache in general.

Barefootsies 07-05-2015 03:43 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd (Post 20516126)
I had resisted for years opening an office and hiring in-house employees EXACTLY for the reasons you outlined BF.
If you do not have a good right hand person who can help you build your empire, you will find yourself building a miserable 16 hour/7 day a week prison you can't get out of. You could be making mad money, as I was doing, but if you never get to actually ENJOY IT! So what is the point?

My ambitions are much less now for juggling projects and investing my time and resources. I have now scaled back and invested in a lot of automation to where you retool things back into a manageable situation where you can enjoy the spoils of war and labor.

Additionally, I feel I am getting up there in age that I simply do not want to invest my time/money into 5-10 year projects any longer trying to be the next big (fill in the blank). I would much rather invest in a rich memorable life experience, like wandering around Europe for 3 months, or something like that. That is what I had gotten into all of this for in the first place. Being able to have the freedom to enjoy my life, make my own schedule, and travel the world.

sonofsam 07-05-2015 04:25 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516282)
If you do not have a good right hand person who can help you build your empire, you will find yourself building a miserable 16 hour/7 day a week prison you can't get out of. You could be making mad money, as I was doing, but if you never get to actually ENJOY IT! So what is the point?
Very well said.

For some reason the first thing to come to mind was Lensman + Eric

Freedom6995 07-05-2015 07:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516048)
Email marketing has a lot of moving parts. The application could be amazing, but you still have to worry about ip reputation management, delivery plus getting past spam filters, then there is just having good offers and conversions not to mention the source lists to mail. That is just the tip of the iceberg. All of those can easily be overcome assuming you have the budget and time to learn. But most don't.

Good luck on the venture top notch.

:thumbsup
Budget is wonky. Time is an X. I'm aware of the other issues you mention, but I'm no expert on the matter. My list is fairly easy to gather.

Thankfully, I learned a that there is much more to life than money (I should be on the wrong side of the sod, so every day that I'm not is a bonus), and I only need to have a modicum of success with this project to live life on my terms. :)

Thanks for the :thumbsup...far to many people out there that say you can't do this and you can't do that.

The Porn Nerd 07-05-2015 08:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barefootsies (Post 20516282)
If you do not have a good right hand person who can help you build your empire, you will find yourself building a miserable 16 hour/7 day a week prison you can't get out of. You could be making mad money, as I was doing, but if you never get to actually ENJOY IT! So what is the point?

My ambitions are much less now for juggling projects and investing my time and resources. I have now scaled back and invested in a lot of automation to where you retool things back into a manageable situation where you can enjoy the spoils of war and labor.

Additionally, I feel I am getting up there in age that I simply do not want to invest my time/money into 5-10 year projects any longer trying to be the next big (fill in the blank). I would much rather invest in a rich memorable life experience, like wandering around Europe for 3 months, or something like that. That is what I had gotten into all of this for in the first place. Being able to have the freedom to enjoy my life, make my own schedule, and travel the world.
I hear ya man. Once my weed-addled brain figured out the Internet is anywhere and everywhere and I could just connect to it and work....well then it was like being letting out of a self-imposed prison. Some guilt went along with that, too. I felt guilty at times working on a beach with a laptop until I remembered how hard I worked and sacrificed in order to do just that.

So come to the Amsterdam and Prague shows this year woohoo!! :)

Marcus 07-05-2015 08:41 PM
Struggling with what which topic I want to go with in mainstream. I have about 15 mainstream websites I've made covering all different topics from Bankruptcy help to Acne to kitchen remodeling etc, and none of the niches jump out and scream "I'm the one!" to me like porn did.

Porn was easy to figure out; I focused on a microniche I liked and built an audience. But my porn income has been going down down down the past few years and none of the old tricks is getting me the money I used to make. Customers aren't as motivated to buy as they used to be and it's demotivated me from working.

Mainstream I'm making my way over to you.
Part of me is dreading it but part of me is relieved.

sonofsam 07-05-2015 08:53 PM
Hey Shap,

I sent you a PM. Don't worry, it's not asking anything from you or asking you to partner with me on anything like I'm sure your inbox is filled with because of your last thread :1orglaugh

Shap 07-06-2015 02:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by sonofsam (Post 20516263)
I have to say, this thread is the best thread on this forum for at least the last few years. Tons of great info and brainstorming.

One thing that surprises me with my new business is how hard it is to give people my money. Its frustrating when you are slowed down by lazy people who aren't as driven as you are. The shitty thing is I need these people to do the work before I can move forward with my project, but everyone seems content with their shit incomes and apparently making a few grand for 1 days work isn't that high of a priority for them. Labour workers.... Just a headache in general.
Thanks. I didn't expect it to turn out like this but it worked out great :thumbsup

Shap 07-06-2015 02:33 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcus (Post 20516408)
Struggling with what which topic I want to go with in mainstream. I have about 15 mainstream websites I've made covering all different topics from Bankruptcy help to Acne to kitchen remodeling etc, and none of the niches jump out and scream "I'm the one!" to me like porn did.

Porn was easy to figure out; I focused on a microniche I liked and built an audience. But my porn income has been going down down down the past few years and none of the old tricks is getting me the money I used to make. Customers aren't as motivated to buy as they used to be and it's demotivated me from working.

Mainstream I'm making my way over to you.
Part of me is dreading it but part of me is relieved.
Your best bet is to go after what you are most passionate about. That way you understand the market and the customers needs/wants.

Shap 07-06-2015 08:05 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Relentless (Post 20516119)
Building a sales force in a new industry. I'm finding I can sell the product but I'm having a hard time finding other people able to sell effectively as well. Now sorting out whether I can automate some of the process so I can sell more, or build a better training program and tools so they can sell more, or both.
Willing to give any specifics? Maybe we can offer some advice :)

Relentless 07-06-2015 09:06 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shap (Post 20516743)
Willing to give any specifics? Maybe we can offer some advice :)
Get me on skype or elsewhere and I'd love to pick your brain. Mpahlca has all my contact info and knows a bit about the projects already :thumbsup

Shap 07-06-2015 11:54 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Relentless (Post 20516818)
Get me on skype or elsewhere and I'd love to pick your brain. Mpahlca has all my contact info and knows a bit about the projects already :thumbsup
Will do!

Phoenix 07-06-2015 03:55 PM
I am focused on building my business in China and Korea. Currently we only market in China and it is well received. However not growing fast enough. Lots of people are interested, and the competition has a huge customer base, however we are not growing revenue fast enough.

Frustrating.

brassmonkey 07-06-2015 04:01 PM
getting high off my own supply :helpme:helpme:helpme :Oh crap

JFK 07-06-2015 04:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaDalton (Post 20516001)
Getting people to answer their mails.
Did you put a stamp on it ? :Graucho

georgeyw 07-06-2015 04:27 PM
Finding something new that I want to spend my time and money on, biggest struggle by a long shot. Always on the look out...

Far-L 07-06-2015 05:48 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shap (Post 20516008)
Honestly I don't think offline was ever a problem for my online business. Do you have any examples? Maybe I'm missing something.

And of course Ewa pics are great
I might be able to help on this one only because we came out of the brick and mortar offline era into online.

DVD is a great example.

The cost to produce a dvd is fairly steep, especially against the comparable rate of return and the time and energy expended to bring that money back in. The volume of product has continued to deflate the price as companies try to "own" the last shreds of shelf space. So the investment of time and cash to earn that smaller and smaller bit of market is something many companies fail to calculate, especially if they relied on that bit of income at all. Most of the companies in the dvd space have folded or are selling out their catalog for pennies at this point, yet they still spend for the staff to produce and sell, collect, etc.

Many mainstream companies make this mistake too. Think Kodak and Polaroid.

Best-In-BC 07-06-2015 07:58 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSquealer (Post 20515646)
Finding that drive, hunger and motivation again. That drive that made me lose track of time, work 18 hr days and realize I forgot to eat that day because I was so engrossed in what I was doing.
Yeah man, I miss those days too

IamShaider 07-06-2015 08:40 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Best-In-BC (Post 20517396)
Yeah man, I miss those days too
Same here! Miss the good old days.


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