What if a professional producer made a 'free' website?

[luvtoez_1982]

I was thinking about how most of the dating sites used to be pay sites, but then a few people came along and put up free sites. Some of them are doing REALLY well.

So lets say that someone from TMF filmed clips on a regular basis and just put them up for download. Also lets assume that they don't have to pay models because they have friends who are into tickling for the love of it. The main obstacles I see are bandwidth and making sure they have a server that can take a serious beating.

Maybe someone has tried this before and I missed it. Do you think this could ever work?

 

[Babyshambles]

I was thinking precisely the same thing.

I think it can work plenty well if you are a committed enough business man.

Lets see - you could cream off thousands of views per day. If the videos also carried adverts for established adult companies/makers of bondage equipment, it could work really, really well.

The first person to do it properly would make a killing.

 

[LD_Tickler]

I seem to recall Skelyrata saying this was the endpoint he aspired to with his company.

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

Only problem being alot of people probably wouldn't want videos of themselves being tickled/tickling others online for a variety of reasons. I don't think you'd have as many people willing to take part in it as you might think.

 

[LD_Tickler]

Skip, I think they're talking about regular tickling videos, with models and whatnot. Only instead of making money from selling the clips, you make the clips available for free. Presumably you'd get tons of traffic to your website, and advertising companies would buy adspace from you. You'd make money that way.

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

Skip, I think they're talking about regular tickling videos, with models and whatnot. Only instead of making money from selling the clips, you make the clips available for free. Presumably you'd get tons of traffic to your website, and advertising companies would buy adspace from you. You'd make money that way.

Guess what McLovin...

Also lets assume that they don't have to pay models because they have friends who are into tickling for the love of it.

you're WRONG!

 

[LD_Tickler]

Guess what McLovin...



you're WRONG!

Okay, maybe not that guy, but what I outlined is what Skely is thinking of, and people who are actually serious about this business model.

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

Okay, maybe not that guy, but what I outlined is what Skely is thinking of, and people who are actually serious about this business model.

Oh...well then...that's a good idea 😀

 

[Babyshambles]

It would kick ass and work.

I know it would.

But who's really going to put themselves out there and do this? It's a LOT of work, and for a fetish project - most would be too embarrassed. I would be.

Stage One - Make the clips available for free.
Stage Two - Recruit the advertisers.

You can use ppc from sources like google (but not google as it is clearly against their TOC) and make money, but I think the real money has to come from negotiating direct with the right people.

The problem with this business model is this - people who want something for free, are not necessarily going to spend megabucks (or even any money) on a product. Some might, but it's a risk. And you'll never get conventional advertising.

Probably something like the TMF might stand a better chance. This place could and should be monetised more, IMHO.

 

[Washburn]

wait, isn't that kinda what ticklingtv is though? I mean, it isn't a producer making videos but you have access to hundreds if not thousands of different clips and samples. It may not be one producer but I think it is the closest thing we have and are probably going to get for a while.


But yes, it is an awesome idea and I think that it would work with the proper motivation and people.

btw, I am trying to open up a little bit more and involve myself with the forums more often. Haven't really done much posting but have been lurking for years. Hope to see you all in the world of posts!!!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Nice idea but unless you manage to find a load of ticklephiles willing to be tickled on camera for free (people who don't like it are a little less likely to get strapped down for free) I'm afraid it won't work.

But as far as hosting goes you could just as well get a very very plain HTML site and upload stuff on megaupload so you don't have to pay lots for the traffic.

 

[rhiannon]

I also have a few doubts that it would pay off if you only host tickling clips. Maybe if you put up several different fetish clips, but only tickling....I don't know if the community is really big enough!

And as long as people are still willing tp pay the producers, I really don't see a reason why they should put a lot of stuff up for free...especially since they have costs themselves!

 

[Tickle Touch]

Adult advertising

Let me share a little about his idea. I have a bit of experience in the internet advertising industry, and I'm starting a new tickling store (cough: TickleTouch.com cough).

The main obstacles I see are bandwidth and making sure they have a server that can take a serious beating.

The major stumbling block to your idea is that those things take money and there just isn't any money in the adult advertising segment (yet). Most advertisers will absolutely never stand for their image/brand appearing on an adult site. So, the only advertisers willing to be seen on adult pages are other adult pages. And they don't pay all that much to be there.

With ad space selling for pennies per thousand impressions, and the low conversion rate (when is the last time *you* bought something after clicking on an internet ad on an adult site?), I suspect even a truly legendary site would have trouble generating revenue at dollars per day, much less enough to support a subscriber-like model.

Of course, that might change if hot, ticklish models are beating down your door to be tickled on camera for free. If so, please let me know. I'll come help film them 🙂 You can even do some of the tickling 😉

Great idea. I wish it were possible (I'd love to lead that charge, myself). Until/unless models start clamoring to work for free, or advertisers embrace the adult internet, I think we may be stuck paying for content...

Undef
http://www.tickletouch.com

 

[ftkl_haha]

Let me share a little about his idea. I have a bit of experience in the internet advertising industry, and I'm starting a new tickling store (cough: TickleTouch.com cough).



The major stumbling block to your idea is that those things take money and there just isn't any money in the adult advertising segment (yet). Most advertisers will absolutely never stand for their image/brand appearing on an adult site. So, the only advertisers willing to be seen on adult pages are other adult pages. And they don't pay all that much to be there.

With ad space selling for pennies per thousand impressions, and the low conversion rate (when is the last time *you* bought something after clicking on an internet ad on an adult site?), I suspect even a truly legendary site would have trouble generating revenue at dollars per day, much less enough to support a subscriber-like model.

Of course, that might change if hot, ticklish models are beating down your door to be tickled on camera for free. If so, please let me know. I'll come help film them 🙂 You can even do some of the tickling 😉

Great idea. I wish it were possible (I'd love to lead that charge, myself). Until/unless models start clamoring to work for free, or advertisers embrace the adult internet, I think we may be stuck paying for content...

Undef
http://www.tickletouch.com

A staggering majority of the models with whom I work (and there are many) want to be paid, whether they are known or not and whether they enjoy being tickled or not. These days, models want to be paid for their time, skills, looks, etc. And rightly so. The ones who will accept trades for any kind of fetish work are few and far between, unless you're offering up content for THEIR websites. And even the better paid of these ladies aren't exactly living in ivory towers.

Undef speaketh wise and true.

 

[Babyshambles]

The reason that the online advertising for adult stores is in such a shambles is that it is corrupt and broken!!!

Would you pay a lot of money "per click" for an advert on another adult website, when you know fine well that it is going to be abused?

Unfortunately, many people involved in the adult industry tend to be sneaky little bastards. If that isn't actually true, then certainly the perception of that is true.

(IMHO)

 

[Myriads]

The TMF sees a vast number of page hits a day. We rival many non-adult content sites.

Advertisers are not beating down our doors. Adult ones or other.

The financial models for adult oriented sites and advertising are very different from non-adult content web sites.

We cover our bandwidth, but a clip site would be eating a magnitude more then we do, and thus need a magnitude more in advertisers. The scale is not there for it yet.

Myriads

 

[Babyshambles]

I think the TMF could charge a lot more for advertising. Name your price. One single big advert at the top of every page could be worth more than all of the little adverts at a lower price.

Advertisers will pay to be number one ahead of the competition.

Also, you could make advertisers pay for posting preview clips and pictures in the relevant forums. Even if it were just a small amount of money, they would still pay. And if they're not willing to pay a couple of bucks per preview, then it's probably a pretty shoddy preview clip anyway. You could let the samples from non-commercial people stay for free.

You could have a field day monetizing this place, and it would probably be better for the users of this site too.

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

I think the TMF could charge a lot more for advertising. Name your price. One single big advert at the top of every page could be worth more than all of the little adverts at a lower price.

Advertisers will pay to be number one ahead of the competition.

Also, you could make advertisers pay for posting preview clips and pictures in the relevant forums. Even if it were just a small amount of money, they would still pay. And if they're not willing to pay a couple of bucks per preview, then it's probably a pretty shoddy preview clip anyway. You could let the samples from non-commercial people stay for free.

You could have a field day monetizing this place, and it would probably be better for the users of this site too.

I disagree completely. What would likely end up happening is that people WOULDN'T pay to post their preview clips. Instead they'd just post a link or a banner in their signature for their clips4sale page, and if you want to see the free previews, you'd have to go there. This would cut down on the free content here.

I, for one, wouldn't like it if the TMF became all business and profit-oriented. I'm not a fan of the ads that are here already (although I recognize that they're necessary), so I definitely would not want more.

 

[Myriads]

I think the TMF could charge a lot more for advertising. Name your price. One single big advert at the top of every page could be worth more than all of the little adverts at a lower price.

Advertisers will pay to be number one ahead of the competition.

Also, you could make advertisers pay for posting preview clips and pictures in the relevant forums. Even if it were just a small amount of money, they would still pay. And if they're not willing to pay a couple of bucks per preview, then it's probably a pretty shoddy preview clip anyway. You could let the samples from non-commercial people stay for free.

You could have a field day monetizing this place, and it would probably be better for the users of this site too.

The best answer to this in total is: "We wish"

Lets look at a few parts.

We start to charge a few dollars to place preview clips. The result? No more clips get posted here. They get posted on the theatre and city, and tickling TV instead. The market offers many free clip outlets, so one cannot monetize clip placement.

As soon as you start placing hurdles to media being placed on the site, you instantly cut the amount of media that will be posted. Fee's would kill off the TMF faster then any action we could think of. Want to see the clip forum empty of new posts? Here is the way.

As for charging what we want? No. Not possible. One has to price ones ad space at a value that matches the expected views/click thru/final purchase ratio that buyers can expect and desire. Our current rates are very much in line with that. We raise prices, and we'd be overcharging for the results produced. That will lead to less advertising in the future, and in the end operational cost short falls. There is a balance to this sort of thing.

Advertisers each have a different goal in mind when they buy ad space. For some it's name exposure, for others it's max sales boost per ad unit cost. for others it's spike sales. Advertisers desire what works best for their specific goals, not always to try and be seen as #1, but simply GOOD.

We've been here for going on a decade. And it's been an education in web economics that has been better then any school can offer. Making cash from a 'free' site is way harder then it looks. We are happy that we are dead even with costs most months. And we are always looking for ways to cut costs while not impacting service to users (see our pending chat room transition, from a very expensive room to one that is free in essence) At our core we are here to be the communities hub. Where media and interaction on all things tickling can be found. And our choices in how we run/manage the site always look to that basic idea.

Myriads

 

[tcklft]

The reason that the online advertising for adult stores is in such a shambles is that it is corrupt and broken!!!

Would you pay a lot of money "per click" for an advert on another adult website, when you know fine well that it is going to be abused?

Unfortunately, many people involved in the adult industry tend to be sneaky little bastards. If that isn't actually true, then certainly the perception of that is true.

(IMHO)

Examples? Evidence?

 

[ftkl_haha]

The best answer to this in total is: "We wish"

Lets look at a few parts.

We start to charge a few dollars to place preview clips. The result? No more clips get posted here. They get posted on the theatre and city, and tickling TV instead. The market offers many free clip outlets, so one cannot monetize clip placement.

As soon as you start placing hurdles to media being placed on the site, you instantly cut the amount of media that will be posted. Fee's would kill off the TMF faster then any action we could think of. Want to see the clip forum empty of new posts? Here is the way.

As for charging what we want? No. Not possible. One has to price ones ad space at a value that matches the expected views/click thru/final purchase ratio that buyers can expect and desire. Our current rates are very much in line with that. We raise prices, and we'd be overcharging for the results produced. That will lead to less advertising in the future, and in the end operational cost short falls. There is a balance to this sort of thing.

Advertisers each have a different goal in mind when they buy ad space. For some it's name exposure, for others it's max sales boost per ad unit cost. for others it's spike sales. Advertisers desire what works best for their specific goals, not always to try and be seen as #1, but simply GOOD.

We've been here for going on a decade. And it's been an education in web economics that has been better then any school can offer. Making cash from a 'free' site is way harder then it looks. We are happy that we are dead even with costs most months. And we are always looking for ways to cut costs while not impacting service to users (see our pending chat room transition, from a very expensive room to one that is free in essence) At our core we are here to be the communities hub. Where media and interaction on all things tickling can be found. And our choices in how we run/manage the site always look to that basic idea.

Myriads

To Obi-Wan Myriads you listen. Wise is he. Forget this nonsense and be thankful.

 

[Babyshambles]

Examples? Evidence?

Hence the IMHO.

I dont have the time to put together a scientific paper on this.

But it is generally regarded in my circle of friends that pornographers are not the most moral, trustworthy people on earth,

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

Hence the IMHO.

I dont have the time to put together a scientific paper on this.

But it is generally regarded in my circle of friends that pornographers are not the most moral, trustworthy people on earth,

I think that's a pretty unfair generalization, and pretty bold considering the fact that we have a bunch of tickle vid producers right here - and alot of people consider tickle vids porn. At the very least they're adult content.

I'd be a bit more cautious about making offensive blanket statements, particularly about people who are going to be reading it.

 

[Tickle Touch]

Perception...

Sadly, Babyshambles is right about the perception. Of course, the kind of producers that hang around here making a long-standing community forum, and giving out advice and clips for free must, by definition, be exceptions.

Just as one example, I personally know someone whose sole business model is to put up a fetish site (thankfully, not at all related to tickling) and scam the ad networks until he is caught.

That's it. Make a few clips and defraud the advertisers until they catch him and shut him off. To my knowledge, he hasn't actually done more than talk about it, but there are enough of that kind of people to make advertisers (the ones with the money to give sites) break out in hives.

I wish it weren't so...

 

[rhiannon]

Just as one example, I personally know someone whose sole business model is to put up a fetish site (thankfully, not at all related to tickling) and scam the ad networks until he is caught.

Yeah, but there are black sheep in every profession, in every large group of people. That doesn't mean you can generalize it and say the whole group is like that!