Sign-ups. What makes customers join a site INSTANTLY? Or FINALLY?

Models often are telling me: Wow! Things had been so slow recently. But after releasing this new update and posting the previews i had TONS of sign-ups in the following days... Such stats of course don't lie. But they can lead to serious misconceptions, even to the extent of fatally wrong decisions regarding the general direction of a paysite. As a model, you better think twice here.

The big $$$ question is: How many of the sign-ups are downright instant buys? In the sense that somebody would spot the previews of a particular set, then check the samples of a site, and shortly after buy a membership? Although it's hard to get bullet-proof figures here i'd say: that rate is smaller than you would think.

(1) In general: The timing of a sign-up can depend on so many aspects, and many have nothing to do with a particular update. For example: A customer is already a member of (let's say) 2 other sites. And he simply wants to wait till those have expired. Or this customer is so swamped with work, his funds are running short right now, isn't in the mood for joining paysites etc etc. But after all, when seeing your breathtaking preview he has put you ontop of his list and will join you in 2 months. AFTER you have released several new updates!!

Thus you better do not change the type of your content when sign-ups went up after one particular update.

(2) More specifically: A particular update indeed can change your 'impact' on potential customers. Or rather, it can shift your impact. Meaning to say here: For a change, you now release an 'artistic' set, a fetish set, an eating set, a casual set, a hardcore set, a pinup style set etc etc, you will get particular attention for that. From the folks who are into that particular thing - and who will respond avidly now, but hardly become so much your fans now that they would pay for a subscription (okay, that part surely is good for a separate discussion). But more importantly, such a shift of impact can positively play with expectations and rise curiosity - with respect to those customers who already are following your updates / on the basis of your content released before. I mean to say that your new and different update just works as the final drop to pay for a membership, and only together with the substantial impact you have been creating before that new update. Another reason to better not change your direction.

In general i think:
(1) The majority of customers rather gets STARTED by the 'velocity' of your assets and the appeal of your overall look, than by the type of content that you're doing.
(2) It's rather the effect of particularly well-shot images or videos, of you looking dramatically hot after being well captured (not primarily technical quality BTW !), than the style or content they're taken in.
Besides that, there are of course lots of folks who want you to show a particular thing, otherwise they're out. But these peeps are mainly loyal to their 'thing' or fetish. And hardly ever loyal fans of your special appeal.

Missy (KyssMyTits.com) - A shot with more color!

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News 2008-07-25: April McKenzie (AprilJuggs)

April McKenzie is a big boob model and porn star who became quickly very popular recently. I know, that will surprise a few to see me mentioning her. Well, i personally do not restrict myself in any way, particularly not to something like a maximum size or something. And April certainly is a curvy girl.

She made her debut in mainstream porn in early 2007. And has shot something like 20 scenes so far for companies like Scoreland (that overdolled preview there looks horrible IMHO), Vivid or RealityKings (1st scene - 2nd scene) and others. Noteworthy also is her work with Juggmaster and Mandy Blake). Dunno what attracted my attention initially. But her presence in "Top Heavy Tarts 6" was the keeper. I'm not sure if she looks even more dropdead sexy there compared to her other mainstream productions. Maybe she does! But it's her subtle sense of humor and playfulness that got me so enthusiastic. Quite rarely to be seen. But what a turn-on!!!!




April has her personal site as well. With a slightly different focus: less hardcore (there are a few scenes though) and more personal - you could say more 'amateur', but that term might be misleading here. I'd say her presentation is more 'instant'.

So people tell that April McKenzie has 'Girl-Next-Door' or 'Girlfriend' quality. Again i'm not sure if that hits the nail. She definitely is a model with a constant change of expressions and looks. She can be the naughty freak, the serious girl, the sweetheart etc etc. And her 'funny' looks! All that with quick and subtle transitions. I hardly can remember such a multi-faceted girl. At the same time she always looks like April. Totally fascinating and alluring.

I have seen most of her mainstream scenes. But what i'm always coming back to are the pictures and videos from her personal site. Because that's the stuff that keeps its charm and its freshness. Needless to say that it has way more and better views of her boobs and her stellar body as well.... You say hardcore is the ONLY thing that keeps you going? In that case you might be better off with her mainstream content.

I personally would even prefer if she did less masturbation/dildo playing (a lot of the photo sets and most of the solo videos are that way). And would focus more on enticing celebrations of her iceberg melting sexiness. Okay, maybe she thinks that she is predominantly seen as a naughty girl and that people expect her to show that.

The last time i checked her site had over 2 dozen full image sets. Good quality usually, with pro lighting. Minor complaints for being a tad too boob-centric (i prefer the whole package) and a tendency to shoot from a too high position. And there are over a dozen of videos, usually 10 -15 mins long (way kool !!!!). Minor complaints here for the lack of contrast in many (can be adjusted in your player to a certain extent), an occasionally shaky and "rough" handling of the camera (too much moving) and the very random editing sometimes (in one scene you can watch her saying "Hello, i'm April McKenzie". And 15 secs later that comes again). But those are minor issues not really affecting the enjoyment. The overall content is top notch!!!.... Thanks to her webmaster, Boobman Jim, for letting me have a look!

*Edit/july31st, 2008: All of April's videos are downloadable. Also her photosets, actually as a one-click zip file link for greater convenience*

Right now the navigation through her tour looks messed up. Page 2 is there.

Joing her site also gives access to a couple of more solo sites, f. ex. those of Daphne Stone (whom i've dedicated a few entries before, particularly here), Simone Fox and the archived site of Naughty Gia Johnson.

Here's a compilation i made for her (after asking for permission)


A few previews of AprilJuggs.com:
Playing drums
Milky
More Milky
Boob Playing In Bed (video)
Playing (video)
Outdoors In PinkTop
Basket Ball
Waking Up wonderful idea!!!

Lana's Big Boobs has tons more links to preview galleries with April.


Through her MySpace site (i won't post the link here but very easy to find) she announced she would do personal videos of 30 mins length. People who are interested should email her. Usually i'm not but in her case i was. Particularly because the price was right, $30 plus handling. Okay, i ended up with $50, but that's still fine for a direct copy of the DV tape (instead of highly compressed .wmv etc) and shipping overseas. Also, after she got the idea that i am real she was REALLY nice and communicative! Okay, i'll tell my impressions when i have the disc.

*update Sept. 24th, 2008:
I urgently have to warn now everybody to not start ANY business relations with April Mckenzie (April Juggs) !!!
After over 2 months i still haven't got the video i paid for. And since mid August she is not responding to any emails anymore, despite being around daily, and updating. There is another 'victim' i'm in contact with.

I'm still in the process of trying to get through to her by other people of the industry, with very little hope though for more positive news. I'll post details of the story plus other quite inconvenient details about April Mckenzie soon!

Another Update (Nov 22, 2008):

April McKenzie for sure is one of the persons who make it really hard to get an idea what they are all about. I'm saying that as somebody who usually has quite a talent to get the right idea about a particular person. So after exercising some pressure - but i can't really say if it was as the result of THAT - she got back to me. Twice actually. And, in a nice way, told me some personal as well as modeling related news (just saying that Scoreland has shot some very EXCLUSIVE content with her), in other words details that would make some breaking news. But i'm not playing the cheap games and respect her request for non-disclosure. And, more importantly, give her real props for getting back to me in such a non-generic way. Didn't expect that. She also offered me a refund, or to wait longer for her video. I opted for the video, but for more than 4 weeks she is totally silent again. Arrrgggh! Drives me nuts when i don't know what to think about a particular person!

Tags:
April McKenzie
April Juggs

News 2008-07-24: Pretty Girl Lusi videos (Southern Charms)

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Adult DVD Sales On Serious Decline [misc. thoughts]

After 11% less sales in 2006, the drop of sales reached the 20% mark in 2007 - i've seen even higher figures mentioned, but research that for yourself.

Now it may come as a surprise here that business insiders do NOT claim piracy/filesharing for these losses. But rather the emerge of web 2.0 sites like YouPorn, PornoTube, DialyMotion etc etc. Vivid, the largest adult company, even expressed plans to puchase YouPorn and establish it as a brand and/or platform for a new style of business ventures.

They also praised YouPorn as a stronghold for amateur style content. Something Vivid obviously doesn't have.

OK, i must admit that i hardly ever go to those sites. For me they are a complete waste of time. What you find there are hundreds, if not thousands blurry 1 min samples of mainstream movies. Or homemade flicks, usually extremely grainy and dark. Maybe, when you search for many hours, you might find something worthwhile. I don't have that time.

Clear facts: These sites have huge traffic. Alexa f. ex. ranked YouPorn as the #32 world wide. OTOH the content on these web 2.0 sites is completely different compared to what Vivid and other companies are selling - low resolution samples or amateur clips versus full-length high resolution movies. The only edge these sites have is being free and having a plethora of content as unpredictable as a jungle.


So how can there be a competition after all? To begin with, most people do not have the thorough knowledge of the biz like me. Thus my ignorance of these sites ain't representative at all. However the average user:
- just can tell the names of a few names of his favorite porn stars,
- has seen tiny images of the box covers of DVD releases with them (thus having little indication if those are worth buying)
- knows they are on something like 25 paysites (each charging $25 or more) with only a few scenes presenting a particular porn star.

Now this person might more or less give up on the mainstream content. And just spend hours on YouPorn etc. Now a very trivial circumstance kicks in: People have to work and take care of their lives in general. And after spending 2 - 3 hours on YouPorn there simply isn't much time left to spend on shopping for other content. They may still buy a few DVDs. But way less than before. Here's your simple reason why the web 2.0 porn sites cut into the adult DVD sales.

I expect this tendency to continue. But not that it will kill the adult industry. Far form that! But i expect the business to change considerably. Maybe in a way similar to the music industry. For example that the star will become more important than the company. That those models/stars who are coming up with distinctive and unmistakable content will play a role like independent acts in the music industry. Such as having a loyal fanbase, with people willing to pay for their creations. In case they can find them easily - like when they have their content bundled on one place, like a personal site. Or when they work only with a few companies.

So far the web 2.0 sites have affected DVD sales more than mainstream paysites. Simply because physical media is getting less attractive anyway (downloads are more convenient). But there's also the competition web 2.0 sites versus mainstream paysites - assuming that we've just seen the start of web 2.0 sites, with many more to emerge. People still will be willing to spend money on porn. They will become much more picky. But they also spend their bucks because of loyally liking a model.