A Queer World
by Brandon Palmer
There was a time, long ago, when people thought the Earth was flat.
There was also a time, not so long ago, when people thought gay adult
Web sites were a niche market.
We know differently now, on both counts. The world is ever-changing,
just like the Internet, but one thing is for certain: it's getting
smaller. It's easier to reach out to people now than ever before,
all over the globe, in countless ways. Why then, can it seem so difficult
to reach international audiences with your gay adult site?
Do the Germans think your content is too tame? Are the French boycotting
you? Probably not. It's more likely that you just need to make some
adjustments in your strategy. "I think the biggest mistake is to think
that English-speaking nations are the only markets for gay content,
and that we should just ignore everywhere else," says Timothy Latz,
who runs the resource site Gaywebmaster.biz, "In fact, the next big
gay content gold mine is going to be places outside of Europe and
North America. Get your site translated into different languages and
register URLs for various countries. It's a big world out there."
Translation: Does it Work?
It is a big world, so where do you start? "As with anything," says
Doug McClure, co-owner of CrescentX, "you need some first-hand knowledge
of the basics...what it means in a given country for someone to be
gay, and how that will affect their behavior online. For example,"
he continues, "we have translated our sites into Chinese, primarily
for Taiwan and domestic audiences, but also get traffic from China
itself, which is a very strict country. We've discovered that the
prized domain names many webmasters seek because they sound sexy,
seem to damage the success of the site, since every surfer is aware
the domain he typed into his browser has probably just been logged
somewhere. Consequently, KoldWar.com does quite well in that market
(CrescentX runs six gay niche sites, including BoyOrgasm.com)."
These subtle cultural differences show us that international success
requires much more than merely translating your site into a particular
language. "If you are dealing with the attitudes and customs in another
country," says Don Mike, Vice President of sales for content provider
Ounique.com, "you should know what people are looking for, how they
speak, and the slang terms they use. A mistake in the American market,"
Mike explains, "would be to have text on a gay site that reads, 'Look
at these hot Gays.' Gay people do not refer to themselves as 'Gays.'
Now, if you were to do a Web site for a foreign country, you may use
a phrase or a slang term that is perfectly acceptable in your own
country, yet it could turn out to be something tacky or even insulting
in another."
We have all seen these types of errors on menus at Chinese restaurants,
so don't let your site turn into something people will be laughing
about. "An important thing to remember would be not only to use the
native language of your target audience," says Mike, "but have the
pages written by someone who speaks that language. And don't make
jokes," he insists, "especially jokes that may use slang terms, because
some cultures may not think the same things are funny that you do."
Having a native speaker translate the site is indeed the ideal scenario,
but whatever translation methods you use, it's crucial to be thorough.
"Most sites translate just the tour," says McClure, "which is a recipe
for disaster. Imagine finding this great site, signing up, and you
can't understand a word of the first members' page, much less any
of the navigation. Without end-to-end translation," he emphasizes,
"you lose the customer, and that can make the difference between a
chargeback and a loyal regular."
Even this level of attention to detail won't guarantee overnight success.
It takes time to build your audience, and patience is key. "Our first
instincts told us that the traffic was already there to grow our business
by leaps and bounds, simply by translation of the site," says McClure,
"When you add it up, 36% of the Internet speaks English, while 64%
speaks something else. So, we posted the Spanish translation and the
leaps and bounds weren't there. Even with strong search engine placement
and regular promotion, the growth of customers since then has been
gradual rather than instantaneous."
Growing Your Audience Means Knowing Your Audience
"The reason the growth will in many cases be a trickle rather than
a flood, can be explained by local factors," says McClure, "such as
per capita income, the local economy, and how prevalent the Internet
is in that market- as well as how open the society is about sexuality.
Countries which are open about sexuality, such as the Netherlands,
Germany, and most of Northern Europe, may have lower success and retention
rates, because often times what you're providing is a computerized
facsimile of what they can see for themselves first-hand in a bar
down the street."
Knowing these cultural traits will also help a great deal in your
efforts to adjust your content accordingly. "With the different attitudes
about sex overseas," says Mike, "you may be able to make things a
little more wild there than you can for American sites. For instance,
I know that the German fetish scene is incredibly different from its
United States counterpart. It's a lot more intense," he explains,
"so something that really gets people going here in the U.S. might
seem really tame or even boring to them."
Gary Grunson, President of Conner Media, agrees. "We target Germans,
for example, by putting out more of the sock fetish material in the
German groups, link lists and newsgroups," he says, "since Germans
are more into socks than, say, suit-and-tie fetishes." Grunson runs
sockstuff.com and SuitSex.com, among other ventures. "Germans like
more extreme content as well," he says, "so we post extreme samples
to them."
McClure has a slightly different approach to the content issue. "We
don't market one site just to one country or ethnic group," he says,
"our approach to content is the same everywhere. We didn't make any
prejudgment about what a specific gay audience might find as their
'type,' since there are many preconceptions about what the Asian audience
or the Spanish audience will find attractive. We let the audience
self-select, by offering a range of sites focusing on different niches."
Payment Options
Whatever content you choose to offer, it's important to make sure
international customers have a convenient way to pay. "There are plenty
of options for webmasters trying to reach people who may not have
credit cards," says Latz, "Dialer programs, for example, is a huge
business that shows no sign of slowing down. Offering other options
for payment is going to open up the marketplace in big ways."
Still, payment methods are always a struggle for the webmaster going
after international customers. "This is the worst part about international
traffic," says Grunson, "and no one company has the total solution.
It drove us nuts in the beginning, and we now have three different
companies processing payments for us, one for a dialer and SMS, one
for Euro debit cards, and one for Asian debits and credit cards. We
are still looking for more options," he says, "as there are plenty
of people still wanting to join but they don't fit into any of these
methods."
It's important to remember that many overseas surfers just aren't
accustomed to using their credit cards like we do here in the United
States. "For many Europeans, credit card payment is an alien thing,"
says McClure, "2000Charge provides debit services to Germany, the
Netherlands, and Belgium, which is very beneficial because you reach
a larger audience that way." In time, payment methods will become
more varied and better integrated. For now, it's important to stay
flexible and offer options.
Flexibility will allow you to adjust with changes in technology and
market trends as they happen. In this ever-evolving world, that will
be the difference between those businesses which grow, and those which
fail. Technology has already given us the opportunity to keep our
finger on the pulse, and to communicate instantly in a global environment.
Now, it's up to us to use those tools effectively.
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