Content: The Meat of Your Site
By Kath Blackwell
Where would we be without content? It's the meat on the bones, for
any paysite or AVS site - and it's the bait, the lure - the enticing
come-on for the free site webmaster. What would we do if it all just
suddenly went away? If we don't change our evil ways, more and more
content providers will go out of business, leaving us with less choices,
fewer opportunities and poorer quality content available for us to
use on our sites.
 There's
an undercurrent of anxiety sweeping through the adult industry. Many
content providers feel that webmasters don't appreciate all that goes
into creating the content that they provide and sell, and that they
don't value the real worth, investment, and logistics involved in
getting this content up, ready and available for sale. There are model
costs, film costs, photographer costs, development costs, organization
of CDs and/or downloadable .zip files - all contributing to the outlay
required to fund the creation of each set. Webmasters still want their
content cheap - under 50 bucks for semi-exclusive content - a price
that some providers seem to be able to make, yet the veterans who've
been around since the beginning of time - are unable to.
Exclusivity
The difference could be simple. It could be distinguished in the
degree of exclusivity that the purchaser is willing to have. If
you want content that will be sold to you - and nobody else - then
you'll have to pay for those exclusive rights. If you want limited
exclusive content - content that's sold to say, only a dozen other
Web sites, the price tag must be little higher. It is with this
understanding that one can see why some of those providers are able
to sell their content at such a low rate. And it only takes a few
minutes of surfing to see how over-exposed that type of content
is on the Web.
Quality
Then it comes down to quality. Do you want a full roll of shots
- including the bad photos, unfocused shots and poorly lit pics
in your galleries? If that doesn't bother you, then maybe low-cost
content is right for you. But if you're looking for a higher quality
or micro-niche hard-to-find set for your site, then you'll have
to keep looking. Long-term, veteran providers can get you those
higher-quality pics but they do come at a higher price. Unfortunately,
a lot of webmasters aren't willing to pay that price and a lot of
veterans are closing up shop and leaving the industry.
So what does that do to the overall quality of our industry's content?
It further dilutes it, making the cheap content providers richer
(every $5 sale at a time) and makes the originality and exclusivity
of our collective galleries, paysites and free sites the worse for
it. Imagine if you were a surfer and every site you saw had the
same unfocused, poorly lit sets with the same mediocre model? Would
you be interested in buying a membership to ANY of the sites associated
with those free site "previews?" Probably not. Content is the meat
of our industry and unless we protect this sector of the adult business,
it will cease to exist as we know it.
Stolen Content
Another reason for this negative undercurrent that has been expressed
occasionally on the message boards and in radio talk shows by some
content providers is the webmaster's negligent attitude toward licensed
content. Some webmasters have even blatantly joked in "public" about
using stolen content, "borrowed" content or newsgroup content -
all of which is totally illegal. Not to mention, it's also hurting
our industry. The selling of this content is the livelihood of these
content providers - and by "stealing" their content and hard work,
these thieving webmasters are actually taking money out of their
pockets.
Unfortunately, the content thieves hurt the webmasters who buy the
content, and purchase the proper licensing agreements- as well.
When you purchase exclusive, semi-exclusive or other limited-sale
content for your members' areas or AVS galleries and someone steals
that content and reproduces it multiple times all over the Web,
the damage is done. It's does damage to the exposure of the content;
to the content provider and to the extended value of the content
that you just purchased. It doesn't just stop at the content provider
- it reaches out to all of our pockets and steals a little each
time. And it doesn't matter if the thief gets caught and the images
get taken down, because the quality and exclusivity of your content
gets tarnished in the eyes of the surfers - your customers, and
potential customers. It cannot be repaired - no matter the legal
repercussions that may ensue again the ones who stole the content.
So where does that leave us - the webmasters who purchase the content
properly from the content providers? And where does it leave the
content providers who depend upon legal sales and proper use of
content for their livelihood AND for their reputations?
Content providers don't just provide the content that we use on
our sites. They provide the foundation upon which our sites are
built, and provide the things that the surfers and members desire
to see when they enter our sites. We depend upon content providers
for many things in our business whether we realize it or not. Ensuring
that content thieves get caught and punished - and always making
sure that we read the terms of use for each content contract we
make, can help to keep the content industry alive, prosperous, and
a great resource that we can all share and use to benefit our own
businesses.
Having respect for the content providers' product not only benefits
us as individuals; but benefits the industry as a whole. In a way,
we're all part of the same business "ecosystem" - each part of the
industry depends upon the other for its survival. Take the content
providers out of the equation and we would be set back nearly a
decade, resulting in the failure of many businesses - extinction.
Do your part, and support your favorite content provider - buy a
fresh set of content for your sites, sign up for a leased content
program or check out what's available in the exclusive or custom
market. It will benefit your site, our industry - oh, and of course,
your bottom line.
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