January 2004: 2003 As We Remember It
by Jim & Greenguy, www.greenguyandjim.com
As 2003 comes to an end and 2004 begins, we all have a tendency to look back on what happened in our online lives over the past twelve months.
Highlights of the year included the end of Free Trials for many processors, subsequently reinstated by some of the better programs. There are fewer free trials as we enter 2004, and we feel sooner or later they will all be gone - which is a shame, as they were a very easy way to sell a surfer on a membership to a paysite...
A few credit card processors went belly-up. The writing was on the wall in late 2002, when some of the lesser-known didn't follow the Visa rules. I think a lot of us knew these would be gone, and those who predicted it were right on the money. It's a shame too, because a lot of the smaller paysite owners who didn't have the $750 for the new Visa regulations opted to go with these smaller processors. In the end, they were fighting a battle that could not be won, as well as losing a lot of money in the process.
The new processing rules also hit the AVS sites really hard in 2003. It was nice to see that some of the AVS systems adapted, but some of the changes put into place resulted in a lot of upset webmasters who are choosing different ways to market their sites and sponsors.
While Jim was not able to make the August Hollywood Internext Show, Greenguy did. As usual, the convention and parties were great, but there was also a lot of backlash on the boards and in industry publications/newsletters stating that the show was nothing more then a booze-fueled orgy. Some of these statements came from people who were not even at the convention! For those of you who have never been to a convention, yes, there is drinking at these parties. Yes, there is nakedness at the parties. A lot of people go to the convention just for the parties. A lot of people go to the conventions to network and make deals. A lot of people do both. The Hollywood Internext was just like any other convention, except Aria Giovanni was signing Klixxx Webmaster Magazine.
Now, for a few predictions for 2004 (Yes, we both have Swami hats on)
1 - Free Trials will remain, but you will see a few more programs drop them.
2 - AVS as we know it will be dead by the end of the year.
3 - You will soon be paying for some of the traffic that you are currently getting for free.
4 - There will be fewer and fewer "Weekend Webmasters."
5 - There will be more money to be made, as mainstream merges with the adult community.
6 - GreenguyandJim.com will be considered the number one webmaster resource site.
7 - Most online radio shows will fall by the wayside as better shows take over.
The biggest event for us in 2003 was the opening of our webmaster board and resource site. Regardless of your knowledge and industry experience, there are still bumps in the road for a new site (database crashes, speed problems, defective mailers, etc), but we corrected the problems as fast as we could in an effort to create one hell of a webmaster community. This would not have been possible without our great members, and we thank each and every one of you for supporting us. Most of the webmasters that post on our board, know how to make money. Those who don't are there to learn. And, there are great giveaways and prizes!
In closing, we were happy to help everyone we helped this year, we'd like to say thanks to everyone who helped with our success, and we look forward to doing great business with all of you in 2004!
Greenguy & Jim
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