How the Model Pros Draw Traffic
- by Josielyn Chase
Editor's Note: This article by Josielyn Chase about professional models getting into the online personal website business because many of the tips and ideas included here would be helpful to web cam girls, exotic dancers or other industry professionals who want to take the plunge into building their own single girl website. What is an amateur really? Many former models have made it big-time with a new career as the model for a single-girl membership site. Can you really NOT be an amateur web cam girl-next-door if you've done professional modeling? I guess it all depends upon your point of view...
Her portfolio is perfect. Her comp cards are printed. She knows how to strut down the runway and put on make-up for the camera. What's next? It's time to create a Web site to enhance her modeling career. Maybe she has decided to offer souvenirs or a membership section for her fans. Maybe she wants to get her name out. Maybe she wants to supplement her offline career. So what strategies do many of the model pros use to bring traffic to their sites?
The first thing to consider is that unless you have the time and talent to create a good site, leave it to a professional Web designer. Once your Web site is fully functional, go straight to the model portal Web sites to trade links. Supermodel/actress Akira Lane (www.akira-pm.com) says, "It's best to trade links with high-profile models. Then, there are model portals such as www.adversus.com, which purportedly has 25,000 unique hits per day. This is one of the best sites with which to trade links. Another great site is www. babes.net." Many models generate a huge amount of publicity and Internet traffic thru such model portals. For a model newbie, I would recommend these sites as the first to consider for link trades.
Many models are listed in celebrity polls (www.celebrities-ave.com), but I personally haven't found this to be the best way to draw high traffic. There are also other model contests, such as the popular Mystique Magazine model search. Some creative models that enter these contests promise their fans that they will be rewarded with free erotic photos on their Web sites, if they win the contest; as an incentive to get more votes. There are some savvy cybermodels with e-store and member sections who increase their chances of making the sale by encouraging visitors to fill out their comment cards. Responding to consumer feedback can turn visitors into customers.
Another method of getting your name out there is getting featured on high profile directories that have free galleries displayed with the models banner (www.babeswarehouse.com). A model sends photos to the webmaster, who in turn creates a page for the model with her banner. All the model has to do is provide a return link. www.TWVdivas.com sends an incredible amount of traffic to model Web sites. Some models have had to increase their bandwidth, as a result.
Another way that many of the Playboy models plug their sites is on the new radio station, XM-205 Playboy Radio (www.xmradio.com). Many of these Playboy beauties participate in entertaining talks with subjects, ranging from embarrassing first dates to foot fetishes. Usually toward the end of the show, the models are given some airtime to plug their sites.
Some cybermodel management/agencies display the banners of models they represent. I never understood this practice. Many prospective clients will find it too easy to book the model directly, without the model even being aware of how the client first discovered her.
When models are published in magazines and calendars, sometimes they work out a deal, and the editor agrees to publish the models Web site along with their feature. This is my favorite way to generate traffic, and many companies such as MotoXXX (www.mxmodels.com) and Iron Man Magazine (www.ironmanmagazine.com) are very happy to do this.
Some Import models exhibit merchandise at car shows when they find a sponsor to provide a table for them (www.hotimportnights.com). It is a good idea if the model brings a large banner or poster advertising their URL. Thousands, within a few short hours, will view a banner or poster displayed here. This is also a great place to pass out promotional material.
Models that target a specific audience to promote their Web site usually appear at the Expos that suit their needs best. As I've just mentioned, many Import Models appear at car shows like Hot Import Nights. Exotic adult models, such as the beautiful Mika Tan (www.mikatan.com), appear at expos such as Internext (www.internext-expo.com) and adultcons (www.adultcon.com) in Las Vegas. A popular expo for Asian models is the Asian Sirens Expo, which is usually held in Los Angeles. Glamourcon Expo (www.glamourcon.com) is focused on featuring Playboy beauties. Fetish models flock to BondCon (www.bondcon. com). This is not a complete list of expos, of course, but merely to illustrate how model pros utilize the expos for target marketing.
Paid directory listings are not a popular choice among models (www.adult-US.com). Search engines are preferred, especially AOL and yahoo. Major Internet studies have shown that placement of your site within the first three pages of returned search results, is the real key to huge traffic. In a study released by ActivMedia Research in September 2000, Search Engine Positioning was ranked as the number one promotional method used by e-commerce sites. Top search engine placement equates with high traffic. To win the search engine/traffic race, consider hiring a firm that specializes in search engine placement. Optilink is a search engine tool that lets you see your site the way the search engines see it.
I've been told that many site designers think that Meta tags (internal code to show search engines your keywords) are the key to good rankings and that this is a false assumption. Directories and a number of search engines do not even use these tags. Meta tags are important, but are just one criterion for improving your ranking.
The very first month my Web site was fully functional, my homepage was a splash page. While splash pages can be fun and aesthetically pleasing to the eye, they are not very helpful when trying to place your site with search engines. Because splash pages are heavy with graphics and light on content, they are difficult for search engines to spider. Search engine spiders are looking for links and content to evaluate. When my homepage was a splash page I was basically telling the search engines that there was nothing to see on my site!
In the first year of my Web site's operation, there were many factors that hurt my search engine placement. Here is a little trick I learned in my research. Type in your URL. - e.g. (http://www.....com) but, omit the www. prefix. Could you access your site? If not, you probably received a "404 URL NOT FOUND" error message, and this means you are losing potential traffic. Several Internet Service Providers (ISP) program their servers to access sites without the www. prefix. If you could not access your site with this test, call your ISP to resolve this immediately.
In my quest for more knowledge, Klixxx Magazine is a valuable learning tool. Whether you are a new or advanced webmaster, subscribe to Klixxx Magazine; the magazine that educates and entertains.
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