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Community Profile - 10 Questions for YNOTBob |
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How long have you been working in the adult industry?
I have been in the Industry since 1999. My first experience was with D$. I owned a popular beach bar and restaurant in Mission Beach, Ca, and he would come in and hang out. Adult Internet sounded interesting so D$ gave me a little "job" to do for him. I was basically entering in key search words for his huge database of amateur footage. He then introduced me to Jeff Newman, formerly of Busty-Amateurs fame. Jeff and I would actually close down my bar at night and we would do photo-shoots at 2am. We put dark tarp up over the windows so it appeared from the outside to be closed. Meanwhile inside there were naked girls running around and 1000 watt lighting heating up the place.
D$ asked me one day if I knew a good lawyer. I recommended Greg Geelan, aka Otto, who then went to work for Rick Meunyong, founder of YNOTMasters. Greg worked for Rick for a bit, then negotiated the deal between FCI and YNOT for purchase. Andy Edmond, former FCI President, was so impressed with Greg's work; he made him the President. Greg moved the company down to San Diego, asked me to come and work for him, and the rest is history.
What pre-net skills have you drawn upon to help you achieve success?
My previous career was in the restaurant and bar business. I demanded that my employees - and myself - would always go out of their way to make the customer feel better than at home. If people wanted to feel like they were at home, they wouldn't be going out to dinner. My first rule of business was to always make people feel better when they leave you, than when they first come to you. And my second rule of business was to always try and meet someone new every day, that I didn't know the previous day. I urged my staff to seek out an unknown face each shift, and get to know them. Combine the two rules and you can build a pretty good positive network to do business in.
The restaurant business is also about promotion and marketing. You have to come up with some pretty unique ideas to get people to keep coming back every single day. Our marketing and promotions were focused on making the restaurant always seem fun, exciting, and carrying a great positive vibe. People loved coming to my restaurant because of this. It also didn't hurt to have an extremely beautiful staff with great attitudes and outgoing personalities. Something else I learned, surround myself with positive people, and positive things will happen.
How important is it for webmasters to network with other webmasters?
Very important! Our Industry is getting more and more competitive every year. And mixed within those competitive circles are some very shady, exploitive people. Smart Webmasters are aware of this. So they turn to doing business with people they know and have a relationship with. Webmasters like to do business with people they know. We are lucky at YNOTMasters that we screen every business prior to even listing them. So networking on our boards, in our YNOT Newsletter, and through our webmasters is a great way to meet honest, legitimate people.
Also, being visible at the tradeshows and conventions is very important. This shows webmasters you are not hiding from anyone due to unethical practices. The parties and seminars at these shows are also fantastic for meeting face to face with people you may not know yet, or have only talked to in email. The more doors you open, the more opportunities can arise.
What is one thing you learned as a newbie that helped you the most?
This is a great question. There are two things I learned which I stress today to the Newbies I meet. One is to read everything you can and become an expert on what you are doing. I read YNOT's articles everyday, and am a religious YNOTNews reader. I would much rather read on YNOTMasters about Ashcroft's latest plan to eradicate the world from porn, than how Mr. Shmos dog got run over by a drunk driver, in my local newspaper.
Secondly, I learned to ask questions. There are no stupid questions. If you can't find an answer to something - just ask! This Industry is full of people who are willing to help.
So read, read, read, and ask, ask, ask!
YNOTBob seems to have changed a lot over the years - how would you describe those changes?
You mean YNOTBob the person? I would say I have pretty much kept myself the same. I am too busy now, both in my personal life and business life, to party like a rock star, like the good old days. I also get more requests today for information and help than ever before, but I still try to keep my doors open to new and veteran Webmasters. Now I get a million emails a day, a billion ICQs, and my phone is constantly ringing, so I am very busy. But I try to answer every email, return every phone call, and make sure I reach our Newbie chat board daily.
As for my mental outlook - I have pretty much seen it all, from the good to the bad, and now I try to be a bit less emotional. I try not to answer questions if I am mad, especially on the chat boards, and I really try hard to take the high road on every issue.
Click HERE for Part 2 of "10 Questions for YNOTBob..."
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