what does it take to run a porn studio/site?

[holzz]

I know how to market digitally (it's my job/vocation otherwise) but how does one go about hiring actresses, contracts, etc?

[Ben in LA]

It takes time, money, and dedication. I would think to get the top models you'd have to have a previously good reputation or other connections.

[GroobySteven]

I know how to market digitally (it's my job/vocation otherwise) but how does one go about hiring actresses, contracts, etc?

Marketing digitally for one product is not necessarily the same for another and the porn industry is a fickle beast. Hiring actresses and contracts are the easiest part of it, if you're that versed on the internet a little Google search and time investment should find you everything you need (clue : Xbiz.com, grooby.com/groobysteven/, etc.) but actually making a good product and then getting that product in front of enough eyes, so that enough people buy it to be profitable, is the difficulty. Many girls (or prospective producers) make the mistake that by thinking that they have a huge Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr following, or that 1000's of guys ask for more content on them, that if they make a product they're all going to convert into sales. They don't. Not by a long way. Ratios are in the 1:1000's on sales from that sort of social media.

Even a site like this, which is dedicated to those who enjoy trans porn, I bet there are vastly more people who don't pay for their porn than those who pay for it, and the biggest talkers ... the non-payers.

[Ben in LA]

Words from the master.

[Wendy Summers]

Many girls (or prospective producers) make the mistake that by thinking that they have a huge Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr following, or that 1000's of guys ask for more content on them, that if they make a product they're all going to convert into sales. They don't. Not by a long way. .

Amen

[thatOneRandomHornyGuy]

I don't know much about business, not my strongest field, but I wouldn't even try to bother trying to do it for profit if I was u. Like said already most pple probably dont even pay for porn. Nowadays it's so easy to just make a video and post it online, you'll probably have better chances of doing like webcams type show. To me, them the hottest cuz the couple are actually horny and attracted to each other and not forced into the sex, like how u can sometimes tell in some of the "professional" ones where the tgirl is not even horny, cant get hard and or cant finish so may have to use some fake cum. It's probably a hit or miss thing idk I'm just stating my opinion. I would love to fuck some of these hot tgirls especially if I get paid for it

[christianxxx]

one thing that's helpful when starting your own site is if you can hire a male performer for free...or even better if you ARE a male performer. That cuts down costs considerably. :)

[GroobySteven]

one thing that's helpful when starting your own site is if you can hire a male performer for free...or even better if you ARE a male performer. That cuts down costs considerably. :)

Just try not to be a big baldy white bloke. Enough of them around.

[christianxxx]

wow that's not very nice to say about Big Johnny!

[Nikka]

come shoot in south america, I will take you to a safe place

[MrFanti]

Even a site like this, which is dedicated to those who enjoy trans porn, I bet there are vastly more people who don't pay for their porn than those who pay for it, and the biggest talkers ... the non-payers.

Lots of truth here...

[GroobySteven]

come shoot in south america, I will take you to a safe place

Only if he has his money in cash - and doesn't tell anyone when he'll be back, right?

[Nikka]

Only if he has his money in cash - and doesn't tell anyone when he'll be back, right?

http://i67.tinypic.com/287iuu1.gifhttp://i67.tinypic.com/287iuu1.gif


like that guy from GFY that has an INNOVATIVE and UNIQUE Idea, porn from India, he went there and never came back http://i67.tinypic.com/287iuu1.gif

[smoothrobb]

A lot of good info here. Managing and performing in your own videos send like the perfect job lol. I'm sure it's 10x harder than it sounds though

[smoothrobb]

Bit I wonder is it possible for a man to successfully run a transsexual Porn site if he is not versatile and only tops?

[SXFX]

considering the barrier to entry (cost, and distribution) are so shallow i'm amazed there are not a plethora of providers?
Every year at the exxotica festival there is always a new hot young company that seems to pop up....some times they last but most often they don't.
The one that was really amazing was BangBros....i have no idea how the hell those guys ever got off the ground and stayed up?
I remember in the early 2000's their web page security was such shit that a simple pass word generator would bust their sight wide open!


But let's be honest a stop at costco can pick you up a nice camera....for a lot less you can shoot it and edit via the GoPro app....fuck if you want strap two your head and insto presto you have 3D HD porn!

I use to think that the late 90's and early 2000's were the wild wild west of porn....until i started seeing the numbers fly with things like chatterbate and cam4.
If some of the women are making $1k a month then the take of the SP must be $2k+ a month....per girl.....shit pimps don't even make that much!

[nysprod]

It's gonna take money
A whole lotta spendin' money
It's gonna take plenty of money
To do, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it
To do it right

It's gonna take tii-ime
A whole lotta precious time
It's gonna take patience and time
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it
To do it right

[smoothrobb]

fuck if you want strap two your head and insto presto you have 3D HD porn!


Hmmmmmmm a gopro strapped tp my head...that might be fun!

[GroobySteven]

considering the barrier to entry (cost, and distribution) are so shallow i'm amazed there are not a plethora of providers?
Every year at the exxotica festival there is always a new hot young company that seems to pop up....some times they last but most often they don't.
The one that was really amazing was BangBros....i have no idea how the hell those guys ever got off the ground and stayed up?
I remember in the early 2000's their web page security was such shit that a simple pass word generator would bust their sight wide open!


But let's be honest a stop at costco can pick you up a nice camera....for a lot less you can shoot it and edit via the GoPro app....fuck if you want strap two your head and insto presto you have 3D HD porn!

I use to think that the late 90's and early 2000's were the wild wild west of porn....until i started seeing the numbers fly with things like chatterbate and cam4.
If some of the women are making $1k a month then the take of the SP must be $2k+ a month....per girl.....shit pimps don't even make that much!

Entry cost of creating the content can be fairly low and some low-budget houses have done very well (it's how we started) but production is the easy part, the distribution and marketing is complicated and unless you have direct channels into the market (like Hungangels) then it's difficult to make a return. We aim at 3 yrs horizon for a return on each website, some have taken a lot longer but go in the right direction. If you consider how much it costs to set up and then continuously produce for 18+ months (break even point) then it's not as attractive as one may think.

Your numbers on cams are a bit off. Cam performers get paid 30-40% of the sale, so yes for every $1000 the model has brought in, the company is bringing in $1600-2200. Most of them rely on affiliates or bought traffic. Affiliates can make over 20-50% of the sale (total sale), then you have to look at hosting/bandwidth costs which are huge for cams, a minimum of 4-5% right off the top for billing/banking. Then you have staff fees, offices, etc. It's profitable but not as much as you may think, it's done by having a massive amount of cam performers so it's a numbers game.