I was thinking to myself just the other day about how strangely we as adult webmasters conduct business nowadays. What got me started into this train of thought was the fact I was doing my planning for my upcoming wedding and I had to spend the better part of a day on the phone with the reception venue, the officiant, the flower people, photographer, etc. While I was playing all of this phone tag, leaving messages, and writing notes on paper, I was thinking to myself, “Do any of these people use email or ICQ?" I am sure that they probably do for their personal correspondence, but when it came to business they seemed to prefer conducting the arrangements over the telephone, or even worse, in person.
Now, think about how we do business in this industry. How often do you make phone calls as opposed to writing emails or instant messages? Have you ever met any of your customers in person, face-to-face? Are trade shows the only chance you get to match up peoples’ online screen names and faces? They say that one day we will be living in a paperless, wireless, society in which people conduct all of their business via computers. This ‘one day’ is pretty much here for the online adult industry. The only paper that I use is the one big sheet that is sitting beside my computer that I use for doodles and such.
Of course, some of the larger adult businesses out there still have to engage in some of their dealings the old fashioned way. They are required to keep physical documents for tax and reporting purposes and I am sure that they make more phone calls and are involved in more personal meetings than most other self-employed webmasters. However, the majority of webmasters in this industry do work for themselves and are on their own, which is the one of the many unique characteristics that sets this industry apart from any other. Let’s compare the typical day of an adult webmaster who works from home to that of say someone working in sales for a large mainstream corporation.
Adult Webmaster:
- Get up sometime after the normal lunch hour and head straight to computer before showering, brushing teeth, etc.
- Check emails and respond. This process is usually quite lengthy.
- Check out favorite message boards to see what is new.
- Work on whatever it is they do: design, sell content, traffic, run TGP’s, etc.
- Talk to people via ICQ, or whatever message system they use to attract business, seal deals, and network.
*The catch: they are doing all of this simultaneously.
Mainstream Salesperson:
- Get up at the crack of dawn, drive through rush hour traffic and get into work for 8:00.
- Spend better part of morning making and returning phone calls.
- Spend better part of the afternoon running around going to meetings, etc.
- Spend better part of the late afternoon and evening doing paperwork.
- After battling the after work rush hour, they finally get home in time to go to bed in order to get up again for the next day of work.
If I had my choice I would much rather have the job of the adult webmaster. I find that way of doing business to be so much more productive. Not to say that webmasters are not crazy busy, they are for the most part. They just are able to fit more into one day because they are not driving all over the place to meet people, playing phone tag with potential customers, doing tedious amounts of paperwork, and spending a good portion of their day in traffic (the motor vehicle kind!).
There are of course some downsides to doing everything online or telecommuting, and I know that there are some people out there that prefer face-to-face interaction. First of all, if you are in sales, it is a lot easier for people to reject you through email or ICQ. People feel more pressure to purchase when they are confronted in person or even over the phone. Secondly, you can end up losing some of your communication skills if you hide behind a computer all day, every day. I will admit that my phone skills have been falling behind a little without having regular use. Lastly, your customers or colleagues will usually feel more comfortable dealing with you after meeting you in person.
To combat these downsides, my suggestion for webmasters in this industry is to get out to the trade shows or industry get-togethers as much as you can. These events are key for doing face-to-face networking and business dealings. If you cannot afford to make the journey to the big ones in places like Vegas, get in touch with some of the webmasters in your area to arrange a get-together.
The whole online vs. live contact issue really boils down to four things: personal preference, the industry in which you work, the size of your company, and your job role. Conducting business online does not work for everyone, but in this industry it is certainly preferred. I am convinced that in five years from now, there will be technological advances that will have virtually every industry following the trend of the online adult world, but until then we will have to be the pioneers.
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