Menu

• Dictionary
• Hot Shots

Directory

• Sponsors
• Billing Options
• Content Providers
• Web Hosting
• Traffic Counters
• Website Designers
• Resource Sites

There is no doubt that life is tough for online marketers.

Of course if you ask the average guy in the street he's going to tell you that it's an absolute breeze to make a squillion dollars online and it's even easier if you're selling porn online so people rush in here only to find that it's not as easy as they might think.

Many leave almost as soon as they arrive when they discover that there's a lot of hard work in front of them before they can even hope to see their first sale but others stick around and if you're one of those then let me offer you these five tips that may help you succeed.

You've got to network
I'm always amazed that so many people arrive here thinking that they know all there is to know about this business but of course the reality is that they know nothing.

If you want to learn all you can about this business then you need to spend time on the few webmaster forums that are left. Avoid the banter and social chit-chat and spend time listening to what the more experienced forum members have to say.

By all means ask questions but don't act like a total tool or people won't want to help you and they won't miss you when you fail and leave the industry. Just remember that you are not there to promote yourself ... you're there to learn.

Begin making connections
While you're on those forums to learn you should also be there to start building connections because sooner rather than later you will begin to realise that the successful guys in this industry are the ones who have worked to establish connections.

They use those connections to get special deals on traffic ... special commissions ... and advance access to new sites to promote. These are all advantages you need but you won't get unless you've got the right connections

You don't have to suck up to people and you certainly don't have to join in flame wars just to be noticed. You just be yourself ... be open and honest and reliable and you will begin to make connections with the right people.

Don't drink and post
Drunk posts by others may seem funny but when you're not totally in control you may just say something that totally undoes all the hard work you've done to establish those connections I just mentioned. Not everyone may see your drunk post as funny or even reflective of someone they might want to do business with.

Don't post political statements
While there are numerous adult webmasters out there who post provocative political statements on the boards you should always remember that you're on the board for business and so are the people who can help you get ahead. They're not there for politics and neither should you.

Just recently a member of my extended family posted some fairly heavy political statements on Facebook. I don't know if he realised it or not but these were statements that were guaranteed to get under the skin of a lot of people here in Australia and the response and fallout from what he had to say was immediate and I'm sure that it was nothing like what he expected.

He got no support but he did get a lot of negative comments ... even from his immediate family.

He hasn't posted anything on Facebook since and perhaps he has learned a painful but valuable lesson that you should keep in mind too. Selling adult products online is about business ... it's not about politics ... and you need to remember that.

Always protect your business
If you're selling adult products online then your websites are extremely important. While you may be building and submitting day after day don't forget that every one of those websites you have built is important because they can go on making sales for you long after you built them.

So if they are important to you then back them up ... keep copies of them on your computer and on removable hard drives. If you have used a content management system to build them then make sure you keep the plugins and the core parts of that content management system updated too.

Old plugins and old versions of your content management system are open invitations for hackers to come in and either destroy what you have built or take control of the site and use it to make money for themselves.

The last thing you need is to find that all your old sites have disappeared in a server failure or you've lost control of them to someone else. When something like that happens your business is in serious trouble and you may never recover.

There has never been any guarantee here in adult that newcomers would ... or will ... succeed. You may start well but then begin to fail because you've made some unwise decisions or stepped on the toes of those who might have been willing to help you.

However, if you look after your business and build the right relationships you will have a much better chance of succeeding and when you're new here that's the best you can hope for.