Archive for December 2007
Say Goodbye to 2007
Around the world people have already seen in the new years, it will be our turn in the UK in just over 7 hours…. so it is my turn to say HAPPY NEW YEAR.
I will be back in 2008 - with a vengeance!
In case you ever wondered what Christmas with me looked like, here you are:
Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
Penthouse Magazine Acquires Internet Social Network Giant Adult FriendFinder for $500 Million
While I was busy boasting about the massive earnings I was making from my own adult dating site, fuck-buddies.com, Andrew Conru was busy making a much bigger deal…..
AdultFriendFinder.com is the biggest adult personals site on the internet, and after much speculation Its owner and founder Andrew Conru accepted $500M CASH!
Dec. 12 PRNewswire
Penthouse Media Group Inc.,
parent to Penthouse Magazine, one of the world’s leading men’s lifestyle
publications and producers of online, licensed and broadcast content and
materials, announced today that it has acquired internet social networking
giant Various, Inc. and its subsidiaries for $500 million in cash and
securities. With $340 million in projected combined 2007 revenues, this
acquisition makes Penthouse the largest adult entertainment company in the
world.Various has an extensive affiliate network, as well as a rapidly
growing member base of more than 260 million consumers and a total paid
subscriber list in excess of 1.2 million. Various operates more than 25
online communities including adultfriendfinder.com, which is a top 50 Web
site nationwide. Adultfriendfinder.com is one of the most highly trafficked
Web sites in the world with more than 18 million members.
For me there are a few very interesting points about this story:
1) Though $500M sounds like a massive amount, I estimate it is only approx 3 - 4 times the EBITDA, very low for an internet company which normally see multiples from 15+. This has got to be because of the adult nature of the business hugely reducing the number of potential buyers. Also another factor must have been that only a day before the sale the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) restricted AdultFriendFinder’s promotional activities.
2) Andrew Conru never wanted to own the largest adult site in the world! It came about by accident after launching FriendFinder… This highlights my reasoning for being involved in adults dating, there is simply huge demand for it!
3) What will happen to all of Various Inc’s other properties, not only main stream sites, but sitse such as BigChurch… I cannot imagine that its members will be delighted about financing the porn giants Penthouse!
All very interesting news, especially for anyone interested in online dating or aspiring to be a porn mogul!
£100,000 - Really!?
Yes!
Yesterday I got asked if what I had said about my sites earnings was true. Normally my initial reaction would be to kill anyone who dares question the truth behind my preachings. However, as it was a member of the fairer sex I spared them their life.
“How?”
I don’t have time to go into full detail, but it is far more achievable than people might imagine. There was also for myself an element of good luck and timing.
Many people have tried affiliate marketing on the internet, promoting other sites and services in exchange for a commission. Most might make a small return, then decide that the time and effort involved that the return see it is not worth while. I have always looked at it as a business, you need to build the monthly turn over steadily. Naturally it will be harder and less financially rewarding in the early days.
Build your brand - It is much harder to find good domain names these days, but you can promote just about anything. I spent a long time working on the brand of my own sites, writing articles, getting others to talk about it, link exchanges etc. I knew when I over heard someone mention the site in a pub that I was on the right lines.
Know your audience and solution - again a common mistake is to see a successful site and try to imitate it. You need to understand who your customers are, why they visit their site and why they would pay. With this information you can engage with your customers, add content which they would want, and market the site effectively. Clearly it is much easier to understand what your customers might want, if you would personally use the site.
Monitor closely - I effectively just have a series of ideas for promoting my sites, the only way to determine if they are any good is to test in the real world. The marketing itself can be complex but always have a logical process for continually improving and maximising any efforts
£100,000 from Adult Dating
Adult Dating Sites hit £100,000 profit!
Though I am not anything like as successful as I hope to be one day, I have built up a simple but solid business with zero investment.
I’ve not really gone into much detail as to how and where I make much of my money. I should have really because these experiences have given me the confidence to know, that even if I lost everything tomorrow I could pick myself up, start over, and be back in business and supporting myself and family in a few a short months… I think it is this sort of financial freedom that many people are in search of, more so than huge riches.
I am sure lots of people wouldn’t quantify anything I have done to date as a success. But in the last
few weeks I hit one milestone: Over £100,000 profit from my adult dating properties - in not much more than 2 1/2 years.
Which sites?
www.fuck-buddies.com Currently being re branded (my.fuck-buddies.com).
sexfinder-uk.com + others.
Not everyones cup of tea, but the obvious names certainly get them noticed and it brings in good traffic. For the members they also get a good “service”!
£100,000 I admit is not a massive figure, but considering it had a slow and static start its not too bad, even more so when I’ve not actually worked on them this year.
Adult Dating has certainly been good to me, my company also makes income form other streams. Regular dating, casinos, e-commerce and affiliate ad income. But the best margins remain within the adult dating - I certainly won’t be stopping soon.
Time to decide how I am going to spend the £100,000?
Sadly for me it has already been invested, in other less profitable ventures, gambles, property, the other business areas described above.. oh, and funding my lavish lifestyle!
The best thing about this business is as it is fully managed I do not have to run it on a day to day basis yet the sales do come through every single day.
Smashing
Just as well, because all my days are fully occupied as a Director of Datech - a multi million pound company. The World Dating Partners platform powers over 10,000 dating and adult personal sites…… yup, including those owned by my company!
The internet is full of opportunities. In fact the opportunities are expanding every single day. Don’t be scared to risk it all, the rewards are worth it! So be like me and start up your own adult dating business, I’ve even written a tutorial on how to do it -> here
