Solo Sites are Selling a Relationship

I’m as guilty of forgetting this as the next webmaster, but there is only one reason a surfer in his right mind would sign up to a solo model site. With the glut of multi-girl updated daily flavor-of-the-minute never-get-bored porn sites out there, it just doesn’t make financial sense to sign up to a solo site. So why are solo sites still booming? They are selling the one fantasy that a multi-model site just can’t satisfy – the fantasy of a relationship.

You may not like it (especially if you’re the solo model), and your surfers probably won’t admit to it, but they’ve latched on to you because they think you’re something special. They’ve stopped caring about all those other girls and plunked down some hard earned cash to get closer to you. Maybe the relationship only lasts as long as a one month membership before they’re on to the next model. Or maybe it lasts for years like some of my admirers over at TheCrossdresser.com. Either way, Joe Surfer has a thing for you, and like a high school crush (albeit a rather kinky one) he’s going to need a bit of cajoling and teasing if you want to keep him around. After all, he’s probably seen every inch of your body on the tour already, and seeing you in new outfits and poses in high resolution is only going to keep him interested for a short time before he’s looking for a new fling.

Ok, so the real question here is how do you build a virtual relationship through a porn site. I’ll start by saying that you can take a few hints from Facebook and cam sites as the obvious examples of virtual relationships that you might want to emulate, but these are also somewhat complex. There are plenty of easy ways to develop a relationship with your members.

– Get rid of your professional designs and fancy graphics. Yes seriously. Time after time I run tests of professionally designed tours versus ugly blocky 90′s looking tours, and the ugly tours sell better. It’s more believable and authentic.

– Use first person in your text. You want Joe Surfer to believe that the model is running the site, whether she really is or not.

– Keep a blog or “diary” on the site. Include stuff completely (or mostly) unrelated to porn. Like what you had for dinner, or the shopping spree this weekend.

– Send personal emails to your members, especially when they contact you first. Write the responses like you’re the model, even if it’s a question about a lost password or a broken link.

– Always stay in character for all communications. If the tone of voice changes when a member asks a technical question, the fantasy is broken.

– Keep members involved. Get them to rate your photos or videos, post polls, ask them what *they* had for dinner. Do shoots by request if you can, and advertise it. Even surfers who don’t make a request will be turned on by the idea that you did a shoot by request.

If you really want to go to the next level, consider creating a porn site that is literally like a relationship. I’ve seen similar concepts on femdom sites for example, where members pay for a domme to tell them when they’re allowed to jerk off. If these sites sell memberships, certainly a porn site where members gain access to perks for developing their “relationship” with the model could work. Keep Joe Surfer active on your site earning relationship points by rating photos, sending virtual gifts, logging in every day, and keeping his membership active. Give him access to some hardcore photos in return for his good behavior. Develop some Flash sex games that give relationship points, keep a leader board of members. Let Joe Surfer redeem some of his relationship points for a private cam show. You get the idea.

Here’s hoping you and Joe Surfer have a long and rewarding relationship