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I agree. One place isn't possible. But like my Rome analogy, I'd like Wu's to be the center of the foot fetish world. We're decentralized now.
Instagram could be our photo sharing wing. Vendors can set up shop there and refer people here for a better taste. Tumlr could act as our own individual profile sites. That way we get more character behind each avatar. I think there's a feeling of inherent creepiness that isn't avoided by simply being an avatar with a few characters. Having a full on profile showing off your other interest and hobbies will further humanize us as foot fetishist. And twitter could be used as a net to bring more people in. Be it just curious foot fetishist or the curious vanillas person wondering what our world is about.
-------------------- If she won't indulge your fetish, I bet you that cuter, smarter girl across the bar will. Lets go find out. Posts: 1877 | Registered: Aug 2006
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I think one of the things I hate the most is you have to go thru one of these image hosting websites to put a pic on Wu's in 2014 a lot of ppl would say who does that....
quote:Originally posted by GQguy: I agree. One place isn't possible. But like my Rome analogy, I'd like Wu's to be the center of the foot fetish world. We're decentralized now.
Instagram could be our photo sharing wing. Vendors can set up shop there and refer people here for a better taste. Tumlr could act as our own individual profile sites. That way we get more character behind each avatar. I think there's a feeling of inherent creepiness that isn't avoided by simply being an avatar with a few characters. Having a full on profile showing off your other interest and hobbies will further humanize us as foot fetishist. And twitter could be used as a net to bring more people in. Be it just curious foot fetishist or the curious vanillas person wondering what our world is about.
The problem, (and I don't expect you personally to know about this since you don't know what it takes to run and market a paysite then or now), is that no matter how much marketing and "social networking" hoops a paysite manager/webmaster jumps through to promote his material, there's literally ZERO traffic kickback to his/her website that nets sales for the effort put forth. The people (entitled as they are) that congregate on social media blogs and sites go there in the first place to find free pics to jerk off to so they don't HAVE to pay money like the old fashioned way we brought this whole community and concept up on. Wu's was/is a good medium to share samples at to entice the potential buyer and already faithful to our respective sites into coming and buying the full set if they liked what we gave out for free. There's a huge disconnect in concepts you are overlapping here. Like plugging a square peg into a round hole. Social media is fun, but at the end of the day it doesn't "pay the bills" for established quality paysites. I have the site traffic reports from BHE to prove it too.
quote:Originally posted by Jimmy-G: I usually don't comment on forums, I just read the posts, but let me jump in here with my 2-cents worth.
I've been a webmaster since 1998 and have built over 200 websites. As far as readability, user experience and such... I don't see social media sites as having any advantage over the old forum model. If anything, I think it's a step backward. This is, in my opinion, a perfect example of the herd instinct. People following people without really knowing why. I market on Facebook, not because I love it, but because that's where clients are.
When you look at a forum like this one, what do you see? Nothing's broken. It's easy to use. Easy to upload pictures, easy to navigate. I don't see any issues that would cause someone to say, "It's too hard to use this system, let's try someone easier like Facebook."
Instead, you see people moving to the social media sites because "that's where the action is."
That being said, it is what it is. Forums don't have the traffic they used to, no matter what the topic or niche.
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@NorcalFeetStudios: Don't take this the wrong way, but it is quite natural. You can't expect people to be paying, once they've got something for free. And although the "free stuff" lacks some of the "paid stuff" magic, you can't deny that with all the available technology today, even free pictures are great. And e.g. for me, foot selfies are especially attractive, knowing that they've been taken by the girl herself, not being paid for it. Just saying.
It is possible that this is the end of succesful paysites, unless someone can think of any rescue plan. But personally, I'd prefer not to stick to the old ways. You can't force people to live in the past, not on the internet, and especially not the youngsters.
I think that the question actually is, do we want to create a place with partially centralized foot fetish community because we like to browse, watch or comment on the pictures, or just because we want to make a living of it?
-------------------- http://fetmash.com/ - A Fetish Gallery as huge and awesome as You can make it!
quote:Originally posted by SlovakiaFeet: @NorcalFeetStudios: Don't take this the wrong way, but it is quite natural. You can't expect people to be paying, once they've got something for free. And although the "free stuff" lacks some of the "paid stuff" magic, you can't deny that with all the available technology today, even free pictures are great. And e.g. for me, foot selfies are especially attractive, knowing that they've been taken by the girl herself, not being paid for it. Just saying.
It is possible that this is the end of succesful paysites, unless someone can think of any rescue plan. But personally, I'd prefer not to stick to the old ways. You can't force people to live in the past, not on the internet, and especially not the youngsters.
I think that the question actually is, do we want to create a place with partially centralized foot fetish community because we like to browse, watch or comment on the pictures, or just because we want to make a living of it?
By the time all the paysites are dead, the internet will be controlled fully with a gov't kill switch anyway and you have to have a unique I.D. just to even log on to it..again, not a paysite owner? You probably are just guessing. There's still so many people that signup for just my site alone let alone all the others, by the numbers we are nowhere NEAR the end of this era. Everyone's panties are just up in a wad and so much conjecture and rumor being flung around like shit at the monkey exhibit at the zoo. The age of the paysite doesn't end because Wu decided to leave lol. No offense taken or given.
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". And although the "free stuff" lacks some of the "paid stuff" magic, you can't deny that with all the available technology today, even free pictures are great. And e.g. for me, foot selfies are especially attractive, knowing that they've been taken by the girl herself, not being paid for it. Just saying."
The truth. It's not even a conscious decision. I just haven't been tempted to see what's behind the closed doors. The coolest part about social media is that I can actually get to know the models! I've gotten phone numbers and communicate with a few. All of a sudden I'm not just some creep with a foot fetish...she gets to see me for what everyone in my world sees me. I think that's the coolest part.
@Norcal. I would assume the widest dissemination of you material would attract the largest audience. With Wu's practically locked down, who sees your stuff? Just old guys. And us old guys are getting jobs, having live in girlfriends, mortgages, wives and kids. Paying that $29.99 becomes harder and harder to justify...even if we can afford it. How many of us have been billed a couple months just because we forgot?
But if you have a steady stream of customers that's great. We're brainstorming. From the sounds of things there are other producers that could use a bump in exposure. It blows my mind hat the average college foot fetishist doesn't even know what FM Concepts is.....the biggest foot fetish site on the web. Let alone many of our BHE jewels. Such the modern situation.
But maybe you're right. Maybe the thousands of foot fetishist out there are not inclined to buy. Maybe it's just us here that do it out of respect....brand loyalty. I'd subscribe for a couple of months to a store I was loyal too....check it a couple of times...and forget. Opt for the non recurring membership.
Maybe the business model is antiquated itself. I mean it was based off of the premise that foot fetish wasn't common and women had to be bribed to model. The lack of content on the net(low supply) created a high demand from us foot lovers. Social media has crushed that assertion so yes....there's a lot of free stuff(supply) flooding the market. Not even that. I have an archive of stuff going back to the last time my hard drive broke back in 2005. I've subscribed to many sites. That's a lot of shit. I could unplug from the net and see "new" content for years. For those of us that have opened up our wallets..there's definitely an oversupply.
-------------------- If she won't indulge your fetish, I bet you that cuter, smarter girl across the bar will. Lets go find out. Posts: 1877 | Registered: Aug 2006
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@NorcalFeet You're right, I'm just guessing. I'm trying to figure out how such a market is or would work on modern internet. Now and in the nearest future.
I'm glad to hear you've got enough customers, I wish you good luck. Nevertheless, you can't deny that Wu's (or in fact, any kind of) advertising is and always will be helpful.
What we're trying to figure out is to whether it is worth it to recreate a place where anyone could advertise his websites/stores for free, or, if it comes to that, reasonably small fee. A place where at least most of active internet foot fetishists could always come to, see what's new. Place offers and requests, perhaps? Anything.
A place powered by its own mechanics and supplied by the social media. I don't know about you, but it sounds to me like a great idea.
So how about that?
-------------------- http://fetmash.com/ - A Fetish Gallery as huge and awesome as You can make it!
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In my modest opinion, and leaving aside all the (interesting) IT and communication technicalities, the TRUE, and probably UNSOLVABLE issue in the whole affair is conciliating the contrasting interests of the following stakeholders: 1) guys & gals only seeking visibility for their zero-cost stuff (whatever its quality) 2) guys & gals who enjoy surfing the web for free stuff, and would NEVER accept to pay for "equivalent" (to their eyes at least) stuff 3) guys & gals who bear costs to produce "quality stuff" (to their eyes at least), and want these to be covered (fully or at least in part) by revenues from sales 4) guys & gals who can see in the stuff made by the guys & gals at point 3 some "extra quality" over free stuff, and are willing to pay for it.
If someone in this forum has any clues about a way to square the above circle, I will make a ground-level bow to him/her.. but I am afraid that this "Messiah of 21st century foot-related media" won't show up that soon.. (sorry, SlovakiaFeet.. nothing personal, but I am afraid that you cannot qualify for such status..)
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While I do agree that the explosion of social media makes people perhaps less likely to join Wu's and be active here, I would think it can also have seriously strong benefits for websites that seek subscribers.
In the past, their marketing was relegated to posting banners on others' sites or posting previews here on Wu's - pretty passive. Now, they can utilize Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Model Mayhem, FetLife, etc. (let alone other "social" video sites like FFT) to get their name out there.
True, there is more content overall out there so everyone competes on a grander scale, but all it takes is having that "ONE" model that appeals to people as seen through one of these social media channels to inspire someone to buy a subscription or clip.
Posts: 132 | Registered: Jul 2013
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@Feetosopher: Truly worth your nickname. You're of course right - those are the issues. But I really don't think they can be actually solved one day. All we can hope for is a consensus. To gather all those kinds of people, and see what happens.
One thing to realize is this: People with foot fetish are still a minority. Let alone those who have such strong feelings about feet, that they're willing to pay for stuff. Compared to this group, all those people who like to take foot pics and just post them together form a group way larger. Therefore it is natural and only natural, that even if you make 100.000 people see the stuff you're offering them to buy, only very small percentage will actually go for it.
What I was offering here was just an option. A possible attempt to a solution. Not a definite, ultra-solution. I say we try, and see what happens. Am I wrong?
-------------------- http://fetmash.com/ - A Fetish Gallery as huge and awesome as You can make it!
quote: And although the "free stuff" lacks some of the "paid stuff" magic, you can't deny that with all the available technology today, even free pictures are great. And e.g. for me, foot selfies are especially attractive, knowing that they've been taken by the girl herself, not being paid for it. Just saying."
Actually, about 2% of the free pics are "good or great". Maybe it's just my eye for detail and perfection saying that. But wait, I heard it also from many others, so it's not just me.
quote: I would assume the widest dissemination of you material would attract the largest audience. With Wu's practically locked down, who sees your stuff? Just old guys. And us old guys are getting jobs, having live in girlfriends, mortgages, wives and kids. Paying that $29.99 becomes harder and harder to justify...even if we can afford it. How many of us have been billed a couple months just because we forgot?
Wu's registration is the only thing locked down, and the current traffic I get from here dwarfs social media hits. The stats don't really agree with your reasons as to the signups and rebills. It's not about who can and can't afford it, alot of times it's about convenience or a particular affection for a staple model. I did the polls last year and men want to see the same few models over and over and not different, random ones all the time. It's not even about justifying $30, it's also about seeing angles of feet and pretty girls they can't see in everyday life doing those things with their feet, so they are happy to pay that. I have nearly 8 years of photo and video archives. Even BHE tells me I am under-charging for the amount of material I have on Norcalfeet.
quote: But maybe you're right. Maybe the thousands of foot fetishist out there are not inclined to buy. Maybe it's just us here that do it out of respect....brand loyalty. I'd subscribe for a couple of months to a store I was loyal too....check it a couple of times...and forget. Opt for the non recurring membership.
I'd say alot ARE inclined to buy, I see new names signing up I have never seen before every 2 weeks all the time. I doubt it's out of respect or brand loyalty as much as it's the time and effort we put out to make a product look nice for the customer.
quote: Maybe the business model is antiquated itself. I mean it was based off of the premise that foot fetish wasn't common and women had to be bribed to model. The lack of content on the net(low supply) created a high demand from us foot lovers. Social media has crushed that assertion so yes....there's a lot of free stuff(supply) flooding the market.
Like I said, all of us producers still are showing numbers that disprove that first statement. You're still seeing things from a biased point of view towards free, sub-par material on Facebook. The only lack of content (as time goes by) are professional photos like some of us bring to the table and your ilk take and rub the watermarks off them and call them their own. It's such a murky area and the premise will die off eventually if the gov't ever gets off their ass and enforces piracy to the fullest extent of the law.